It’s a well known fact that more and more UK citizens are moving abroad, this could be for a number of reasons including cheaper living costs, higher paid employment or perhaps just a change of scenery and warmer climes, but this poses the problem of what to do with the property they leave behind.

In today’s current housing climate there is perhaps little profit to be made in selling the property and maintaining the investment by letting it out certainly makes more financial sense however, this is no easy feat when the owner is quite literally thousands of miles away, so what is the next move?

Well, if letting out the property is the route that the owner wishes to take then employing the services of an online letting agent would certainly be of great benefit.

There are a number of high quality online letting agents so it makes good sense for the landlord to compare the services and prices of several different agents before making a decision. Call them if it make you feel comfortable and ask as many questions you need to ensure your are going to be comfortable with the next steps.

When a letting agent is appointed to take control of a landlord’s property the agent takes on a range of responsibilities which can include advertising the property, securing and referencing the tenant, drawing up the tenancy agreement, rent collection and a popular option which includes Rent Guarantee.

Lettingaproperty.com is theUK’s leading online letting agent and offers a wide range of services for both landlords and tenants including their comprehensive Property Management/Rent Collection Service. This Platinum Package is available for a one off payment of £99 including VAT and further monthly payments of £35 once a tenant has been secured. Compared to the High Street Agent, one could save hundreds of pounds by taking the Online lettings approach.

The Property Management Services, otherwise known as the Platinum Package, provided by lettingaproperty.com includes:

Property Advertising – The property will be professionally advertised on a variety of well known property websites including Rightmove (a Premium Listing is included) , Findaproperty, Zoopla, Primelocation, Gumtree, Globrix and a host of others. These adverts are refreshed daily and, by using this range of property advertising sites, lettingaproperty.com manage to secure tenants and let out 90% of their properties within just 3 weeks of the adverts going live.

This efficient and speedy service ensures that the property is left empty for the minimum amount of time possible and enables the landlord to start earning an income from his property almost immediately.

Tenant Referencing – Once a tenant has been secured for the property a comprehensive referencing process will be undertaken by the agent. This will include a credit check which will show whether the tenant has any CCJs (County Court Judgements) against them, has any outstanding payments or has made late payments in the past. The tenant’s bank account will also be checked and verified. The tenant’s employment history will be looked into to ascertain facts such as contract type, their position within the company, their salary and length of time they have been in employment. The tenant’s previous addresses for the previous six years will be checked against the voter’s role and past landlords will be contacted to ensure their were no problems with the tenants such as late payments or damage to the property. The tenant’s affordability will also be calculated. This is done by multiplying the rent payments of the property to be leased by 30 and then matching this figure against the tenant’s annual income.

Drawing up the Tenancy Agreement – Once the credit and employment checks have come back clear a tenancy agreement will be drawn up. lettingaproperty.com specialise in all areas of tenancy agreements and the type of agreement template used is adapted to your specific requirements, keeping the integrity of the legal aspects of the agreement intact.

Securing the Deposit – The next part of the leasing process is securing the deposit for the rental property. The tenant will be sent a request for the agreed deposit amount which is usually the equivalent of one month’s rent. The deposit will then be paid into a secure holding account and both the tenant and the landlord will receive a confirmation certificate. Deposits are required, by law, to be paid into secure holding accounts and failure to do so could result in the landlord having to pay a fine of three times the amount of the deposit. This is why lettingaproperty.com follows a very stringent set of rules when arranging this part of the tenancy.

Rent Statements – Statements of all rent payments made are sent to the landlord every month. These will also show our fees so that the landlord has a clear indication of his rental income.

Rent Guarantee – Lettingaproperty.com also offers their clients a Rent Guarantee so, even if the tenant ceases to pay the rent, the landlord will still receive any monies due. We regularly monitors all accounts and receives alerts when rent payments are due. Should a payment not show up on their system then the tenant will be contacted and a payment will be requested over the phone via debit or credit card. If the tenant is no longer in a position to make their monthly rent payments our insurers will cover the costs of the rent payments to ensure the landlord isn’t out of pocket. The insurance covers up to £10,000 per month for up to 12 months as well as providing up to £25,000 in legal expenses cover. Lettingaproperty.com will also start putting plans in place to begin the process of eviction so that the client’s property can be leased out again as quickly as possible. It should be noted however that the landlord will only be entitled to the Rent Guarantee and legal cover if the tenant satisfies all lettingaproperty.com’s comprehensive referencing checks.

Inventory Options – An inventory is vital when letting out a property and documents the condition of the property as well as any furnishing, appliances and white goods included. The landlord can do the inventory himself using an inventory template from ourselves or can request we undertake the inventory on his behalf for a small, additional fee.

Check In Service – If the landlord is unavailable or already out of the country then lettingaProperty.com can also check the tenants into the rental property at the commencement of the tenancy agreement.

 

If you are a landlord and would like to know more about this service or any of the other services available please visit lettingaproperty.com or call us on 0844 567 0578.