avoiding letting agents?
Posted: February 14th, 2022, 4:25 pm
This is in part a rant about letting agents, in part a request for advice on whether it is possible to avoid them.
I have a house let to students in Manchester. I have used two different letting agents and have also discussed this issue with other landlords in a similar predicament who have used other agents in the area.
I don’t say this lightly, but consensus seems to be that all local letting agents dealing with students lettings are extremely incompetent and dishonest. My experience sadly confirms this.
There is without a doubt a predatory culture that is exacerbated by high staff turnover.
Any complain from landlord or tenants, no matter how reasonable and justified, is met with a difensive attitude. There is never an attempt to find out what really happened, only a formulaic list of excuses aimed at evading responsibility and avoiding losing any money.
The industry is plagued by the use of dishonest contractors for repairs and maintenaince. The landlord has two options: either they check every single problem personally and get independent quotes, or they accept to massively overpay for all sort of real and imaginary issues.
While I have no direct proof that kickbacks are routine, I have no doubt in my mind that this is the case.
I expect people to reply that good letting agents do exist. I am sure that this is the case, but most definitely not in Manchester students market.
Given this state of things, I am considering avoiding agents altogether and trying DIY. My problem is that every year I spend months away from Manchester and so I would have to fix potential issues from far away. Has anybody got first hand experience of this? Can anybody advise on effective strategies? I know some builders/plumbers/electricians but they are not always available when I need them and I would most likely have to find new ones quickly on certain occasions.
If you think this is the definition of hell, I do not disagree. On the other hand, this house (owned outright) provides me with some diversification from shares that in this time of uncertainty I am very reluctant to give up.
What would you do in my shoes?
I have a house let to students in Manchester. I have used two different letting agents and have also discussed this issue with other landlords in a similar predicament who have used other agents in the area.
I don’t say this lightly, but consensus seems to be that all local letting agents dealing with students lettings are extremely incompetent and dishonest. My experience sadly confirms this.
There is without a doubt a predatory culture that is exacerbated by high staff turnover.
Any complain from landlord or tenants, no matter how reasonable and justified, is met with a difensive attitude. There is never an attempt to find out what really happened, only a formulaic list of excuses aimed at evading responsibility and avoiding losing any money.
The industry is plagued by the use of dishonest contractors for repairs and maintenaince. The landlord has two options: either they check every single problem personally and get independent quotes, or they accept to massively overpay for all sort of real and imaginary issues.
While I have no direct proof that kickbacks are routine, I have no doubt in my mind that this is the case.
I expect people to reply that good letting agents do exist. I am sure that this is the case, but most definitely not in Manchester students market.
Given this state of things, I am considering avoiding agents altogether and trying DIY. My problem is that every year I spend months away from Manchester and so I would have to fix potential issues from far away. Has anybody got first hand experience of this? Can anybody advise on effective strategies? I know some builders/plumbers/electricians but they are not always available when I need them and I would most likely have to find new ones quickly on certain occasions.
If you think this is the definition of hell, I do not disagree. On the other hand, this house (owned outright) provides me with some diversification from shares that in this time of uncertainty I am very reluctant to give up.
What would you do in my shoes?