posh10

Hi all,

just wondering how may of u renting house out use a leeting agents or if anyone does it themselves with friends helping.

Diane

asher

I would use an agent as long as I had a personal recommendation of that agent as if you have a good agent it is as hassle free as possible

PaddyHaHa

Are we talking letting in the UK or Oz?

Mrs PHH

posh10

renting in uk.

thribble

We're renting our house out, using an agent. Don't get me started. I'll just give the tips:

1 - if you can get a personal recommendation, take it. But don't blame the recommender if you don't agree afterwards - it's not worth a friendship.
2 - Tenants can have all the references in the world and still trash your house. In that circumstance, better to have an agent than a friend. Again, it's not worth a friendship with one of you under severe pressure.
3 - It's hard to deal with rental agencies from the other side of the world. They do not employ rocket scientists, and in our case, they seem incapable of employing people who can remember that we're in Australia, look up the time, and not call at 3am.
4 - If you love your house/flat, and can't bear to think of the walls you painted, kitchen you installed, etc, being damaged, then seriously consider if renting is for you.
5 - If you want a bolt hole, an investment, etc, then consider renting!

We've had a terrible experience, but I don't regret renting it out (most of the time!) and I certainly wouldn't have put friends through the guilt that they would have felt over what happened.

posh10

Hi Thribble,

thanks for that. we have got a recommendation from a friend and they seem quite nice. Our friend as offered to look after the arrangments as he rents lots of houses out anyway. what do u do regards tax etc. ??

where are u in melbourne we heading mornington in may !!

Diane

thribble

We do tax here and in the UK. We basically work out that we don't ever owe anything in the UK - we're Non-Resident Landlords, so it doesn't get taken off at source, and our rent doesn't cover all the costs associated with the place, so we're okay. We have an accountant do our tax here, and I don't worry about it too much!

We're in South Melbourne - no kids, so sea views and city lifestyle Mornington's lovely, though. I sometimes envy those out there where it's pretty.

rockpeblar

We rented through an agent that handled a lot of local properties. In fact one of their employees lived next door to us. The neighbour on the other side is a copper and said he'd be straight round if he thought there was any trouble It's been approx 9 months now and so far so good

posh10

Hi all,

well had an agent around and going with hem, feel much more settled in my head regards renting now. so if any problems the agent will sort it. plus more money to pay mortgage.

Diane

cheers bout tax XX

Wilgar

Certainly go with an agent as in the long run an agent is looking out for your interests as he is being paid. We let a house in Uk thro an agent and its actually been let thro` same agent for many years and our moving here has made no difference to the service recieved. One thing to factor in is eg. tennants need a new cooker/roof blows off in a storm etc. We had some pretty hefty bills just as we were settling here which was a bit of a pain.Go for a well known local agent near the house .