Do it yourself or hire?

A lot of landlords like to hire estate agents here in the UK to find tenants for their homes and the estate agents are the ones that do all the credit checks and any other paperwork that needs doing, this is all done for a fee. Would you do it yourself or would you hire? l am not sure at the moment what l'm going to do because if l do it myself there is no fee but l might end up with some undesirable tenants.

 

I have a property manager who takes care of absolutely everything. Yes, he takes his fee out of the rent checks, but distance doesn't make it possible to do it any other way. I'm very glad that we didn't have to decide on tenants... the manager did all that and I'm very glad for that.

 

When the tenant is good, we ask that manager? Otherwise, when the tenant is tricky, because I'm not a manager?

 

I don't directly own any rental property but if I would then I'd do it myself. Saves on costs and quite frankly I'd like to personally meet my tenant. The paperwork part is a bit of a pain in the backside though.

 

I think I'd go for it. It's always nice to have a few layers between renter and rentee. This seems like a professional way to do that.

 

Unfortunately there's not a "one size fits all" approach to this choice. As someone who has both managed my rentals myself and employed property management companies, I'd ask you to consider your own needs and capabilities. Do you have time to manage your properties yourself, are you prepared for the possibility that being a land lord (depending on your properties and tenants) can at times require a work load that may feel like a full time job in its own right? How close do you live to your properties? Do you have property management experience and feel capable as a property manager? Do you know who you would call if you needed a repair, a side-walk shoveled, a roof re-done, a back-ground check on a potential tenant? Perhaps most importantly, do you think you would ENJOY being a hands on manager of your rental properties? This is the sort of line of thought you have to follow and if you're able to be honest with yourself and have the appropriate insights into your situation your next move should be fairly clear.

 

End Thread. Haha you are so right, it depends on so many factors and each has its own pros/cons

 

I'd say to try to do it yourself for a little while, but if you find that you have trouble getting people interested, then go for an estate agent, who can reach a lot more people and the fee is usually not that high for the hassle they save you, especially with the paperwork.

 

I have had several tenants on a do it yourself basis and each and everyone of them has taken my kindness for weakness, so for a small fee, tables have turned and am hiring...its been stressful but now i can see the sun shining, no more sleepless nights

 

I am liking how you put it...true, very true indeed and frankly that is the path am taking, after dealing with tenants from ....