Prologue: letting agents-A tenants guide to affordable rentals. Whether you are letting out a property for the first time or you are a private landlord, you may often come across advice of hiring the services of letting agents. However, if you are a newbie in this field, it is quite obvious that you may be skeptical about hiring them for your property. The fear is that you may not know how these letting agents work and what the benefits are from hiring their services.
To put an end to those what and ifs, we have curated this comprehensive guide where we have highlighted certain aspects about letting agents, how they work, how you can benefit from hiring their services, and how to rent your property by letting agents in the best way.
If you seek professional help to manage your property or are just a curious mind, give this guide a read, for it will help you clear your doubts and understand the services of letting agents better.
WHO ARE LETTING AGENTS?
Letting agents are defined as facilitators through which an agreement is made between the landlord and the tenant for the residential property rental. The letting agents charge a commission for their services normally which is a percentage of the annual rent. Letting agents work under Estate Agencies’ umbrella due to the harmony of the work between these two professionals. However, many independent Letting agents deal exclusively with lettings. There are different types of renting, but the letting agents primarily deal with tenancies between private landlords and individuals.
HOW DO THE LETTING AGENTS WORK?
In simple words, a letting agent represents the landlord and carries out tasks related to the management of the property. But remember, the degree of their management depends on how much you are paying them, what property you are letting, and your geographical location.
However, the letting agents’ process of work can be categorized typically into three broad categories as below-
- Finding Tenants –
The most basic service they provide starts with advertising your property to prospective new tenants. This initial arrangement of letting usually involves photography, website promotion, etc. Once the tenant agrees, the rest of the process of referencing, inspection, collecting the deposit, and drawing up the tenancy agreement is what follows.
- Rent Collection –
Since the letting agent is your representative as a landlord, he can even collect rent from tenants on your behalf. Besides that, he will protect the rent deposits, chase the rent arrears, serve notices, or advise you of the next steps in case the tenant does not end up paying after repeated reminders. The main benefit of having a letting agent do this is because he is an independent professional who can manage the situation in an unbiased manner, and you can skip those awkward conversations about the tenant’s rent.
- Complete Management of your property-
Letting agents will manage the let-out property fully by taking on most of the tasks that fall on the landlord. This includes day-to-day running of your home, repairs and maintenance, insurance cover renewals and any rent negotiations, inventory creations, and any deposit disputes. However, you must know the letting agents only manages your property, and the legal responsibility ultimately falls on you as the landlord.
WHAT SERVICES OF LETTING AGENTS CAN I HIRE?
As we mentioned earlier, their services’ degree depends on certain factors like how many properties you let out, what is your geographical location, and how hands-on you wish your letting agent to be. In other words, you need to choose their service depending on what your needs are.
Thus, if you only let one or two properties, you may simply want to hire their help to find a potential tenant as you can easily manage the properties by yourself. Similarly, suppose you have a property that is situated far away from where you live, or you are an overseas landlord. In that case, you may want to hire their service that includes complete management of your property, as stated above.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CHOOSING SERVICES OF LETTING AGENT?
Choosing to let out your property through the letting agents is a lot easier and simpler. Letting agents can act as your complete guide who will walk you through the process of let out and keep you stress-free by managing all nitty-gritty of the property.
With their expertise, professionalism, and efficiency, you will be able to let out your property at the best rate in the industry. Hiring their services is especially recommended if your time is limited and you would prefer someone else managing everything on your behalf.
Whether you are a seasoned landlord or a new one venturing your career in this sector, letting agents will provide you with complete support and peace of mind, especially where legal knowledge and awareness of compliance are required.
HOW TO CHOOSE A LETTING AGENT?
If you decide that you want to hire the letting agent’s services for that is the best way forward, then the next question that would pop up in your mind would be, How do you choose the right one? Well, we have got you covered.
Every good letting agent is a member of a professional standards body such as ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents). Such a professional body has a complete database of the member agents that are searchable by area. Using an ARLA agent is highly recommended for they are trustworthy.
However, many letting agents even work alongside Estate agents, who deal with property sales, based in the same office due to the synergies in work between these two professionals. It is usually recommended to go with a large agency that is particularly a part of a particular brand as it seems reassuring.
Some real estate agents have a desk that is dedicated to lettings and see it as an allied business activity. We did like you to redirect to one such real estate based in Cardiff, Letting Agents; this real estate agency has an experienced team of letting agents who can satisfy your requirements.
We hope our comprehensive guide could help you by deciding upon hiring a letting agent’s services because we surely recommend it.
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