Articles for landlords and tenants

All too often we hear the same question from both parties.

Why do we need an agent?

From the landlords point of view, they hardly ever hear from us and the rent comes in on time each month.

From the tenants point of view, the agent just takes the rent and does nothing for the money.

As agents, our duties go far beyond that expected of us. Our office receives over 100 calls a day dealing with everything from repairs, rent collection, advice and much more.

For the landlord, we organise everything. This includes gas safety inspections, sourcing new tenants, advertising properties, arranging inventories, chasing late or non payers, etc. 

For the tenant, we not only ensure their safety during their tenancy but their peace of mind too. We endevour to make sure their rent is paid on time so as to avoid a stressful situation further down the line, organise repairs on their behalf, negotiate tenancy renewals and so much more.

It is a common misconception that we are only here to look after the landlord. What you don't see behind the scenes is the agent negotiating on your behalf with the landlord, to ensure your property is kept safe and well maintained. 

As agents, we also keep up to date with the law within our field. We attend training courses, obtain industry qualifications and ensure we have up to date information surrounding all new legislation. 

Nowadays the press would have us all believe that you can just buy a property, place a tenant in and reap the rewards with no voids in rent and no repairs are needed. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Imagine there is no agent involved and landlord and tenant deal directly with each other. It may well run smoothly but unfortunately it quite often doesn't. People need encouregment to do things, and as agents this is what we do best. We often hear from new tenants that their previous landlord hasn't carried out repairs or even had the gas test carried out on time. Alternatively, we hear of tenants unnecessarily delaying rental payments due to minor situations which in some cases can lead to major arrears. 

We are often approached by new landlords who have formerly self-managed their properties, usually for help recovering rental arrears and/or the amount of time they discover this entails (even for just one property, never mind a portfollio). We also find a large number of new tenants are leaving their current property following the landlord's decision to self-manage as they prefer the security of an agent. 

Whether you are a landlord or tenant, don't leave such important matters to chance.

Always insist on an agent.