for some, letting a property is an appealing investment. for others, it can provide a solution to occupying a property as a temporary living solution, or as a long term home. either way, a number of considerations need to be made when preparing to let a property.
the level of service does differ from landlord to landlord. some landlords prefer a really hands on approach, in this case, we would recommend our let only service where our job would stop once we have secured a tenant for you and handed over keys. on the other hand, there are a number of landlords who prefer to avoid any tenant contact or are located abroad, in this instance, we would recommend our fully managed service – our job never stops. we would ensure that we collect the rent on the landlords behalf on a monthly basis, organise quarterly inspections throughout the tenancy and manage any tenant issues or queries directly. with our reasonably priced management fee, this has become an increasingly popular service being chosen by our clients.
when an investment has been purchased, and you are ready to put it on the rental market, the first, and one of the most vital decisions to make is which agent you plan to use. why choose mi homes? reading online reviews on the agency, as well as the type and locations of property they offer, will be a good indication to see if you are a good fit for each other.
once mi homes have been chosen as the preferred agent, our business terms and conditions will be emailed to be signed electronically. if mi homes haven’t been chosen, we would wish you all the best and keep our doors open should you ever need any advice at any stage of the process, or of course, change your mind and instruct us to assist.
(if we are chosen) we will then organise an advisory meeting at the property to discuss the best marketing strategy and the correct marketing price. within the meeting, we would converse on the type of tenant you would like us to secure for you, mention some tips on how to ensure your property stands out from other properties, and give you an indication on how long we feel it will take to let the property at maximum value coupled with the right tenant(s).
professional photography and branded floorplans will then be carried out as soon as possible.
we take great pride in the way in which we market our clients properties, as we believe it is a key factor in generating the highest level of interest and standing out in such a competitive market – after all, first impressions are very difficult to change.
once photography and floorplans have been completed, we will then ‘go live’ and list the property on all major uk portals to ensure maximum exposure for you and email it over for you to review and confirm you are happy with how we have marketed your property.
we would then begin organising accompanied viewings with prospective tenants in the hope of securing a formal offer as soon as possible.
once we have secured a formal offer from a prospective tenant, we will email you with the full offer details so that you have them for your reference and then follow it up with a phone call shortly after. subject to an offer acceptance, we would then organise a convenient time for the landlord to meet (if requested by either party) the prospective tenant(s) at our office.
subject to a successful landlord and tenant meeting, we would then begin referencing the applicant. We are one of very few agencies who double reference applicants, both in house, as well as via a third party referencing company. we do this to ensure we have done everything we possibly can to ensure that the tenants we hand keys over to are the right tenants for our clients. our referencing procedure includes the following:
once referencing is complete and deemed acceptable, we would send the reports as well as our findings to the landlord for their final instructions to proceed. we would then ensure the tenancy agreement is drafted and issued to all parties to sign electronically.
In accordance with new legislation allowing landlords to issue a section 21 for possession, we would ensure that we email over the following documentation prior to the start date of the tenancy:
we also ensure that the tenant(s) sign a disclosure to confirm they have received the above documentation prior to the tenancy for the purposes of clarity.
with tenancy deposit disputes soaring to over 40% in the last 18 months (15.05.2018), it is always best practice for both landlord and tenant to have an inventory report on file to refer to at the end of the tenancy. the inventory is carried out by a third party company (one of our approved contractors) to ensure it is not a biased report. this helps a tenant protect their deposit (we take a minimum of 6 weeks deposit unless agreed otherwise - this may be subject to change in legislation). the inventory is a detailed report including photos which refers to the condition of the property prior to the start of the tenancy including any utility metre readings. this report will also be issued to both landlord (or agent) and tenant to sign as acceptance to confirm they are in agreement with the report issued.
once all of the above has been completed, we will then arrange a convenient time to hand keys over to the tenant(s), congratulate them on their new home and confirm with our landlord that keys have been handed over and thank them for their trust and business.
*None of our documents are printed or posted to help save the environment, anything which requires a signature is emailed out to be signed electronically.