Letting your house on a long term lease?

Why not go to auction it if you want to move things along. You can set a minimum price you are prepared to let it go for.
I hope you had estimates from more than one agent.

Be very careful when letting your house .

Finding a responsible letting agent is crucial.
Several of my friends had their house trashed - house left filthy ,
stolen /broken furniture and overgrown gardens .
Please get another estate agent and estimate.
Perhaps your house isn't being presented in the right way - there are some tricks of the trade .

One of my friends is selling her semi at the moment and no one is buying.
It's in the right place and is nicely decorated - but so cluttered and untidy. I think that it puts buyers off .

"Do agents actually look after any problems with the property that might and probably will arise"

I have let a flat on what is termed full management and have used letting agents for ten years, these are my observations.

Full management is somewhat of a misnomer, what you actually pay for, which incidentally costs me 11 and half per cent, plus VAT of the monthly rent, is Monday to Friday management and that's pretty standard whoever you might appoint. If the tenant has a problem over the weekend they are on their own from 5 pm on Friday to 9 am on Monday, there is no emergency number supplied. On one occasion my tenants had reason to call out an emergency plumber over that period and they tend to be more costly. I would also advise that I have found that the letting agents panel of appointed tradesmen are top dollar and not particularly the best, for example, we had one firm of plumbers that had to redo some work carried out, three months down the line, for which they charged again. In the end I refused to use them and they, the agents had to find an alternative. There have been occasions when I felt it would have been more expedient if I'd sorted the problem out myself, but then that's what the landlord pays a third party for. All in all, you pay a lot for very little, an annual inspection plus all the necessary checks to make sure your property is fully compliant and safe to let, again not unreasonably you do pay for all those checks at the outset. However, I do sometimes feel that it would be easier for us to have sourced our own plumbers and electricians etc. because at times I think we have been ripped off by the ones the letting agents used.

Also be aware that legislation is changing regarding no fault evictions, something that has had repercussions for newly resigned homelessness minister no! you couldn't make it up even if she did actually want to sell the property, the tenants I believe were evicted, which isn't good optics for someone who is a homeless minister, and when the property didn't sell, she re-let it at a vastly hiked monthly rent. None of that is illegal at the moment, but will change.

I would also advise that you take out an insurance policy to protect you if the tenants default on their rent, the insurers will reimburse you for those lost payments and they would also pay any court costs that would arise in prospective evictions if you have the right grounds for that. Your letting agent should also advise you on the best policy, usually you can do that through them.

However, if you get all your ducks in a row, quite possibly using a letting agent is the best option because many landlords don't want to be hands on, especially if you live some distance from your property. I wish you good luck with that, it is doable but be aware of the pitfalls.

Bungalows are very popular and usually sell fairly easily.
I would ask your estate agent if they can see a reason for it not selling.

Do you think mortgage interest may drop now?
That might help.

Bungalows are so popular, is it overpriced, in a bad area or does it have a structure problem?
I think you should get advice from a estate agent.

Lathyrus is right Southdowns. Even under current legislation it can be be extremely difficult, costly and a lengthy process to evict a tenant, even one who has not taken care of your property.

We know this from personal experience so please think very carefully before pursuing this.

I suppose an exception might be if it is on contaminated land.
Or about to drop off a cliff. Or in a very bad crime area.

How bad does a bungalow have to be for it not to sell?
Not sure there is a bottom price, as the land then becomes the valuable part.
Or am I wrong?

Is your home overpriced?
Demand for bungalows is generally high, perhaps lower the price or get another agent.

Under new legislation about to go through there will be no lng term leases, in that you can specify a finish date. A tenant will have the right to remain unless very specific conditions for eviction are met.

You may find at a future date that you will have to sell with a sitting tenant.

I let my house when I moved to this new area. Even without the new legislation it has proved very, very difficult to regain possession so that I can sell it and nobody wants to buy a rental house.

Either evicting the tenant or selling involves an enormous financial loss so at the moment I am keeping it. If the tenant ever moves I will sell.