Why landlords should use letting agents rather than renting themselves

Being a landlord myself I have over the years rented my properties both ways and here’s why I would always use a letting agent…

1. It’s not personal – A letting agent has the responsibility of looking after your property so we have to get the right tenants. If you are renting the property yourself privately you will advertise the property and meet the prospective tenants at your property. More often than not, the tenants will put you on the spot and ask for it there and then, and being your property, sometimes saying NO isn’t easy. Whereas a good letting agent has no problem saying NO, we are currently interviewing a number of clients and we will come back to you.
2. A letting agent will fully reference any prospective tenants. You can’t judge a book by the cover and neither can you judge another person. Sometimes the tenant seems ideal but an in-depth credit check or previous address check un-covers mountains of debt and un paid bills.
3. A managed property is an inspected property. As a landlord you can inspect the property yourself, but with the tenants there it can be an uncomfortable process and most landlords (myself included) skim through the property as quickly as possible. An inspection using a letting agency means the property manager goes to the property with a clip board and a pen in order to thoroughly check your property, checking kitchen cupboards, all rooms, cooker etc and if there are any problems a good letting agent has no problem confronting the issues with the tenants and explaining that it needs to be put right.
4. Can you keep up with all the new legislation? So here are some of the checks that landlords have an obligation to perform. Right to rent checks, gas safety checks, legionella risk assessment, issuing the correct AST, deposit protection regulation, smoke and CO2 alarms etc etc. We have to keep up with all the legislation!
5. It takes all the hassle away… We deal with any hassle so you don’t have to.
6. A letting agent will collect your rent and credit your bank account normally within 72 hours, and if any one is late paying for any reason they can chase the payment, without you having to worry about any awkward conversations. They have an obligation to get you the rent due.
7. Those pesky maintenance issues. If you are ‘hands on’ you can deal with them yourself or for most landlords that have a managed property with a letting agent, the letting agent provide you with a couple of competitive prices and the biggest inconvenience you as a landlord have is to say yes or no.

A good letting agent is worth the fee, let them worry about your property so you don’t have to.