Ben and I write a bit here about dodgy letting agents, as a warning to landlords and tenants and to highlight the problems that there are.
However we are not saying that ALL letting agents are like this. Far from it! There are many, many, excellent agents who do a brilliant job looking after both landlords and tenants.
The trouble is, if you are a landlord looking for someone to look after your property, or if you are a tenant looking for somewhere to live – how to you tell which is which?
So this post is to try to set out some signs by which you can spot the good firms.
How to spot a good letting agent
Are they regulated?
The main organisations are:
- The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA)
- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
- The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA)
- The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS)
- The Property Ombudsman (TPOS)
Do they have client money protection?
There is a new scheme called SAFEagent whose members are entitled to display the Safeagent logo (see right).
It is very popular with the reputable agents. You should be suspicious of any agent which is not a member of this scheme, or one of the regulatory bodies mentioned above.
Are their staff knowledgable?
Reputable agents will ensure that their staff are properly trained and generally they will have industry qualifications, such as those provided by ARLA.
How long has the company been trading?
If they have been in the area a long time this is a good sign. Dodgy agents tend to come and go.
Although this is not to say that a start up agency is necessarily bad, all good agencies have to start sometime. But longevity is a good sign.
What are their agency fees?
Be suspicious if they are very cheap. What expenses are they cutting down on? It may be staff training and professional indemnity insurance premiums.
Those are my suggestions. But I would be very interested to know what your suggestions and pointers are.
Ryan says
The trouble is you’ve just described us! We are in the process of joining TPO and we are quite cheap compared to the national average.
I would say try to see what vibe the agents give, do they feel like they’re genuine or chancers, if it feels dodgy in any way, walk away.
Mark Alexander says
Other Tips.
Add SafeAgent to the list of professional bodies, they are now endorsed by the housing minister.
Register with TenantID and Landlord Referencing Services to check out and report rogue tenants for free.
Talk to other landlords who know of use use them. Ask around at property networking events, post of furums like Property Tribes and talk to your local Landlords Association Rep.
Google the company name and the names of the owners followed by the words SCAM or COMPLAINT. If nothing comes up that’s not a bad sign. If there are complaints, contact the complainants and find out whether there complaints were resolved.
Will the agent allow you to retain the deposits if you register them with My Deposits? That’s what I do by the way. There is no person I can trust more than I trust myself!
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Regards
Mark Alexander
Ben Reeve Lewis says
It is heartening to hear Mark and Ryan’s comments. On Friday we held our council’s landlord’s day and again I was very pleased to meet proper professionals. I have today told our powers that be that we need a blog, an information exchange so we can join forces and share info with our local landlords and agents, we should be assisting not just enforcing.
The problem with so many of the dreadful agents I deal with is they rip off both landlords and tenants alike.
The government wont regulate so it is time for agents and local authorities to join forces to drive out the ‘Del-boys’. I cant tell you how passionate I am about this idea, I really see it as a way forward.
A huge proportion of our local landlords are buy to let, amateurs without too much of a clue and I look to help them out wherever I can.
As much as I am sick of scammers myself I think proper landlords and agents are similarly fed up. Time for us to join forces.
Believe it or not I am quite optimisitic about the future
Fleur says
Or why use agents at all? There’s nothing like your own intuition. I have been letting out properties since 1989 and I know a good tenant when I see one. The key for me is to check check and check again. Check credentials, speak to references they give, and not just one or two and then carry out a periodic check of the property written into the contract. Letting agents won’t do that for me so I do it myself.
It also saves me huge amounts of money, because at the end of the day, lettings agents will have hundreds of properties, and mine is just a number to them.
Ben Reeve Lewis says
Yeah if you know your stuff and are confident with it Fleur there is no need for an agent at all but I think they do offer a valuable service (potentially) to landlords who either arent that savvy or dont want the hassle.
What I am hoping for from our council’s social lettings agency is a more flexible and fluid model where we can offer full services or just a bit of support and advice if thats what people want. From a full sign up to eviction service or just someone to glance over your court forms to see if everything is ok
Tessa Shepperson says
Of course many landlords have run their own properties for years using my Landlord Law service ;) http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/information-about-landlord-law-landlords
However as Ben says, many landlords don’t want to do this, or perhaps can’t if they are living out of the country.
Jamie says
“The key for me is to check check and check again. Check credentials, speak to references they give, and not just one or two and then carry out a periodic check of the property written into the contract. Letting agents won’t do that for me so I do it myself.”
Really? Any reputable agent does all of the above. Unless of course you’re looking to pay minimal fees, in which case you’ll probably get what you pay for I’m afraid.
Unless you’re a full-time professional landlord, very few have the time or knowledge to run their portfolios properly. You’ll also eventually limit your growth unless you start employing staff or an agent.
Having an agent (where it isn’t a neccesity due to lack of knowledge/time etc.) can be like an insurance policy – most tenancies are straight forward but there are a small percentage that will be your absolute worst nightmare and take up the majority of your time. It’s the old 80/20 Pareto Principle.
I’ve seen landlords have breakdowns, suffer significant finacial losses and even lose their properties after having bad tenants and making mistakes. If you’re one of the lucky ones you may well think you don’t need an agent, but I can guarantee you’ll wish you had a good agent when the proverbial hits the fan. It’s only when things go wrong that you learn if your knowledge, processes, systems, records and documentation are up to scratch – and that’s not a good time to find any holes!
Tessa Shepperson says
BUT, getting back the point of the article – what are the signs to spot a good agent?
If someone is reading this post – what would you advise them to check if they are choosing an agent? What would you advise them to watch out for?
Jamie says
The best way to distinguish between Agents is to actually read their terms and conditions of business. I still see some that are simply a one page document which is woefully inadequate.
You often only know you’ve got a got a good agent when things go bad, in which case you need clear and comprehensive terms and conditions of business with no ambiguity.
Ben Reeve Lewis says
I think one aspect would be to ask 5 key questions of an agent about landlord/tenant procedures – basic stuff but if they dont know the answers then walk.
Also, whenever I have looked at properties with an agent I have been surprised how little they know about the landlords, and I mean virtually nil. One agent, when asked, looked at me as if I had just asked the most irrelevant question in the world. What I inferred from that, as a prospective tenant, was that the agent didnt have any relationship with their client. That makes me nervous.
Also, although I keep banging on about agent accreditation I have to say those stickers in the window mean little to me at sign up time.
I also want an agent who seems genuinely friendly, not just one who is being professionally friendly – in other words fake.
People who actually listen to what I want. When Frazzy and I were looking at our current property we chatted a bit with the agent and told him we dont have kids and work locally and his first sales pitch was to tell us how close we are to East Dulwich station for the commute and how great the schools are in the area DOH!!!!
Ben Reeve Lewis says
My last post, read alongside Jamie’s set me thinking about the difference between the things that an agent thinks are important to project and the things a prospective tenant might be looking for (and I think that will also be different from what a landlord is looking for – a different post methinks)
I spent a short while as an agent and was told that a suit is important to project and aura of professionalism and control. As a prospective tenant and one who works with thousands of tenants and hears their views I think that is meaningless to most.
I agree Jamie that Ts & Cs are important in a legal sense and that you often don’t know the value of your agent until things go wrong but I think tenant’s choices are largely predicated by more personal matters. People buy from people, not from contracts or assurances.
I think that is a truism of both landlords and tenants, they want to feel that if they have to make a call, that the person who signed them up is going to be as friendly and supportive as they were before the cash sealed the deal.
A well accredited agent can still be indifferent in their personal dealings with their clients and a clueless amateur landlord can be your best ally because their heart is in the right place.
I have spent most of my dinner cooking time thinking about this and have decided. What people need from an agent is honesty and a decent relationship. Ts & Cs are important too but 1 to 1 trust and respect are far more important
Mark Alexander says
Hi Ben
I agree with you about suits.
Also why is it that most Letting Agents don’t visit prospective tenants in their former home to complete application forms? I suggest it’s time and money. I do though, it provides fantastic insight into how they will look after my property.
Also, most agents assume that landlords don’t want pets. That provides me a real niche. I make friends with the pets and note their names. If a dog wants to bite me then my answer is usually no. Simples!
If I like the pet and get to know its name I always have a basis for a conversation with my tenant.
As tenants with pets find it hard to find accommodating landlords, when they meet me they are prepared to put up with my extra ‘due diligence’ and natural nosiness when I ask to meet them at their homes and look through their bank statements etc. I’ve also found they stay longer.
More stuff like this on Property118.com
Regards
Mark
Ben Reeve Lewis says
And that, Mark, is the voice of experience talking. I like hearing landlords say they go with their feelings on tenants based on relationships.
As I understand it, in the agent business there is quite a high staff turnover in frontline agents, so I suppose many arent in the game long enough to get to learn those skills, I wonder at their level of training too. When viewing properties for my most recent move back in March I played a game with myself by asking the fellas showing me around what would happen to my deposit and got some bizarre answers haha
My best experiences have been with Bushells, who I have mentioned before. I am not with them now but sometimes on Saturdays I still pop in for a chat and to nick some of their sweets. They operate on a relationship basis and are really honest with you whereas my current mob, a major national one are the very model of every reason people are suspicious of estate agents and yet on the surface they project the appropriate and accepted image
Sandra Savage-Fisher says
I’ve a list of questions I suggest people ask before hiring an agent see below.
I find cheap agents have done deals with many trades to charge large sums for repair work or gas certs. I believe that landlords who work with me should benefit from my ability to negotiate lower prices.
My advice recently saved a landlord a lot of money with his houses (out of my area) his agent was trying to get him to spend a fortune for a gas repair. I just suggested that he get a maintenance contract with a gas company. This he did and he’s very very grateful.
Qualifications yes I believe you need them and the trade bodies. I wanted to prove I was serious about letting property professionally and fairly for all parties. I’m NALS, TPOS and Safe Agent registered.
Are you qualified, please give details?
Do you belong to any official trade bodies, please give details?
Do you carry out referencing in-house or use an outside agency?
What information do you collect for referencing?
As a Landlord can I see the results of the reference checks?
Do you provide a copy of the rental agreement to the landlord?
How much do you charge and what does this cover?
Do you add an additional charge to remedial work invoices?
Who do you lodge deposits with?
Who do you bank with and do you have a client account?
How much unpaid rent has been incurred by the agency in the last five years?
How soon after receiving rent do you pay the landlord?
What is your process for rent chasing?
Do you provide inventories, if so what type?
Where do you advertise available property?
Are viewings always accompanied?
How often do you carry out property checks.
What information do you provide to tenants when they rent a property?
Tessa Shepperson says
Thats a really good list Sandra, thanks.
Ben Reeve Lewis says
A brilliant list Sandra, what sorts of questions would you suggest a tenant ask their agent?
I was trying to come up with my own list but strangely found it would be different if I was asking as a tenant than the questions I would ask as a Tenancy Relations Officer.
I had a conversation a few months back with the boss of a large-ish local agent who was at loggehreads with one of his very difficult tenants who had come complaining to me. As her fixed term had run out I suggested it would be better if he just ended the tenancy with a section 21 and stop the headaches she was giving him. he replied “Yeah I suppose you’re right, no point dragging it out is there? So what’s this thing? a section what you say?”
Needless to say he isnt an agent I recommend to anyone haha
JS says
Ben, may I also add that just because they’re a big name doesn’t mean they aren’t dodgy. I think there was an episode of Panorama (?) in 2006 where an undercover reporter went into XXX [Name deleted to protect my position – Ed] letting agents and witnessed all sorts of sharp, dodgy and downright fraudulent practices.
You have to look at these things as a whole. Generally if the offices are all slick and ostentatiously designer-looking, that rings alarm bells for me because I’d think “hmm, if they’re spending my money on designer furniture and bottles of Perrier, they’re clearly not spending it on fighting my corner.”
Sandra Savage-Fisher says
Ben you’ve got me thinking now. I’d never thought about a tenant list. Will give it some serious thought and come back to you.
Just goes to prove that large doesn’t mean good :-)
Ben Reeve-Lewis says
Oh yeah, I know a couple of small agents who bust a gut for their people and what I dont like, speaking strictly as a tenant, is my dealings with the large chains whose attitude I always find indifferent, once they have your money.
Speaking as a TRO we never get serious allegations about harassment against the big boys, the only issues we have are where individual staff dont actualy know the rules and make a mistake, which they then quickly make up for.
I was talking to a friend the other day who is the procurement officer for a large London housing charity who has to deal with loads of agents. She said in her experience even the agents with the most notorious names that I have to deal with often have decent individuals within them and that it is usally the manager or the owner that creates the working practices that cause me to get on their case