Getting To Grips With Letting Agent Services

One thing to remember from the offset is that whilst letting agent services exist to help you out, they have a loyalty to landlords first and foremost. You have to be prepared then to respect, review and really push for your own interests to be taken into account. Whilst letting agencies are useful allies, they will not do everything that you need and expect just because it seems the right thing to do.

A major issue that many tenants have is they expect letting agent services to fill them in on every little detail that they needed to know. Unfortunately the reality of hiring a letting agent is nothing like this. If the advice you are asking for puts the agency between you and the landlord, they’ll likely give you nothing back in return.

A letting agency cannot give you advice that could potentially compromise the landlord’s position. In truth, they wouldn’t even want to!

So, you should always be exceptionally vigilant on this front. Always check for professional memberships inside government bodies for the letting agency to make sure they are providing you with a fair service. Also, ensure that your letting agency carries a service known as Client Money Protection.

This means that in the event of any underhand landlord tactics, you aren’t broke financially as well. Always demand a receipt from any letting agency transactions you make, too. It might sound overcautious but you should have evidence of everything you have dealt with as a client.

Registration Scams

By the way – one thing to look out for with letting agencies is the paying for registration. If you are ever asked by a letting agency to pay to join up as part of their service, leave right away. There is no point in continuing forward; this is a criminal offence. To be part of a letting agency you never have to pay a dime – you only pay when services actually succeed.

If you are asked to pay, the, get out of there. You should also ask for a listing of all services, charges and costs before going any further with a letting agency. This might all sound over the top and uber-cautious, but you need caution in such a volatile industry.

However, don’t let any of this put you off using letting agency services. There is nothing wrong with using a letting agency that checks out. It just comes down to making sure you can 100% guarantee that the people you are putting your future living conditions with can be trusted.Do this, and you can avoid huge headaches later on down the line!