posted again! advice on letting my house at min cost?

[johnny 5]

I've been posted again and would like to let my house out this time. Has anyone got any experience or advice on this. As expected, I would like to do it at min cost and without paying off any of the mortgage.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Been there, don't do that.

Use a good letting agent - they'll take a percentage, but for the agro, cost, possible huge problems you may hit and (if they are any good) they'll ensure you avoid - worth every penny.

I'm guessing from your location that you may well be military; ask around the Officers' Mess at your station, there will be plenty of people who have done it and know the local agents.

G

[oldfella]

Use an agent. They can look after things for you and find tennants as required.

You can try to set a rate such that you cover the mortgage and the agent's costs but remember that if you end up with a couple of months without tennants you are losing money. Might be better to cover your new costs i.e. MQ rent plus agent plus a bit extra for final repairs or redecoration. That could give you a larger pool of tennants to choose from.

[Green Bottle 2]

I agree with the above. I have several properties on buy-to-let and a good agent is worth their weight in gold. Even a poor agent is OK provided they get the rent coming in. I break even with tenants in but that is with an interest only mortgage. If you are on a buy to let mortgage, you do not need to have an insurance policy to guarantee your mortgage as the property is seen as collateral against this.

[L1A2 discharged]

Concur the above. been there and done it both ways - with and without agent. The agents fees are well worth it. Check out the local housing associations too, some will take on a property and guarantee your rent and handover / takeover condition.

[4fitter]

Check your PMs.

[MadsDad]

Have done it both ways and, while not cheap, the agents fees are generally worth it. Everything gets sorted and if there are any problems they get sorted with minimum hassle for you. With regard to repairs the agents will normally have a friendly local plumber/electrician etc. who they deal with regularly and who will turn up on time and quickly. Downside is they are sometimes a bit more expensive.

One bit of advice I would offer is that I would always take out legal insurance - it's not that expensive and can be worth it (we ended up quite a lot down on our first letting when we didn't have it and ended up having to sue the tenant for back rent. Won the case but never got the money).

[teeteringhead]

.... and get yerself a good accountant too - when in a similar situation ours saved us much more than she cost....