Which letting agent should i choose?
When choosing a rental company, it is important to ask for recommendations. Listen to those who live near you, for example, other rental companies that may be. The next step is to invite your selected agents to visit the property and share their opinion on the current market rent (use our email service to contact your selected agents with a single email). What you’re looking for here isn’t just a number, but an idea of how the agent came up with that number.
A good rental agent should be able to give you details of at least a few similar properties they’ve recently rented out that are comparable to yours. After your reviews have decided on the best offer price, the number provided by the broker is given more weight with the best comparable evidence. It’s important that all agents market your property at the same price. If you can’t find evidence that rental agents comply with these rules, ask for their certificates.
Once you’ve chosen a rental agent, it’s important to describe exactly what service you’re looking for. Because renting is a relatively fast-paced business, most brokers only provide basic details and photos instead of providing complete details. You also need a rental agent who is actively looking for new tenants, rather than waiting for them to stumble into the store. Pay attention to how quickly a rental agent returns your call when you ask questions about their services.
When you choose a rental agent, you don’t have to navigate the world of buying alone. It can be frustrating to rent out agents that only open from 9am to 5am — and therefore only reachable — from Monday to Friday. There are a significant number of landlords and the majority of real estate agencies operate letting departments. These independent entities can hold a rental agent accountable and are there to resolve disputes between landlords and brokers.
You’re also liable if your rental agent doesn’t protect the tenant’s deposit, even if you’ve never seen a cent of that money. On the other hand, you’ll have to do your own viewings, and if you hate using online services, an online rental agent won’t let your boat float. To get you the best return, letting agents advise what rent to expect for a property and can show you details of similar properties that have rented out a similar number. Rental agents can no longer charge tenants for anything and everything, so many make up for the shortcoming by charging landlords more.
Make sure that the person you choose is a member of a trade association such as NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) or ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents). Full management means that the broker takes care of everything that has to do with renting from start to finish and only involves the landlord when something out of the ordinary requires their decision. Average prices on the high street range from 5-10% (plus VAT) for renting only to 10-17% (plus VAT) for a full rental and property management service.
