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kboy
villa-ru
Fees through an EA 8-15% dependant on service levels + they charge you extra for paperwork.
Managing it yourself is variable -
Finding tenants is a pain - placing ads, lot of showing round, waiting for no-shows, trying to work out who the weirdos are, etc.
Once you've found them need to (should) use reference checking agency and have to use a deposit protections scheme. Only other paperwork is a shorthold tenancy agreement you can download. And you should have an inventory company in at the start and end of a lease.
Once they're in - most people are reasonable. Most can change a lightbulb. Some aren't and some can't. We've had tenants in for years with barely any contact and a few that have been a pain. You should have an idea of what might go wrong in your flat, but you need to be prepared to go round and sort stuff out periodically (or send a man round).
You can get pretty cheap landlords insurance for fixtures and fittings. - but be prepared that whatever you leave will wear out/get broken.
You need to get gas and electric safety certificates annually.
Sofa/Bed etc need to be 'won't burst into flames' - pretty sure anything not ancient will comply.
Between leases can be a right pain, but it's expensive to get someone else to do it. Once you've got someone in it's generally pretty light touch and you get ££ rolling in every month.