Does the benefit of using a REA outweighs all their fees? I mean you can always advertise and do your own back ground check. Previous post mention they still get bad tenant despite using REA and cant really sue/blame them. So i dont really see any real benefit, yet a lot of people seem to be happy to use REA.Please enlighten me
Same case when selling your house i guess?
Is worth using real estate agent when renting out your house?
Chrotzo on 22/04/2015 - 02:37
Poll Options
- 19Yes
- 5No
Comments
From an owners perspective, agents don't do much that you can't do yourself. And if the rent is behind, at least you will know straight away if it's you that's managing the place….
From my experience of doing it both ways as a landlord, all agents do is add an extra layer of bureaucracy, hassle and delay. Much easier to do it yourself. I disagree it is more streamlined/straightforward to do through an agent if something goes wrong. Most of the issues I had with tenants when using agents was caused by poor communication from the agent.
Then again I believe a happy tenant is a good tenant, so always want to do the right thing.
If you always get the perfect tenants, then you dont need a real esate agent. But in the real world, if you are required to attend tribunals, enforce action, or comply with tennants rights, its better to have a real estate. If you bought a property, you wouldnt do all the legal work yourself, even if no dramas happen in a sale.
Oh, and its also your responsibility to find a good REA.You can get a REA for buying the property, doesn't mean you have to have them when renting out the property.
I know that!
I have rented many times and from a renters perspective, I would much rather deal with the owner then a real estate. The best rentals I have ever had, were when the owner was actively involved and I was in direct contact and spoke on a quarterly basis. They would call me and tell me if there was any strata issues and I would address them, if I needed repairs they would assist, when it was time to leave we both did a walk of the property and agree on a few things that I should have to pay for. Their feedback was also positive, they started out with a real estate but they were always a bottle neck; once we directly made contact as a result of the real estate being lazy we looped them out and the owner stopped using the real estate saving them money.
I can imagine this is fine and dandy when you have a reasonable owner and a good tenant, this would be the ideal situation. If you had a bad tenant, thats where a real estate has to earn their money. And if you feel you are going to be a strict owner with maximum rental increases and minimising repairs costs etc, making friends is going to be tough and better to use a middle man.Having a real estate agent for your rental is kind of having a personal assistant. Yes, majority of things you can do it yourself, but it is progressively harder as you build more portfolio of properties and working a full time job as well. So you hire a professional to do it for you. Lots of factors to consider - quality of tenants, quality of property (less maintenance or more) and quality of the agents (proactive or passive or useless).
Some people just don't like to deal directly with tenants for whatever reason. Most of the times it comes down to cost, how much I need to pay them, how much do I get back from tax deduction and how much value I get back from the agents.
Alternatively look at dedicated property management companies rather than using REAs.
If you do go at it alone, make sure you are up to scratch with the Tenancy Act, keep good records of everything and do everything "by the book". This is very important if you get a tenant from hell and you have to go to tribunal.
This is what you pay a property manager to handle and look after. If you have the perfect tenant, then it's no worries, but if some tenants demand everything and a good property manager will keep them inline. I'd rather pay a small fee and not have to worry about it, especially once you have a few properties under your belt.
I am renting from a private agent atm and I will make sure it is my last.
The agent is nice but they are also emotionally attached to the house. There was a misunderstanding between us a couple of months ago and the agent immediately cracked it, also ordered me to move out in 3 days, which is completely illegal. She also has the key to the garage which gives her access to the backyard. I will wake up one beautiful Saturday morning only to bump into them mowing the lawn or pushing the bins in my backyard. She also gives comments oh how we do things (that does not involve in damaging her property).
From a tenant POV, renting from the owner is a big turn off. However if you do go don that path make sure you keep it professional.
That is 100% illegal. Tennants have far more rights than LL's, use them.
Which bit is illegal? The showing up uninvited to mow the lawn or? If it is the moving out bit it has been sorted.
The showing up uninvited. They have to give you 7 days notice at least.
@lilmisswendy: Are they supposed to have access to any part of the house? Like having a spare key to the garage etc
@Banana: even if they have a spare key, they still have to tell you 7 days before "visiting". My real estate agents usually have spare keys, but they still have to tell me before coming. Did you sign a contract? If it's the standard NSW tenancy agreement, it should state about this kind of thing. Also, I'm pretty sure it's limited too, i.e. they can't come every weekend.
@lilmisswendy:
It is a private agent, so I am renting from the owner pretty much. Our lease contract was a piece of paper with 10 rules on it and that's all. We did lodge the bond with the government body though.
When renting out your house..
Agent pros…
An agent will have access to a list of people who are known bad tenants. There are ways that tenants can chat this system though.. :-(
An agent is a good buffer between you and an annoying tenant that will continually call asking for things to be done that they are responsible for.
If there are problems with a tenant and it has to go to tribunal then the agent will do that.Agent cons..
Chances are you will get one that is dodgy or lazy. Good property managers are rare.
If scheduled inspections are done (IF) they can be just a quick peep inside and that's all. They usually claim that damage on vacating must have been done in the last couple of weeks prior (lie).
Late rent… they can be tardy on monitoring this and your bond is well and truly cut out by the time you get authority to evict a non payer. Not only do you have to bear the lost rent but also the week/s cleaning and repairing the property for a new tenant. 4 weeks bond is a joke on a half million dollar or more property.You may get a good tenant… they do exist!! But the law of averages says you will end up with unpaid rent (and the stupid excuses that go with it like.. ohh, I had to get a new tat, etc..) and a lot of damage and filth. It seems that these days very few people think that they have to clean up after themselves for some reason??
Which way would I go… neither, I would not risk the damage and the hassle.
Good luck anyway.
A good agent is worth it, a bad one isn't.
If you are the kind of person who changes your own engine oil, paints your house yourself, does your own taxes, runs an SMSF and doesn't get take away because it is cheaper to cook, then you have the personality to manage your property successfully.
It takes a fair amount of work and responsiveness to tenant issues. If you let it slide, you will have tenants that feel less obligated to look after your property and pay the rent on time etc.You could always use an agent for a while then ditch them if you feel they aren't providing value.
Just to confirm because i have never used an agent before. So after a few months, if you know the tenant is good you can just ditch the agent and keep the tenant? Is this something that i need to discuss with the agent before signing any contract with them?
If you sign an agency agreement that has a minimum period, you can leave after that period.
If I were discussing it, I would say "I haven't used an agent before, so I want to give it a go and see if it is worth it." They might then be motivated to work hard for you.
You don't know if your agent is worth the money until something goes wrong
And when you do,
Never hesitate to sack them if he/she is shit,
I've had my fair share before
Do you have time to project manage repairs and tradespeople?
Do you have time to go to VCAT to represent yourself over unpaid rent, damage to property, tenant taking you there?
Do you know the Tenancy Act well enough to defend your rights and know when you're required to do something?
Do you have time to interview prospective tenants, do background/finance checks on them and decide which one to pick?
Do you have time to do inspections and follow up on any issues (in terms of your requirements to fix) and problems that tenants are required to fix?
When I was renting out my house, I engaged a Real Estate Agent (REA) to find tenants. I gave them the impression that I was considering using them to manage the property, but never explicitly guaranteed.
When they found a tenant, I advised them that I would self-manage it.
If a REA believes they will be managing a property, it is in their best interest to find a tenant who is easy, pays on time, and doesn't cause a fuss. They take their % with very little effort, so will spend more time up front searching for a "good" tenant.
If a REA knows that you will be managing the property, it is likely they will not put too much effort in to find a "good" tenant.
it depends on the property manager
it depends on the amount of property you have
also you have a property manager so you arent bothered by things… do I need to be a heavy when I ask to increase the rent?
do i have to take calls at 12am on a sunday because a pipe burst? if they do a bad repair, they complain to the agent, not me
remember all costs are tax deductible
i actually contract for a construction company and yet i use an agent because their costs are a tax deduction and you cant argue that… you can argue MY COSTS though
i have no intention of ever seeing the people who rent my properties… i dont need the stress, nor do i want to be that "bad guy"
i pay people to do this for me and then the govt. pays me back
put it this way, i have been involved with agents before and some property managers have landed in hospital due to disputes with tenants
How can the average person do a proper background check on prospective tenants?
My last IP I had a REA managing however they were useless so I ditched them and managed it myself with no issues. Building a new IP again and I dont want to put a REA on just for the sake of finding a tenant, would rather manage this one myself again however not sure how to give myself the best chance not to put a bunch of scumbags in it.
Note: topic now unpublished at OP request
From a tenants perspective I will only rent though an agent as its much more streamlined/straightforward, particularly if something goes wrong.