Letting agency or do it myself?

beatlesfan3333

Hi all, I'm planning to rent out my house in the next few months and I am a first time landlord. I spoke to a local letting agency who said they charge one month's rent and for this they do up the contract, find a tenant and vett them and check on the house every 2/3 months. If the tenant has any issues they contact me.
Some friends think I should just do up the contract myself and find the tenants myself. One month's rent would be about 800 euro so doing it myself would save me a lot of money. I could get a sample contract off other friend's who rent their homes out. I would check the irish landlord website for tips on what should be in the contract. As this is my first time being a landlord, I'd appreciate any advice on this. Should I pay the letting agency 800 euro or just do it myself? Thanks

shruikan2553

Usually the estate agents take care of any problems the tenant has. They don't seem to be offering you much.

beatlesfan3333

Yeh it would cost me 800 for the year and this just includes them finding the tenant, vetting them and checking the house every 2-3 months. They said the tenant may contact them or me if there are any issues, but the 800 doesn't include full management. Does anyone have any experience of doing all of this on their own, is it simple enough?

red dave

Will you be living in Ireland or moving abroad? I ask this because if moving abroad it may be better option to have an agency or possibly a friend or family member be a point of contact. If you're remaining in Ireland then maybe better option to do it yourself. Different agencies might provide different services, so maybe try a couple more agencies before deciding.

beatlesfan3333

I'm moving from Kildare to Dublin so the journey won't be that far if I do need to visit the house. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to shop around and see what other letting agencies can offer me, thanks.

snubbleste

Do it yourself.

K.Flyer

If you have the time to..
Do up the advertisement,
Take the all the phone call enquiries,
Meet with prospective renters,
Know how to figure out the time wasters from the genuine one,
Do a complete inventory of the property,
Know all your legal requirements,
Have correct insurance in place,
Properly vet someones references,
Put together a proper rental contract,
Arrange deposit and changeover utility accounts,
Register everything with the PRTB,
Take phone calls from the tenants complaining that a light bulb needs changing,
Have a database of people to carry out good prompt repairs as required,
And more,

The choice is yours, agency or you.

The very best of luck, renting is a minefield.

beatlesfan3333

Hi K.Flyer, thanks for the response

I've been looking into renting a lot over the last while, mainly on boards and I know, it is very complicated! But the list below is mainly things I would need to do myself. Out of the list, the only things the letting agency would look after for me are:

Do up the advertisement
Take the phone enquiries
Meet prospective renters
Know how to figure out the time wasters from the genuine one,
Do a complete inventory of the property,
Properly vet someones references,
Put together a proper rental contract

But perhaps you're right. I do feel that the letting agency would be there for me if I needed any advice though.

Grandpa Hassan

I would do it on my own if I was local. But would make sure that I had lined up a good local handyman, electrician and plumber, and have them in my phone. You don't want to be winging it, looking though the phone book for local help after something has gone wrong and you're in work or on holiday

athtrasna

It's a tax deductible expense, I'd go with the letting agent

antoinolachtnai

It depends on a few things. Do you have the time? Can you do the administrative work? It is not hard, but some people aren't good at that sort of stuff. Do you like, and are you good at dealing with people? If you do, the letting can be interesting enough work.

If you could get your friend to help you with meeting tenants, that might help you.

I do it because I'd rather have control myself of who I am letting to, because I am going to have to deal with them on an ongoing basis.

Mrs OBumble

Get quotes from a couple more agents - you should be able to get a better deal than that.

Don't forget that you would also need to deal with any problem tenants, eg anti-social behaviour, not paying rent etc. Do you have the balls to start eviction proceedings against a drug-dealer or a family with incredibly cute kids whose parents have every sob story in the book? If not, then get a professional to do it.

Seaniemac

Hi, we have a house and we`re considering letting it for a Year through an agent but if we use the agent and they can only let it for 6 or 8 months what way does the agents charges work then?

beatlesfan3333

If you pay a letting agent for the year and the tenant leaves after 6-8 months, the letting agency would need to find a new tenant for you then...I assume

ted1

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

Hi all, I'm planning to rent out my house in the next few months and I am a first time landlord. I spoke to a local letting agency who said they charge one month's rent and for this they do up the contract, find a tenant and vett them and check on the house every 2/3 months. If the tenant has any issues they contact me.
Some friends think I should just do up the contract myself and find the tenants myself. One month's rent would be about 800 euro so doing it myself would save me a lot of money. I could get a sample contract off other friend's who rent their homes out. I would check the irish landlord website for tips on what should be in the contract. As this is my first time being a landlord, I'd appreciate any advice on this. Should I pay the letting agency 800 euro or just do it myself? Thanks

There basically charging you money to put an ad on daft.

It's half an hour to put and ad on daft and print of a generic rental agreement.

It takes a few hours to show the property and select a tenant.

What value do you out about 8 hours of your life? If it's greater than 800 then get an agent if not then do it yourself .

If you got any agent who looked after the place and any issue then it would be worthwhile as tenants can be a pain in the arse to deal with.

Johngoose

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

Hi all, I'm planning to rent out my house in the next few months and I am a first time landlord. I spoke to a local letting agency who said they charge one month's rent and for this they do up the contract, find a tenant and vett them and check on the house every 2/3 months. If the tenant has any issues they contact me.
Some friends think I should just do up the contract myself and find the tenants myself. One month's rent would be about 800 euro so doing it myself would save me a lot of money. I could get a sample contract off other friend's who rent their homes out. I would check the irish landlord website for tips on what should be in the contract. As this is my first time being a landlord, I'd appreciate any advice on this. Should I pay the letting agency 800 euro or just do it myself? Thanks

Take it from me they don't check the houses from one end of the letting year to the other.They are simply a go-between,between landlord and tenants.

Mrs OBumble

Johngoose wrote: »

Take it from me they don't check the houses from one end of the letting year to the other.They are simply a go-between,between landlord and tenants.

Good agents not only check the house, they also take photos every three months and put them on the internet in a secure website which the landlord can look at.

I don't know if there are any good agents in Ireland or not. But I have one overseas who does that, and take 11% of the rental income. Well worth it, IMHO.

ted1

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Good agents not only check the house, they also take photos every three months and put them on the internet in a secure website which the landlord can look at.

I don't know if there are any good agents in Ireland or not. But I have one overseas who does that, and take 11% of the rental income. Well worth it, IMHO.

Never seen it heard of that in Ireland

shruikan2553

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Good agents not only check the house, they also take photos every three months and put them on the internet in a secure website which the landlord can look at.

I don't know if there are any good agents in Ireland or not. But I have one overseas who does that, and take 11% of the rental income. Well worth it, IMHO.

I have never had an inspection like this. They came once a few month in and just had a quick look to make sure the house still had all of its walls.

karen89

Hi, I have a house that I rent out myself, yes the agencies seem to offer a lot, but I do it myself, why, its cheaper, and yes I have the headaches but its my house and if something is going on I want to know about it, the agencies call in their own trades people, well I know a plumber and electrician and a general handyman and they would charge a lot less than the agency would bill me, I dont want to pay an electrician to change a light bulb! I have a rented house for over 10 years, pm me if you like

Santa Cruz

Like everything else in Ireland there are good letting agents and useless ones. Having said that if at all possible do it yourself

the_syco

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

If the tenant has any issues they contact me.

The main reason why you get an agent is for them to do this, unless you live abroad, so maybe you should look elsewhere.

NewCorkLad

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

Hi all, I'm planning to rent out my house in the next few months and I am a first time landlord. I spoke to a local letting agency who said they charge one month's rent and for this they do up the contract, find a tenant and vett them and check on the house every 2/3 months. If the tenant has any issues they contact me.
Some friends think I should just do up the contract myself and find the tenants myself. One month's rent would be about 800 euro so doing it myself would save me a lot of money. I could get a sample contract off other friend's who rent their homes out. I would check the irish landlord website for tips on what should be in the contract. As this is my first time being a landlord, I'd appreciate any advice on this. Should I pay the letting agency 800 euro or just do it myself? Thanks

Hi Beatlesfan, Im in the same situation as you. The best letting agent in my area seems to be DNG they have 2 options when using them. The first seems to be what you are describing and costs the first months rent. The second option is 10% of the rent and they manage everything.

Still a month or 2 away from moving but I think I will be going with the letting agent as I couldnt be dealing with bad tenants and not sure if its worth the efforts of learning the industry for 1 house, but still have to decide which route to go down.

beatlesfan3333

Hi NewCorkLad, cheers for the response. I'm not sure what the letting agency could do though if you did have a bad tenant. I'd say it's just a case of having to hassle them yourself to get them out...I've put loads of research into renting over the last while and if you know your stuff you should be okay to do it yourself. Letting agencies are good though if you don't know what you're doing. For me, I think putting the effort into it myself is worth saving myself about 800 euro so I'm considering doing it myself. Thank god we have boards.ie for any questions we might have! Renting out a house for the first time is so daunting! Best of luck with your situation, hope it goes well for you

The_Morrigan

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

Hi NewCorkLad, cheers for the response. I'm not sure what the letting agency could do though if you did have a bad tenant. I'd say it's just a case of having to hassle them yourself to get them out...I've put loads of research into renting over the last while and if you know your stuff you should be okay to do it yourself. Letting agencies are good though if you don't know what you're doing. For me, I think putting the effort into it myself is worth saving myself about 800 euro so I'm considering doing it myself. Thank god we have boards.ie for any questions we might have! Renting out a house for the first time is so daunting! Best of luck with your situation, hope it goes well for you

Whiles Boards.ie is a great resource it should not be a substitute for professional advice. Please keep this in mind when it comes to your legal and financial obligations.

beatlesfan3333

Don't worry, I was just saying that it's very useful. I wouldn't rely on it to be 100% correct about legal/ financial matters but the experience and knowledge the people on here have is very helpful. It's hard not to put a foot wrong on here. I'm new to boards and seem to be still learning...

xxtippchickxx

we're currently renting through a letting agency,as our own landlord is somewhere like an hour and a half drive away,i couldnt tell you the fees invovled or whatever but its more professional i think.... they do the viewings,find the right person for the house,if something goes wrong they send someone out to fix it,they write up the lease and any issues that arise with the tenents the letting agency sort it just seems well worth them keeping the deposit for such work and they can arrange viewing/times that suit them id say go with letting agency for less stress