Should you manage a let property yourself or hand that particular job over to a letting agent? That’s a classic and much-debated question that has probably been around as landlords themselves – and there’s still no definitive answer.
Here are some of the typical pros and cons in the argument to help you form some views – if you don’t already have firm views, of course:
The potential upsides to using a managing agent
- taking on the role of a landlord can be a daunting prospect – and one that is bound to absorb much of your time if you intend to go it alone;
- especially if you are a new landlord, the daunting list of responsibilities might be downright frightening. A managing agent typically may be able to ensure you and your property is compliant;
- leading on from the point above, if you do not have a sound grasp about the increasing volume of legislation and regulation relevant to your role as a landlord a letting or managing agent might be indispensable in keeping you and your buy to let business the right side of the law, suggested a guide published by the Consumers’ Association’s Which? magazine;
- an agent may be able to market your property more effectively than you can yourself – especially if you are new to the ways of the buy to let landlord;
- they may also be able to help you with cost-effective second-level services such as cleaning, garden maintenance, and the like;
- if you are a more seasoned landlord, you might simply want to escape the time-consuming business of finding, vetting, and managing tenants;
- a managing or letting agent may free up a lot of your time since they will typically take on board a significant volume of the administrative tasks involved in managing let properties (advertising for and finding tenants, showing them around, taking inventories, and so on);
- your letting agent maintains a buffer between you and your tenants, so avoiding your need to get personally involved in resolving every single issue that arises during the course of any tenancy. Your agent should field all initial tenant calls, so you may find that you do not need to maintain a permanent telephone presence yourself;
- they may also be able to shield you from minor disputes that might arise with tenants from time to time.
The potential downsides to using a managing agent
- on the downside, a managing or letting agent will, of course, take a percentage of your rental income – and for some landlords that might seem a disproportionate or unreasonable amount;
- some agents may be tardy in escalating issues or even raising them with you at all in line with your own judgement – you will then need to instruct them more closely and hold them fully to account;
- their presence on and around your property may complicate your legal liabilities and your requirements for let property insurance – for example, in certain situations, the law may interpret managing agents on your property to be acting as your employees and that may introduce issues relating to your need for employers’ liability cover;
- relationships with tenants may sometimes be confused by having a third party involved and misunderstandings might arise a little more easily than would be the case if you always had direct personal contact; and
- strict legal liabilities may also become blurred in some situations – if you appoint agents and they make statements or issue undertakings on your behalf to tenants or other third parties, then you may be bound by them even if you subsequently find that you are not in agreement.
Each individual landlord may have his or her own views about managing agents. It’s a big subject and one worth thinking about carefully.
