Banjo Smyth

When you are leasing out your property you will be faced with two main options. You can either employ a real estate agent and let them do all the work for you - or you can rent it out yourself. There is no right of wrong answer; it simply depends on your situation.

The Positives of using a Real Estate Agent when leasing out your property.

- You will be able to completely forget about your investment property and concentrate on new and more exciting things (like figuring out how you can buy your second investment property

- Real Estate agents know what to look for in tenants and ‘should’ be able to pick a high quality tenant.

- If something goes wrong they will be there to fix it. If you live a very busy life the last thing you want to have to do is fix a leaking tap after work.

- They will handle all the paper work and rental agreements.

The Negatives of using a Real Estate Agent when leasing out your property.

- The most obvious negative is the cost. Most real estate agents will charge you a management fee of 7.7% of all rent, plus a set up fee of 5.5% of the annual rent.

- Therefore if your tenants were to move on every 2^nd year you would pay 10.4% (on average) of your annual rent to your Real Estate agent.

- So if you were renting your house for 300 per week you would pay the real estate agent $1622 per year out of your annual rental income of $15,600.

The Positives of leasing out your property yourself.

- You will save money.

- You will be able to oversee all maintenance and problems which will probably mean that you will be able to save some money on repairs (especially if you are a bit of a handy man/woman).

- You can personally choose the tenant and find someone that you think will suit the property. Don’t underestimate the ‘good’ feeling that you will get when you make somebody very happy by giving them the opportunity to live in a great house.

The Negatives of leasing out your property yourself.

- The main negative is the ‘time’ factor. If you live a very busy lifestyle it can be annoying if you are constantly getting phone calls from your tenants.

- You will need to organize your own rental agreement and lodge a bond. This is much easier than it sounds and all the relevant information is readily available on the internet.

The Answer?

It really comes down to deciding what is more important, your money or your time?

If you do lease out your property yourself I think the best way to look at it is to think that you are employing yourself. If we use the above example you would basically being paid $1622 per year to be your own real estate agent. If that sounds like a pretty good deal then I would have no hesitation in recommending that you lease out your property yourself. Best of luck.