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Lettings

If you decide to take the route of letting your property, employing a good agent can make all the difference between a smooth profitable tenancy and the horror stories you may have heard about. Putting your property up for rent is increasingly common in the current economic climate, we provide a fantastic service to protect the interests of each party involved. Unfortunately, when a landlord experiences a bad tenancy this is often down to the estate agent placing an unsuitable tenant, setting up the tenancy poorly, mismanaging the tenancy or not understanding the current legislation. For this reason all our lettings staff are ARLA qualified or in the process of becoming ARLA qualified.

We have been letting properties locally since 1983 which has allowed us to fine tune the lettings process and focus on sourcing and placing the highest profile applicants at the highest prices. Now, given we have been operating in the lettings space for around 40 years, we have a healthy scepticism about what people tell us and a fantastic register of operate and long term tenants. Included in this register are senior American military personnel who we have been placing in substantial properties across Eastcote, Pinner, Northwood and Hatch End. Placing these high profile sought after tenants taught us a thing or too about customer service so you can understand why our reviews look the way they do.

Once you have decided to instruct Robert Cooper, we will draw up a bespoke marketing plan tailored around your property, and share the details and timelines with you so you know what is happening, what results you can expect from each action and in what time frame.

Entering the market

One of the first of our service offerings is to attend your property to draw up detailed marketing material. This can include virtual tours, augmented reality drawings, diagrammatic floor plans, professional photography and detailed descriptions. Once we have prepared all of the marketing material (typically within 24 hours of you formally instructing us), we will then share on EVERY major portal available so your property is exposed to the widest possible audience. These sites include - but are not limited to - Rightmove, Zoopla, FacebookMarketPlace, OnTheMarket, Boomin and obviously our own website to name a few. This means that we take and create the most comprehensive suite of digital media possible and share it across every available platform. While this is being done the team will also be emailing your details out to our vast database that has been curated for over nearly 40 years and simultaneously calling all potentially interested clients to inform them that your property is available.

At every stage - depending on how involved you would like to be - we will update you to advise you what is happening. Personally, we hate being kept in the dark, so we pride ourselves on the “no news calls” as we feel it’s better to tell you if there is no update than not call at all.

Viewings

When it comes to appointments we believe it is better to carry out the viewing ourselves but this is at your discretion and we always follow your instructions. Irrespective of whether you are carrying out the appointments yourselves or letting us do them all, appointments will follow all current guidelines regarding social distancing and we will provide adequate PPE to any viewings.

After someone has viewed your property we will follow them up the following day and provide you with the feedback in the most constructive fashion. Once we have found somebody interested in making an all important offer, we will create a case study on that purchaser to share with you.

Vetting

Before we move any tenants into one of our properties we will have seen evidence of some or all of the following; references from previous landlords, references from previous estate agents, references from current employer, a current credit score, the last 3 months bank statements/payslips and an open banking reference which provides us a snapshot of the last 18 months banking behaviour. We will then present a case study to the landlord on the prospective tenants and a recommendation about our confidence in proceeding with them. We believe we currently have the strictest requirements in the area for tenants that we turn down. We also offer the option for the tenant and landlord to meet each other in our office or via zoom for an informal conversation so both parties can get comfortable before proceeding with one and other.

The move in process

Once any potential tenant has passed the reference process and a move-in date is agreed, an assured shorthold tenancy agreement is drawn up and an inventory arranged at the landlord's expense (£125+vat for the agreement and from £100+vat for the inventory property size dependent). The inventory check-in/out is to ensure the property is returned to the landlord in the same condition it was provided to the tenant (wear and tear accepted). This is an extremely important part of the letting process as this is our official record of the condition of the property. Therefore, it is key that the report is comprehensive and for this reason, we only partner with the best companies who understand the importance of this report.

The tenants departure

Any damage to the property caused by the tenants is rectified from the tenants holding deposit which is usually 5 weeks of the agreed monthly rent. Unless the annual rent is in excess of £50,000 per anum we can take a greater security deposit.

The property must be returned to the landlord in the same condition that the property was provided to the tenants as documented in the inventory report allowing for fair wear and tear. The security deposit is held by us in a specific deposit account to cover the cost of any works that arise from the check out report.

The cost for letting any property for our landlords depends on which service they decide to take and they range from Lettings Lite at 10% to 15% for Full Management. All services are plus vat. These can include property visits and holiday cover when letting in the local areas of HA, UB and WD postcodes, 1 point of contact throughout, the professional barrier between the landlord and tenant, access to our vast vetted tradesman database, return of deposits and project management of refurbishments.

When we manage your property we are the only point of contact for the tenants. We shield you from regular contact, collect and pay the rent to you on a monthly basis, field all maintenance queries, carry out regular inspections with pictures and details which are shared with you, carry out renewals upon the landlord's approval at the optimum rent the market can stand. Lastly, negotiate the deposit return on your behalf ensuring the property is returned to you in the best possible condition.

For a break down of each of these services or any information relating the letting of any property please contact our Lettings Team on 020 8429 1444.