Selecting A Agency!

Selecting A Letting Agent?

Letting Agent / Estate Agent  /

Property Managers.

The choice is all yours but which one ? Online, offline, Hybrid, High street, small business, large chain, franchise. Phew. So many to chose from, thousands of agents and with that comes many different standards.  

Bigger is not always better!

Smaller is not always manageable!

High tech misses the human touch !

And too much of the human touch could be hiding something (Slimy Salesman)

Like most things in life there are good and bad, right and wrong, positive and negative and choosing agent does not meant as soon as you read a bad review you hang them to dry. Not everyone can be pleased and not every customer will be made happy. Most agents will always do their best to keep business good with landlords and tenants.  Some however have forgotten the golden rule of business. “the Customer is always right” The customer. So who is the customer. Well as a middle man (The Agent) to both the landlord and tenant they both are the customer and both should be treated with the same respect and care regardless. There is no more towards one than the other because without tenants you have no landlords and visa versa. I’ve seen far to many empty homes were the agent has a bad rep, and likewise its always better to have tenants waiting for homes.

One of your first moves.

So are you buying in a area your from, are you buying to rent in a area you don’t know. I would suggest for those just starting the business you buy were you know, straight away your far better off at least while you get a couple of years management under your belt.

Your local knowledge and life history will already give you an idea of who’s in your local market and will probably include all the agents when you, your family or friends may have rented over the years growing up.

List them all and then remove any only trading less than a year. That’s not to say anything wrong but we are reducing risk at this stage. Remove any that are not part of a national redress scheme. Always check online to confirm membership.

Remove any that do not have at least one of the following:

• PROPERTY MARK
• ARLA
• NAEA 
• NALS
• UKALA
• RICS 

Then check for CMP Client Money Protection. Again this is about risk and at this stage we are still removing risk.

Look for the PropertyMark logo, SafeAgents Logo, and the CMP logo.

Then look for one more item and that’s the ICO membership. Information Commissioners Office Registration certificate.

So we narrowed our list down to our first shortlist without leaving the house and now its time to get on our feet we at go walking. Even in small areas the market can be swallowed up by one company or just one company can have most of rentals / sales in small area. Maybe they worked hard or just flooded the area but in doing so they have earned the public familiarity, they are known as the agent by tenants, buyers and sellers. It doesn’t mean they are the best, more of a best known. There are pros and cons for this, again like any business its supply and demand.

So we looked at areas on the ground the signs, who’s popular, who’s where, who is selling and who’s letting. Now lets wander to the high street. Looking on the high street one of my favourite things is to Mystery shop. Remember a customer who wants to rent is just as much of a customer who wants to buy or sell. But you will see the reaction. On one occasion I went on a Monday and said I would like to sell my property, Firstly not impressed I had to book an appointment for a weeks time. Too busy or what? Doesn’t mean it’s a good thing it could be they can’t cope or even be bothered at that moment in time. Its gets worse a week later that same agent I said I was looking to rent a property that I had seen in the window. “somebody will be with you in a minute” 10 mins later, how can I help you …again. Blurb the again I was told Sorry its let. What about that other one I asked, Oh that’s let too. She smiles and whispered they are all gone they are for show in the window but we can check on the website for new ones. I made my excuses and went.  One a further occasion at a different agency I wanted to rent a home I saw, sure sit down sir, that gentleman will be with you shortly. In the meantime some suited chap (clearly a landlord from what I heard) came walking in, he was offered a cup of tea, I was still left parched. He was offered a seat on the gentleman desk whom I was waiting to see. I was left 20 mins while they discusses business with and with no cuppa either. The cheek!. Again why is the landlord better than the tenant, he is not and nor should be treated as such. That’s how you lose quality tenants and without them you have no decent homes occupied.

The big fish tank’s and giant TV screens mean they have a lot of money to blow. We all want our offices to be nice and pretty looking but most of all we want them busy with customers. If you can sit in a agency office and no new tenants have visited in a hour or so then lower that agent score. Same as if the phone is ringing loads or not. Always listen as well as look at the agents. Overhearing is a vital method in gaining a insight of a agents working practice & business.  

So the next thing is establish the basic paperwork from your shortlist.

Be shown originals of the certification, normally on display and copies of public liability and proof of CMP, Just like the agent must do vetting on a tenant you are doing the same with them.

Ask for a copy of a blank inventory and AST.

Remember a poor agent is going to cost you loads. All we are doing is taking measure to prevent this.

Now you may ask why have I not gone to all agents or Trustpilot or other review sites first. The answer is simple, many narked tenants who get repossessed always place bad reviews on good agents, many miffed landlords place poor review just because they don’t get what they want. Again review are sometime limed to bitterness. Again good review can come from friend and family. It’s a guide but nothing more at this stage. So we always leave it till last thing.

Read the AST, does it meet all your needs. Have a solicitor review the agreement to ensure it up to standard and UpToDate. The law changes offer and ask the agent when was the last update of the agreement. Any stuttering answers or stunned faces should give you an idea to ask more.

Letlink is a great way of staying up to date. Any agent with let link membership will be fully up to date the same with Property mark members. Meeting all legislation is paramount!

So we have our shortlist, based on what we have done so far, lets go back online and look at them and the others online.

We need to establish who’s on Rightmove, Zoopla and OTM, there are many portals and regardless of the size its how the agent sells the property to weather the leads will be any good. What’s the agents online presence, try typing letting in “area” or Renting in “area” see if you agent is listed and how far up. Most people tend to only use first or second page before redefining, narrowing their search. Lets pick up the local newspaper and look at the coverage. Which agents use the local newspapers and online. All this means more exposure and more exposure means more choice of tenants.

What does their website look like, is it inviting to tenants, are the fees displayed, is the website selling well. Does it help tent see the property. Are the photos well done, do they use 360 HD image, Do they have 3D scanning? What’s the downloaded brochures like, Online mapping, amenities link, online chat, are the EPC and floorplans are on display. Your overall feel of the website. Can you book viewings ? Can you leave messages ?

So we have looked at highstreets, we have looked at marketing and presence, we’ve looked at certification and ability. So now we should look at the online reviews of service. What awards have been won, when and who issued them. Some awards can be purchased for the right price by the many so called printing/publishing companies. Lets look at the reviews. Take note, is there persistent complaints about a certain subject.

Maintenance, management, documentation, communication, payments ect

Look for a patterns and question your final shortlist about them.

So we know have our short list, what now!

Lets request T&C of each and look closely, Looking for payment dates and regularity. Looking for maintenance budgets, Who supplies the maintenance which company and are they independent and rated. Maintenance run poorly can cost you a fortune. Always do everything in writing. Maintenance is a whole new chapter.

One of the biggest giveaways is when you ask the questions but they delay or deny the answers and suddenly you feel like you’re a hindrance to them. Trust me if there is something to hide they will not want your business. All good agents will operate with integrity, care, and transparency whilst of course not breaching data protection laws. Thus agents that can’t be bothered or don’t understand why you want this information and fail to assist you then should steer clear.

Just like any agent vets a tenant he can’t be 100% and when you do all you can, you can’t be and wont be 100%. However you did ask the right questions and you feel happy with your choice at the time. You minimised the risk and exposure of a poor agent to both the tenant and yourself.