Experience of on-line letting

[Cantabriana]

But Hippo I don't get it. Is this "Tenant Find" only?

If so, then upad is a one off charge whereas with the high street agent you're locked into a percentage for the length of the tenancy aren't you?

[Hippogriff]

Yes, of course, Tenant Find only... I would never employ an Agent for an ongoing management service.

I have paid uPad upfront for advertising. I will not pay anyone else upfront, that would be nuts. Reed Rains have said I would only be charged if they find a Tenant. I am happy to do that. I do not mind paying someone if they get a result... although how they get a result is the interesting part to me. I was clear, when they phoned me up, that I will manage myself (as I do all my other properties) and I will not pay any up front fees... and they still want to come around and take photographs. So, I am happy to meet them there. I'm keeping an open mind.

[Cantabriana]

Yes, but my point is won't you be paying out a lot more to RR as they will take a cut every month the tenant is there?

How much is upad? £200-£300?

High street agents my way charge 10% of monthly rental. Every month.

[Hippogriff]

No, they won't... it's Tenant Find I want. I won't entertain any idea of ongoing payment.

I think you're talking about full management.

uPad's list price is £99 plus VAT, but I had an eCoupon to use.

[boletus]

they will take a cut every month the tenant is there?

No they won't if he only uses a tenant find service. He'll pay a single fee of (guess) £300-£400.

If he hasn't got to pay up front, sign up or agree to anything then maybe it's worth doing.

My guess is they will try to tie him into some kind of 'no-let, no-fee' contract.

[Cantabriana]

Thanks for the replies.

Hippo, no I wasn't talking about full managment. Back in 2007 I had a high street agent charge me every month for a tenant find service for five years! Yes the contract said they could do this, yes the contract terms were written in teeny font and could have challenged it. Blah, blah.

I believe some agents still do this-at least some of ones in London do.

[Hippogriff]

Yikes!

Anyway, the lady has been around and made appreciative noises. It would be around £400 plus VAT as a one-off payment from me to them. I can handle that if they find me someone. I don't care that I've paid uPad up front. She claims she has people who've expressed interest in the building, so I reckon I've nothing to lose... and I was already here anyway. She also said she's going to put it on at a *higher* price than what I've gone for.

"Good luck" I thought... and I meant it.

[Cantabriana]

Oh cool. That sounds interesting.

I forgot to mention above that the rent went through the agent which is how they were able to skim the % off. I tried to cancel it after two years but they got quite nasty. Should have called their bluff.

[Hippogriff]

Rent going through the Agent is - believe it or not - a service. A value-add service at that... they call it Rent Collection.

Anyway, back to me, uPad called me up and suggested I make some changes to the advert - they did not suggest I consider lowering the price, didn't even mention it. Asked me if I could turn more paragraphs I'd written into bullet points and whether I could either re-jig the photographs or even put up some new ones. I had some others anyway, so I've re-done the advert and expect to see the changes roll through over the next hours and day.

Yesterday, I got a real letter from OpenRent. I've never had any dealings with them whatsoever. And they've offered me a free listing. I'll keep that in the back pocket.

[Ericthelobster]

Yesterday, I got a real letter from OpenRent. I've never had any dealings with them whatsoever. And they've offered me a free listing. I'll keep that in the back pocket.

They do that for all new punters actually - but you only get 5 days of Rightmove/Zoopla for that, after which it's £29 (until it lets). In fact though, if you do it properly, you can get OpenRent to actually pay you £5 for using them - see my post here!

[Hippogriff]

Yes, I'd seen that... the interesting bit was that I'd never registered with them, or even been to their website, so they'd obviously gleaned my details through some interesting means and been pro-active.

[duckpond]

I wonder that if prospective tenants see 2 or more ads for the same property, they walk away thinking there is something wrong with it, not considering that it would be beneficial to them to go to your online ad, as their fees would be cheaper.
Must admit, I tried this myself last year with a different company for 6 weeks and went back to my normal LA guy for finding a tenant in the end (he found one within 2 weeks).
I did find the experience of doing it myself very pleasant, pity I had no takers. Very large property that has proved to be difficult to let, purely down to size.

[Hippogriff]

Reeds Rains got me a viewing yesterday, at the higher price?!?! The prospective Tenants seemed good to me and I do hope they'll consider taking it on, but they are viewing other apartments today. I could possibly have gone in for the kill yesterday but decided to hold back. The only other enquiries I've had from the uPad advert have been from other Agents. If I do manage to let it, and it's via Reeds Rains, it's going to dent my confidence in this on-line gig quite dramatically (even though I do realise the same stuff is on the same portals for everyone to see).

[Ericthelobster]

If I do manage to let it, and it's via Reeds Rains, it's going to dent my confidence in this on-line gig quite dramatically

Mm, I can understand that. It's a bit odd isn't it; but I do think there are quite a large body of prospective tenants out there who perceive renting direct from the landlord as being a bit risky or dodgy in some way, compared with going via an agent. I think they feel there's some comfort in paying several hundred pounds up front in agent fees, and that they'll end up with a better deal. Entirely fallacious of course, especially since at the outset they have no idea whether the rental will be managed by the agency or the landlord. I also think that the dodgier tenants will tend to target 'private' landlords, so they need to be weeded out too. I really don't know what the answer is.

Bar my first-ever letting, about 13 years ago, I've never been near an agent and always advertised either in the local rag or in recent years, Rightmove. I try to pitch my rents in the lower 25% of the range to undercut most of the competition, and very rarely have any problem filling vacancies promptly, with good tenants. But I do sometimes wonder, if I was to let an agency find me a tenant instead, would they get be able get me rent at 75% of the range instead, which would probably cover my agency fees?

[Hippogriff]

I was told exactly this by the Agent.

Some Tenants feel they get more protection going via an Agent. Not only do they not realise that the Agent works for the Landlord, not for them, but my situation is that I would be managing everything myself anyway, so it's only Tenant Find... yet some Tenants still feel as though applying for a property that has been put 'out there' by a recognised Agent brand, rather than uPad (which means the Landlord) they will be better off.

We laughed about it, for sure.