The importance of finding a reliable letting agent can hardly be overstated. A letting agent serves as the conduit between the landlord and the tenant, ensuring that both parties meet their obligations and  maintain a harmonious relationship. Furthermore, they play a critical role in property management, overseeing the day-to-day running of your property, from tenant vetting to repair and maintenance. Their expertise and professionalism can drastically impact the overall value and state of your property, and consequently, the returns on your investment.

At the end of each step we have a list of bullet points to ask of yourself, find online from research, or directly ask your shortlist of letting agents.

Step 1. Understanding Your Needs

Before diving into the search for a letting agent, it’s crucial to take a step back and assess your personal circumstances and what you aim to achieve in the long run. Your availability and long-term goals will largely dictate the type of assistance you’ll require from a letting agent. Generally, our landlords fall into one of three categories, each with its own set of needs and expectations.

1. Own a Single Property – If you own a single property, your needs might be quite straightforward. You may be looking for a letting agent to handle the day-to-day management tasks, ensuring that the property is well-maintained, rent is collected on time, and any issues raised by tenants are resolved swiftly. Furthermore, you might appreciate guidance on complying with local property laws and ensuring your property remains a valuable asset. Having a reliable letting agent can free up your time and reduce the stress associated with managing a property, especially if you have other commitments. 
2. New Property Investor – As a newcomer to property investment, the world of letting can seem quite daunting. You might be in need of a letting agent who can provide a comprehensive range of services and offer advice on how to navigate the local property market. This could include assistance with understanding rental yields, guidance on local market conditions, and support with growing your property portfolio. A letting agent with a solid track record could be a valuable partner in helping you establish a foothold in the property market.
3. Established and Expanding Portfolio of Properties – If you have an established and growing portfolio of properties, your needs are likely to be more complex. You might require a process-driven letting agent with a robust team capable of managing multiple properties efficiently. This includes not only routine management tasks but also strategic advice on portfolio expansion, insight into new market opportunities, and meticulous financial reporting to keep track of your investments. A local letting agent with a good grasp of the area can be instrumental in helping you make informed decisions, ensuring each property in your portfolio is performing optimally.

Understanding your position in the property investment journey and your personal goals is, in our opinion, the first step in finding a letting agent who can meet those needs.

What to ask of yourself:

• Do I currently have enough information and the relevant qualifications to do it myself?
• How much time am I willing to dedicate to the management of my property/properties?
• Do I see myself acquiring more properties in the future?

Step 2. Researching Potential Agents

One of the most important stages of finding a reliable letting agent is pulling a good shortlist together of agents that serve your area. Platforms like Google and allAgents host reviews and testimonials that provide insights into the experiences of other landlords and tenants. As a landlord, you will most likely want to sift through these, look past the tenant reviews and pay attention to what other landlords are saying. These online testimonials can be invaluable, shedding light on the operational dynamics and levels of customer satisfaction associated with any letting agent.

Moreover, personal recommendations often carry a weight of trust that online reviews can’t match. Speaking to friends, coworkers, and relatives who are also landlords can provide a wealth of firsthand feedback. Their experiences can guide you towards reputable letting agents and also red-flag those with less stellar reputations.

Diving deeper, it’s wise to understand the structural variances between different types of letting agents – the one-man band/smaller agent, the local specialist letting agency, and the national letting agency. Each has its pros and cons, yet local letting agents often come out on top due to their intricate understanding of the local market dynamics and legislative nuances. For instance, they tend to have a better grasp of any specific legislative issues with local councils that could affect your property.

A one-man band letting agent might offer a more personal service but may fall short when it comes to resources and market intelligence. On the other hand, national letting agencies boast extensive resources but often lack the local market understanding and personalised service that local letting agents provide.

Local letting agents, like Southside Property Management, stand out by marrying personalised service with a solid grasp of the local market. They typically have a pronounced presence in the community, an understanding of local property and letting trends, and the legislative frameworks governing the local property market. This localised expertise is crucial for effective property management as it often translates to better tenant matching, more accurate pricing, and in some cases, faster resolution of property issues.

Thus, a local letting agent, established in the community and bolstered by positive reviews both online and from personal networks, will usually be the best choice.

Awards aren’t always a good representation of the market. They are eye catching however unless you the awarding body is transparent with its selection process its likely they will only make your research more biased. Annual awards unfortunately will not encompass the all the letting agents in the market, they only showcase the companies that paid to enter and completed an application.

Step 3. Services Offered

Letting agents typically provide a range of services, ranging from simply finding a tenant to full management of a property portfolio. Below is a list of the most common services offered and a breakdown of what they may include.

1. Tenant Find Services:

• Advertising the property to attract potential tenants
• Conducting viewings and providing details about the property
• Screening tenants to ensure reliability and suitability
• Managing the lease signing and initial deposit collection

2. Short Term Lets Services:

• Advertising and managing listings on platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com
• Handling booking inquiries and reservations
• Coordinating cleaning and maintenance between stays
• Managing reviews and striving for high ratings to attract future bookings

3. Property Refurbishment:

• Assessing the property to identify areas for improvement
• Coordinating with contractors and overseeing renovation projects
• Advising on cost-effective upgrades that can enhance the property value
• Ensuring the refurbishment complies with local regulations and standards

4. Full Letting and Management, Including Tenant Find:

• All aspects of Tenant Find Services
• Collecting monthly rent and chasing any arrears
• Handling routine maintenance requests and emergency repairs
• Conducting regular property inspections to ensure it’s well-maintained
• Managing tenant communications and resolving any issues
• Providing monthly statements detailing income and expenses

5. Pay As You Go:

• Offering flexibility to choose and pay for only the services you require
• Tailored service provision that can be adjusted as your needs change
• Ideal for landlords who prefer a hands-on approach but need support in specific areas

Depending on your current position and the goals you identified in step one the service you need from a letting agent will vary. Here’s how the services outlined could be employed by the three types of individuals in Step1:

1. Someone who owns a single property:

• They might opt for Tenant Find Services to ease the burden of locating a reliable tenant. 
• Pay As You Go services could also be a viable option, offering tailored assistance only where needed, thus managing costs while ensuring essential tasks are professionally handled.
• If the individual is limited on time, perhaps they also have a full-time job Full Letting and Management, Including Tenant Find would most likely be the best fit.

2. A new property investor:

• They could benefit from Full Letting and Management, Including Tenant Find, as this would provide comprehensive coverage, allowing them to learn the ropes without becoming overwhelmed.
• Short-Term Lets Services might also appeal if they’re exploring the more dynamic, short-term rental market as a starting point.

3. Someone with an established and expanding portfolio of properties:

• They might find value in both the Full Letting and Management Including Tenant Find and Property Refurbishment services. These services could provide a hands-off approach to property management, allowing them to focus on strategic growth.
• Furthermore, Pay As You Go could offer bespoke solutions for unique or temporary challenges that arise as the portfolio grows and they make this a full-time profession.

The above examples will likely not match your unique circumstances. However, by matching the services of a letting agent with your immediate requirements and long-term ambitions, you can make sure your shortlist of letting agents will be able to meet your needs for the long term.

Step 4. Fees and Charges

Many guides start with the cost when looking for a letting agent. We mention it later because if you follow the earlier steps, you only have a few questions to ask, and some might not apply to your case:

• How much is their monthly fee?
• Is there an extra charge for marketing & advertising or for tenant finding?
• How much do they charge for necessary certificates/tests? (Are they adding extra charges to the supplier’s fee?)
• Setup fees e.g. property onboarding photos & videos
• Non-tenanted fees?
• Insurance?

These questions are key to knowing what you’re getting into. Here’s why each one is important:

Monthly Fee:

• This is like a regular bill you’ll get from the letting agent. It’s crucial to know how much this is to fit it into your budget. 
• Commonly, letting agents charge a percentage of the monthly rent as their fee. It’s good to check around and see what different agents charge, but don’t just go for the cheapest. Ensure they offer the services you need.

Marketing & Advertising Charges:

• These costs help to get the word out about your property, aiming to find tenants faster. 
• Some agents include this in their monthly fee, others charge extra. It’s essential to know this upfront. 
• Look for agents who have a clear plan on how they’ll advertise your property, both online and offline.

Charges for Certificates/Tests:

• These tests ensure your property is safe and meets legal standards. 
• Some agents might have an in-house team to do these tests, but most hire external suppliers. If they add extra charges to the supplier’s fee, it could end up costing you more.
• It’s a good practice to ask for a detailed breakdown of these charges. Look for transparency in how these charges are handled.

Fee Transparency Example Questions

You should have been able to find this out via a prospective agent’s website. Now, it’s time to contact your shortlisted letting agents and start asking them questions.

Do the management fees change with long-term tenancy or with landlords or tenants moving the property to the new letting agent?

Are negotiated rates passed directly to the landlords from the suppliers?

Understanding how a letting agent structures their fees will give you a clear picture of what you’re paying for and help avoid any surprises later on. It also helps you compare different agents, ensuring you get the most value for your money. For a detailed breakdown of our letting fees, click here.

Step 5. Organise an appraisal of your property or properties

Most letting agents will do this for free as a part of the discussion process

Step 6. Professional Accreditation, Experience, and Expertise

Having a letting agent with professional accreditation is a marker of quality and adherence to high industry standards. Accreditation from recognised organisations such as ARLA Propertymark or the LETWELL Programme reflects a level of professionalism and a commitment to maintaining current industry standards.

For reference, ARLA Propertymark is a leading professional body for letting agents in the UK, setting the standards for the industry while offering support and training to property professionals. On the other hand, the LETWELL Programme is a comprehensive learning and development framework, providing essential knowledge and skills specifically for letting agency professionals in Scotland.

Other bodies and organisations that provide accreditation and courses for letting agents are UKALA, NRLA Safeagent. Most courses or accreditations can be registered on the agent’s LARN (letting agent registration number).

Having your point of contact within the letting agency registered with either ARLA Propertymark or the LETWELL Programme can be beneficial as a landlord. It ensures that the individual handling your property is well-versed with the latest industry standards, legal compliance, and best practices. This registration also acts as a badge of credibility, providing peace of mind that your property is in competent and professional hands.

Letting agents in Scotland have a legal obligation to stay compliant and an obligation to inform their landlords of any upcoming changes in legislation. This advice needs to be timely and should keep them compliant with the legal requirements. Its important to find out the process the letting agent has to keep you updated and of course compliant!

For more information on the Letting Agent Code of Practice in Scotland refer to this page on the scottish government website. You can verify the agent’s registration online via the Scottish Letting Agent Register to ensure they meet all legal requirements.

At Southside Property Management, it is worth noting that all points of contact for landlords within this agency are registered with either ARLA Propertymark or the LETWELL Programme. We feel this speaks volumes about the business’s dedication to providing high-quality services by ensuring that our team is adequately trained and accredited. We are obviously biased on this point, but we think it’s important to look for an agent that has an accredited team with at least one of the professional bodies.

Conclusion

The journey to choosing a letting agent is meticulous and requires careful consideration at each step. From understanding your needs to researching potential agents, evaluating the services offered, and assessing the contract terms, each of the above steps should help you shortlist and eventually instruct a reputable letting agent who matches your property management and financial needs.

With Southside Property Management, you are not only assured of professional service from a company that is large enough to cope but small enough to care but also a partnership that prioritises clear communication, team excellence, and a swift transition to the market, ensuring your property is let with the high-quality tenants it deserves.

Get in touch with us today here.