Choosing your letting agent is absolutely crucial if you want the utmost in safety and client-money protection. Here are Greens Lettings' best tips and pointers on how to choose a letting agency.
Letting agencies are not regulated, so it is absolutely necessary for property landlords to check if they have any accreditation whatsoever. Here are some accreditations worth looking for:
Know yourself–do you want someone to just find tenants for you? Or, do you need full service property management?
Is the letting agent primarily a sales office? Maybe the letting business is just a secondary sideline. Nice offices and fancy cars can imply higher fees.
Ask about the Terms and Conditions (also known as Terms of Trading). These include the finer details of the fee structure and procedures.
Do they have professional indemnity insurance (PII) to protect against lawsuits? This is also sometimes called professional liability insurance (PLI). This kind of insurance protects professional advice and service-providing individuals and companies from having to pay the total cost of defending against a negligence claim made by a client and damages awarded in a possible lawsuit.
Do they have client money protection (CMP)? If they are members of SAFE (Safe Agent Fully Endorsed), then they have processes that protect both tenant and landlord's money through client money protection schemes. So, if the agent runs off with the tenant deposit, the property owner is responsible to pay back the tenant. Likewise, if the agent runs away with the rent, the tenant is responsible to pay back the property owner.
Do they have enough local and national reach to market your property effectively?
Know what services you're paying for. What are included in the packages? What services are included as extras? What other property solutions are you looking for now and in the near future?
Does the property manager list properties similar to yours? Do they have properties in the vicinity? This would be a huge advantage knowing that they might already have a system & process in place to handle common problems. For example, they already have local connections to do routine property maintenance.
Finally, do your research and find time to know who you're doing business with. Without a doubt, building trust is a necessary first step when dealing with others.
Property Manager jobs are abundant. Finding qualified realty management is a lot tougher these days. If you have any questions on choosing a letting agent in South East London, please do not hesitate to contact us.
© Greens Lettings 2015 | Letting Agent SE18 | Property Management | Landlords | HMO Experts and Specialists
Greens Lettings is a property management company based in Shooters Hill, London. As your HMO expert in SE18, we continue to serve places in South East London such as SE2 (Abbey Wood), SE3 (Blackheath), SE7 (Charlton), SE9 (Eltham), SE10 (Greenwich), SE18 (Woolwich), SE23 (Lewisham), SE28 (Bexley) — just to name a few. We are your local online letting agent specialising in HMO tenant find and full management. We offer free consultation and free property valuation. Contact Greens Lettings here.
