Do I need a letting agent?

Do I need a letting agent?

The UK has one of the highest numbers of buy-to-let landlords globally, a third of the properties in the UK are rentals. Despite this fact, many landlords are quitting the market amid the flurry of tax rises and additional headaches involved. 

Managing rental properties can sometimes be a bit of a minefield, and in most cases, you can avoid the troubles by merely renting your property through a professional letting agent. 

There are numerous reasons and benefits as to why you would use a letting agent.

· Legislation

The most important and forever changing aspect of the lettings industry

Even for the professional landlords, this can be quite daunting and a nightmare to navigate, so can you imagine as a new landlord the effect this can have on you.

Not keeping up with the compliance could potentially land you in a heap of legal trouble.

From the ‘Electrical Safety Standard 2020’, mandatory ‘Gas safety Regulation 1998’ or the recent consultation from the UK Government to the amended ‘Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulation 2015’. 

As lettings agents, we are legally bound to know the legislation, understand it and abide by it. So, compliance is a crucial focus for us. So why not save yourself the headache of reading through all the legal jargon, compliance, and possible future disasters. 

My job as the letting’s manager and a responsible agent is to make sure that my landlords are kept up to date with regulations and have all the documents needed. 

· Time.

What is time? Time is familiar to everyone, yet it is hard to define and understand. Science, philosophy, religion, and the arts have different definitions of time, but the system of measuring it is relatively consistent.

The phrase, ‘time is money’ has never been so relevant. 

As a self-managing landlord, the last thing you would need is a tenant(s) calling you up in the middle of the night to inform you that the light bulb in the hallway is not working. I have many examples of my landlord’s telling me of situations that they have encountered, all of which have been entirely unnecessary in the first place. 

As your letting agent, this task falls to us, and we have processes in place for events like this. Allowing your letting agent to step up and manage the day-to-day ups and downs a tenant encounters frees you up to focus on other things. 

· Opportunities to grow your portfolio

We have done our research, so we are in the know. We have mortgage advisers that can arrange your finances, estate agents that can source properties for you. We can offer advice on which properties and areas to invest in and target the right tenants.

We pride ourselves on knowing many of the tenants in our area personally and the landlords. So, when someone thinks of selling a potential buy-to-let property, we often get the nod before anyone else. And that makes us a precious source of insider information for you. 

So, whether you want to grow from one property to three, or from ten to fifty, you will love the fact we have someone to help you at every stage of your journey.  

· Rental Income

This is why most people invest their money in properties, to achieve a regular income. This helps cover the mortgage payment, service charge, ground rent, maintenance, and a good idea to have extra money for future expenses. 

Managing a property can seem like a walk in the park when everything is going well. Your tenant pays on time and never misses, but sometimes the rent can be late for various reasons; loss of job, separation, or more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, which the world was not expecting. 

For landlords, chasing rent arrears can be frustrating, especially when they have built a rapport with the tenant that has been living in the property for several years. 

As the letting agent, we are acting as a neutral, once the personal element is removed. Our role is very proactive, understanding, and professional. 

· Peace of mind 

According to the Oxford dictionary, peace of mind is a mental state of calmness or tranquillity, freedom from worrying and anxiety’. 

Stop worrying about legislation like the ’Tenant Eviction Ban’ following Covid-19, which has been changed a few times already. Do not worry about the Electrical Safety Inspections that are required on all existing tenancies as of April 2021. 

Property visits might be suspended currently due to the pandemic, but they are an integral part of managing a property. Landlords self-managing but living in a different part of the country might find it hard to visit the property that holds a sentimental value to them, thus not regularly visiting. 

Lettings agents have already built a rapport with the tenants when they viewed the property and moved in, so it becomes easier and professional coming from the agents to visit the property rather than the landlord themselves. We as letting agents can provide reassurance and troubleshoot any potential problems early on. 

· Professionalism

This ties all the other points together nicely. Offering your property to tenants via a letting agent presents a professional front that is difficult to achieve when acting as a private landlord. 

Think about it, the good people of Maidstone walk by our office every day, seeing our established business, Google reviews etc. We have built our trust through hard work and an unwritten rule to abide by traditional values such as honesty and integrity. Compare this to an anonymous listing on an online marketplace, and you will see there is no comparison. 

Whom would you rent from if the shoe were on the other foot? 

So, as you can see, a letting agent can save you time, money, headspace, and heartache. Let us take the burden off your shoulders before you even notice the weight. 

Tenants know that dealing with property professionals gives them their best shot at a trouble-free tenancy, which works equally well for landlords. So, if you are thinking of renting out your property in Maidstone, Ashford or beyond, please get in touch. 

Your new tenants will thank you for it. 

Contact us today for more information on how Ben Siggins Lettings could help you better run your business. Why not call us on 01622 410040 or drop us a line at lettings@bensiggins.co.uk