Foxtons - too good to be true?

Hurdler

I had Foxtons come round for a rental evaluation - they quoted me way high over the 3 other valuations (which were all consistent between £100-200 below pcm).
I also have 2 mates who are chartered surveyors in the city as well as a mate who runs a city based letting agency - all 3 have told me that Foxtons do have a reputation for over-pricing... but as one of the above posters said - that strategy obviously works for them also!

2 other flats are for sale with a diff EA in the area and the Foxtons dude told me that those prices were quite ambitious, and that a realistic price will be around £15K below their asking price!

I won't be going with them when I do let out my place - but like the OP - I was initially swayed as the 1st 2 other places I called were quite snotty and quoted me something like £900 pcm (so when I got foxtons's £1300 I almost keeled over!)
That's why I went for 3 more... just to be sure!

lynzpower

the thing is hurdler, they have such a brilliant prospectives lists. they also work directly with companies who corporately rent.

If I were you Id give them a punt. You can always get less with the competition

Hurdler

Hi lynzpower...
Corporate letting is precisely the reason I first called them in after getting slapped about by Dexters and Lords who told me (without bothering to look) that letting in my area had taken off and that I was doing it at the wrong time. They (and actually the 3 others) seemed to show much more interest and willing, which was the all important first impression.

Alas... in the end their full management fees are astronomical... and if I wasn't such a monumental numpty in forgetting stamp duty for my new gaff, I probably would have considered them, but bargained on the minimum of £1000 pcm instead of £1300 they quoted...
I am already battling quite a shortfall without taking pre-trading costs into consideration.
One thing that did concern me was the Foxton letting agents calculations for bottom line costs ... I did actually pop in to see her to go over it again, but got someone else who bamboozled me still further (and this time I had my super-duper spreadsheet of calcs and research to show him!) ... At that stage I thought it was more muppetidity on my part so girded my loins to do mathematical battle with the 3 others... and they were much more simple... and the creaking hurdler is a simple creature at heart!

BUT... fair play ... never say never - I'll keep their details to hand and when I get closer to starting the letting cycle proper I'll have them all revisit and make a decision then...

lynzpower

you are funny hurdler :rotfl: "creaking hurdler"

The other option is ask them to reduce thier managemetn fees!

Could you not self manage, ie take them for let only?

Hurdler

Lynzpower: Heh - mate you haven't heard my knees after being put to work helping my mum shift stuff over the weekend before the decorators decimated the living room!

I did think of self-managing for a while (in fact... if truth be told after doing all the paperwork and liaison for our block of flats buying the freehold ... I actually thought of retraining to be a management/letting agent!)...
I have a job that takes me away a lot and one of the other flat-owners has a devil of a job doing the management from the other side of wherever!

I tried to do a fair bit of research and the mates in the trade all advised that... if i could afford it and the returns/corp letting potential was favourable, it would be worth going full mgt.

I found the Landlordzone site thru MSE and that has been fantastic for additional research ('cept they're all so SERIOUS there... 'nary a smiley to be seen on most posts :rotfl: )...

I just got a bit of a pay hike which will help, and actually you may be able to help me here ... I've done my calcs allowing for the "worst case scenario" of full mgt fees (15%), VAT, and I've aggregated the usual costs associated with letting (i.e. the following year's gas certification, wear and tear allowance, inventory costs, Tenant agreement costs) and have allowed for a measly sounding 5.5% profit after all those deductions... does that sound right or should I ditch that in favour of a couple of £000's more in equity?