I have always used agency for my rental property for years which was not much fruitful interaction or profit.
This time, I decided to use OpenRent and I am getting much interest for my property just in a day due to its size and location. My only concern about choosing quality and reliable tenants. Its the point where I lose my confidence and think to go back to Agent.
Please pour your thoghts, suggesstions and experiences.
If you dont want to use agents to manage, you can use agents for tenant -find only - just ask them the costs. They will then help screen out based on criteria you give them, and put forward to you based on this and their expertise
Good luck
Thank you David for your reply. Yes it is our second option. Though they are chargimg hefty 60% from first month rent plus other expenses for referencing, contract etc. At the end they leave decision on us to choose a tenant so how does that makes difference.
Does Agency scrutinise the tenants stricly before offering the viewing?
@Keta well it’s not in their interest to offer viewings to people who arent suitable [their time is valuable too]. So they will do some screening over the phone etc when people first request a viewing, just the same as you would. The difference is that they do this all the time so have experience and expertise you may not have. It saves your time weeding out all the calls from those who arent suitable even for a viewing. They also have experience conducting viewings and will give you objective feedback from these
You can talk to them and get a price for exactly what you want - if you want to do the referencing report through OR and the tenancy creation through OR, or the right to rent checks and ID checks yourself, that’s all entirely up to you - get them to itemise costs for each element and decide what you actually want. I’d refuse to deal with any agent who wont do that for you.
You can discuss with agent what criteria you have, what sort of tenants you’d prefer, exactly how much screening they do, and of course when they propose candidates to you with info about them you can ask follow ups for more detail before making any decisions
It can all be done yourself rather than through an agent [just like selling a property]. If you look at it from a long term perspective, half a month’s rent isnt much if it helps you get the right tenant and if you arent confident in selecting/weeding out the unsuitable ones yourself. Equally you can try DIY and follow your gut
There are things you can do to mitigate risks - get 6 months previous bank statements, checking with previous LL [or one before current LL as less likely to give false info], doing referencing reports, getting a guarantor, getting RGI, dont go ahead if you have doubts about a tenant. It’s a big decision whom you choose to rent to, you need to be confident they will take good care of your property and pay on time, and it’s hard and slow to evict people if they dont want to leave, so you are right to be cautious.
Good luck
@David240 - when can we ask for bank statement and previous LL details?
Also, for a family- 2 adults & 4 kids , can I ask age of kids considering house layout, size and overcrowding safety rule of UK?
erm whenever you like - best before you spend £ on any other referencing reports - as you might find from the bank statements or from previous LL that they are unsuitable/cant afford it
and yes of course you can ask about kids ages and anything else you want to know to understand how they plan to use your place
there are lots of lists online of ‘questions to ask tenants’
best