Letting Agent Recommendation in Waterford for a new landlord

DinaKK

Hi all,

Go easy here as it is my first post!

It looks like I will have to move away for work in the immediate future for a prolonged period (minimum of 2 years) and I am going to have to rent out my house which is completely new to me.

Can anyone offer a recommendation for a good letting agent for landlords. I will be looking for it to be managed by the letting agent and not just "let-only".

I know book-a-room are big in the local market but I know nothing much about any of them having never rented or been a landlord before.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I posted here rather than in the accommodation & property forum as I am looking for local specific knowledge. Apologies if this is the wrong forum for such a request.

Thanks all.

Digital Society

Book a Room have a pretty bad reputation in Waterford. Their owner was on here years ago apologizing but people still to this day have complaints constantly.

They always seem to add 50-100 onto the going rate of other agencies so i assume that is them overcharging the landlords and the landlords simply passing it on. Either that or they encourage landlords to collectively push up prices as they have a large market share. Either way it just leads to a bad experience for everyone.

Maybe Heffernans. They seem to be reliable enough.

deise blue

Do not use book a room , they managed a property for me & they were useless.

Unfortunately I cannot offer an alternative recommendation but I'm sure somebody else will assist you.

Jambo

DinaKK wrote: »

Hi all,

Go easy here as it is my first post!

It looks like I will have to move away for work in the immediate future for a prolonged period (minimum of 2 years) and I am going to have to rent out my house which is completely new to me.

Can anyone offer a recommendation for a good letting agent for landlords. I will be looking for it to be managed by the letting agent and not just "let-only".

I know book-a-room are big in the local market but I know nothing much about any of them having never rented or been a landlord before.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I posted here rather than in the accommodation & property forum as I am looking for local specific knowledge. Apologies if this is the wrong forum for such a request.

Thanks all.

Do a search on the site for bookaroom and Im sure you will quick form an opinion on them.

FYI They seem to have rebranded under the name Liberty Blue, I guess nothings changed other than the name.

DinaKK

Thanks for your responses. I think I will steer clear of book-a-room. Did the search as recommended and the feedback certainly isn't good.

I will talk to Heffernan Estates. I saw positive feedback elsewhere on here about Andrea Toner who is in the Heffernan practice.

We bought our house through Michael Guiry so will give him a call too to see what he offers. We found him good to deal with on the house but again managing a property is totally different.

If anyone else has any advice to offer it would be greatly appreciated.

Digital Society

DinaKK wrote: »

Thanks for your responses. I think I will steer clear of book-a-room. Did the search as recommended and the feedback certainly isn't good.

I will talk to Heffernan Estates. I saw positive feedback elsewhere on here about Andrea Toner who is in the Heffernan practice.

We bought our house through Michael Guiry so will give him a call too to see what he offers. We found him good to deal with on the house but again managing a property is totally different.

If anyone else has any advice to offer it would be greatly appreciated.

Id love to know why a place like Book A Room gets a place and adds 50-100 quid onto the price of others in the same areas by other agencies. Is it just the landlord who decides or are they encouraged to raise the price by Book A Room for any reason such as covering extra costs?

I wonder does someone walk in there and get a shock when they realise how much Book A Room charge for fees then Book A Room jump in and say they should simply raise the price to cover it or is it just straight up greed from the start.

You would think that they have an incredible service the way they charge extra but its the exact opposite so neither the landlord or the tenant seems to come better off because of it.

callaway92

Digital Society wrote: »

Id love to know why a place like Book A Room gets a place and adds 50-100 quid onto the price of others in the same areas by other agencies. Is it just the landlord who decides or are they encouraged to raise the price by Book A Room for any reason such as covering extra costs?

I wonder does someone walk in there and get a shock when they realise how much Book A Room charge for fees then Book A Room jump in and say they should simply raise the price to cover it or is it just straight up greed from the start.

You would think that they have an incredible service the way they charge extra but its the exact opposite so neither the landlord or the tenant seems to come better off because of it.

The landlord has the amount they want e.g €1000 a month. The agency can charge as much as they want on top of that. If the house/rooms don't get leased then the agency can lower the price from their cut until it gets rented. If they don't get it rented at all he house owner won't get charged at all, and probably is also a lost client.

Digital Society

Yeah that makes sense. So Bookaroom have the power to just jack up the prices and then go on LinkedIn posting philosophical bull**** about the rental market when its them ****ing it up behind closed doors for everyone.

I always wondered why a Landlord would be so greedy to ask for 850 for a house then leave it empty for months when they could have it let for 750 and not lose out on the months rent.

Makes sense that its Bookaroom who couldnt give a **** once they get the extra few Euro and get to keep rental prices high.