Revealed - why some landlords do not use letting agents

I use an agent I trust to find me tenants BUT the management of the tenancies I handle myself. In many cases my tenants recommend friends who are looking for accommodation (almost an informal reference in a way) which saves me even having to pay agents fees. I have a great independent maintenance guy who can sort out everything with the properties so It's had for me to see the benefit of using an agency and paying 10-12% monthly fees to them. I don't want to say that letting agents are a bad thing in general but I have had some terrible experiences with a few over the years that has left me wary. They do an important job but when you only have a small portfolio of BTL properties to manage, for me at least I would rather manage and relate to the tenants directly.

Good agents are worth their money imo.. I wouldn’t want the legislation responsibility or tenants contacting me direct on a Sunday to say they have a leak when no plumbers answer the phone

Penny pinching DIY landlords in my experience usually come out financially worse off over the long run. Less rent, more outgoings and susceptible to taking on poorly qualified tenants.

Last year I had a landlord who came to me to find tenants as his tenants of 7 years were moving on. In all that time he had never visited the property, in all that time he had not reviewed the rent, in all that time he had not spoken with his tenants.
When I visited the house, the tenants had "decorated" made alterations including adding electrical sockets themselves, they had replaced carpets and intended to take the new carpets with them. They were paying £900 for a 3 bedroom house, in the same road we let a house 4 years ago at £1100 pcm and with annual reviews the tenants are now paying £1375 pcm.
The landlord cited our fees as being the reason that he didn't use an agent yet we would have communicated issues with decor and carpets, we would have visited the property and discussed anything with all parties, the fact that rents were not reviewed during the whole term probably meant that the landlord missed out on at least £2000 each years 2 & 3, £3000 in years 4 & 5 in lost rent and for the past 2 years maybe c£5000 pa making a total of c£20,000 in lost rents! Over that period our fees would have accounted for less than half of that figure meaning a landlord has lost out by over £10000!
The landlord spent £9,000 putting the house in order, we now manage that property! It will get annual reviews, visits once Covid permits and we will protect his investment.

• 12 October 2020 11:42 AM

Yeah but clearly this LL was an idiot.
S13 are very easy to issue.
I do one annually.

Not to visit is barmy.
Being lazy is not what you should be if you are seeking to maximise your income from rental property assets.

I make sure I am what they call a greedy LL.
I call myself an effective business man by ensuring I maximise my income wherever possible.

That is the ONLY reason I became a LL.
This LL wasn't very good at business.
For competent LL LA are an unnecessary expense

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I'm afraid I'm with Paul Barrett on this one. Maintaining a relationship with your tenants is simply good business. No business can thrive unless they cultivate a good ongoing relationship with their customers which, after all, is what your tenants are. If you don't then you get what you deserve sadly.

If Letting Agents don't start evolving - especially in the face of the new proptech out there - then they will end up going the same way as high street travel agents and become a thing of the past.