Using an agent to rent apartment

nino1

I am renting a one bed apartment in Dublin and considering the pro's and cons of using an agent.
At the moment I'm thinking I can do it all myself and don't need one but I would like to investigate it anyways.

The key thing I am looking for is that we secure reliable trustworthy tenants.

Anyone know how an agent gets tenants. Do they just put an ad up on daft like I would myself?
I assume vetting the tenants is simply looking for references just like I could ask myself?

not sure if its worth it either for any repairs etc in the house. Its just as easy for me to ring a plumber than pay them to.

Would be very interested to hear people's experiences.

djimi

nino1 wrote: »

Anyone know how an agent gets tenants. Do they just put an ad up on daft like I would myself?
I assume vetting the tenants is simply looking for references just like I could ask myself?

Pretty much, yeah. A good agent might have developed a knack for sensing a potentially troublesome tenant, and in a smaller local area they might have prior experience with dealing with some people who know who can be trusted and who to avoid, but ultimately they cant/wont do anything that you cant do yourself. Any agent that I have ever rented from (as a tenant) has asked for the most basic of references.

username123

I had problems with neighbours who were renting a property beside me in an apartment block - they were dealing with a letting agent. He was entirely useless in addressing the problems. We (as in, myself and other affected neighbours) eventually stopped bothering contacting him with complaints and went through the management company instead and they were able to bypass the letting agent and track the owner (obviously they had the owners details and would not give them out to us). Only then did anything change.

So it seemed like the owner had to get involved anyway when there were problems.

Thats just a perspective from a neighbours pov.

the world wonders

nino1 wrote: »

The key thing I am looking for is that we secure reliable trustworthy tenants.

You yourself will probably be more motivated than a letting agent to get a reliable tenant -- if the tenant turns out to be a nightmare then the agent will not refund the letting fee.

If you do decide to go with a letting agent, at least make sure that they are properly registered and licensed:
http://psr.ie/website/npsra/npsraweb.nsf/page/publicregister-reg-of-propserv-prov-en

This isn't a guarantee of anything as my current letting agent is on there and he's a total cowboy who doesn't know (or pretends not to know) how a Part 4 tenancy works. But at least they will be insured...

Mrs OBumble

Calling the plumber is the easy bit.

Imagine that you get a lovely young professional couple as tenants. All good at first. Then she gets preggers, has a baby - and they start not paying the full rent, or paying late. Eventually they stop paying. Very apologetic, lots fo excuses .. not no money is forthcoming.

Do you have the balls (or whatever) to kick them out, young baby and all?

If not, then engage a good property manager, who specialises in managing rentals.

fisher8181

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Calling the plumber is the easy bit.

Imagine that you get a lovely young professional couple as tenants. All good at first. Then she gets preggers, has a baby - and they start not paying the full rent, or paying late. Eventually they stop paying. Very apologetic, lots fo excuses .. not no money is forthcoming.

Do you have the balls (or whatever) to kick them out, young baby and all?

If not, then engage a good property manager, who specialises in managing rentals.

There is nothing a property manager can do in this situation that you cannot do yourself.

I doubt there would be many people who "don't have the balls" to kick out someone not paying rent regardless of their circumstances.

The problem is that neither the op nor the property manager would have the authority to kick someone out in those circumstances so a property manager is of no benefit.

Mrs OBumble

fisher8181 wrote: »

There is nothing a property manager can do in this situation that you cannot do yourself.

I doubt there would be many people who "don't have the balls" to kick out someone not paying rent regardless of their circumstances.

The problem is that neither the op nor the property manager would have the authority to kick someone out in those circumstances so a property manager is of no benefit.

You might be surprised at just how gulliable and conflict-avoiding some people are: lots would have difficult even asking about missing rent, far less starting legal proceedings. (eg see the other thread that's going about the person who has a colleague who's moving out and hasn't paid the last week's rent- they're raging at having to ask). An expereienced property manager is well used to having difficult conversations about money, which may include tears and or threats.

And agreed, neither a landlord or an agent can kick someone out at a moments notice, there is a legal process to be followed, But at the end of that process there is an eviction. And along the way there are lots of emotional-blackmail moments involving comments about poor innocent children who are going lose the only home they've ever known. As well as some court appearances where the landllord is always the bad-guy.

jd83

As long as the landlord is aware of his\her obligations under tenancy law I dont see why he cant just do it himself.

All my dealings with letting agents have been awful. Im a tenant, Ive had them not show up to viewing, not return calls etc. The apartment im in now the landlord used one. They asked for references which I gave and they never bothered checking.

I think the landlord will do a far better job checking potential tenants than any letting agent will do. Letting agent just wants to get someone in quickly so they can get their money.

Just do a search of this forum and you will see lots of complaints about them.