Look out!! when choosing a letting agent…

You may rent out one property; you may rent out many. Either way most landlords are now choosing letting agents to do this for them.

Agents take the burden off the landlord with the mine field of legislation, hard work finding the right tenant, getting the tenant referenced and moved in, maintaining the property and managing any issues in a professional manner.

Nearly all landlords will have different prioritised criteria that they want, so it’s only right that you pick an agent that works for you. However, choosing the right agent can be the difficult part. The biggest no no in the property business is do NOT pick the agent who seems to be the cheapest. It is very easy to see the £’s you may be saving but often as the phrase says, “if it sounds too good be true, it probably is”.

Often, some agents will lure you in with low management fees on the outside. However, this can have a double edge sword. Either, for the low price, you get poor service, advice and end up with more problems because the agent is having to cut corners. Or, the agent with low fees on the outside could have many hidden fees where you will get stung numerous times along the way.

This advice does not mean you should instantly pick the most expensive agent either. Just that you should be very wary of low fees. Remember, your properties are very expensive assets and being a landlord comes with complex legislation, especially in Wales. The amount of times a landlord will come through to Cardiff Property Info asking me for advice because their agent had made numerous mistakes, didn’t provide the correct advice, or had cost them a lot of £’s in mistakes. I always ask which agent they use, and always ask what they pay for the service. No surprises when they tell me who, and no surprises when they tell me the low fees they were duped with.

I know a lot of the letting agents in Cardiff whilst working for my clients and there are not many independent agents left any more. Most of the brand names you may consider local are actually owned by larger corporations. There are just a handful of independent Cardiff letting agents left now, and those generally will have the most experience on offer. Plus, they generally don’t need the large turnover of properties that most corporate agents rely on. This is why many landlords are flocking towards local experts, and why I have had to write this advice. Legislation changed in Wales in December 2022, which has meant I have been inundated with landlords in need, and that need had a common theme…

As always, if you need any advice please do get in touch.

Phone – 029 2168 0006 or WhatsApp – 029 2132 1470 or click on the chat icon in the corner. You can also find our Cardiff Property Info Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/cardiffpropertyinfo where you can find regular property market updates.

You can also find up to date property data for Cardiff here – https://www.handmproperties.co.uk/page/6-market-info

Clients of H&M Properties get free advice and subsidised access to Cardiff Property Info consulting services.