Choose the Right Letting Agent

This is an essential guide if you are a property investor considering or already engaging the services of a letting agent. If you are worried about your letting agent pressuring you to take on undesired tenants, being ignorant of the latest regulatory changes, being non-responsive to you or your tenant, not conducting regular inspections, not attending to repairs, charging you hefty fees, being slow in passing on the rent to you, or trapping you with punitive terms and conditions, you can minimise all of these problems by reading this guide.

This guide has been compiled from the authors' own research and experiences of what they have learnt since first using letting agents in 2009, and the experiences of other investors they know. It follows a logical order for establishing and maintaining your letting agent relationship.

The first section describes the different types of letting agents, how they differ in terms of cost and how to create a shortlist of potential agents who fit the minimum regulatory requirements.

The second section provides the key considerations and questions to ask a potential letting agent to help select the agent who is the best fit for your investment.

The third section considers the actions a landlord should take to reduce the risk of problems and potential liabilities, so as to stay protected and compliant even while the property is being managed for you.

The fourth section outlines the process for problem management, to help make problem resolution a smoother and more fruitful process, including strategies to terminate the letting agent relationship.

The fifth section contains case studies where the authors have applied the problem resolution process showing the results obtained and lessons learnt.

Finally, there are appendices which consist of The Letting Agent Questionnaire; Information to Provide to the Tenants and the Problem Resolution Flowchart which compress some of the key points in the guide into useful summaries for the reader.