What makes the perfect letting agent?

DiscoPaul_2

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a little feedback from those of you who have had experience of renting from a letting agent - both good and bad.

What do you consider to be good service? What issues were you unhappy with?

In a nuthsell what would you look for from a letting agent and how much do you believe the service should cost - both from a landlords perspective and also a tennant.

I am looking to start a fairly small and independant letting agency at some point in the near future and would like to try and be 'different' - avoiding the notorious problems that we have all come across at some point. The aim is to build a business on providing genuinely good service to both landlords and tennants.

If you could give me your thoughts it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

ceh209

Having rented from a few letting agents as a tenant, I'd say my major complaints were:

Not being upfront about what fees I'd have to pay, or what those fees were for. I know I'll have to pay, but please don't 'forget' to tell me about some other charge until I've paid your massive holding deposit...

Not doing a proper inventory. Or not doing one at all. Yes I know it could benefit me in the end since you have no proof of what condition the place was in, but when I've paid a 'check-in fee' for you to just read the meters, it makes you look so unprofessional!

Not following up on issues I raise, at least letting me know progress on them. I shouldn't have to phone you 3 times to find out when someone is coming to replace a window lock. The place I'm in now I gave them a list to sort before I moved in - it was never mentioned again. Most were little things so I just fixed them, the big ones I'm still chasing the landlady about.

HTH

tuftyclub

be on the side of the tenant - not the landlord

G_M

tuftyclub wrote: »

be on the side of the tenant - not the landlord

Errr.. but the LL employs the agent.

Be fully trained.
Fully understand all (yes, ALL) landlord and tenant legislation.
Have a code of practice.
Be a member of a professional body (ARLA or similar) and adhere to their code of practice.

theartfullodger

Honesty(letting agents ..... ;;; ### '@@@@@ &^^%$)

have some qualifications (letting agents need none)
Member of an industry body (letting agents don't need to be)
CRB checks on your staff & yourselves.. (letting agents don't need any)


Go work for another agent 1st (anywhere!) for 6 months,,, then decide if you can face it...


Artful

SirDag

It will stand you in good stead if you get in the habit of only using one "N" when referring to the one that rents the property.

G_M

sirdag wrote: »

it will stand you in good stead if you get in the habit of only using one "n" when referring to the one that rents the property.

Nice one! Missed that!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

theartfullodger

SirDag wrote: »

It will stand you in good stead if you get in the habit of only using one "N" when referring to the one that rents the property.

'sfunny, how'du spell tenant with only one "N"??

Cheers!

Artful

Callie22

Bad service (from the pov of a tenant): rudeness, arrogance, laziness and dishonesty - I've never met a letting agent who doesn't display some or all of these traits.

As a tenant, I'm a paying customer, so treat me with a little respect. Return my phone calls, and don't lie to me - don't tell me that the property is a long term rental when it's also up for sale with the estate agency arm of your company. Don't fill your website with pictures of nice properties and then tell me that they've 'just gone' when I call to view them. I will not be impressed when you show me some doss-house instead. Also, be honest about properties. I'm not going to rent a property that doesn't fit any of the criteria that I've painstakingly spelt out to you and your staff a number of times. If I say I want a ground floor unfurnished two bedroom flat with parking, then I'm not going to be interested in a fifth floor studio with no parking. A viewing is going to be a waste of both of our time. Also, don't make a big fuss of asking me whether I'm a non-smoker and then show me round somewhere that smells like a smoker's lung. Ditto pets, children etc. Don't try and make properties sound better than they are by advertising for 'professional tenants only' when anyone fitting that description wouldn't even step through the door.

Turn up for viewings, or if you're going to be late then call and let me know. I won't rent from you if you can't even be bothered to try to sell somewhere to me.

Don't pretend that you aren't aware of massive problems with the property when they're obvious to anyone with half a brain. I once looked round a property that had clearly been flooded fairly recently. The letting agent did his very best to avoid that 'difficult' issue, to the point that when I pointed out the industrial driers, foot high tide mark and lifted flooring, his reply to the question 'has there been a flood?' was a shrug of the shoulders and a surly 'might have been' ... Oddly enough I didn't rent that property.

Be honest with me - if the LL is a pain who hasn't repaired his property in ten years then answer me honestly when I ask you what the LL is like. It'll save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Also, if the LL is being a pain when it comes to repairs then tell me, don't pretend that it's 'in hand' and it's 'being arranged' when it's not. I will run out of patience after a couple of months ... Also, don't lie about LL problems when it's your inefficiency that's causing hassle. If you don't pass on messages, or if you tell lies to cover your back, then ultimately you're going to cause friction that YOU will have to deal with.

Don't ever, ever let yourself into the property without my permission, and when you're here, don't ever think you have the right to open the cupboards and drawers of MY furniture for a good nosy. You don't and it's incredibly rude.

Oh, and don't try to charge me for 'cleaning' at the end of the tenancy when the property was disgustingly filthy when I moved in. I've never moved into a 'clean' rental, so don't try and pretend that you had it 'professionally cleaned' at the start of the tenancy. And don't try to charge me for 'damages' when you couldn't even be bothered to get an inventory together. It's a waste of both our time and you won't win.

Also, when I turn up at your office in a moving van to collect the keys to move into a property on a specified day, at a specified time, I really won't be impressed if you've 'lost' the keys and you ask me to come back in a week. In fact, I might just sit in your office complaining loudly until you miraculously 'find' the keys again

Sorry for the rant, but I hate letting agents with a passion. I've never had a good one and I really struggle to see their point. Seems to me they tend to cause more trouble than they're worth.

SirDag

DiscoPaul wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a little feedback from those of you who have had experience of renting from a letting agent - both good and bad.

What do you consider to be good service? What issues were you unhappy with?

In a nuthsell what would you look for from a letting agent and how much do you believe the service should cost - both from a landlords perspective and also a tennant.

I am looking to start a fairly small and independant letting agency at some point in the near future and would like to try and be 'different' - avoiding the notorious problems that we have all come across at some point. The aim is to build a business on providing genuinely good service to both landlords and tennants.

If you could give me your thoughts it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Skill in the art of communication will be crucial to your success.

Do as you say will also help

SirDag

Callie22 wrote: »

Bad service (from the pov of a tenant): rudeness, arrogance, laziness and dishonesty - I've never met a letting agent who doesn't display some or all of these traits.

As a tenant, I'm a paying customer, so treat me with a little respect. Return my phone calls, and don't lie to me - don't tell me that the property is a long term rental when it's also up for sale with the estate agency arm of your company. Don't fill your website with pictures of nice properties and then tell me that they've 'just gone' when I call to view them. I will not be impressed when you show me some doss-house instead. Also, be honest about properties. I'm not going to rent a property that doesn't fit any of the criteria that I've painstakingly spelt out to you and your staff a number of times. If I say I want a ground floor unfurnished two bedroom flat with parking, then I'm not going to be interested in a fifth floor studio with no parking. A viewing is going to be a waste of both of our time. Also, don't make a big fuss of asking me whether I'm a non-smoker and then show me round somewhere that smells like a smoker's lung. Ditto pets, children etc. Don't try and make properties sound better than they are by advertising for 'professional tenants only' when anyone fitting that description wouldn't even step through the door.

Turn up for viewings, or if you're going to be late then call and let me know. I won't rent from you if you can't even be bothered to try to sell somewhere to me.

Don't pretend that you aren't aware of massive problems with the property when they're obvious to anyone with half a brain. I once looked round a property that had clearly been flooded fairly recently. The letting agent did his very best to avoid that 'difficult' issue, to the point that when I pointed out the industrial driers, foot high tide mark and lifted flooring, his reply to the question 'has there been a flood?' was a shrug of the shoulders and a surly 'might have been' ... Oddly enough I didn't rent that property.

Be honest with me - if the LL is a pain who hasn't repaired his property in ten years then answer me honestly when I ask you what the LL is like. It'll save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Also, if the LL is being a pain when it comes to repairs then tell me, don't pretend that it's 'in hand' and it's 'being arranged' when it's not. I will run out of patience after a couple of months ... Also, don't lie about LL problems when it's your inefficiency that's causing hassle. If you don't pass on messages, or if you tell lies to cover your back, then ultimately you're going to cause friction that YOU will have to deal with.

Don't ever, ever let yourself into the property without my permission, and when you're here, don't ever think you have the right to open the cupboards and drawers of MY furniture for a good nosy. You don't and it's incredibly rude.

Oh, and don't try to charge me for 'cleaning' at the end of the tenancy when the property was disgustingly filthy when I moved in. I've never moved into a 'clean' rental, so don't try and pretend that you had it 'professionally cleaned' at the start of the tenancy. And don't try to charge me for 'damages' when you couldn't even be bothered to get an inventory together. It's a waste of both our time and you won't win.

Sorry for the rant, but I hate letting agents with a passion. I've never had a good one and I really struggle to see their point. Seems to me they tend to cause more trouble than they're worth.

A lot to be said of the above, but how many of you found that the voice in your head was getting louder and louder, as well as angrier, as you were reading?