Important Notice ref Copy Cat Agent in Bournemouth

Tailor Made

Its spelt with an "I" its the mark of our Letting Agency and the Sandbanks estate agent in Poole Dorset a family business and an independant agency established in 1992.

Tailor Made Lettings is a dedicated rental agency trading from the Poole town centre offices at Poole end of Longfleet Road.

Tailor Made estate agency is located on the Sandbanks peninsula opposite the main beach car park.

Neither of these offices have any connection to the agent of similar name based in Bournemouth

I am making this statement as people are becoming confused by an agent in Bournemouth who has chosen to trade under the name Taylor Made spelt with a "Y" and has chosen to have estate agent boards a banner/logo that is blue and white similar to our Logo.

The reason the other agent has done this is very obvious and because of the confusion it is causing I have from time to time set the record straight on various social media including linkedin twitter and facebook.

websites for Tailor Made Letting agents www.tailormadelettings.co.uk run by Francis Payne

Tailor Made estate agents www.tmea.biz run by Adrian Dunford

Business Networking are you overdosing ????

Don't get me wrong I love a bit of networking particularly where it involves golf, food and drink

For many people business networking has become a way of life, the concept of meeting like minded entrepreneurs and creating trust in the hope of acquiring new business is wonderful and does work. Business network groups spring up everywhere and every month there is a new group/community inviting you to spend time in their meetings. The question I raise is do some people simply spend too much time at networking events at a cost to their own business.

There are people involved in this form of business promotion who live and breathe it. I can see that it does provide many people with more than just promotional value and can give people in business a needed confidence boost to be part of a business group, often once they become known in once circle these people join every network group around and often create a social life from their network contacts.I know a number of people who have little self confidence who thrive in these environments. Yet what is the true value to a business in pure time spent.

Networking face to face is a very good thing but I would ask you the question what are the alternatives to spending many hours a week sipping coffee and socializing on the slight chance you may get publicity and maybe a lead. There are people who spend up-to 15 hours plus a week maybe they gain maybe they don't but have they ever stopped to calculate

Some 15 years ago I took the decision to reduce my involvement in networking after my own experiment suggested i was losing business by spending a morning at such meetings.

The first step was to evaluate results over 4 meetings. My first task was to log meticulously who I met and what benefits I expected to gain as a result of the person to person meetings.

In 4 meetings I listed per meeting between 6 to 8 people that I engaged meaningfully per meeting of those 27 persons 5 were new to me.

So out of the 22 people, most I had known from joining 3 years previous. Of the 22 known to me I had converted 6 customers in 3 years and of the new introductions 2 were way out of my area. This meant that I had an opportunity to promote myself to new 3 local persons which I did with usual great enthusiasm. The 4 attendances took up 16 hours I never met or came across those 3 people ever again.

Yes Yes Yes I know i cannot measure referrals by members that go on out of my earshot and back in day to day life and obviously that is a factor in favor of attending

The following month I decided to set aside the same mornings as the networking events and try spend that 16 hours of my time in a quiet room with a PC revisiting old ground.

Day 1 spent 4 hours reviewed diary meetings back 2 years & contact info in diary

Day 2 spent 4 hours extracting info from old note books went to a period of 6 months from 3 yrs ago

Day 3 spent 4 hours reviewing old emails from a 12 month period 4 years ago

Day 4 collating the list of information and contacting ex customers/clients from contact database

In the 16 hours spent quietly working I sent out emails reconnecting with long lost clients, making phone calls, reminding ex tenants & landlords about us and saying hello to old business social contacts who had referred friends relatives colleagues to me in the past.

Result. Tailor Made re-acquainted with 300 persons. Responses from 140 and new instructions/inquiries 38.

These figures date back many years ago and are the only ones I have methodically measured. I still continue to practice these type of reviews of existing info. Yes some of those people I recontacted I did know through social networking for business but I do feel the harvest I reap that sits in my records can be more productive.

I am not saying do not go to networking events at all I am simply questioning the value of over attending with the same people.

As always there is a balance to be found and its often worth reminding one self about the options. I am off now to review my diary for Landlords we no longer act for from 5 years ago

article Francis Payne Tailor Made Letting Agency Tailor Made Letting Agency Poole Town Centre office 01202 770040

Property Managing Agents Poole Dorset. A looks at best ways to upset a tenant

Tailor Made Letting agency are property managers for Poole & Bournemouth. This local Poole Business has continued to specialize in rental property and management of private residential accommodation. Established in 1992 Tailor Made have developed their systems and processes as well as staying upto date with advances in the latest Property Management software "Gemini"

Jamie Rolls of Tailor Made Lettings says "Residential management is all about minimizing risk and because we specialize, we are good at what we do" The biggest problems arise where Landlords look to manage property themselves and whilst some maybe good at it others create situations where everything turns to pot simply because both sides are too emotionally involved in the property. Its not surprising to us how many times landlords with direct contact get annoyed then situation results in all out war. So often Landlord owners visit our offices to discuss their problem tenants asking us for help in dealing with the issue of tenants who have become difficult as a result of arguments.

Finding a tenant is the easy part of our job advanced websites and various property portals such as rightmove and zoopla bring the right type of customers to our door. The key to a happy rental is to maintain good relations and not to let a dripping tap or a faulty lock turn into a debacle that damages relations. No property is perfect and much of the time occupants are frustrated by technology shoddy workmanship therefore such issues need to be tracked and signed off as successfully tackled. The other cause of potential problems can be the lack of information. For many issues simply providing info prior to occupation can take the sting out of issues when they arise. For instance where a Landlord has gone to the expense and trouble of cleaning a property prior to occupying it is always worth providing a copy of the receipt attached to the inventory. Then at the end of a contract when you ask the tenant to oblige the same courtesy and they begin to argue {as often they do} a simple production of the receipt and the contract clause stating they will oblige with a clean will turn a reticent tenant into an obliging one. At Tailor Made we have a word for managing expectations of Landlords and Tenants "preconditioning" if a person has been preconditioned then there is less likely to be an argument when a strong arm becomes necessary. Common sense really?

So many times its these small tricks of the trade that result in achieving what both tenant and landlord hope for "a smooth uncomplicated tenancy"

As a landlord once you have read this short article you must surely see the benefits of using a specialist letting agent as opposed to handing your property over to a sales agency who does rentals on part time basis. Many agents these days have turned to the rental market because times are hard and they have to find a second income stream.

For many sales agents dealing with issues are a nuisance, particularly when they are out selling property, so problems are often left to an inexperienced secretary or part time worker whose skill is to manage the phone and in response to a problem phones a manager who in turn tells the receptionist to ring a plumber,who then leaves an ansa machine message and there ends the matter. As property manager a water leak needs to be followed through to the end even if it means letting the plumber in ourselves. Its what we do. You can picture the scenario a very angry Tenant returns home to find plumber came turned water off in the Road because he couldn't get access and will not come out again that evening.

Tailor Made Letting agents

Letting Agents Poole Dorset need more rental property

Tailor Made Lettings the rental agents & property managers for Bournemouth & Poole urgently need more property to offer applicants.

Jamie Rolls of Tailor Made says "there has been a real upsurge of inquiries from applicants registering with us via web portals rightmove.com & zoopla.com Poole really has become a lifestyle destination as more people migrate from other parts of the country to work in Poole & Bournemouth. There is a tendency for people once living here to try and remain in area permanently, a reflection of the superb manner in which both towns have evolved socially as well as environmentally & sympathetically around its beaches and Harbour"

The good news for landlords is that so often you land a good tenant who feels settled and remains renting long term. The main demand is for unfurnished as people working in Poole tend not to be so transient. Tailor Made Lettings of Poole town centre is proud of the fact that they have remained a dedicated lettings specialist.

Landlords contact Tailor Made Lettings and ask for their Rental Report Analysis for the properties in the same Street as your own or if you want a wider report we can create by postcode simply supply a brief description of the type of property you have to rent. Francis Payne www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

Bournemouth workers target Canford Cliffs in Poole Dorset

Demand from outside of Poole and shortage of flats to rent in upmarket locations

This month has seen high demand for Canford Cliffs rental apartments and interestingly enough the inquiries have been from Bournemouth workers, professional couples who simply want to live in Poole and to be near the sea. This trend has not only been from existing locals but also from new relocation arrivals to the area living in short term company accommodation

Canford Cliffs has some very upmarket modern apartment developments many in very close proximity to the Beach Harbour and the ever popular Sandbanks. For those that work in Bournemouth getting to the the Canford Cliffs area is easy as normally it has no congestion. Passage across to Bournemouth via Branksome Park, Westbourne along the Westcliff is relatively easy and most importantly quick. Also within Canford Cliffs and on the peripheries ie Lilliput Penn Hill and Sandbanks the once sleepy parades have come alive with trendy wine bars, cafes, restaurants, some great places to wind down at the end of a hard days work or good meeting points to kick start a day of exploring beach and harbour .

Jamie Rolls of Tailor Made Poole town office says "its no surprise that people love to live in Poole its getting a real reputation as a lifestyle destination much of this down to the huge harbour and the amount of parkland and scenery. Cycling this area seems to have taken off big time as people take to two wheels and discover harbour beach chines and the Purbecks a few minutes ferry hop from Sandbanks its no wonder professional couples want a piece of it"

If you own a property you are considering renting it out then let Tailor Made Lettings provide you with an analysis of 12 month rentals for your street or postcode area Tailor Made Lettings 01202 770040 website www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

Fast moving rental market in Poole Dorset say Poole town centre Letting Agency Tailor Made Lettings

Try finding a property to rent in Poole Dorset The task is not an easy one as anything that is left on the market for more than 7 days tends to be very over priced or simply not of a standard acceptable to the price range its in. A quick glimpse at our website is a good indication of the residential letting market today. Our Tailor Made Letting agents website only has two properties available and we anticipate both will be rented to fully vetted tenants by the end of this week. The average time to rent out a house or apartment in Poole or Bournemouth for this market is now 7 days.

These figures are based on our Poole & Bournemouth operating area over the last 6 weeks during which time we have placed tenants in 14 properties from Westcliff to Sandbanks and as far West as Lytchett. Of course in this market where demand far exceeds supply finding a tenant is easy but Landlords should still be wary as in a market where there are few properties it normally means there are a lot of dubious people seeking to rent and rigorous vetting is still the best way to eliminate risk. Historic checks and credit checking is a must no matter who the person is check them out properly and ask your agent to provide details of the checks. The other check that a property owner should look into is the actual rental value. Many agents who do not specialize in renting homes do not keep their eye on the ball and we seen last month similar property rented out next door to each other with a discrepancy of One hundred & fifty pounds a month simply because it was easier for the estate agent to offer it at the same rent it had been let for for the past 18 months. Essentially the property came vacant and because of the agent it cost the landlord owner 1800 pounds for the 12 month rental. Are you getting the correct rental This is why at Tailor Made Lettings when a property comes up for renewal we use a market rental analysis system to create a written report for that particular street and the immediate surrounding location. The analysis creates a report dating back 12 months. Essentially you feed in property details bedrooms street detached etc and stats are produced and sent to the property owner for a decision on how much rent should be asked. The system works well where a tenant is due for renewal and when faced with a report detailing surrounding similar homes and the rentals for those homes the tenant is more inclined to accept an increase or at least negotiate, whereas without such proof a request to increase rent may result in being given notice by a tenant you do not want to lose.

Tailor Made Lettings are happy to provide owners with rental analysis report for your property. To obtain your report simply email us the address of the property, brief description, number bedrooms & postcode to jamie@tailormadelettings.co.uk or phone Poole 01202 673454 to go to our website click on our name Tailor Made Letting Agents

want to live by the sea choose Poole or Bournemouth

Poole or Bournemouth Whilst Bournemouth has the nightlife & according to most teenagers better entertainment what does it offer those who are moving there who love to be near the sea. Lets face it if you are moving to a sea side town then if you had the choice the closer the better Southbourne, Boscombe seafront, the Eastcliff and Westcliff and Alum Chine all have good affordable property in heavily populated locations yet in close range of the miles of gold sandy beach’s but for Bournemouth the upmarket prime area for property is a little inland known as Talbot Woods once the favoured domain of every established lawyer accountant and doctor in the area. It’s a lovely residential area with many fine houses set in mature gardens in leafy Roads but a trip to the beach means go by car or cycle. Alternatively still in Bournemouth the Westcliff is a good location near the Sea with a lovely cliff top walk. Regrettably due to planning policy by Bournemouth local authorities over many years there are very few houses available in the Westcliff as on many large plots they have built apartment blocks. The same can be said of the majority of the Bournemouth coastline areas. Poole with its much stricter planning controls has maintained a large percentage of its houses around seaside locations. Branksome Park & Canford Cliffs are prime examples beautiful homes set in landscaped grounds with wooded walks a prime feature of these areas. The area has a blanket tree preservation order and tight control on building anything over 3 levels. Both Canford Cliffs and Branksome Park have beachfronts similar to Bournemouth but with a much better preserved cliff top pathways. Poole also has the famous Sandbanks peninsula. At Sandbanks the beach is large and there is miles of it. If you get bored with Sandbanks beach cross the chain ferry by car bike or foot to the stunning Purbecks and the beach’s of shell bay, Studland. Alternatively come off the beach and switch to Poole’s stunning harbour walks and views. Areas along the Harbour include Lilliput and Whitecliff as you get further away from Sandbanks towards Poole generally speaking the price of property lowers. For me if I were to live in a seaside town on the South Coast then Poole is hard to beat. Tailor Made specialise in waterside property both rentals and sales. For sales go to www.tmea.co.uk and for rentals www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

Landlords get it right !

To work or to Battle In summer of 1979 my mother pushed a copy of the Bournemouth echo job page under my nose telling me you have had your summer now get a job. Circled on the page an office junior job at a local estate agency. I made the call and was given an interview. On arrival at my new job there was no plush office. A ply wood screen with 10,000 pin holes, patrolled by ants and loaded with faded curling card offering shops offices and rental homes. A herringbone wooden floor and desks from the 1950s. A boss worth millions who owned 20% of property in the area and managed another 20% for old school mates. We serviced Landlords who had handed property to tenants new in the late 1940s & 50s but who had never spent a penny on the homes since. By the late 1970s the original protected tenants on regulated rents were vacating or dying. The properties were grim rotted flooring, nail sick roofs led pipes china sinks and cast iron hot water tanks. As the properties came vacant most were re-let. I organised repairs to nail sick roofs,rotted flooring,rotted windows, new kitchen sinks, gas central heating, and a lick of paint. After spending 5000.00 on a property it still looked naff but we still managed to find tenants. The result was that more often than not the properties were problematic and occupied by agrieved tenants continually complaining. I used to say that every morning I put on my tin hat ready for battle. I was rewarded with hard work, great training and the promise to myself that when I started my own business I did not want to do battle every day. Fourteen years later I was able to put that ethos into practice. No bedsits no student housing and no dilapidated homes would mean that all my energy would be concentrated on looking after nice homes and dealing with mature well mannered customers. I wanted to make work a pleasure not a chore. Find the right property choose the right occupier and if you get it right, managing the property will be smoothe and efficient. Of course many times over the years I arrived at a property that fell far below the standard required to find the type of occupier that I preferred to deal with. I was very aware that to take on a property with a load of issues was detrimental to my business so I would often quote commission rates of 17.5% way above the industry standard simply to lose the instruction. Tenant vetting was equally important and Tailor Made Lettings was the first agency in our area to provide 16 point check/48 hour referencing. Managing property is all about systems and applying risk minimization techniques that are proven to work. Experience is key and managing expectations is very important. Telling a Landlord that if he professionally cleans the carpets Tailor Made will look to ensure the tenant does the same when they vacate, follow up by a simple written pre-warning to the tenant that the owner has used a professional company to clean the carpets at a cost of two hundred pounds ready for your occupation and will expect the same courtesy when you vacate. In this instance you have managed expectations for both sides and the result will be a smoother process at the end of the tenancy with both sides aware of their responsibility. If you are about to rent your property here are some tips that are worth inquiring about before giving instruction 1. Insist on 3 references: bank, work, previous agent /landlord & a credit check. Make sure you see all three and not just the good refs. Some agents may use a referencing agency which include all these checks. Agents desperate for commission may simply want to get deal signed away and provide you with 2 good references but hold back the bad one. I get most agrieved when we turn away a tenant due to bad reference only to find they have gone to the agent down the road and been accepted. Happens all the time particularly in the multi chain agencies 2. Ask the agent to provide some comparable eveidence of rentals achieved in last 6 months for the area. Agents will quote a high rent to get the instruction then pressure you with a low rent offer because its slow to shift. An established agent will have comparable evidence to support the rental valuation and find a tenant quickly at that rent or near to it 3. Make sure you have the final say. Make it clear to the agent not to reserve your property until you have discussed and agreed the tenant is right for your property. 4. Use an agency that can provide 48 hour referencing. Longer can mean the tenant has time to see other property and your deal could fall through. Once referenced and approved by you ask the agent to set a deadline to sign the contract. Normally within 3 days of approval any longer and you need to ask why are we waiting. The worst thing you can do is wait a month until the start date to sign up then the tenant decides they do not want it. After 33 years in the business there are literally hundreds of safeguards that can be used to ensure a smoothe rental we have in place letter templates for all situations and contracts adjusted and written to cover most issues. All this with good working practice makes for happy landlords and just as important happy tenants Francis Payne

Beware! Good Agent Bad Agent

BEWARE BAD RENTAL AGENT: Choose the right agent In property Lettings Specialising is King How many of us ask the right questions when choosing an Agent The world economic crisis resulted in a strong rental market as ability to buy is diminished with of finance. The result has been many new letting agencies opening and many Estate Agents who never offered rentals or property management turning a hand into the letting market. A Question I get asked often "what makes a good letting agent" When Tailor Made Lettings first opened the Poole Town centre office in 1992 it was as a dedicated rental office. At that time I had worked in property management for 15 years during a time where the wrong word on the receipt of a prospective occupier could result in your property value halving overnight. In the 1970s and 1980s caution was key slip up in law. These days it has been simplified but the duty of care is still paramount and as in every industry specialising is king. During the late 1990s my wife wanted to return to work and came up with the idea of opening an estate agent. I had lots of room in the Rental office and so suggested that she may like to use a couple of desks and part of the window space to sell property. Within a month with 2 new staff the Sales venture opened. What became apparent very quickly is how different sales staff are in comparison to trained rental staff. The property management team were entering finite information and figures requiring a degree of concentration, suddenly we had some chatty sales staff talking over our heads about deals and applicants constantly thinking out loud. The disruption continued for several months and in the end I told my wife to find her own premises. Within 6 months she had vacated and moved to Sandbanks. The office returned to normality with my team concentrating on the task of managing the issues that arise when renting property. The team of 6 comprised as follows: 1. Owner manager 2. Financial controller 3. Lettings negotiator 4. Property inspector_ problem solver 5. Compliance Administrator 6. Receptionist - Administrator All have been through various levels of training and qualifications. All have been kept up-to-date with the latest changes in Law and compliance. So tell me how many Selling Agents that converted to rentals provide this kind of staffing and where did the training come from. An established letting agent has been through the mill and back many times. Along the way the agency has made errors paid for them and rectified the systems to avoid them in the future. This build up of experience is very important. Too often over the years I have heard agents at conferences or seminars at the bar making silly comments "I don’t take any nonsense from my tenants I really tell them where to get off if they dare question me" Hello Mr Agent! This is no longer a feudal system the likelihood is that your tenant is more qualified than you and earns 5 times your wages. No doubt this is an agent who alienates tenants and as a result looses respect and good communication. Most of the time the ones making the comments turn out to be inexperienced or migrating from sales to dabbling in lettings as well. So a Letting Agent - Property manager is a specialist that you as a client employ to find a tenant and minimize risk. My approach has always been nice people in nice property makes my life as an agent easier and I do prefer a hassle free work environment as opposed to Get them in at whatever cost because we need the commission . This attitude by agents results in problems. It’s frustrating when we refuse a rental tenant due to poor references then they go to the agent along the Road and are accepted immediately. You have to ask yourself did they reference and if they did what did they actually produce to the owner. Over the years as an agency we have turned down offers to manage bedsitters, houses in multiple occupation and student accommodations. Why? Because these types of properties are problematic and managing them will result in a lot of time being spent resolving issues taking staff away from their day to day management tasks. There may well be some good estate agents who double up as letting agents but finding the good tenant may only be half the necessary qualification. The real Letting Agent Property Manager has the knowledge and expertise as to how to deal with things when a good tenant goes bad. Francis Payne