Finding a Letting Agent

August 17th, 2011 by admin No comments »

There are multiple reasons why you are looking into renting property, however in ALL cases it is imperative you spend some time ensuring you select and form a relationship with a reputable, reliable letting agent that suits all your requirements. If you are using the internet to locate an agent in your area, it is not surprising to be somewhat overwhelmed with the sheer number of letting agencies offering their services but with a little upfront knowledge you can very quickly reduce the list to a few who will suit your needs.

There are several factors to look at to narrow down to your shortlist of prospective letting agents. These include:

  • Types of Property
  • Level of Service
  • Experience
  • Fixed Office Location
  • Professional Affiliations
  • Agent Availability
  • Fees and Rates

Types of Property

If you own a 4 bedroom family home in a quiet suburban neighbourhood, do not consider using a letting agency that specialises primarily in city student lets. This may be obvious but is often overlooked and is a quick way to narrow down your list of letting agents. Choose an agent that is currently listing properties similar to your own.

Level of Service

Different agencies offer different levels of service. These tend to be divided into three categories:

  1. Full management
  2. Property letting and rent collection
  3. Basic introductions

In all cases the agent should aim to locate a suitable tenant through means of their own channels and additionally by advertising your property through other online channels such as rightmove or primelocation.

Professional Affiliations

In as much as letting agents are not regulated by specific government statutory boards, there are several principles letting organizations for these letting agents which have specific codes of compliance controls and practices that are strictly implemented to guarantee the high degree of professionalism exemplified by their members. The most prominent organizations include the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and the National Association of Estate Agents.

Letting agency websites should advertise quite obviously whether or not they are affiliated with these organisations and if they are then it gives you a degree of assurance with regards to their credibility.

Office Location

There are many individuals advertising their services as letting agencies out there. You should take not of which agents have a fixed address and real office. A good office location sends a message to clients that they are serious with the quality of services that they provide. This enables both you as a landlord and prospective tenants a location to meet with the letting agent and discuss your arrangements or find property to rent respectively.

Agent Availability

It is more convenient for tenants if they can discuss matters with their letting agent 24/7. The least that tenants would want to experience is to suffer the inconveniences that go together with renting a place so it is absolutely important that letting agent offer the best communication methods. They should have working phone lines that are available for inquiries during the weekends in case their office is closed on these days. They should also have a webpage or an email address that is regularly read for possible inquiries coming from tenants who reside in far places. » Read more: Finding a Letting Agent

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Electricians for Property Managers – Eight Benefits

August 17th, 2011 by admin No comments »

If you own or manage apartments or offices, how can you tell whether your electrician is treating you right? I’ve been providing electrical services to property managers and owners for over 30 years in the Los Angeles area and have learned a lot about what they really need and want and how to treat them right. There are eight benefits that your electrician should provide you if are a property manager.

1) The electrical contractor should be easy to reach. A live person should always answer the phone during business hours. After hours, there should be an emergency number that you can call.

2) If you have an urgent electrical situation, your electrical company should handle it right away. Let’s say that one of your office buildings loses its exterior lights at 8 p.m. on Sunday night. You want an electrician who can fix it, whether it’s as simple as flipping on a circuit breaker or whether troubleshooting is needed to find where bare wires are touching. The electrical company should be large enough that it can send you experienced and knowledgeable electricians right away to get the lights back on.

3) Your electrician should quote you prices in advance of doing work. If you want something new installed, the electrician should be able to give you a price up front in writing once he’s seen the job. New installations include, for example, a new light fixture, a rewire of an apartment, an electrical panel upgrade, or installing any other new electrical equipment.

If there’s something broken, for example, an electrical outlet that no longer works, he’ll want to charge you per hour for troubleshooting. However, within about an hour, he should either have fixed it or have figured out the problem and be ready to give you a written estimate for fixing it.

4) You should be able to trust that the electrician has the judgment to give you accurate estimates. For example, the doorbell for one of your apartment units has broken. Even though door bells look small and simple, in this case, looks can be deceptive. Hunting for an electrical short or loose wire somewhere in the walls could turn into a larger project. Your electrician should have the judgment to realize this and give you an accurate estimate early on so that you can decide if you want to go ahead.

5) The electrician should act professionally with your tenants. Electricians should have a friendly, professional manner with tenants. They should also have the training to give information to tenants on a need-to-know basis, knowing what to say and what not to. For example, an electrician should start by saying something like, “The management company asked us to come out to get your power back on for you.” The electrician should know not to say, “The wiring in your apartment is scary. I’m going to recommend a rewire to the management before it burns down!”

6) The electrician should make sure that you know when the job is done. When the electrician finishes, he should check that everything works, clean up after himself, and if the tenants are home, let them know that the job is done. He should also tell you. » Read more: Electricians for Property Managers – Eight Benefits

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