Estate Agent Recommendation - Rentals? Post Reply

[Red1981]

Hi,

My husband and I have just bought a house out of London and will be renting our 3 bed flat BTC. We rented before we bought but the whole renting out process to others is new to us!

We presumably need to get an agent round to view the property and get quotes, they are then responsible for sourcing tenants, organising agreements and management - is that correct?

Can anyone recommend a local Estate Agent they've used in the past, or perhaps an independent person? What checks do we need to get done in the flat to make it rental ready? Boiler/Electricity etc? Rough idea of total cost for all this?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[SamPropertyMan]

Hi Red1981,

You would need to have a fixed wiring certificate (valid for 5 years) and a gas safe certificate (1 year) done on the property before renting out to anyone. Costs: Gas £60-85, Electrical £150-200 for a 3 bed flat. Be prepared for some costs on the electrical test as most properties will not be up to standard.

It's also worth noting that from October, all landlords will be required to have working heat and smoke detectors in every property.

My property management company in South West London specialises in saving landlords time and money. We can arrange all the necessary certificates, source tenants, manage all maintenance and upgrade your home to have high health and safety measures in place.

If you would like more information please send me a PM. I have just signed up with nappyvalley today so I don't want to start out by posting company details on here.

Hopefully you have found that information useful.

Kind regards,

Sam

[Mum2Alex]

Hi there
We recently used Haus in Fulham and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Friendly, approachable, knowledgeable of the local area and truly made me change my opinions of estate agents generally.

That said, we were on the sales side, so I can't specifically recommend their lettings division (but I can't imagine they would be any different)

We have some experience of renting out in Fulham. It was an expensive and painful process. We used KFH and I certainly would advise you steer well clear of them. They wouldn't help us when the property was being illegally sublet by their tenants, and charged us a fortune in administration fees...

Hope that helps
Charlie

[Tinkerbell]

If its top service you are looking for then speak to Rochford Stokes Estate Agent, they even have a spotty taxi.

http://www.rochfordstokes.com/

Best of luck

[S Bhatt- Preston]

Highly recommend Christian Walker from www.urbanlettings.com

We have been renting our 4 bed house for the past three years through them. They have been excellent and sort everything, offer a personal service and have low charges in comparison to other estate agents in the area.

[confusedaboutchoices]

Just looking at this thread and RED1981, wondered if you went with any of these recommendations

And if not do you / anyone else have any advice on renting out a property?

We will be moving temporarily out of london for two years and looking to rent out our 5 bed house near WW common.

We're not moving til the Summer and I wonder when we need to start conversations with estate agents / maintenance companies etc. I guess tenants don't look til fairly close to the time that they want to rent so we don't need to worry for a little while?

Any advice at all on renting out would be very much appreciated!

thanks

[firsttimerSW11]

I've rented property out, rented a flat for 6 months, and bought and sold property, all between the commons so have had dealings with many of the estate agents. While I won't name and shame any of the bad ones, I will say that if you're renting a property out, Cluttons are really fabulous. Georgie and the team are well worth speaking to. They have gone above and beyond for me on several occasions.

[Mumof1plus2]

We researched this quite extensively over a year ago now when we rented out our flat in Wimbledon and found that most estate agents manage the properties remotely (some with offices outside London with staff who have never even seen the property!) and certainly don’t check any works that are carried out. We found a local company HJ Property Management run by Helena Jackson who are based in Clapham (or could be Wandsworth?). They have a small team who actually visit the properties and have provided a great service so far. We have recently moved another flat to be managed by them and have recommended them to one of our friends who I know isvery happy with them. Their website is www.hjpm.co.uk.

[Mum2two2012]

Could speak to Sandy (Head of Lettings) or Richard at Courtenay. This is a sole office so no hard sales . Professional and have been based on Lavender Hill for over 20 years. Or Charlie at Palace Gate. I think they have four offices, specialise in Lettings. Are very established, honourable and professional. Good luck!