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Managing your property with care

As well as finding good quality tenants for your property and looking after all the paperwork, most landlords also want us manage their property. 

Here’s what we do as part of this service.

BEFORE THE TENANCY

Letting your property

We’ll find good quality tenants for you and carry out our thorough referencing procedure (read more), and handle all the admin and paperwork involved with a new tenancy (read more).

Safety & Legal Requirements

We will arrange for all of the checks and certification required by law, and make sure that your property complies with all legal and safety regulations, we will advise you if you need to take any remedial action before the tenancy starts.

Draw up the inventory

An accurate Inventory/Schedule of Condition is essential at the start of any tenancy to avoid disputes at the end. At Whitton & Laing we draw up comprehensive inventories ourselves rather than outsourcing this to a third party, so enquiries at the end of the tenancy can usually be answered and any disputes solved amicably by careful negotiation without involving the need for lengthy and time-consuming deposit disputes.

As part of this, we will take meter readings and notify the utility companies accordingly at the start and the end of each tenancy.

Handle the deposit

All deposits must now by law be lodged in accordance with a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme. Any disputes at the end of the tenancy are then handled by the tenancy deposit scheme if a landlord and tenant can't agree as to the deposit allocation. Any deposit deduction must be agreed in writing by the tenant.

We use TDS and lodging the deposit is included as part of the fee with our Letting & Management service.

find out more about deposits
 

Energy performance certificates

All let properties must by law have a valid Energy Performance Certificate, which must be provided to the tenants at the start of the tenancy, with a rating of "E" and above. 

Certificates usually have a lifespan of 10 years and we are able to provide these in-house at a reasonable cost if required.

DURING THE TENANCY

Collect the rent

The rent is usually due on the first of each month, and we will collect this on your behalf, chasing any overdue amounts if necessary. We will forward the balance to you either monthly or quarterly, as previously agreed in our terms of business.

We can also if you wish, pay any outgoings such as ground rent or service charge, (especially if you own in a building we manage) and will deduct this, along with our monthly fee and any agreed property maintenance costs from each rent payment we make to you. 

We will send you a statement showing all rent received and outgoings paid, to accompany your rental payments.
 

Handle any maintenance issues

Handling any maintenance issues is another area where our knowhow can pay dividends, ensuring any problems are dealt with quickly, before they escalate into bigger problems, and with the minimum of hassle for you and your tenants. We will always put your best interests first, never forgetting that we act on your behalf, not the tenant’s.

We act as the first point of contact for your tenants and will endeavour to handle any issues, swiftly with the minimum of inconvenience to you and your tenants.

If necessary we will appoint one of our trusted contractors (or your own nominated contractor) to carry out any agreed repairs or maintenance. If you wish we can agree a budget up to which you are happy for us to authorise work and will refer to you for any amounts above this budget.

Unusually, we do not add a handling charge or mark-up on any contractor invoices. We are very happy to use your own nominated contactor.

We hold a spare key for all managed properties in case of emergency and offer a 24 hour service at no extra cost.
 

Carry out routine inspections

We will carry out a regular inspection of your property and report its condition back to you if we have any concerns.
 

Rent reviews

We will advise you on whether the rent you are receiving is in line with current market conditions, and will recommend a rent increase try to secure a rent increase if and when appropriate. Any increase is served in accordance with Statutory requirements.

AT THE END OF THE TENANCY

Notice to quit

If and when you wish to end a tenancy we will issue the Section 21 Notice to your tenants as per regulatory requirements.
If a court process is required for you to regain possession of your property, additional fees may apply but we are happy to guide you through this complex process.
 

Deposit return

At the end of the tenancy, we will complete a thorough check-out inspection and compare the property against the Inventory/Schedule of Condition taken at the start of the tenancy. If there are any discussions or disputes between the tenant and you regarding the return of the deposit, we will liaise with all parties including the TDS as necessary.

Re-marketing appraisal

After the tenants have left, we will advise of any cleaning, maintenance or refurbishment that may be required to ensure re-letting as swiftly as possible together with re-appraising achievable rent as required.

Note:

We have Client Money Protection (CMP) through our membership of RICS

 

Lettings (Exeter & East Devon)

Call us on: Exeter 01392 285060
Email - lettings@whittonandlaing.com... or send us a message

Get in touch

Call us on 01392 259395 or send us a message...