Recently bought a house, thinking of putting it up for let. Any recommendable estate agents I should use that are good and cheapest to use?

Can you release any info about the property 1st, such as area, number of beds etc....you might be able to let it out without the agents fees etc ( on both sides)

where is the house?

Go Direct Lettings, Cole Street, Birkenhead

Put it in the property section. I did with mine and got loads of enquiries, although I did go through an agent in the end but only because I was taking a prior tenant to court and wanted help and advice

I'd advise using a letting agency that guarantees you the weekly/monthly rent if the tennant does not pay. I cannot remember the term for this but it means you won't be out of pocket with a problem tennant - the agency still pay you this and take action against the tennant.

We have two houses that we rent out on Wirral, I wouldn't even consider doing anything without an agent. We use them for managing the property as well as doing background checks on anyone wanting to rent. I think the fee is around 10% of the monthly rent for the service and we use Clive Watkin.
I like that I can keep it very business-like. I don't know who my tenants are other than their names and that suits me just fine.
So far touch wood, in the last 2 years we've had no problems at all.
Go for it, you won't regret it

I think if you're going to live a distance away from your rental property then it's far easier and safer to use a letting agent. The average commission for them seems to be around the 10 - 12% mark although there are other fees involved too.

We're only a 10 minute drive from the house we let out so decided to do the property management ourselves. Saved us over a grand so far, plus the tenant saved a shed load in extortionate agents 'fees'.

We are looking to rent a house, have rented a flat with no problems for just over 3 years, no agency and wouldn't touch an agency property with a barge pole, we have never been late with rent and are good tenants. Don't just think that agencies protect you from bad tenants, better to rent privately. Agencies will only allow tenants with good credit files, but people with not so good ones can often make better tenants.

Just my thoughts really. Best of luck whatever you do.

How do you find private landlords that'll rent you a property without an agent ??
Spent over £1500 in the past 14 months on 2 moves because of deposits and agent fees !!

We did ours through a small ad in the Globe. You could try looking on sites like gumtree or craigslist, plus I think a few house rentals get advertised on these forums every so often.

Where is the house?

It's in the Upton area detached 3 bedrooms has en suite, bathroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, garden.Companies like Bradshaw Farnham & Lea, Brennan Ayre O'Neill, Clive Watkin Partnership, Jones & Chapman, Karl Tatler Estate Agents, whitegates do they all charge similiar? Not sure which agent to go with that has the better deal , I was thinking joining with an agent because it's less of a hassle they sort everything out for you.

ive heard valentines are quite good

I mentioned on an earlier post that we use Clive Watkin on Woodchurch Rd, Prenton. I really have no complaints about them at all, they're quick to contact me over any issue there might be from the tenants and also if I email them, they get back to me within an hour or so.
I know a lot of the people on here say they wouldn't rent a house through an agent but I wouldn't do it any other way.

They get everything set up such as the gas safe certificate and whatever the electrical equivalent is, they do a full inventory of the condition of the property before tenants move in, they do credit checks and previous landlord references on tenants and once every few months they go around to the house to make sure all is well with the property and the tenants are looking after it well.

I pay 10% for the full management option although you can get them to just find the tenant for you and then manage it yourself. I just like it because we are so far away and I know that if ever the rent is late, one email to them and they respond and find out what's causing the delay straight away.
If this is your first time at being a landlord, maybe try it first of all using an agent just to see how it goes, you can always go it alone at a later date if all works out well.
Incidentally, the two sets of tenants we have renting our properties did not pass the credit check (one is paid in cash and the other didn't earn quite enough to qualify), but because they had excellent references from past landlords we took them anyway and have no problems.
We intially started them with a 6 month lease and now go month to month.
You can always send me a PM and I'll be happy to answer any questions if I can
Also there's a website "Landlordzone" which is a good place to have a look around. Lot's of resources on there, but don't be too scared off by some of the horror stories you might read on there

Hi not sure whether you got my message me and my partner are looking to move to upton area if you are interested message me thanks