This guide was written by Perry Power to help landlords when deciding on which letting agent to use to let and manage their property

1. Consumer Guide:
10 Things Your Letting
Agent ‘Should’ be Doing...
in order to let your property
to the best possible tenant in
the shortest possible time
Thank you very much for downloading this guide, we hope
you find it helpful. If you have any questions or comments or
perhaps you would like to organise a free consultation so that
we can help you let your property to the best possible tenant,
then please click here.

2. contents
Page 1: Finding a tenant ‘you’ want and on ‘your’ terms
Page 1: Advising you on your legal obligations
Page 2: Increased marketing on all the major property portals
Page 2: Reacting quickly
Page 3: Being available all of the time and NEVER missing an enquiry
ensuring your property is let quickly
Page 3: Carrying out strict, in-depth references on potential tenants
Page 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 promptly
Page 5: Managing your property satisfactory, 24/7, to ensure you AND
your tenants are happy, and carrying out thorough periodic
checks on the property
“
Page 6: Comparison tick sheet
A very dynamic and
refreshingly responsive “
letting agent
Mike, Professional Landlord

3. 1. Finding a tenant ‘you’ want 2. Advising you on your legal
and on ‘your’ terms obligations
There are a whole range of reasons why you maybe When it comes to renting out property, there are lots
thinking of renting out your property; maybe you of legal obligations that the landlord must adhere
are a professional landlord, maybe your property to, such as the safety of the gas appliances in the
has failed to sell and you are thinking of letting until property. It is crucial that your letting agent works with
the sales market improves, maybe you are moving you to ensure that you satisfy these obligations as the
overseas. With each reason comes a different goal. penalties can be huge, including imprisonment, if any
A professional landlord may only be concerned of them are overlooked.
about the maximum rent he or she can achieve, an
overseas landlord’s main concern may be the type
of tenant living in their property, i.e. shares, a family,
a couple or single professional. If your letting agent
understands the motivation behind your wish to rent
the property out, then they will be able to give you
tailored advice. If the maximum possible rent is not
the priority and you would prefer to have a slightly
lower rent but with the choice of numerous possible
tenants, the asking price would need to reflect as
this will ultimately determine the types and amount
of tenants who apply. The first tenant who would like
to 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 what
you want to achieve. We ensure you have the final
decision on the tenant we let your property to.
www.poweroshea.co.uk | 01

4. 3. Increased marketing on all 4. Reacting quickly
the major property portals It’s all very well being on the major portals, having
It’s not enough for your letting agent to say ‘we a board outside your property and so on, but
are on the main property portals’. You should be how quickly are the leads that the advertising is
asking, ‘Which ones do you advertise on’? How is generating being dealt with? If they are never
my property going to be advertised? How often will dealt with, you won’t see any benefit, if they are
it be reviewed? How and when will the enquiries dealt with (by telephone) within 1 hour when
be handled? The UK’s number 1 property portal, your property is still fresh in their mind, you will see
www.rightmove.co.uk, have ‘premium packages’ massive benefit. There is a whole process that
available to all letting agents. A ‘premium listing’ on should be going on behind the scenes when a
rightmove will increase the amount of people who potential tenant clicks or calls to request more
click to see more details of your property by 34%* details or a viewing. How and how quickly are
and will increase the request for further details/a the leads which are generated being dealt with?
viewing, by 21%*. A ‘featured property’ listing on Does your letting agent just reply by email? (The
rightmove.co.uk will mean that every time a tenant enquirer may be away from their computer). Does
searches for a property like yours, yours will be right your agent just call them? What if they don’t
at the very top of the page (above the long list of answer? Do they leave a voicemail? How many
search results). All of these benefits are available to times do they follow up on that person? These are
every letting agent who advertises on rightmove. all very important questions because, don’t forget,
co.uk but very few actually use them. We do, and your property may not be the only one they have
the results are massive. enquired about.
*Source: rightmove.co.uk
on average these generate
34% more views than standard listings
21% more enquiries than standard listings
How we do it: Each and every enquiry is dealt
with within 1 working hour, initially by telephone
and if there is no answer, we leave a voicemail
and follow up with an email, if we haven’t had a
response within 24 hours, we do the same process
all over again (as many times as we need to until
How 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-depth
and NEVER missing an enquiry references on potential tenants
ensuring your property is let Once a potential tenant is found, it is crucial that
quickly they are referenced to the highest possible level.
This will include a credit search, previous and
Typically, letting agents open at 9am and close
current landlord references, previous, current and
at 6pm on weekdays, 4pm on Saturdays and
future employer references, current address search
are closed on Sundays and bank holidays,
and if necessary, an overseas reference. There are
inconveniently when most people are not at work
specialist companies who carry out these searches
and so available to view properties. When the
with strict pass criteria. If your letting agent does
agents are closed, the caller gets a pre recorded
the references themselves/in-house, there is only
voicemail message telling them ‘we are closed’.
a certain amount of information which can be
Isn’t it our job as an agent to be available when
gleaned and critical information can be missed.
potential tenants and our clients are too? How
Check that your agent uses a specialist company.
many potential viewings are you missing out on
because your letting agent says ‘sorry, we can’t do
Thursday at 7pm because we are closed’? This is
even more important if your ideal tenant would be
a single professional or professional couple when
evenings and weekends are likely to be the only
time they are able to view.
24/7
How we do it: We are open between 8am – 8pm
7 days a week (on average 33 hours per week
longer than most letting agents), 364 days a year How we do it: We use a leading referencing
to ensure we never miss an opportunity to let our company to ensure no stone goes unturned when
clients’ property, and on top of that, when we are finding out the history of a potential tenant.
‘closed’ (after 8pm), we have a specialist team
who answer our calls 24/7. How many letting
agents can honestly say that they will NEVER
miss an opportunity to let your property? This
also means that we let property quicker than our
competitors.
www.poweroshea.co.uk | 03

6. 7. Ensuring professionally 8. Protecting you against
prepared inventory, check non-payment of rent (at no
in and check out reports are extra cost)
carried out (at no extra cost) For every landlord, receiving the rent each and
With the recent change in tenancy deposit every month is crucial, whether it is to cover a
protection law, it is crucial that professionally mortgage or provide an income for a professional
prepared inventory, check in and check out landlord. Even the most highly paid professionals
reports are carried out. Without this, the landlord can lose their job or have an injury which means
is unlikely to be able to deduct damages from they are unable to work and so have no income
the tenant’s deposit at the end of the tenancy - no income means no rent. When a tenant
if necessary. The purpose of these reports are to stops paying their rent, it’s important that they
ensure there is no room for doubt at the end of the are politely asked to leave so you can find a
tenancy and helps to prevent disputes. If there is a new tenant who can pay. This can also cause a
dispute, then the matter has to be passed across problem as in most cases the landlord would need
to the deposit resolution service to be resolved to seek a court order. This can be very expensive
and in cases where there was no professional and cannot be avoided. However, there is
inventory prepared, the dispute resolution ‘landlords rent warranty and legal expenses cover’
service are likely to rule in the tenant’s favour, available. This cover normally costs around £300.00
potentially leaving the landlord heavily out of for a year.
pocket because he or she did not carry out their
due diligence by arranging for a professionally
prepared inventory. The cost for these reports is
around £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. What’s
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 the
How we do it: Professionally prepared
tenancy. Again, this is included in the monthly fee
inventories,check in reports and check out reports
we retain from the rent.
are included in our fee which is taken monthly
from the rent received.
www.poweroshea.co.uk | 04

7. 9. Forwarding your rent promptly 10. Managing your property
The second most important thing once the tenant satisfactory, 24/7, to ensure you
has paid their rent is that you receive it without AND your tenants are happy,
delay. Most letting agents’ terms of business will and carrying out thorough
state that you will receive your rent (sometimes by periodic checks on the property
cheque) within 10 working days from the day it is
received by the letting agent. There is no reason Many tenants (more so professional tenants),
for this delay. perhaps having had a bad experience in the
past, will only rent properties that are managed
by a professional managing agency. We feel that
the service the tenant receives is just as important
as the service that our clients receive. A happy
tenant is likely to stay longer, reducing the wear
and tear on your property caused by a regular
change in tenant and also avoids any void
periods. It is important that any issues/concerns
the tenants have are dealt with promptly and
efficiently. It is also important that the property is
inspected on a regular basis to ensure it is being
maintained by the tenants correctly and that there
are no breaches of the tenancy agreement terms.
This also gives the tenant an opportunity to raise
any queries they have.
S M T W T F S
x
1 x
2 x
3 x
4 x
5 x
6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
How we do it: We will forward you your rent by
BACS within 24 hours of receiving it.
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
How we do it: We operate a 24 hour a day, 7 day
a week property management service to our
landlords and tenants to ensure that emergencies
are dealt with promptly. We respond to any issues
the tenant may have within one working hour
and carry out regular mid-term inspections on
the property and send a full written report to the
landlord.
www.poweroshea.co.uk | 05

8. We feel that everything mentioned in this consumer guide is absolutely crucial when it comes to letting
your property to the best possible tenant in the shortest possible time. Below, we have put together a
check list to help you compare the services of the various estate agents you will probably be meeting
over the coming weeks.
10 Things your letting agent ‘should’ be doing
Letting agent name
Finding a tenant ‘you’ want and on ‘your’
terms a
Advising you on your legal obligations
a
Increased marketing on all the major
property portals a
Reacting quickly
a
Being available all of the time and NEVER
missing an enquiry ensuring your property
is let quickly
a
Carrying out strict, in-depth references on
potential tenants a
Ensuring professionally prepared inventory,
check in and check out reports are
carried out (at no extra cost)
a
Protecting you against non-payment of
rent (at no extra cost) a
Forwarding your rent promptly
a
Managing your property satisfactory,
24/7, to ensure you AND your tenants are
happy and carrying out thorough periodic
checks on the property
a
Thank you very much for downloading this guide, we hope
you found it helpful. If you have any questions or comments or
perhaps you would like to organise a free consultation so that
we can help you let your property to the best possible tenant,
then please click here.
Many thanks
Perry Power & Paul O’shea
www.poweroshea.co.uk | 06