Guide to letting your property

1. Finding the right agent for you

Ensuring you find the right agent for you is vital to guarantee your home is let at the maximum possible value, but also an agent who understands your wants/needs from a potential tenant.

When selecting an agent, ensure they advertise on social media channels, their marketing is quality, and you can really trust them to look out for you and your home!

2. The valuation

Although they want to get the very best possible price for you, the letting agent needs to value your property sensibly and should be supplying recent comparable evidence to support the valuation.

You do not want your property sitting on the market for months with no interest due to the price being too high.

3. Which service?

Once you have chosen your letting agent, you need to decide which service option you would like. These range from:

• Let Only (the agent markets and finds you the tenant).
• Rent Collection (the agent finds you a tenant and then takes responsibility for collecting the rent monthly. The landlord is responsible for property management).
• Full Management (the agent manages the property, collects the rent, and passes it on to you each month).

Also, you would need to discuss with the agent whether you want to let it furnished, part furnished, or unfurnished. Details of what is left will be included in the pre-move-in inventory.

You will also need to obtain an EPC if you do not have one, as this is a legal requirement before we can commence marketing the home.

4. Marketing!

Once you have agreed on the service and agent, the agent will now begin marketing the home across all major platforms, using social media campaigns and erecting a "To Let" board to help drive traffic to the home and ensure the best rent is achieved.

The agent must accompany all viewings, and you can leave a set of keys with them.

5. Agreeing an offer

After the agent conducts viewings, they will receive offers. Once agreed, the tenant will pay a reservation fee to secure the home while background checks are done. It's vital that thorough checks are conducted to ensure the tenant is suitable.

These checks include references from previous landlords and employers, credit checks, and a salary check to ensure the tenant can afford the monthly rent. As a rule of thumb, the rent should be no less than x30 of their annual salary.

6. Moving in

Once the tenant passes the reference checks, a move-in date will be agreed upon. The tenant will pay an agreed-upon amount, and the agent will meet them at the property with the keys.

7. Moving out

At the end of the tenancy, you can either serve notice or renew the agreement. If you wish to serve notice, a new inventory will be done, and the deposit (minus any damages) will be returned to the tenant. The agent can then relist the property to find a new tenant!