How Do Landlords Choose the Right Letting Agent?
Choosing a letting agent can be tough, in this article we take a look at some of the factors landlords should consider.
The investment of a rental property can be extremely rewarding, however the negative and posit ve impacts a managing agent can have on the financial performance of your property are not always made clear before making your decision.
The choice of managing agent is critical. The right choice will put the wind into your sails and maximise its potential but the wrong one can be very costly. To help you make the right choices when it comes to this crucial stage here are six key areas to consider when choosing a letting agent.
Decide on the services you need
The option you choose will depend mainly on how much time you feel you have available to manage your rental property, and how involved you want to be on a regular basis. Bear in mind that if you live far away from your rental property or you’re often out of the country, it may be difficult to deal with issues yourself.
Landlords need to consider how knowledgeable they are when it comes to compliance. There are more than 175 plus laws that apply to landlords in the UK. A letting agent will make sure you follow them all – and hence avoid a hefty fine or a criminal charge.
Compare Fees – really compare fees, the extra fees
Choosing an agent soley based on their management fee (the % they take of the monthly rent) could be the most expensive mistake you make as a landlord.
Why?
As a landlord you need to understand what you are getting for your money. Agents should be upfront and transparent about ALL their fees.
Check memberships
Landlords should check that any letting agents they are considering are registered with a redress scheme like the Property Ombudsman, it's a legal requirement for letting agents to be a member of one.
Members are required to meet certain standards and should comply with particular codes of conduct.
Review money protection schemes
Landlords and letting agents are required by law to protect tenants deposits in a government approved tenancy deposit scheme, at Sure Sales & Lettings we use the "Deposit Protection Scheme or DPS for short"
Letting agents in England must now belong to a Client Money Protection scheme (CMP). Part of the scheme requires letting agents to display the information on their website and have the appropriate certificates.
Look at marketing strategies to find the best tenant
Discuss with your letting agent their approach to finding good quality tenants, how do they propose to market the property. Find out which websites they advertise on, Rightmove, Zoopla, their own website etc.
Many tenants now use social media so discuss with your letting agent what their social media strategy is (and we don't mean just posting a link to Rightmove on their Facebook page, that's not a strategy!)
How you market the property is very important to ensure landlords find the right tenant, but the qualification steps that follow are equally as important.
Ask the letting agent for some recent examples of successful cases of properties they have rented out that are similar.
What do their existing clients say
Reviews are a really good source of information to see what landlords and equally tenants think of the letting agent and how the letting agent deals with things when they don't always go right.
If the letting agent has a lot of great reviews from tenants and landlords, you know the tenants are happy and being looked after and far more likely to stay longer term. Great for landlords!
TAKE ACTION
If you are looking for a pro active and professional lettings agent to manage your property or portfolio then in the first instance contact James Allen directly on 07773 412300 or email james@allen-residential.co.uk to discuss the services we have to offer
