Chichester Property News: letting agent fees

Showing posts with label letting agent fees. Show all posts

Thursday, 11 April 2024

Five things to check when choosing a letting agent

Using a letting agent to manage your rental property should relieve you of hassle, whilst improving your return on investment. Here are five things to look out for though to prevent you being stung by a poor performing or sneaky letting agent.

1. Legal requirements
It is a legal requirement for all letting agents to be a member of a property ombudsman or redress scheme, which ensures you have a port of call if you have reason to complain about their service. Letting agents should also have indemnity insurance to protect you against any mistakes, as well as Client Money Protection insurance, which will compensate you if the agent should misappropriate your funds. Certificates for all of these should be provided upon request and be available on their website - if they don’t have them, they are breaking the law!

2. Service
Ensure you understand what level of service you expect from a letting agent and whether they can deliver it. Discuss what options are available and what the proposed service includes as letting agents’ interpretation of ‘fully managed’ can vary, and this can be at odds with landlords’ expectations. Ask what marketing the agent will undertake, what tenant referencing they perform (and if they’ll supply you with copies) and what the move-in process entails (including which deposit scheme they use and the level of detail to their inventories). Ask how often they will undertake inspections at your property and what their process is if rent isn’t received on time.

3. Fees
A major factor in choosing any service is its cost (although I’d argue value for money is more important than ultimate price). Fortunately, it is a legal requirement for letting agents to list all their fees on their website and in their offices. You should question those who aren’t doing this - firstly because it’s illegal not to, but secondly…what are they hiding?! A myriad of extra fees hidden away in the small print of their management contract can soon add up. Also, ask if they add commission to maintenance invoices; this isn’t illegal (if it’s made clear), but you might wonder why organising repairs isn’t simply part of their management fee.

4. Reviews
Perhaps the best way to choose a letting agent (like with any service) is by seeking a recommendation or referral from someone you trust. Failing that, letting agents are likely to offer up testimonials from their current clients, although it’s perhaps better to seek them out for yourself by looking up their reviews online.

5. Contracts
Whichever agent you decide upon, make sure you receive a written management contract. This should set out the service the letting agent will undertake for you, whilst clearly listing all the fees you’ll ever need to pay. This will provide clarity for both parties and should help avoid any mis-understandings or disputes at a later date. Be sure to carefully read the contract and raise any terms you are unhappy with before you sign it and the agent starts working for you.

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If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative in Chichester, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

E-mail me on clive@crjlettings.co.uk or call 01243 624 599.

Don't forget to visit the links below to view my previous buy-to-let deals and Chichester Property News articles:

^{_{c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP}}

Thursday, 8 December 2022

Five things to check when choosing a letting agent

1. Legal requirements
It is a legal requirement for all letting agents to be a member of a property ombudsman or redress scheme, which ensures you have a port of call if you have reason to complain about their service. Letting agents should also have indemnity insurance to protect you against any mistakes, as well as Client Money Protection insurance, which will compensate you if the agent should misappropriate your funds. Certificates for all of these should be provided upon request - if they don’t have them, they are breaking the law!

2. Service
Ensure you understand what level of service you expect from a letting agent and whether they can deliver it. Discuss what options are available and what the proposed service includes as letting agents’ interpretation of ‘fully managed’ can vary, and this can be at odds with landlords’ expectations. Ask what marketing the agent will undertake, what tenant referencing they perform (and if they’ll supply you with copies) and what the move-in process entails (including which deposit scheme they use and the level of detail to their inventories). Ask how often they will undertake inspections at your property and what their process is if rent isn’t received on time.

3. Fees
A major factor in choosing any service is its cost (although I’d argue value for money is more important than ultimate price). Fortunately, it is a legal requirement for letting agents to list all their fees on their website and in their offices. You should question those who aren’t doing this - firstly because it’s illegal not to, but secondly…what are they hiding?! A myriad of extra fees hidden away in the small print of their management contract can soon add up. Also, ask if they add commission to maintenance invoices; this isn’t illegal (if it’s made clear), but you might wonder why organising repairs isn’t simply part of their management fee.

This article was featured in...

^{_{c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP}}

Thursday, 18 June 2020

Five things to check when choosing a letting agent

1. Legal requirements
It is a legal requirement for all letting agents to be a member of a property ombudsman or redress scheme, which ensures you have a port of call if you have reason to complain about their service. Letting agents should also have indemnity insurance to protect you against any mistakes, as well as Client Money Protection insurance, which will compensate you if the agent should misappropriate your funds. Certificates for all of these should be provided upon request - if they don’t have them, they are breaking the law!

2. Service
Ensure you understand what level of service you expect from a letting agent and whether they can deliver it. Discuss what options are available and what the proposed service includes as letting agents’ interpretation of ‘fully managed’ can vary, and this can be at odds with landlords’ expectations. Ask what marketing the agent will undertake, what tenant referencing they perform (and if they’ll supply you with copies) and what the move-in process entails (including which deposit scheme they use and the level of detail to their inventories). Ask how often they will undertake inspections at your property and what their process is if rent isn’t received on time.

3. Fees
A major factor in choosing any service is its cost (although I’d argue value for money is more important than ultimate price). Fortunately, it is a legal requirement for letting agents to list all their fees on their website and in their offices. You should question those who aren’t doing this - firstly because it’s illegal not to, but secondly…what are they hiding?! A myriad of extra fees hidden away in the small print of their management contract can soon add up. Also, ask if they add commission to maintenance invoices; this isn’t illegal (if it’s made clear), but you might wonder why organising repairs isn’t simply part of their management fee.

This article was featured in...

^{_{c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP}}

Thursday, 19 September 2019

Which month is busiest for Chichester’s estate agents?

September is often seen as a good time to sell property as the market is fresh from a summer holiday and busy with buyers looking to move in to a new home by Christmas. By looking at a monthly breakdown of property sales in Chichester for 2018, we can determine whether this is in fact accurate. It’ll also show which months are busiest for Chichester’s estate agents and whether there’s ever a good time for them to go on holiday!

Here’s the month-by-month property sales in Chichester for 2018:

January - 148

February - 136

March - 162

April - 129

May - 139

June - 187

July - 167
August - 182
September - 191
October - 177
November - 200
December - 171

So, November saw the highest number of property sales in Chichester compared to any other month in 2018. Bear in mind though that these figures (from Land Registry) are when a property sale is completed, rather than when it is first agreed between buyer and seller. With the legal process normally taking a couple of months, we can conclude that the highest number of sales are actually agreed in September.

Having looked at the figures for the past few years, I can confirm that the above pattern is typical of how the market flows throughout the year. It is reasonably steady throughout the year, rather than having wild ups and downs like some people might think. Things start off slow and build momentum as the year progresses, before tailing off again for Christmas and repeating the pattern into the darker, colder winter months.

As a side note, the totals above show there were 1,989 sales in the whole of 2018, which was 5% down compared to 2017, when 2,103 properties were sold in Chichester. Things slowed down even more at the start of 2019 though, with there being 18% fewer sales registered in the first third of the year compared to the same period twelve months prior.

Whilst the annual pattern may be the same then, it seems that Chichester’s property market, like much of the UK’s, is suffering from the general feeling of uncertainty. As the October 31st ‘Brexit deadline’ draws nearer, coinciding with the slowdown in the run-up to Christmas, it could be that Chichester’s estate agents are able to book some time off sooner rather than later and not miss out on too much of the action.

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^{_{c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP}}

Thursday, 12 September 2019

Advice for landlords wanting a ‘let only’ service

Whilst many landlords will happily pay a letting agent to take care of everything, some landlords like to get stuck in and control as much of the process as possible, which leads them to a ‘let only’ service. This is where the letting agent finds the tenants and sets up the tenancy, before the landlord takes over the running of things from there.

Regardless of the service I’m instructed to undertake, my philosophy is always the same in regards to finding a tenant; it’s about getting the best tenant for the property, not necessarily the first one that comes along. That means finding ‘nice’ tenants who will pay the rent and look after the property and, where possible, who want to stay in the property long-term.

Unfortunately, some agents will do the minimum amount of work to get the job ‘done’; which to them means finding any tenant who’ll take the property. This is particularly true in the case of a ‘let only’ service whereby they may keep the better tenants for their managed stock, knowing that once they’ve moved tenants in on a let only basis they’re the landlord’s problem! Be sure you know who the tenants are and check their referencing reports to ensure you’re going to be comfortable dealing with them once they’re in your property.

Some unscrupulous agents have also worked out that by putting a short-term tenant in the property they won’t have to wait as long before being instructed (and paid) again to find the next set of tenants. Whilst the agent will make more money this way, the landlord will suffer from additional void periods and wear and tear from the greater churn of tenants.

You should watch out for agents with lots of similar (unlet) properties on their books and consider whether it is in their best interest to get your property let or the one across the street, which might start earning them a chunkier ‘fully managed’ fee.

A major reason landlords go down the ‘let only’ route rather than ‘fully managed’ is to save money. Unfortunately for these landlords they might be in for a shock when they next instruct an agent on a ‘let only’ basis, as the banning of tenant fees has seen letting agents greatly increase their price in this regard (many used to offer ‘let only’ very cheaply to landlords in the knowledge they would be in line for a big ‘admin’ fee from the tenants).

Be sure to check there aren’t any added costs or renewal fees tied into the service too. It’s a legal requirement for letting agents to list ALL the fees they will ever charge to landlords on their website, although I know a few who still aren’t doing this…

So, when it comes to choosing a letting agent, don’t be afraid to ask some tricky questions at their initial visit to weed out those in it for the short-term gain at the expense of your long-term pain!

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^{_{c/o CRJ Lettings, 30B Southgate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1DP}}