Make sure the letting agent is an established and respected one. Have a look online to see if there are any forums (I'm sure there will be) where people have posted in your rough area as to who are best and who to avoid. This is just as important as the house imo. I let my house out 8 months ago, and there have been two instances where my letting agent has been diabolical. I should have done the same, and I really feel for my tenant. I'm in Hampshire now, and the house in question is in Plymouth. A couple of months after moving in, the tenant reported the conservatory leaking. I didn't find out until four weeks later, instructed the agency to fix it and take money from what was held back for maintenance. They basically let themselves into the house and the tenant came back to find two blokes in her house! It's illegal and should not have been done, but they hid behind it being regarded as an emergency, even though it was reported as Avery minor leak. The next one is the fence has blown down at the back. This happened just before Xmas. We did a spot check last month, and that was the first time we knew anything about it. Our tenant is lovely and she has been very patient, and the house was spotless, so we need to keep her onside. After countless phone calls and unreturned messages left, I finally managed to get hold of the bloke who is managing it, and screamed down the phone at him! I ended up getting the number of the company who provided a quote that they had not passed to me or even informed me about, home fans phoned them and they start Monday now. The six month contract expires at the end of the month where it moves to a monthly rolling contract. I am now in discussion with other agents to manage the property. We went with them as they made all the right noises, and were the cheapest. Just remember it's not always the landlord who is responsible for delays etc!
