Go with letting agent or self let?

Getting a good letting agent is beyond difficult but it does give you a layer of separation between you and the tenants, stops you getting calls in the middle of the night. I'd look for references for letting agents as much as I would for tenants. Make sure they know exactly what you want in terms of tenants. You will pay extra for management as well as letting but it's tax deductible and worth it in terms of regular inspections etc

No you dont, nothing of the sort in the legislation to that end. A landlord then providing equipment they dont have to will somewhat make it so they should continue providing if they did so initially, plus if anyone injured themself using it, the landlord could bear some responsibility or run the risk of being faulted. Just include it in the lease that the gardne is to be kept, if they want a property with a garden, they should expect to have to keep it in a useable condition themselves and ensure it is in the lease to be in the same condition as it is/was originally condition upon departure, assuming they ever depart.

Based on the massive assumption by the OP that

"The obvious advantages of a letting agent is it likely reduces the risk of dodgy tenants as they’ll have a list of tenants and will do some of the vetting. Cons is they’ll obviously take a %."

They either have a sense of humour, OR have zero clue what they are letting themself in for.

There are good agents as well as bad.

When we started out with a house to rent we used an agent and they were useless. The tenant after a month decided they did not want to go to work( on a work permit) and wanted social to pay the rent etc. The agent said why not leave them in for a few months! Then we would have to pay back the money to the social as they were not entitled to rent allowance or anything else and they would have to be deported. I said I would sue the agent for allowing such things to happen…few days later deposit appeared in my letterbox. Agent still working to this day. They don’t care.

If you are near to the property then maybe manage it yourself. If it is good order then you would not have much to do.

As robo said you can vet them yourselves.make sure you check every reference as some are fake and they could be from a landlord wanting to get rid of the tenant so take the most recent with a pinch of salt. Go onto Facebook and Twitter etc and search out your potential tenant. You really cannot believe what you can see going through their profiles. I had one potential tenant that said they were not into parties, family is important etc. Checked the Facebook profile and I saw drug taking and comments about parties and not going to work. Slagging landlords you don’t know the half of it.

Dont forget if you lived in the house there are some very jealous neighbours so make sure the tenant you put in will suit the area. You don’t want a neighbour contacting you complaining about noise and bringing you to rtb as a 3rd party complaint. Had such a thing. We engaged in a solicitor so they could not try it again. All made up by the way.

Take pictures and make sure you have some sort of way to register the pictures date. Newspaper in the photo.

Have a contract but note indefinite tenancies are here and they can stay after 6 months. Put in a clause no subletting and note on animals that any damage they have to pay for. Had a tenant have a dog that chewed skirting etc.

Be warned you can have a great tenant and you can also have a bad tenant. You never know until they are ready to move to another property.

If it is the first time rented out then if you go for the highest rent you may get people requesting Hap. Check the levels in your area. Houses are now being inspected by the council and remediation can be costly to bring up to today’s code. Check what is required. You will need to put window latches in, vented extractors etc. You might be better with unfurnished so less damage.

Alot to think about.

Wouldn't bother with an agent. TBH you're better off finding and vetting tenants yourself. Setup an email address specifically for the property and filter everything through it. Similarly if your biggest concern is dealing with a lot of calls from your tenant a prepay mobile that you can stick in a drawer and look at every now and again is cheaper than management fees. However a good tenant shouldn't be ringing you all the time unless you're ignoring them and not dealing with real problems. A good tenant will understand that you can't fix a leaky tap or repair a washing machine at 2AM and will understand that it takes time to get there yourself or get someone out to do a repair

In much the same position as Robo. Renting my house just over three years. (First tenants stayed three years and new tenants in a few months)

Didn’t see much point in paying a letting agent a month’s rent for a job I can do myself.

Agents don’t compensate you for non paying or destructive tenants and many of the agents I researched seemed to be quite lax at responding to tenant’s issues in a timely manner, which can lead to bigger problems and disgruntled tenants.

I also wanted to vet, meet and pick my own tenants and build a rapport with them.

Admittedly it takes some time to advertise, go through enquiries and check references etc.

So far the house was advertised twice.

First time I had 120 enquiries which I narrowed down to just two people to view the house.

One showed up, the other didn’t. So that made it very easy.

And last time (this year) I had a similar amount and again narrowed viewings down to just two sets of prospective tenants.

In the last 3+ years, only once, did I receive an after hours call (due to a leak)

All it took was a couple of phone calls to a plumber, insurance company etc.

As for garden maintenance, I go up once in Springtime, to power wash patio paving and if the hedges / grass need cutting I’ll do it, but really the tenants keep the grass and hedges themselves.

I’ve been blessed with the tenants in fairness, the last tenants left the house absolutely immaculate, always paid on time, and no issue whatsoever with neighbours etc.

And my two new tenants so far as equally as lovely.

I can’t speak to what’s it’s like to have an agent but I can say, I personally feel more secure knowing that my tenants are happy, and they know if an issue arises, they can lift the phone to me and know I’ll have their issue sorted for them ASAP.

A good landlord/ tenant relationship goes a long way. I’m not sure I’d have that, had I gone through a letting agent.

Just my limited experience so far.

This peace of mind is worth it. I've both let myself and used agent in the past, and would never let myself again. That call on a Sunday evening that the heating doesn't work...

I would never use an agent who didn't immediately call out a plumber / heating person to sort this out on a Sunday.

I don't think you understood me. It was the letting agency job to get tenants and do all that work. Then they use the landlord as an excuse not to pick people.

I Thought that was why they charged you money, and they did the interviews of prospective tenants. Any place I've ever rented it was the estate agents who met me ,