memewest

There must be quite a few people on here that have decided to rent out there house instead of selling?? Or i'm hoping so...

I'm a bit stuck.

Had a letting agent out today, gave me a Rental Price for our house, which, incidentally, was the same amount as we were told in Feb this year, and gave me a shed-load of bumpf to read....

I'm not very clued up in renting out properties, never done it before, but after reading all the info she left me, am feeling really uneasy with her and the company she works for...

Seems like we have to pay for this, and pay for that, and this will be taken out of the rent, and you can add VAT onto this, this and this....and a fee for this bit and a one off fee for the other, and so on and so on...

I also didn't like the fact that they have the rent for our house put into their account, and then they will make any deductions needed before sending whats left to our account...How can you know how much your gonna get each month? and whether that figure will cover all the house costs??

She also said that if any repairs etc... needed doing they would sort all that out, what she didn't say, and what i read in her pack, is that they go ahead and replace/fix/repair whatever the problem is and deduct the money, again, from that months rent, plus all their fee's before putting whats left into our account to pay the mortgage..etc.... without letting us know whats what... I can't live not knowing whether anything has happened that will change the amount into our account and whether there will be enough to cover the bills...how would you know??

We're not looking to raise/make any money out of our house, we just want to rent it out at a price which will cover the mortgage and certain insurances and for it to basically look after itself until a time when we wish to sell.

And that was another thing i read in the bumpf. If we sold to someone who had contact with the letting agent, or who had heard of our house through them, then they also want a %age of the selling price!!

Can i ask where i'm going wrong??

Has anyone any advice on where i can turn and where i could turn to next??

This was the first person we have had out, but am now feeling down in the dumps about renting. Seems like it's not as easy as i thought it would be. Is this the normal practice for all letting agents out there? or am i being misled?

The other thing she did say is that they are not registered with the FSA, think that was the right one, whichever governs Letting Agents, and when i asked why not it was something to do with too much paperwork involved!!

So i could really do with some advice on this.... Please...

I don't want grey!!

I want Black & White!!

Kath & Graham

We're in the same position as you, makes you laugh they want 12% agents fees for what!! each month!!!

We are gonna get a clause written in about repairs etc as we have a really good friend who is a builder etc and we want him to do any repairs etc on the property not their people.

I also read about them taking the money out etc for repairs something like an extra 200 pound one off payment, bloody cheek LOL!!!

I see they are gonna check the house every 4 months and give you a written report etc. I suppose we just have to put our trust in them as there are heaps loads of people in the same stuation. Dont forget to ask for your tax exemption form from them so you dont pay tax.

I be interested to see what other people on BE have to say about this.

BTW we arnt allowing any decoarting done etc as ours is all nutural colours and I dont know about dogs and cats etc, what you doing about animals? Dont know if it will be easier if they have pets as long as they dont have a massive dog digging up the garden

Kath

memewest

These people want 12.5% fee's.

Then there's £130 + VAT setting up fee.

£10 + VAT for each page of inventory they do.

When you sign the contract then you waiver the right to any interest earned on your money whilst in their account..

There was something about the fact that we would be Overseas Landlords and thats £200 + VAT.

She said that they allow people to decorate but not dark colours and i'm thinking ' Uh, Hang on a minute....isn't that OUR decision as it is OUR house!'
Told me that we need to leave curtains and poles but to rent unfurnished...Yet i want my curtains with me?

Oh, i don't know....we're only at the beginning of trying to sort this out, and haven't even thought about whether to let Pets in aswell... It's a possible...

They also charge you a %age for finding your tenant for you in the first place and thats not included in the 12.5% fee, thats ON TOP OFF....

I'm getting really peeved now that i'm thinking out loud...

and angry...

I Just want Black and White!!

LouiseR

We've had 4 letting agents round now fee's vary from 10% to 13% (try haggling as one of them dropped 1.5% if we go with them).

The LA (letting agents) told us they would collect the money each month then pay us, that way the tenant never see's your bank details etc. They also said if there were any repairs they would sort these out and pay for them out of the monthly rent BUT if the repair was over £100 they would have to contact us to get our authority first.

Never heard about if the tenant wants to buy the house you have to pay the LA, sounds like they want their cake and eat it too, are they also an EA by any chance?

The LA's also told us we may not have to pay UK tax as we won't be residents. Don't know the Aus situation though??? We'd be making about £300 profit each month but we're thinking of leaving it in a UK bank account or with family to build up an emergency fund, flights home, repairs etc.

I can't remember any other vital bits they told us. Only thing I found weird is they charge us a setting up fee (supposedly for credit checks, contracts etc) but they also charge the tenant an initial fee too - what's that for!

Don't if any of what I said helps but we are in the same boat too, bloody housing market we wanted to sell

LouiseR

Omg your LA sounds awful! How dare they suggest they'd let people paint your house! The La's we saw suggested we leave the curtains - might encourage more tenants as they wouldn't have to buy lots of curtains that might not fit/look right in the next place they move to.

What exactly is it they want £200 + VAT for? To register you as a Non-Resident landlord? Tell them to sod off, all you need to do is fill our NRL1 form found out direct.gov.uk - I think you should speak to some others...

memewest

I'm gonna see if there are any others around....our only problem is that we are on the edge of exmoor, 15 miles to the nearest town, which is where these guys came from, and i don't know how far a LA's range is?

We haven't and we're not going to, sign with them.

Can we not find our own tenant, and then get a solicitor to draw up contracts?

And will a Solicitors office or something similar, not be able to keep an eye on the house and tenants?

I do understand some of the LA Fee's, but not all...
The LA that came out this morning used to work for an EA (estate agent) but no more, this is solely a letting agent.

Is yours done with an agent that has sole thingy....? you know, like when you sell your house and only use one agent, Sole ????? can't think what its called right now... Cause this one wants sole thingy aswell...

At least i know what not to look for in future LA's...

Not gonna give up yet.....

I will get my black and white!

simon2cairns

its a bloody nightmare!!!!!! and we have not even asked the halifax if they will let us do it yet.....it seems that you have to accept that renting is just a holding solution so you can get to aus and that it costs alot!!! ours is 14% plus £500 to find the renter!!! if they find one of course. At present you just bleed equity and money!!

LouiseR

It is suggested you inform your lender, however if you do you waive the right to payment holidays, it can be difficult (if not impossible) to get a further advance and if you did fall into arrears they are a lot less sympathetic if you're renting out the house and will often not agree to any payment plans etc.

If for instance they "found out" you were letting the property from the tenant or the agent - they aren't allowed to "mark it down" as rented out unless you say so. So for example if you say its not rented out they have to believe you.

Some building societies will want to change your interest rate as the rate you are on is a residential one and Buy To Let rates are higher.

**I work in a Building Society**

memewest

14% + £500!!

and i thought the one we had out today was bad!!

We've never had any intention of selling for the first couple of years whilst in Oz, i just didn't think renting would be quite so complicated and costly!!

Damson

The only thing I can suggest is haggle like hell on all charges. When we used to rent out we insisted that they remove the 'introduction' to a seller clause which they reluctantly did. It may be that you aren't so luck, but they will probably reduce it. At the end of it, you are the landlord and therefore the customer and therefore you can apply for additions/changes of wording to the contract. Note the word 'apply'. They may not budge, but you do have a right to protect your own interests too. Time to get tough I would say, even if they do tell you to bugger off, at least you tried. Also we got our tenants from shop window adverts and collected references etc ourselves and never had any problem at least it saved a bit. We then went to a managing agent for the rest. Good luck!

Hotton

Correct me if i am wrong dont want to sound like the grim reaper but
i was told that that Abbey wont give there approval if you are permenentley
residing oversease I dont know about other banks
Thats if you have finance on the property

memewest

Good job we're not with Abbey then.

Nationwide.

Any info on them??

Hotton

Sorry cant help i am like every one else i say thay are all an evil necessity
ok when you are in the black on your case when your in the red

Kath & Graham

Seems like their are all as bad as each other. We werent told about the initital money we have to pay for them to find a tenant??!!! Although they have told us we gotta have up to date central heating contract and electrics sorted out (OH a sparky but no certificate) so we gotta get someone else in!!!

Wish we could just sell up and go back, might lsoe but somehow this whole renting thing does my ead in

Flutterby

When we were thinking about it we told Nationwide it was a temporary move for a couple of years and they said fine. We sold in the end so didn't need to but was good to know that they were flexible.