Morning,
Our property will soon be available to rent after the current tenant has given notice.
The estate agent has offered final management offer:
- 7% for the 1st year
- 4% for the 2nd year
- 3% thereafter
This includes:
- Advertising (photos/floor plan)
- Vetting tenants
- Conducting viewings
Not included:
- Inventory + Check-In
- Tenancy Set-Up/Admin Fee
I handle all maintenance and tenant communication directly, however the property is in England and I live in Northern Ireland.
Considering OpenRent instead. My understanding of the process:
- Use RentNow for photos, floor plan, and ad creation
- I receive, process filter enquiries (e.g., no DSS or pets)
- Vet interested tenants (contact employers, previous landlords)
- Organise an accompanied viewing
- Arrange inventory + check-in
- Sign tenancy agreement
Questions:
- Photography/Ad Creation:
How long does OpenRent typically take to produce photos and a floor plan? Could this delay finding a new tenant?
- Tenant Vetting:
How time-consuming is this process via OpenRent? Is this where estate agents truly add value — pre-screening before I vet further. With OpenRent, I feel that I could be inundated with applicants. Once I have filtered those of interest, how strong is the reference checks provided by OpenRent? Do they provide enough information to cross check those references by contacting the employers/form landlords?
- Communication Overhead:
Is there a lot of back-and-forth between myself, tenants, OpenRent, viewing agents (accompanied viewing), and inventory clerks?
- Professionalism of Viewings:
Are accompanied viewings done by professionals, or more of a gig-economy setup?
- Remote Management Gaps:
Am I overlooking any critical aspects of managing a rental remotely via OpenRent?
Fee Comparison (based on current market rate):
- Year 1: £1,300
- Year 2: £830
- Year 3+: £600
Total over 3 years = £2,730
That’s a significant saving — but is the service from the estate agent worth the cost, especially considering I can’t handle viewings in person?
Let me know your thoughts — any insight or experience would be appreciated.
Tenant vetting is time consuming, personally i wouldn’t be willing to rent to someone i havent met in person.
A bigger issue is the ongoing maintenance, you say you will deal with it from a different country, while it may work if you are lucky enough to have a good tenant who is helpful in providing access for tradespeople etc, there no guarantees they will and you have a lot of maintenance responsibilities which may require your frequent and in person involvement.
I would have thought you should be looking at full management via agent, sums may not add up and so dependent on circumstances may be better to sell.
Thanks @Richard19
Yeah, we’ve rented the property for around 9 years now, two different tenants. They were sound which isn’t guaranteed.
Interestingly, I would have thought most tenants would accept a trades person to visit to report a problem they have. In my case, we have had a leaking pipe that needed an out of hours call and a shower that needed replacing. Both times the tenants were happy with my response to getting a professional to resolve the problem.
Largely depends on tenants working arrangements, tenants able to work from home are much more likely to be accomodating, tenants who have to go out to work generally aren’t willing to take time off work to deal with something which is landlord responsibility. Rent reviews also a factor as more likely to help if feel they are getting a good deal.
Thanks again @Richard19, I see where you are coming from now. Historically, there’s usually a communication factor between the tenant, myself and any trades person to arrange a time and place.
Rent reviews also a factor as more likely to help if feel they are getting a good deal
Sorry, what do you mean by rent reviews?
Will you pay £2,730 or more in tax over those three years? If so, it’s not money saved, it’s simply money you give to the government rather than an allowable expense you spend on letting.
Hi @tatemono ,
The amount is calculated is a net amount (Income minus fees/tax).
Included OpenRent rent guarantee (£249 per annum) and rent collection (£120 per annum) against against the percentage of the income charged by the estate agent leads to the amount quoted.
I’m not sure if the OpenRent rent guarantee is worth it, as it’s insurance, so I’d need to read the terms and conditions.
As a side note, do you feel that it’s better to rent at slightly below the market value to get a better selection of renters to choose from, or am I only inviting more tenants that may not be able to afford the rent?
"Will you pay £2,730 or more in tax over those three years? "
This is income minus deductions minus tax over 3 years. Therefore, I’ve already paid tax (via self assessment)
I don’t get these figures. They look like nothing I’m used to. Firstly, you have an estate agent offering you long term management fees of 3% which is a pittance. Typical fees are north of 10% plus VAT. At 3%, I’d bite their hand off and wouldn’t be bothered posting here.
Then you say (under a heading of “fee comparison”) that you will make only £2,730 profit on your rental over 3 years. Not only is that also negligible but you are somehow able to forecast all your allowable expenses over those three years. As an example, a new boiler will not only wipe out that income but probably also give you a loss to carry forward exempting you from tax on your property for that entire period.
I’m def missing something here so forgive me if I appear slow.
Hi @tatemono ,
Forgive me for not clearly explaining and I appreciate your persistence.
that you will make only £2,730 profit
Not quite, £2,730 is the different between using OpenRent and the estate agent over 3 years in fees where the rent is the same.
The net profit is say around £11K per anumn. Therefore, if I went with OpenRent, over 3 years would be £33K plus £2,730 but with estate agent it would be £33k
Not only is that also negligible but you are somehow able to forecast all your allowable expenses over those three years. As an example, a new boiler will not only wipe out that income but probably also give you a loss to carry forward exempting you from tax on your property for that entire period.
I hope now it’s a little clearer that the income won’t be wiped out, but I appreciate that things like boilers/fridges/washing machines etc may have to be replaced.
Firstly, you have an estate agent offering you long term management fees of 3% which is a pittance. Typical fees are north of 10% plus VAT. At 3%, I’d bite their hand off and wouldn’t be bothered posting here.
That is in the 3rd year and we have been with them these past 9 years, so there’s doing alright. But it good to know that the estate agent is driving a good deal from our side.
I feel having that I have to use the estate agent though. As I’m not their in person to meet the proposed tenant, I’m depending on the professionalism of the estate agency to do a through job. It is in their interest to get a strong tenant as any issues will mean a loss in income, not only for me but for them (albeit the get the fees and 7% in the first year)
Now I get it thanks.
As someone who was an overseas LL for over 20 years, I’d say go with the agent. You already have a working relationship, their rate is great even at 7%, you need someone on the ground in case things are difficult and you also need someone to vet applicants in person. For the sake of not even 10% of your predicted net profit, I think that’s a worthwhile expense.
Openrent ‘rent now’ is good for finding tenants if you are here and local to conduct the viewings yourself, i wouldn’t use it if i wasn’t available.
I would generally do the photos myself (or update from the prev letting), put the advert up and then you have a flurry of communication for a week or so. After a bit of back and forth comms with each I’d schedule all the viewings i thought were potentially suitable for each 15mins on he same Saturday, back to back. If about 10 people view, you would usually have a few who are keen to proceed and you then pick the most suitable. Awk them to pay a holding deposit and commission openrent to do their references.
If they pass, you both proceed and sign the contract remotely.
I certainly wouldn’t pay openrent to show tenants around your property, you then risk getting very unsuitable tenants, which is the biggest risk to your business. The people they employ to do that would not know about your property and have no interest in helping you select the right tenants, you loose that valuable f2f opportunity to assess what people are like.