Choosing a Letting Agent Experience

cheekychappy

In the process of letting out our first property and had some letting agents round to do valuation and have a chat with them and wonder what advice anyone can give on best method of selection.

We had one snobby and pushy agent here who was in denial that a tenant could go onto SPT after the fixed term..."they re-sign after 4 months or we put the house up for let again", she told me.
I corrected her a number of times, but she wouldn't have it. Must be them renewal fees, plus a whole host of unenforceable terms that are in the contract, so I told her that my tenants won't be treated like that and bid her farewell.
On the other side of the coin, had a chap round who was great, negotiable on fees and seemed to care, but was trying to give me scare stories if I self manage.

Any advice welcome, as I want to choose an agent who treats renters with respect and not some form of second class citizens.

What should I be asking?

G_M

You've started well, so keep going.

Clearly avoid an agent who
* does not know (or follow) the law (eg SPTs)
* tries to tell YOU what to do (so won't do what you tell THEM what to do)
* will not give clear details of what they will do for the various price options you discuss, and what they won't do
* will not tell you what fees they charge the tenants, as well as what they charge you

Go for an agent who
* listens to what you want them to do for you and either agrees, or gives sensible advice/suggestions
* is willing to adapt their standard contract terms to incorporate what you discuss

Also check:
* Ask for names of other LLs on their books who would be willing to act as referees. If they can't (or won't "data protection" is the excuse), ask yourself why.....
* get a friend to pose as a tenant and go in to ask about properties. See how they are treated, what they are charged, what vetting they are told they will need to undergo (at what fee)
* look at their contract; Terms of Service; Complaints procedure; Membership of professional body (with complaints procedure
* check how you can end the contract; What notice is required; what penalties/ongoing charges there are (eg if a tenant they found, stays, but you want decide to self-manage)
* look through their standard tenancy agreement. Some are rubbish! Contain unfair /unenforcible terms
* ask how they manage guarantee agreements if tenants need them (ie young, foriegn, poor credit) it's amazing how few agents actually know the legal rqmts for a valid guarantee deed

Decide in advance what you want them to do:
* just tenant find?
* also tenant referencing - or will you do this?
* tenant choice - or do you want to see all the references and make the final choice?
* arrange contract? And inventory? Or have you got your own tenancy agreement? Do own inventory? Employ your own Inventory Clerk seperately?
* 'Manage' the letting?
* what does 'manage' mean?
* just rent collection?
* repairs? Use your contractors, or theirs?
* tenant complaints/problems? How? Tefer them to you or deal with themselves?
* tenant renewals - they do it, or you decide? SPT's OK?

Don't be pushed into delegating more than you want. And whatever is agreed must be written into the contract so there's no mistakes/misunderstandings.

And obviously the fee you pay depends on how much of the above they do, or you do

I assume you know what else you need to consider, but just in case, this post may give further ideas:

New Landlords (information for new or prospective landlords)

I can feel a whole new reference post developing out of this.....

ognum

Try looking at the website. allagents think it's .co.uk. It gives reviews from landlord and tenants perspective.

ognum

also negotiate the fee, they will say 10% if fully managed but you can push them down

cheekychappy

GM...that's great advice, as I want to tailor the contract to my requirements.
I intend to give the tenants some of their own control by having a British gas service contract, so they arrange any repairs, but want some clout from the agents if rent is not paid.
Seems like let only set up fee is not a lot different to 6 months negotiated managed. Got down to 8% on the fees, but still not happy with the terms, so will negotiate.

G_M

cheekychappy wrote: »

...., but want some clout from the agents if rent is not paid.
.

Then

a) ask them exactly what they do:
* how soon after rent is overdue do they spot it? Take action?
* take what initial action? When?
* follow up again how and when?
* when will they inform you?
* what if tenant continues to not pay? Will they issue S8, or expect you to?
* will they go to court if required? If not, how much support (if any) will they give you for this?

b) once you've established/agreed the above - get it in your contract with them. In full. If you don't, then one day when you discover your tenants are 5 months in arrears and nothing has been done, you'll recall this conversation but either the chap you had it with will have left the company or he'll have forgotten it!

Having watched posts on this forum for some years now, I'm increasingly convinced that the landlord/agent contract is arguably more important than the LL/tenant one (which is largely governed by statute anyway).

And treated incredably casually by landlords, especially the new, naive, single-property, forced-into-letting-their-home LLs who are in most need of professional support.....

whalster

Getting to know your tenant and managing yourself is the best kind of clout you will ever have you will also be able to see if your rent is late a lot quicker too .
Join the RLA or similar ,really if you are not living overseas or one end of the country to the other and can string more than two words together then you will do a better job than any agent.