The answer is no – you may think this is strange coming from the founder of a letting agency. You can definitely do it yourself, and I advise many people to do this initially to learn the ropes if they are able to. By doing it yourself, you know what is entailed. Sur,e there is a lot of learning to be done – last I read, there were 168 pieces of legislation around property lettings.
It is like when I set up my website – it was such a hard process (I am the most anti-tech person I know – just ask the kids!) But I did it, am I proud of it – yep! Does it look beautiful – most definitely –NO! But now I know what the process entails when I contract a web developer to do the next page, I definitely will know what to ask for.
If you are working full-time, have a family, and other life commitments, then offload. If you use a letting agency, avoid the big dogs – you know the ones I am talking about, where one agent is looking after hundreds of properties.
Look for an agent who is local and knows the area. And make sure you like and trust them because this is a long-term process.
Would you manage yourself or use a management agency?
Top 3 things to look for in a letting agent
1- How well do they know the area
2- What vibes do you get when you speak to them – remember gut instinct is hidden intuition!
3- How many properties do they currently manage