Valuation Our experienced Lettings Consultants would be pleased to meet with you to advise
on all aspects of letting and to discuss the achievable rental value.
Marketing methods Once you have instructed us to find a tenant the property will be placed on our
website, added to our printed lists, circulated by mail, SMS (text message) and
email, listed in our press advertising and, most effective of all, we will advise all
appropriate registered applicants by telephone. Very often we will have a tenant in mind for your property and with our first class reputation; properties are very often let before they hit the press.
Tenants & Referencing Potential tenants wishing to view the property are usually accompanied by our Lettings Consultant. Once a tenant has expressed their interest, the next stage is referencing. Our aim is to take every precaution to introduce the right tenant to a property to ensure a trouble free let.
This service is provided at no extra cost to the Landlord and is the best way to harness all of the information available in today's complex lettings market place. This ensures that when the tenant enters the property, they have been thoroughly and independently assessed and verified, for financial strength and suitability for tenancy and insurance such as rental and legal protection.
Documentation Our tenancy agreement is extremely carefully constructed to protect both you and the tenant without the inclusion of any 'unfair terms' - no easy task! Problems with tenancy agreements are one of the most common causes of court action between a Landlord and Tenant - ours has been created through years of experience and is still frequently reviewed to ensure its validity. Most tenancies are Assured Shorthold Tenancies but we also arrange Company Lets (which are used when a company takes a tenancy on behalf of an employee) and other Non Housing Act tenancies to suit the situation. Other documentation includes the Inventory and Schedule of Condition, a vital record of what is in the property and its condition at the beginning of the tenancy. This is agreed with the tenant at the beginning of the tenancy and used again at the end of the term to give a clear report on any problems. Wear and tear is expected and accepted in a tenancy, damage or removal of items by a tenant is not and must be rectified
at the tenant's cost.
During the Tenancy Landlords sometimes consider that their parents or a friendly neighbour will be able to manage their property during their absence, using a local known contractor for any maintenance. There is, however, more to a tenancy than this. Property management involves demanding and collecting rent on a regular basis and ensuring that rent continues to be paid for the duration of the tenancy, making regular visits to see that tenants are taking care of the property, checking for any general maintenance and arranging contractors ensuring that their costs are fair and the work is done properly and advising you on tax matters and allowances.
Finally, our Maintenance Department, liaising with our Lettings Consultants, will deal with any emergencies such as storm damage, flooding or burst pipes. Our experience means that we have seen most disasters before and we know how to handle them, who to contact and - most important of all - how to get claims settled to cover loss of rent and damage if a problem does occur. More often than not, our experience means that we are able to pre-empt and disable at source many of the problems that many other Landlords and management agencies fall prey to. With our property management service your home is in safe hands!
Our personal service After ten years in letting we know that efficient, personal service is the most important aspect of our business. Landlords like to speak to someone they know and to be able to rely on that person carrying out the task in hand.
Many Landlords have, like many of our staff, been with us for years. We have helped them with their first letting, advised on buying further properties and kept them updated on legal and tax issues that affect them.
Our aim is your total satisfaction and for you to reap the maximum return from your rental investment
Staff training Full training is given to our staff to advise on every aspect of letting and, over the years,
this training has had to become more and more extensive. The legislation that surrounds
property lettings and management cannot be learned quickly and giving incorrect advice -
or issuing an incorrect Notice - can have devastating effects on a Landlord's security.
The company's employees receive the very best internal training in all aspects of the business
and also attend Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and National Association of
Estate Agents (NAEA) courses at least once a year as part of their professional development.
Property maintenance We have a maintenance team which takes care of all property maintenance, refurbishment and
development, and many of our contractors have worked with us since we were established.
They understand the need for efficient, economic and professional work.
Communication Communication is of the greatest importance to Landlords, email is sometimes the preferred method of communication for many Landlords and is invaluable, particularly when they are overseas. However, we still actually telephone people and write to them as well! We believe that modern methods work well in tandem with traditional values, a real live person answers our telephones without the fuss of electronic exchanges and out of office hours calls are diverted to one of our Property Manager's mobile telephones.