Recommend A Letting Agent in Edinburgh?

P_O_P

Hi,

I am looking to move in Edinburgh, have had an absolute disaster with the letting agent we've been using for the past 6 months! Keen to avoid the same thing happening again! (RossClare Lettings - avoid them like the plague!)

I was just wondering if anyone can recommend a letting agent? I only seem to hear bad things! We've rented privately before and it was great, but there don't seem to be many private lets available just now.

Thanks!!

POP

orangeslimes

can't help with positive recommendations -but what i have heard from a number of sources is avoid Grant Management like the plague...

AprilLady

I've heard plenty of bad things about a lot of the letting agencies in Edinburgh! (Grant Manangement included!)

I can only tell you about the experiences I've had - I've been in two flats from Alba Residential, and haven't really had any serious problems with them. You don't have ANYTHING to do with the owner of the flat if you go through Alba, and you don't even find out who they are. Everything is done through the agency and they tend to be pretty good at dealing with any repairs etc that need done in the flat, and respond quite quickly. They are quite strict about how you look after the flat though - thorough inventory when you move in, flat inspections every so often, and when you leave everything has to be back exactly where it was when you moved in. They seem to be quite fussy about you cleaning the flat when you move out, and send you a very detailed letter about how to do it! I suppose that's a good thing though as the next people will hopefully have a spotless flat in good repair! I've heard stories of people not getting their deposits back from Alba but I've had no problems - as long as you look after the place you should be ok.

At the moment I'm with Albany Lettings and it's a completely different experience. They don't really seem to want a lot to do with you and everything is done through the landlord if you have any problems! They're not very good at responding to emails etc either.

Some friends are with James Gibb, and apparently they aren't very organised at all! Once they were told to expect a flat inspection on a certain day and no one turned up. When they phoned to ask why, they were told there wasn't one scheduled!

With any letting agencies, sadly you can't seem to avoid their reference/admin fees - these tend to be about £75!!

If you need any further info I'll try to help!

P_O_P

Thank you both for replying!

Friends have also advised me to avoid grant management - they seem to just send out a standard letter at the same time of the tenancy to everyone saying they are keeping your deposit and a list of (rubbish!) reasons why.

Thanks for the info on Alba, a friend has had trouble getting their deposit back but i'm glad to hear you didn't. We tend to be good tenants so hopefully if we do end up with them we'll be ok! We almost rented from them before, got half way through filling in the forms and a guy came through and, very sheepishly, said he'd already let the flat to someone over the phone! After telling me at the viewing that if we wanted the place we HAD to go to the office! Also had problems with them turning up to show us a house without bringing the keys!!

Only problem now - can't find anywhere we want to rent!

AprilLady

Yeah, I think you can phone the office once you've viewed the flat to let them know that you're coming in and want to rent it, and hopefully they will hold it for you for a short time til you get there, but I've been in the situation of rushing across town in a taxi before, trying to get to the office before anyone else gets there! Can be stressful!

sc0ttyb0y

Used to have a flat a year ago managed by Imagine Homes ,can thoroughly recomend them ,i read somewhere they were having difficulties at Xmas time with the recession ,think they are still trading though .

custardy

ive used steyn lettings a few times
definatly not the cheapest!!! but if anything breaks/needs fixed they get right on it

Nosht

Martin & co. have an award for LANDLORD OF YEAR.
Its a franachise so personally run by owners.

Regards,

N.

P_O_P

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply, it really helps to know other people's experiences!

Looked up imagine homes, but they are now in administration. Still looking!

annettemc

P_O_P wrote: »

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply, it really helps to know other people's experiences!

Looked up imagine homes, but they are now in administration. Still looking!

Check out EH key to choice which is the local council housing site. Although there are limited offerings on their site they have an accredited landlords site which hopefully may be a bit more useful for you. Good luck

mooomin

When I rented (Now a homeowner so have to fix my own leaky taps :rotfl:) I had a bad experience with The Flat Company who were somewhere near Queen Street at the time. This was a couple of years ago. The staff were downright rude in the office (I don't think I was well-dressed enough for them) and they were snippy about flat inspections. They once sent me a letter the day before a visit - I received it the morning they were due to arrive.

I also had to threaten them with legal action to get my deposit returned.

The trouble with a lot of Edinburgh is that Grant Management seem to have the market sown up.

Good luck finding somewhere nice!