1. Consumer Guide:10 Things Your LettingAgent Should be Doing...in order to let your propertyto the best possible tenant inthe shortest possible timeThank you very much for downloading this guide, we hopeyou find it helpful. If you have any questions or comments orperhaps you would like to organise a free consultation so thatwe can help you let your property to the best possible tenant,then please click here.

2. contentsPage 1: Finding a tenant you want and on your termsPage 1: Advising you on your legal obligationsPage 2: Increased marketing on all the major property portalsPage 2: Reacting quicklyPage 3: Being available all of the time and NEVER missing an enquiry ensuring your property is let quicklyPage 3: Carrying out strict, in-depth references on potential tenantsPage 4: Ensuring professionally prepared inventory, check in and check out reports are carried out (at no extra cost)Page 4: Protecting you against non-payment of rent (at no extra cost)Page 5: Forwarding your rent promptlyPage 5: Managing your property satisfactory, 24/7, to ensure you AND your tenants are happy, and carrying out thorough periodic checks on the propertyPage 6: Comparison tick sheet A very dynamic andrefreshingly responsive letting agentMike, Professional Landlord 3. 1. Finding a tenant you want 2. Advising you on your legaland on your termsobligationsThere are a whole range of reasons why you maybe When it comes to renting out property, there are lotsthinking of renting out your property; maybe you of legal obligations that the landlord must adhereare a professional landlord, maybe your property to, such as the safety of the gas appliances in thehas failed to sell and you are thinking of letting until property. It is crucial that your letting agent works withthe sales market improves, maybe you are movingyou to ensure that you satisfy these obligations as theoverseas. With each reason comes a different goal. penalties can be huge, including imprisonment, if anyA professional landlord may only be concernedof them are overlooked.about the maximum rent he or she can achieve, anoverseas landlords main concern may be the typeof tenant living in their property, i.e. shares, a family,a couple or single professional. If your letting agentunderstands the motivation behind your wish to rentthe property out, then they will be able to give youtailored advice. If the maximum possible rent is notthe priority and you would prefer to have a slightlylower rent but with the choice of numerous possibletenants, the asking price would need to reflect asthis will ultimately determine the types and amountof tenants who apply. The first tenant who would liketo rent the property may not be best suited to you. How we do it: Have a thorough meeting with the landlord detailing all of the legal obligations and help to satisfy these obligations.How we do it: Ensure our advice is in line with whatyou want to achieve. We ensure you have the finaldecision on the tenant we let your property to. www.poweroshea.co.uk | 01 4. 3. Increased marketing on all 4. Reacting quicklythe major property portalsIts all very well being on the major portals, havingIts not enough for your letting agent to say we a board outside your property and so on, butare on the main property portals. You should behow quickly are the leads that the advertising isasking, Which ones do you advertise on? How isgenerating being dealt with? If they are nevermy property going to be advertised? How often willdealt with, you wont see any benefit, if they areit be reviewed? How and when will the enquiries dealt with (by telephone) within 1 hour whenbe handled? The UKs number 1 property portal,your property is still fresh in their mind, you will seewww.rightmove.co.uk, have premium packagesmassive benefit. There is a whole process thatavailable to all letting agents. A premium listing on should be going on behind the scenes when arightmove will increase the amount of people whopotential tenant clicks or calls to request moreclick to see more details of your property by 34%*details or a viewing. How and how quickly areand will increase the request for further details/a the leads which are generated being dealt with?viewing, by 21%*. A featured property listing onDoes your letting agent just reply by email? (Therightmove.co.uk will mean that every time a tenantenquirer may be away from their computer). Doessearches for a property like yours, yours will be right your agent just call them? What if they dontat the very top of the page (above the long list of answer? Do they leave a voicemail? How manysearch results). All of these benefits are available to times do they follow up on that person? These areevery letting agent who advertises on rightmove.all very important questions because, dont forget,co.uk but very few actually use them. We do, andyour property may not be the only one they havethe results are massive.enquired about.*Source: rightmove.co.uk on average these generate 34% more views than standard listings 21% more enquiries than standard listingsHow we do it: Each and every enquiry is dealtwith within 1 working hour, initially by telephoneand if there is no answer, we leave a voicemailand follow up with an email, if we havent had aresponse within 24 hours, we do the same processall over again (as many times as we need to untilHow we do it: Market all properties with a premium we get a reply).listing www.poweroshea.co.uk | 02 5. 5. Being available all of the time 6. Carrying out strict, in-depthand NEVER missing an enquiry references on potential tenantsensuring your property is letOnce a potential tenant is found, it is crucial thatquicklythey are referenced to the highest possible level.This will include a credit search, previous andTypically, letting agents open at 9am and closecurrent landlord references, previous, current andat 6pm on weekdays, 4pm on Saturdays andfuture employer references, current address searchare closed on Sundays and bank holidays,and if necessary, an overseas reference. There areinconveniently when most people are not at workspecialist companies who carry out these searchesand so available to view properties. When thewith strict pass criteria. If your letting agent doesagents are closed, the caller gets a pre recordedthe references themselves/in-house, there is onlyvoicemail message telling them we are closed.a certain amount of information which can beIsnt it our job as an agent to be available whengleaned and critical information can be missed.potential tenants and our clients are too? HowCheck that your agent uses a specialist company.many potential viewings are you missing out onbecause your letting agent says sorry, we cant doThursday at 7pm because we are closed? This iseven more important if your ideal tenant would bea single professional or professional couple whenevenings and weekends are likely to be the onlytime they are able to view.24/7How we do it: We are open between 8am 8pm7 days a week (on average 33 hours per weeklonger than most letting agents), 364 days a year How we do it: We use a leading referencingto ensure we never miss an opportunity to let our company to ensure no stone goes unturned whenclients property, and on top of that, when we arefinding out the history of a potential tenant.closed (after 8pm), we have a specialist teamwho answer our calls 24/7. How many lettingagents can honestly say that they will NEVERmiss an opportunity to let your property? Thisalso means that we let property quicker than ourcompetitors.www.poweroshea.co.uk | 03 6. 7. Ensuring professionally 8. Protecting you againstprepared inventory, checknon-payment of rent (at noin and check out reports are extra cost)carried out (at no extra cost) For every landlord, receiving the rent each andWith the recent change in tenancy depositevery month is crucial, whether it is to cover aprotection law, it is crucial that professionallymortgage or provide an income for a professionalprepared inventory, check in and check out landlord. Even the most highly paid professionalsreports are carried out. Without this, the landlordcan lose their job or have an injury which meansis unlikely to be able to deduct damages fromthey are unable to work and so have no incomethe tenants deposit at the end of the tenancy - no income means no rent. When a tenantif necessary. The purpose of these reports are tostops paying their rent, its important that theyensure there is no room for doubt at the end of theare politely asked to leave so you can find atenancy and helps to prevent disputes. If there is a new tenant who can pay. This can also cause adispute, then the matter has to be passed across problem as in most cases the landlord would needto the deposit resolution service to be resolved to seek a court order. This can be very expensiveand in cases where there was no professional and cannot be avoided. However, there isinventory prepared, the dispute resolution landlords rent warranty and legal expenses coverservice are likely to rule in the tenants favour, available. This cover normally costs around 300.00potentially leaving the landlord heavily out offor a year.pocket because he or she did not carry out theirdue diligence by arranging for a professionallyprepared inventory. The cost for these reports isaround 300.00 Rent How we do it: Every tenant we move into a property comes backed with a landlords rent warranty and legal expenses cover policy. Whats more, there is no excess, which means you retain the full 6 week security deposit in case there is also remedial work to be carried out at the end of theHow we do it: Professionally prepared tenancy. Again, this is included in the monthly feeinventories,check in reports and check out reports we retain from the rent.are included in our fee which is taken monthlyfrom the rent received.www.poweroshea.co.uk | 04 7. 9. Forwarding your rent promptly 10. Managing your propertyThe second most important thing once the tenant satisfactory, 24/7, to ensure youhas paid their rent is that you receive it withoutAND your tenants are happy,delay. Most letting agents terms of business willand carrying out thoroughstate that you will receive your rent (sometimes by periodic checks on the propertycheque) within 10 working days from the day it isreceived by the letting agent. There is no reason Many tenants (more so professional tenants),for this delay. perhaps having had a bad experience in thepast, will only rent properties that are managedby a professional managing agency. We feel thatthe service the tenant receives is just as importantas the service that our clients receive. A happytenant is likely to stay longer, reducing the wearand tear on your property caused by a regularchange in tenant and also avoids any voidperiods. It is important that any issues/concernsthe tenants have are dealt with promptly andefficiently. It is also important that the property isinspected on a regular basis to ensure it is beingmaintained by the tenants correctly and that thereare no breaches of the tenancy agreement terms.This also gives the tenant an opportunity to raiseany queries they have. SMTWT FSx1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x678 910111213How we do it: We will forward you your rent byBACS within 24 hours of receiving it.141516171819202122232425262728293031How we do it: We operate a 24 hour a day, 7 daya week property management service to ourlandlords and tenants to ensure that emergenciesare dealt with promptly. We respond to any issuesthe tenant may have within one working hourand carry out regular mid-term inspections onthe property and send a full written report to thelandlord.www.poweroshea.co.uk | 05 8. We feel that everything mentioned in this consumer guide is absolutely crucial when it comes to lettingyour property to the best possible tenant in the shortest possible time. Below, we have put together acheck list to help you compare the services of the various estate agents you will probably be meetingover the coming weeks.10 Things your letting agent should be doingLetting agent nameFinding a tenant you want and on yourtermsaAdvising you on your legal obligations aIncreased marketing on all the majorproperty portals aReacting quickly aBeing available all of the time and NEVERmissing an enquiry ensuring your propertyis let quickly aCarrying out strict, in-depth references onpotential tenantsaEnsuring professionally prepared inventory,check in and check out reports arecarried out (at no extra cost) aProtecting you against non-payment ofrent (at no extra cost)aForwarding your rent promptly aManaging your property satisfactory,24/7, to ensure you AND your tenants arehappy and carrying out thorough periodicchecks on the property aThank you very much for downloading this guide, we hopeyou found it helpful. If you have any questions or comments orperhaps you would like to organise a free consultation so thatwe can help you let your property to the best possible tenant,then please click here.Many thanksPerry Power & Paul Osheawww.poweroshea.co.uk | 06