advice - renting out a house

[DiD]

Hello! We're looking to move overseas for a couple of years, and want to rent our house out with the minimum fuss possible, but ideally to get a decent return, as we need some income to fund our adventure. Its a 4 bedroom (loft conversion) Victorian terrace, (one room currently an office, but could fit a small double) with a large eat-in kitchen and a courtyard garden (about 20x20) in the Bellenden road area. Its in good decorative order.

Roughly speaking, how much do people think is reasonable to charge? Is it better to use an agent or go private? Which agents do people recommend? And can one leave their furniture in the house or should it be unfurnished? And how hard is it to rent a house out?

Residents only - no responses from agents please!

Advice welcome! thanks.

[Marmora Man]

Use a reputable agent. Fees are around the 8% mark. They will maximise the rent for you and, probably more importantly, vet all prospective tenants, arrange for repairs and other stuff you don't want to sorting out via Internet cafes and a 10 hour time difference from Sidney, Australia.

[seemster]

I would agree it's important to use an agent, they just need to be good. I've done it before, living abroad and having a tenanted property managed here, and it worked out really well. Can't recommend the agents as they're small and local to my old area.

Closer to home daisylets have a really good reputation, and they specialise in taking the hassle out of lettings arrangements, but - *disclaimer* - I have never actually used them and I know Claire who runs it. I'd say give her a call and have a chat or look for others who have used them for more accurate opinions :-)

[MrBen]

See here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,963741,966076#msg-966076

I personally would not pay an agent for lettings. Fix everything before you go, buy decent boiler and land lord insurance and take out anything that a tenant could break. Find a good handyman and give him a small retainer before you go. You'll still save.

Where are you off to if you don't mind me asking?

[Loz]

MrBen Wrote:

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> Find a good handyman and give him a small retainer before you go. You'll

> still save.

And for that I'd really recommend Dea Hing at Dulwich Multitrade (http://dulwichmultitrade.co.uk/)

[MrBen]

I forgot to add - advertise it on this forum. It works brilliantly for prospective tenants and landlords alike. But don't forget to donate something if you're quids in.

[red devil]

Follow MrB's good advice. Also give your tenant the name of a good heating engineer* and electrician.

Lots of good recommendations on here such as Peter Bennison and John Powers for heating, and Gary Vu for electrics.

If you've got a friend or family member who can 'pop by' every 6 months, so much the better.

*You will need to speak to a heating engineer to get a Gas Safety cetificate, which you need by law if renting out...

[Sue]

Be very very careful.

Definitely try to get someone you know to keep an eye on your house and on the agent. And I don't think every 6 months is sufficiently frequent.

I've had bad experiences (including when I went travelling and let out my house) and so have friends of mine, including one who for some obscure legal reason had no recourse when tenants weren't paying rent and the agent (to whom he was paying an arm and a leg) said there was nothing they could do. As my friend was living in Sydney, it was a nightmare for him trying to sort it out.

Use an agent if possible where you have personal recommendations. I came back to find bills unpaid and the landline disconnected (less of a problem these days of mobiles, of course). Plus the agent's (lack of) checking the inventory was absolutely pathetic.

I really didn't know what I had actually been paying the agent for, as they appeared to do f*** all.

[DiD]

Eek, all sounds rather daunting, but thanks for the advice. MrB, no firm plans yet re: location.

re: the 8% does that include finding and vetting tenants? I'm assuming that doesn't guarantee rent if there's a vacancy?

[sheilarose]

We let out our house for 6 months while we were in Australia and used an estate agent. It all worked out fine, but one thing we hadn't realised is that the estate agent didn't pay us the rent every month as they received it, but paid it quarterly. I had been relying on a nice regular monthly payment to cover the mortgage and was rather unpleasantly surprised to find this wasn't the case.