Guaranteed rental income anyone have experience.

[bikepacker]

We have a property that will soon be empty and undecided what to do with it. As it is about 100 miles from where we now live and the options are sell or let. If we let and there are problems, it is a long journey to get there also I am away from home touring for large parts of the year. I have spoken to a couple of normal letting agents near the property but they do not inspire me with confidence.

However a company have offered us a deal to let our property and give us a guaranteed regular income. They find the tenants and do all the work and maintain the property. Anyone dealt with these type of companies?

[Ian H]

E's house in London is let through a managing agency.  It's been let for about four years, one tenant, few problems.  I expect we'd learn more if and when the current tenants leave.

[Ham]

I have no personal experience but there are frequent reports of some such agencies being scammy bastards, which isn't to say those are. The small print frequently allows them to make charges that aren't obvious from the off, untill you don't receive the revenue that you had expected.

Generally I think it falls into the category of "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". Given your distance, I'd look for a reputable managing agent and pay their fees. Finding one will require more than a single recommendation.

[jsabine]

Is it worth looking at renting to/through the local authority?

Certainly in London a lot of the boroughs appear to have schemes that offer long term rentals (5 year terms, I think) and guarantee the rent over that time. They insist on reasonable standards, and clearly aren't peak of market, but I think if we were renting our place out we'd consider it.

[Blodwyn Pig]

^^^^ WHS

[De Sisti]

Is it worth looking at renting to/through the local authority?

If so, be prepared for shit tennats who don't give a damm about the state of your property.
To them it's only a roof over their heads. Not all are like that though. Just be prepared.

[Ben T]

Try and look at it from their perspective - ask them where they're getting the money to fill any gaps in occupancy, i.e. how do they fulfill their obligation to you when there's no tenant. Also ask how long it's guaranteed for.
Ideally you want their fee to be a percentage of the rent from the tenant, so it's in their best interests to increase the rent. If it's fixed, they can increase the rent and keep the increase themselves. I don't know for a fact that any do that but I have my suspicions.
Whereabouts is the property?

[SoreTween]

What Ham said.  Find a proper letting agent you're comfortable with or change the property.

There will not be tennantless gaps with this sort of agent, they'll install the first scumbag to walk through the door knowing you get the bill for any damage done not them.  They'll know exactly how many months each tennant needs to last to be worth the hassle of installing and could even ask for enough deposit + up front rent to cover that.  I was going to say their only risk would be non-payers they can't shift but whose to say the contract makes that their problem rather than yours?

Where is the property?

[Aunt Maud]

We looked at letting through the council, as they guaranteed the rental income and maintained the property, with a guarantee to hand it back in the same condition as they received it.

We sold it instead, as I didn't feel like becoming a landlord......bad move, but I didn't have a crystal ball at the time.