Property Landlord advice: Why Manage privately if you would not sell privately?

By Steve Roulstone

As a professional Letting Agent I have always believed that Landlords should use professional Agents to look after their property, these excerpts are from a similar view for Estate Agents and I am repeating them in full to show just how they compare. There are of course many more reasons once a property has been rented for using professionals in their trade, but the reasoning used here in developing a sale cross over very well and I believe make the case better than being adopted specifically for rentals.

Security: Would you normally let a complete stranger wander round your house? A good estate agent will always ensure the correct identity of a prospective buyer prior to viewing.

Credentials: An agent will also establish the ability of the buyer to proceed, following up any chain if necessary. Too many buyers say they are “cash”, only for the seller to discover down the line that the buyer has a property to sell and a mortgage to arrange. Agents are familiar with the many red herrings used by unscrupulous or naive buyers and can quickly sort the panel beaters from the embroiderers.

Viewings: One of the most misunderstood aspects of the sales process is the way in which viewings are conducted. Of course you want to sell your house, but there is a lot of psychology involved here. Anything you say, as a seller, is clearly biased and not based on helping the buyer to understand how your property could fit their needs, because you don’t know the buyer nor do you have any knowledge of their preferences. If anything you could put your foot in it. Many sellers try too hard to sell on a first viewing and distract the buyer with irrelevancies like how the boiler works. A first viewing is simply about the buyer thinking “could I be happy here?” A good agent will explore the property with the buyer’s needs in mind.

Valuation: Vendors are notoriously optimistic when it comes to valuing their property (as are certain agents of course, but that’s another story). The price you paid for your home, the amount you spent on it, the amount you need for your next purchase and the amount you need to cover your commitments are sadly all completely unrelated to the value of your property. In fact, whatever some agents and even surveyors might tell you, even the apparent “evidence” of what has sold nearby can be misleading. Buyers buy by comparison, so your property has to look good in relation to what is currently available for sale. It might appear to be an easy exercise to assess these competing homes, but only an agent knows why these properties have failed to sell. If you simply follow the apparent market then you are likely to end up on the same heap. The most damaging thing would be to allow your property to go stale on the market as it is likely not only to take some time to sell, but will probably end up selling for less than it could have achieved had it been correctly priced from the outset.

In view of the above it is little wonder that there is very little appetite for private sales in the UK especially in view of the relatively small amount of commission British estate agents earn in relation to their counterparts virtually everywhere else on Earth. Whilst there will always be tales of someone who did a great job privately these are certainly the exception to the rule.

My question having read and compared the clauses with our Industry is why the appetite for private rentals IS still so strong? Most problems arise once a Tenancy has started and it is mainly by getting one of the aspects listed wrong in the first place! The problem being that it usually remains undiscovered until later in the Tenancy, when problems arise. Then is the time that Landlords have to deal with the issue professionally and within current legislation and unless they are qualified and I obviously accept that many Landlords are either by design or experience, this is the time that mistakes can be made, but I would venture that there are far more properties under the Management of amateur Landlords than bad Agents! Furthermore, when the Agents are either with a professional body or members of schemes such as TPO then the standard of service must rise dramatically.

P.S The picture with this post is meant to raise a smile, I trust you were able to do just that!