Do you do it all yourself, or get in an agent to manage the property and the whole letting process on your behalf?
So how do you make this choice?
Here are of the main jobs you'll have as a new landlord.
Finding your tenants
The one truth of all tenants is that they'll always leave you in the end. You need to know where to advertise, and you need to think about how much you're willing to pay to find new tenants. If you want to use an agent, check where they advertise. Do they have a web site? Do they guarantee to feature your property with a photo in the local newspaper? You should also budget for your property to be unoccupied, with no rental coming in, for one month out of every twelve.
Sorting out the contract with the tenant
You can do this yourself. You can get sample letting contracts from some bookshops and newsagents. These DIY contracts typically give a step-by-step guide on what you need to consider and sort out. Beyond the basic terms - notice periods, rental, and payment terms - you'll also need to think about how much deposit you need. An agent will, of course, sort a lot of this out for you which can give extra peace of mind.
Doing a proper inventory check
Even if you're letting the property unfurnished, you'll want to agree the inventory with your new tenant up front. If you're adding furniture, kitchen white goods and so on, you'll definitely want to agree their condition upfront with whoever is moving into your buy-to-let property.
With an agent you'll get an independent person to come to the property, and create the inventory. They will hold the deposit, and at the end of the rental assess any damage done. It can simplify matters greatly at a time you want to be focused on finding the new tenant and not sorting out arguments over damages and the deposit of the last tenant.
Keeping your property well-maintained.
The bane of any landlord's life is things going wrong with the property. The Primary Law of the Buy-to-Let Universe is that more things will go wrong more often with your buy-to-let than they will with your own property. To be prepared you need to have budget set aside. You also need to know good, reliable tradespeople to take care of random leaks, boiler problems, locks, windows and so on. Again, using an agent will eat into your budget but should generally give you peace of mind, as the agent will handle most day-to-day maintenance issues on your behalf.
In summary then...
You can take the do-it-yourself route if you don't want to pay out for an agent, but if you do then be prepared for the extra maintenance costs, hassles, and random phone calls at 2 in the morning from your tenants!
