Landlord having problems with letting agency - your views please!

DerryBoy_2

Hi,

I am currently a landlord with a few properties. I pay a letting agency to look after them but am getting a bit fed up with the poor service provided. I have spoken to other people in the locality who are also having similar issues with letting agencies. Problems include deductions for work that hasn't been carried out, deductions for short periods without tenancy on a continual basis when it is unclear if the property was in fact empty at all, etc, etc.

I am now considering giving up my current fulltime job to become a letting agent and righting some of these wrongs. I am sure there are decent letting agencies out there but there seems to be a great shortage here in Northern Ireland.

I am looking for help on three fronts:

1. Advice from fellow landlords about what really annoys them about their letting agent at present, and what they would like to see done differently;

2. Advice from letting agents about how they are getting on in the current financial climate (has there been a sharp decrease in the supply of properties from landlords with the buy-to-let market collapsing, or has an increase in people looking to rent who cannot afford to buy helped your business?)

3. Information from tenants about how satisfied they are with their current landlord or letting agency and again where they would like to see improvements.

Any information would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

Fire_Fox

You may find these helpful:
http://www.arla.co.uk/
http://www.ukala.org.uk/

If landlords are tenants are trying to save money in the current financial climate, I would have thought they might try to cut out the middle man ... At the end of the day a letting agent makes his profit from charging as much as possible for as little work as possible; if you don't do that I am not sure you will have a workable business plan.

timlang

yes i agree i cut out my letting agent after similar problems. i used the following site landlordlet.com which allows you to let your property online - you can do all the things your agent would have done - credit check, agreement, inventory etc - good luck!!

tbs624

First post ...hmm.. any personal connection to that website timlang?:think:

timlang

no sorry no connection - just a forum landlord trying to help!

princeofpounds

Where to start?!

I'm a tenant, and I have lived in 9 different rented properties (no, I'm not an itinerant!) Of those, 5 have been agent-introduced or managed. Of those 5, I would suggest that only 1 agent was satisfactory.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the other 4 were a mixture of incompetent, dishonest and lazy in varying amounts. What is so upsetting is that these failings were generally totally intentional - there was simply no professional culture - rather than well-intentioned mistakes.

It was this succession of experiences that drove me to forums like this one, and landlordzone, and even housepricecrash (where the quality of posting has fallen since the crash started!). I managed to teach myself the law on a practical basis and now it holds little fears, but it's such a shame that 90% of tenants have absolutely no idea of their rights and so get done over time and time again. (Yes, I know there are bad tenants too, I freely acknowledge that).

The things that agent need to get right are:

1) Simple operational matters. If you are meant to be contacted for repairs, pick up the phone. If you are meant to sign a cheque to give money back, don't stall and pretend not to be in the office. If you say workmen will be over at 9am, make sure they are there at 9am.

2) Don't lie. All those 4 agents told me that the property would be cleaned before entry. In each case, it was filthy. Thankfully after the first instance I started getting these promises in writing One agent even lied about the date the property would be vacant, that was a surprise on the morning we turned up!

3) Be fair about your charges. Present tenants with a clear terms and conditions so they don't get surprised by fees after giving over deposits. Which is legally dubious, but most people don't know how to fight it. Also, initial fees are seen as a source of income by most agents, but the practice of inflating fee beyond hte real costs is common and unfortunate. If you advertise this aproach, it could be a big winner in getting tenants through the door at least.

4) Communicate well between tenants and landlords. Many of the problems that arise are in fact down to agents misrepresenting the landlord's position for their own gain, or just being stupid in their interpretation.

So there you go - be professional, be honest, be fair and be open. Things that I or any of my friends and colleagues would see as basic precursors, but something that will put you in the top 20% of agents right away.