Best Estate Agents for Renting house in Bristol

clidbury

HI there,

I am looking to rent my house out for around 2 years and looking for an estate agents to go with.

Does anyone have any they would recommend, or are there any ones with particularly low fees? I would have probably looked into managing this myself, however I am planning on moving to Australia for a year and doing some travelling, so unfortunately this wouldn't be possible.

Thanks a bunch!

Pixie5740

Given that you'll be on the other side of the world what's more important to you a good letting agent or a cheap letting agent?

clidbury

Well, a good one mainly, both would be a bonus though

I remember hearing on the radio about an agent who had a fixed fee rather than a % of rental fee, but can't for the life of me remember their name.

ST1991

I can only recommend one, and that is Howce in downend.
No idea of their fees as we bought and the seller used them. However, they were involved with both the seller and us on an almost daily basis to follow through with everything.
Nothing was too much work for them. The completion took from January to October due to various issues with the house but it would have taken 10 times as long if they hadn't have been so proactive.
He was call us on a regular basis with updates, what needs to be done next. When solicitors were taking days/weeks to respond he would chase them up directly.

Would use them if we ever sell!

clidbury

Great, thanks for the info

ST1991 wrote: »

I can only recommend one, and that is Howce in downend.
No idea of their fees as we bought and the seller used them. However, they were involved with both the seller and us on an almost daily basis to follow through with everything.
Nothing was too much work for them. The completion took from January to October due to various issues with the house but it would have taken 10 times as long if they hadn't have been so proactive.
He was call us on a regular basis with updates, what needs to be done next. When solicitors were taking days/weeks to respond he would chase them up directly.

Would use them if we ever sell!

Cakeguts

Have you done any market research to see if your house is the kind of property that tenants want to rent? If it isn't you won't get a choice of good tenants so you will need an agent who is good at managing property because they will need to sort out the house between tenants. This might include putting in a new kitchen if the tenants damage the one that is there.

Will you be wanting the house to be empty when you get back from your travels because if you do then you also need and agent that will give notice to the tenants and arrange the court date if they don't leave at the end of the notice period.

An estate agent that is good at sales isn't always going to be the one that is good for rentals. A good estate agent that is good at managing property isn't going to be cheap. You need one that is a member of all the professional associations for renting and managing property. If you don't know what these are look them up.

clidbury

I have had a look and there are a couple houses on the rental market around my area, though they have been online for a good month now, so not sure how in demand it is, but that's something I'll ask agents when I contact them.

Won't want the house empty, will be staying with family 6 months prior to save, and 6 months after whilst getting a job on return, so having it tenanted on return isn't much of an issue really, infact it would help.

Yup, understood, that's why I was asking for recommendations

Cakeguts wrote: »

Have you done any market research to see if your house is the kind of property that tenants want to rent? If it isn't you won't get a choice of good tenants so you will need an agent who is good at managing property because they will need to sort out the house between tenants. This might include putting in a new kitchen if the tenants damage the one that is there.

Will you be wanting the house to be empty when you get back from your travels because if you do then you also need and agent that will give notice to the tenants and arrange the court date if they don't leave at the end of the notice period.

An estate agent that is good at sales isn't always going to be the one that is good for rentals. A good estate agent that is good at managing property isn't going to be cheap. You need one that is a member of all the professional associations for renting and managing property. If you don't know what these are look them up.

walwyn1978

Although it wasn't rental, we used Ocean to sell my late grandmas property in Filton , that for various reasons too boring to go into wasn't an 'easy' sell. We found them proactive,diligent, prompt in returning calls and a great asset in trying to sell a property from 200 miles away. I was very impressed with the company.

Obviously it wasn't rental, so it may not be the same for that side of things.

Om the financial side, they were more expensive in terms of % than other EA's we asked at the same time, but we're happy with the service we received.

http://www.oceanhome.co.uk

stardust09

Don't touch CJ Hole. I think Northwood also have some potentially nasty clauses in their contracts. Maybe Ocean or Andrews. Note, I am talking as a tenant and not a landlord!

clidbury

Ah yes, heard nasty stuff about CJ Hole. Northwood were on my radar as they make a deal about saying that they can guarantee rent even when it's not occupied (though I'm sure you pay a premium for this).

All a bit new to this. I did get a quote from Smart Move of £200 tenant setup and 10% of rental for the full package, which seems real steep to me. Got Purple Bricks coming around this weekend so will see what they say, but it looks like a no-go if 10% is the going rate.

stardust09 wrote: »

Don't touch CJ Hole. I think Northwood also have some potentially nasty clauses in their contracts. Maybe Ocean or Andrews. Note, I am talking as a tenant and not a landlord!

johnbusby

Although it seems you've already been well warned, I would echo the advice not to use CJ Hole. They are beyond rubbish...