Choosing the ideal letting agency

Personal recommendation is a good way to find a suitable letting agency. Ask for advice from someone you know who has experience of dealing with local based lettings agencies and specialists. As the seller, you choose the estate agent, and the agent works for you. With lettings this is a similar process once again. How should a landlord choose a letting agent? What are the key points of a good letting agent? It for sure helps in any case to make sure you do a fair share of research. 

Try to chose a letting agent who is a member of the National Approved Letting Scheme, or one of the professional bodies that support the means as to how this needs to be done. You need to be sure that the overall agency is 100% legal and compliant and that they will be able to look after you in full from start to finish. A good agent can be hard to find. Unlike estate agents there is little if any difference in the fee level whether you go with just one letting agent or several. For this reason it is normally best to put your property with several of them at any one time as this can make the agencies work that bit harder for you in the process of sorting your property. 

Ideally, choose an agent whose client money is bonded. Many agents can offer specialist insurance to cover buildings, contents and rent – look for this. Estate Agents, Chartered Surveyors, Lettings and Property Management are all similar services though make sure you are well aware of what you need to expect from a lettings agent. Do you want to be REALLY looked after? Do you want a letting agent that calls you back promptly? Do your research to be sure you will be able to get this very high level of service. Make sure in any case that you go with your head, not your heart.

As a buy-to-let investor, choosing a letting agent can be a daunting task. See if you can you can look about and compare different agencies and what they may be able to do for you. See how they charge and see how they would go about charging you for these services. First of all I would recommend that you do some background research with lettings agents within your area ideally shortlist to 3 agents. Start off by calling them and the get a feel as to how they would be able to work for you.