Renting the condo - use agency or DIY?

[Sean]

I give 10% of my monthly rent to a management company and it is worth EVERY PENNY.

[skiergirl]

I had a leasing agent rent the property for me, so they do all the back-ground, credit and reference checks along with creating an official lease to be signed with all those stipulations about pets, guests, room mates, etc in it. I can't think of anything that's not covered so I have the legal right to evict if they break the lease.

I do the property management though so if there are problems I address them and collect the rent monthly. I've had great luck with the last 2 tenants and had not a single repair due to a tenant so far. I have the benefit of living 2 miles from the property also, so I get to see it regularly when i stop by for the rent each month.

There's always the chance of a crappy tenant but I think if someone goes through a leasing agency they tend to expect a nicer, cleaner house and are the type of people that usually take better care of it. They know they will have checks done on them so it eliminates a lot of the 'bad' right there. It's not a guarantee and the price and area will make a huge difference in that too.

Good luck!

[the chi]

I'll be the dissenting voice here. If you will be near the property or have someone who can check it if needed, I'd go without a rental company.

We are renting out our home in FL, and it has been easy and simple, military area with military member renting.

We are renting a home in GA, with a rental company and it has been a nightmare. They got our lease wrong, not once but 3 times, argued with me about it when it was OBVIOUS. When we need work done, it takes them WEEKS to get it addressed. If you call or email them, they rarely respond in a timely manner, and overall they suck. I cant recommend them to anyone. We have arrangements with the owner (who we contact when we need something versus waiting on the AGENCY) and as soon as his contract with them is up we take over our own management. Granted I have experience which helps me, but we also treat the home we rent as if it were our own.

Many military members are VERY crappy renters, but so long as you get a good deposit, and all requirements are spelled out very clearly, they can be held liable without using an agency. You just contact base housing, who contacts their first shirt, who come out, see the issue, and raise hell on the military member till its addressed.

Make sure to always get before and after pics for your records as well.

[TommyHotWheel]

Agency! Im renting a house, not in it yet, but I love my rental agent already. He already took care of some big issues and we got right of first refusal on the house to boot. A good agency is worth every penny, be cautious tho.

[MissHell]

I am planning to use an agency I was a tenant with. They were professional and any time I called for something, it was taken care of right away. Plus they came once a year for inspections of the unit, which I thought was good.

[marko138]

Originally Posted by MissHell

I am planning to use an agency I was a tenant with. They were professional and any time I called for something, it was taken care of right away. Plus they came once a year for inspections of the unit, which I thought was good.

Sounds like a good plan.