Hi! I have had a letting agent manage two properties for the last four years. I had and still have, mostly, a good relationship with them.
I was living away from the properties, but when I got one of them back, which I hadn't seen for four years - 2 lots of tenants - the windows needed painting so badly that they nearly had to be replaced, there was two leaks in the house which caused some damage, and there was quite a bit of rubbish left by the tenants which I had to pay to dispose of when the tenants had gone - they had said they checked the place and it was all cleared out.
More recently, see previous post re tenants throwing hundreds of cigarette buts all over the garden and patio area of one of the properties along with the place being absolutely filthy.
I went to this house with the permission of the tenants to do the garden - it was such a state that I looked upstairs and took photos of the doors, stairs and landing.
Now, in this instance, the letting agent refused to contact the tenants and ask for an inspection a week or two later - saying that I could be liable to be pursued by the tenants via the PRTB because I had looked upstairs without their permission, when I was only there to get the gardener to do the garden - I could see their point to a degree.
However, now they are refusing to send out the final checklist until two weeks before the move out date. They have also never inspected the property since I showed them the photos of the state of the place - in fact they have done nothing to earn their fee at all! What are letting agents exactly supposed to do? There was a leak in this property over a weekend, when part of the ceiling fell down - (tenants had never told letting agent about the leak), and the tenants rang them to say they could not use the one shower anymore due to the lead - this happened over the weekend, and the letting agent said they couldn't even get an emergency plumber out to deal with it.
I had a third property let through these agents, and I called to see if there had been any old post there for me - the tenants told me that the letting agent had not been to inspect the property in over a year - the property was actually in pristine condition, so much so that I wondered whether the tenants actually lived there full-time.
So. what should I expect from a letting agent - why don't they see it as their role to inspect a property which the tenants were clearly not maintaining - are they not supposed to take these situations in hand - I'm paying them e150 per month for this particular property.
Finally, is it better to let the property yourself, or should you let it with an agent and manage yourself. I live close to the properties now. I also know about registering with the PRTB etc.
Would love some advice/comment on this issue as I think I'm being taken for a bit o a mug with these agents.
I was living away from the properties, but when I got one of them back, which I hadn't seen for four years - 2 lots of tenants - the windows needed painting so badly that they nearly had to be replaced, there was two leaks in the house which caused some damage, and there was quite a bit of rubbish left by the tenants which I had to pay to dispose of when the tenants had gone - they had said they checked the place and it was all cleared out.
More recently, see previous post re tenants throwing hundreds of cigarette buts all over the garden and patio area of one of the properties along with the place being absolutely filthy.
I went to this house with the permission of the tenants to do the garden - it was such a state that I looked upstairs and took photos of the doors, stairs and landing.
Now, in this instance, the letting agent refused to contact the tenants and ask for an inspection a week or two later - saying that I could be liable to be pursued by the tenants via the PRTB because I had looked upstairs without their permission, when I was only there to get the gardener to do the garden - I could see their point to a degree.
However, now they are refusing to send out the final checklist until two weeks before the move out date. They have also never inspected the property since I showed them the photos of the state of the place - in fact they have done nothing to earn their fee at all! What are letting agents exactly supposed to do? There was a leak in this property over a weekend, when part of the ceiling fell down - (tenants had never told letting agent about the leak), and the tenants rang them to say they could not use the one shower anymore due to the lead - this happened over the weekend, and the letting agent said they couldn't even get an emergency plumber out to deal with it.
I had a third property let through these agents, and I called to see if there had been any old post there for me - the tenants told me that the letting agent had not been to inspect the property in over a year - the property was actually in pristine condition, so much so that I wondered whether the tenants actually lived there full-time.
So. what should I expect from a letting agent - why don't they see it as their role to inspect a property which the tenants were clearly not maintaining - are they not supposed to take these situations in hand - I'm paying them e150 per month for this particular property.
Finally, is it better to let the property yourself, or should you let it with an agent and manage yourself. I live close to the properties now. I also know about registering with the PRTB etc.
Would love some advice/comment on this issue as I think I'm being taken for a bit o a mug with these agents.