Free Letting Agent St Albans Switch Service

In an age when comparison sites are booming and a record number of Britons are switching bank accounts, it’s clear that people are striving to find the best deals and services available to them.We offer flexible, negotiable, value for-money fees and a service we believe is unrivalled by anyone else. We make transferring the management of your property to SKG Estate agent St Albans very, very easy.

Being a landlord can be stressful can’t it? You want to protect your investment and ensure that it is giving you the best return possible, but how do you do this in the best possible way? You have a huge amount to consider and with all the ever changing legalities involved this can be extremely stressful and time consuming.

There’s:

Finding good tenants
Referencing those tenants
Drawing up a valid legally binding contract
Constructing a photographic inventory
Protecting the deposit
Dealing with maintenance
Deposit/Tenant disputes
Collecting rent

Finding good Tenants in St Albans

If only it was easy to find reliable, honest tenants who you could trust to look after your property? You can put an advert in your local newspaper but can often attract tenants who want to avoid credit checks and references often because they have bad credit or cannot give a good landlord reference. You’re aware that the majority of people look online for property but as a private landlord how can you get your property on the major portals Rightmove & Zoopla? With so many people looking online how can you make sure you aren’t missing out?
We will advertise your property on all of the major online property portals, Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location. We match the property to people we have waiting on our database. We will qualify all leads that come in to make sure they are suitable and organise viewings. We do the viewings for you. Try and find some-one asap to avoid void periods.
We take the stress away for you.

Referencing

The majority of applicants seem nice and trustworthy when you meet them in person but you’ve got to do your background checks for your own peace of mind and to avoid problems further down the line. How can you be sure they have a good credit rating and can actually afford the rent each month? Have you checked references from their previous landlord and employer? Wouldn’t it be great if you could do something to minimize the risk?
We fully reference all applicants to make sure they have a good credit rating and affordability.
We check with the previous landlord to see if they have paid the rent on time and also if they’ve looked after the property. Would they rent to them again?
Call employer to check they earn what they say they do. Also check position permanent and not temporary or on a trial period.

Contract

Drawing up a water tight contract to protect both parties is an absolute must. You need something that will stand up in court and protect you should any problems arise. How do you get this right?

Inventories

Wouldn’t it be great if your property was always returned to you in the same good, clean condition that it started in? Unfortunately as I’m sure you know this is often not the case. If you don’t have a thorough photographic inventory clearly stating the condition of the property and it’s contents at the start of the tenancy it is unlikely that you will have sufficient evidence to win any deposit disputes. This usually means that any cleaning or repair bills will fall to you to pay at your own expense. How will you make sure you stand in the best position to win the claim and cover your costs in order to get the property ready to let again?
We provide a thorough photographic inventory which is usually around 20-30 pages long. This will prove invaluable if any disputes. We have won a lot of disputes with our inventories and check outs.
We can also do a check out.

Deposit

You know you need to protect your deposit but where do you start and are you fully aware of the implications if you get it wrong? Deposit law changed from 6th April 2007 to say that all assured shorthold tenancy deposits must be protected by a government backed tenancy deposit scheme. As well as registering the actual deposit you also need to issue the tenant with the schemes Prescribed Information. If you fail to register the deposit or issue the information correctly then you could be faced with a fine of up to 3 x the value of the deposit. Failing to issue this could also mean that you cannot legally evict the tenant using Section 21 procedure. Can you afford to get this wrong?
We give you the choice of lodging the deposit yourself with an approved scheme or we will lodge it for you with the DPS. We are fully aware of the legislation and will check we follow it correctly.
We will issue prescribed information to ensure you are covered.

Maintenance

You know the feeling, the phone call in the middle of the night, just when you are sitting down to dinner or when you are hard at work yourself. Why does it always happen at the most inconvenient of moments? Wouldn’t it be great if some one else could take that call and deal with it all for you leaving you to concentrate on the other important things in your life.
You’ve heard of letting agents who offer a management service but aren’t they expensive? You like to use your own tradespeople that you trust. You might even like to do the maintenance yourself. Keeping control of the costs is a top priority isn’t it?
We give you the choice of contractors (your own or yourself or ours) We will always approve any work and confirm costs with you prior to any work being done so you can keep control of costs. Maintenance stated on and original invoices sent with your monthly landlord statement. 10% per month. Not expensive.

Disputes

So your move in went smoothly. Rent details have been organised, when it happened. The dispute! It may be a breach of contract, late rent, dispute on move out. Where do you go from here? It can all get very personal and upsetting. Wouldn’t it be nice to take away the worry of whether the rent will be paid on time each month? Tenants aren’t always aware of the fact that you may have a mortgage to pay and the banks won’t wait for you. When they don’t pay you’ve either got to take the approach of knocking on the door which not all people are comfortable with or leave another voice mail only to be told “I’ll get it to you by the end of the week” How do you take the stress away.

SKG Estate Agent Pricing in St Albans

Silver

Gold

Platinum

Copper
Tenancy set-up fee no 90% of the first month’s rent 60% of the first month’s rent 60% of the first month’s rent
Monthly management charge no no 12% (including VAT) 35% (including VAT)
Paid Upfront £99 no no no
free instant valuation YES YES YES YES
Your property shown to millions of tenants YES YES YES YES
Your own account manager YES YES YES YES
Enquiries dealt with immediately YES YES YES YES
Viewings hosted no YES YES YES
You do nothing! no no YES YES
Professional photos taken no YES YES YES
2D Floorplan no YES YES YES
Full property description no YES YES YES
Rent Guarantee no no no YES