Cutting out agents 'can save money' ? buy to let mortgages

05 December 2008

People with buy to let mortgages could save "considerable" amounts of money by managing properties themselves rather than using agents, it has been suggested.

Landlords could make savings in these times of economic hardship by overseeing their portfolio first-hand, according to Tom Entwistle, editor at online portal LandlordZONE.

Speaking at the Landlord and Buy to Let Show in Birmingham, he remarked: "Sometimes you do need that independence of an agent, but generally you can manage properties yourself and you can save yourself a lot of money."

However, he acknowledged that the services of agents can sometimes be necessary, particularly for investors that have properties located around different parts of the country.

Meanwhile, quarterly figures from the Association of Residential Letting Agents show that average rents in the three months leading up to September were £387 a week for houses and £253 for flats, with the average tenancy lasting 16.7 months.