Got to agree with Vijay here, if anyone is capable of doing all the admin and jobs they will save a fortune, and also be more in touch with the tenants.
My experiance with Agents is they charge a fortune for any repairs, have no intrest in your well being.I had one visit a tenant of mine and offer them a place of their own they had empty whilst charging me a fee, cheeky twats. they do not give any protection.
If your not able, then you are vunerable to them.
I also dont increase rents, my tenants rarely move on( I do look after my properties ), saving me void periods and the headache of finding new tenants.
I cannot see the logic in using a managing agent if anyone can do it themselves.
It’s not like the admin is even that hard - a lot can be done by just filling in templates from a landlord association, they have everything from a complex custom AST builder to a simple consent to decorate letter. All checked over by lawyers & kept up to date with the law, not to mention landlord advice for a grand total of £90 a year. It just takes some patient reading.
I see it in a different light, not only the cash costs I’m self-employed in my regular job, i.e. work through agencies. Get between £35-£45 per hour. That is therefore the price I put on my time. So spending time learning all the inns and outs of the law, doing inspections etc. takes long and as such I would never consider charging less because it’s “just” my time.
Also, I thought about renting my property through a few high street agent a few years ago. They all quoted me rent at about £1150 (and take 10% fees) but I advertised it through Openrent and got £100 more and virtually no fees. The difference would’ve been a staggering £200 less per month, or in the three years since nearly £7000 in lost profit (less taxes). Why did they quote a lot less? They want it to rent easily, only look at comparables which don’t take into consideration the state of the flat.
If an agent is a parasite, then you as a landlord are also a parasite.
You are being very short sighted. Agents provide a service, it gives people a choice. Take it or leave it. If you had a portfolio of a certain size and still worked full time you may have a different opinion.
Some landlords do not want or are incapable of the “easy admin”. Or they just don’t want the hassle as they are enjoying their retirement or whatever they have chosen to do. The point is there’s a service available which fills the necessity. Suggesting every LL does everything themselves does not support an argument for reduced rent. There are too many other influencing factors as others have already mentioned.
Hi Bethan.
Where can I see the outcome and the findings of your discussion?
I disagree with your argument. I only used a agent on my first property. Yes they found a tenant but I had to clean up the mess. I took back control and I am in charge of who occupies my property. Yes I have to put time in but I know the job is done properly and I have had a full conversation and referencing done. I charge the going rate. At the end of the day we are not doing this for the good of our health. It is our income. The houses are spot on and any problems are sorted swiftly. One property is below market value but they always pay on the dot and take care of the property as if it was their own. They have been in it for 8 years with no problems at all. The latest property is market price but again they are excellent tenants so I dont envisage raising the rent. If they left who knows what the next tenant would be like so better to keep the good ones happy.
I’m not sure how we disagree!
I rent out at full market price at point of advertising even though I manage them myself. I would never rent at below market price. Why would I? Having said that once a tenant is in if I am happy with them and they are happy with me I wont raise the rent without good reason. My point was at point of advertising it will always be market value.
Hey Mark,
You can find the project report here:
There isn’t a write-up of the discussion as such. But you can see on page 9 of the report the conclusions drawn in terms of policy asks, particularly from insights from IPPR’s contributor on rent control/stabilisation. The young renters concluded that policy changes to bring down rent needed to begin with better data, and a landlord register would help that, and then regional policy-makers work out the best ways to bring down rent from there.
if property developers TRUELY produced affordable homes , competition and quantity will bring down prices… In west lancs a huge estate is going up with 3 ,4 and 5 bed homes Prices around £350k .Has anyone seen big estates in a good area with low cost houses for first time buyers .? Please let me know Thev law of supply and demand will always rule.
I told my agent to put my property on the market at 5.45 on Friday evening and it went on his website at 5.54 and he had to turn his phone off as he had 38 enquiries and his wife was not happy.
He came in on Saturday and shortlisted 3 of the best . What amazes me is tenants had only seen the pic via his webpage!
I think now tenants have to be proactive in the way they go about renting.
Back in May he usually get 2-3landlords put a property up for sale and in May it was 30 ! and everyone was sold within 2days .
Are you in west lancs as well? Small world. I believe some of the developers got the council to waive the requirement to make a percentage of the new housing affordable as well, or the council’s definition of “affordable” is unrealistic - I saw a few articles can’t remember the details.
It seems like most of the “affordable” market is council housing which isn’t to buy. West lancs also has council housing being developed.
Personally - I think it’s okay for the lower end of the housing market to be predominantly council housing and for private rent/own to be more of a luxury. I think a lot of the issue now is that the government set up that scheme where you can buy the council house you’re in - well intended but shortsighted.
While buying has some safeties - it also has risks. A home can be a money pit, especially for someone who isn’t skilled enough to do many of their own repairs. And while your average, able bodied person can learn to do repairs - not everyone is able bodied.
Not every housing market is healthy and I’ve known a few people who went from home ownership to having to move into rented accommodation when they retired or after becoming disabled because they couldn’t afford to buy another home even after selling theirs.
yes I am in West Lancs
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