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Finding
a reliable property agent
As a Landlord you are interested in gaining and
maintaining an income on the investment you have
made in purchasing a rental property. If you have
decided to employ the services of a property management
agent you will need to find the right letting
agent for you.
Do
you want a full property management service?
This is the least effort for you but possibly
the most expensive option at first glance. Ideally,
a really great agent will minimise void periods
for you, choose wonderful tenants and get the
best rental available, and they will keep track
of all the niggly details like inventory, rent
collection, maintainence etc etc. You will need
to have an excellent relationship with your letting
agent for this to work, and you will need to be
able to trust their integrity, and capabilities.
Otherwise you won't get value for your money.
One
way to help you feel confident about the integrity
of a letting agent is to know that they are a
member of a professional body of some sort. There
are various professional bodies to which a letting
agent may belong to, and in order to help you
make an educated decision we have put together
a page with information about the
main UK letting schemes and bodies.
On
LetaLife you will find that
letting agents listings are of two types,
a free listing which is a blue edged box with
a pale yellow background which matches the background
of the main page, and a paid registered listing
which is a deeper yellow and stands out from the
other free listings. A LetaLife registered agent
must comply with certain basic standards - they
must provide a 'real' email address, a real postal
address and telephone number. If they have a website
it will only be linked to from our site if the
contact details are fully displayed on their site
and they correspond with those we have for them.
Maybe
you want to do some of the work yourself,
to cut down on costs? Maybe you need to get to
know the letting agent better before you give
them full responsibility? It's a good idea to
make sure that you are clear about what you expect
from your agent and that he/she understands your
requirements.
Communication
is the key to a successful working relationship.
Written contracts for all aspects of letting are
even better - you can
source documents asociated with letting out your
property economically online but you may need
a good solicitor as well. As with anything which
is crucial to the success of your investment plans,
you must always check with a trusted expert. Of
course you hope that there will be no need to
test any clauses but either always understand
any contract you sign or have someone you trust
who is legally qualified understand it for you
before committing yourself.
An
agent can help with finding tenants,
but don't forget to remind them to use
our property rental advertising pages. LetaLife
covers the entire UK and you can (or your agent
can for you) place
a 'To Let' advert on our site either free
of charge or at a £10 fee for an enhanced
advert service.
Here
are tips
on how to write a successful online "Rental
Property To Let" or "Room To Let"
advert...read
on.
With
over 2 million people using our site each year,
it is great value and an extremely easy way to
find tenants quickly.
Rent
out a parking space.
You
can also make an extra income by renting out your
garage or parking space, and your letting agent
can help you administer this as well . Find
out how..
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