Showing posts with label lettings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lettings. Show all posts

Thursday, October 16, 2014

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

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Social media big boost to Tailor Made Lettings 3 years of intense promotion and still learning

Our Letting agency uses Social media to promote property and letting services as well as promote the beautiful town of Poole Dorset.Unfortunately its no longer possible to simply sit back behind a shopfront and wait for the customer.
If your going to live in the UK then Poole on the South Coast has to be one of the best lifestyle moves a family can make. The town has been carefully developed and great care has been take particularly around the harbour areas to maintain recreational grounds and in particular trees and tree lines, a great feature of the town is its leafy roads and stunning beach,harbour locations.
Three years ago I set out to work hard on social media promotion of my business in the knowledge that the biggest asset i had available to promote are the town's of Poole & Bournemouth. By this point in time having worked hard to gain a good presence on various media including facebook, twitter, linkedin, pinterest, google plus,flickr, panoramio & blogger the results have been very effective.All the social media are of course all used in support of the two websites we operate tailormadelettings.co.uk and sandbankslettings.co.uk yet they are there to create a public interest in what you have to say and I find myself very well supported when pointing out what a great towns Poole & Bournemouth are. Just stating this fact is an attention grabber
The results of plugging away at this form of promotion has shown a steady growth year on year and now within a time span of 24 hours a single promotion put out on the world wide web by Tailor Made will be seen not only by our followers but often by the people we follow. The results in 24 hours are around 400 views per feature or property either directly promoted or indirectly featured via links. Throw in a regular run of Photographic promotion of the area as well as our physical literature scanned to the internet and coverage is immense particularly when items are sent out daily, from early morning until late night.
In our industry there is a tendency not to train for internet promotion and often many source the job out resulting in regular robotic promotion done by persons who do not understand the industry or the business they are assisting ,therefore there is no message, instead they put out news items of national and local property interest where maybe a prospective customer raises an eyebrow then forgets within a few minutes. Most of the time the reports submitted contradict each other and are not in keeping with the message your business wants to get across. Do these agents think that retweeting every news property item in the UK will get people on board. In my opinion such practice is more likely to be viewed as spam.
In addition to social media agents use web portals. Tailor Made Lettings use Rightmove and Zoopla, property information for these portals is automatically fed from our own websites directly into the portal feed which in turn provides a good source of inquiry. Tailor Made lettings are seeing possibly 18 to 26 inquirers a day from these alone. The key at the moment is to target the Landlords as demand out strips supply by far. Agents struggle to provide choice of property for the variety of inquiries that come in. Its here that Social Media works best and the larger the following the clearer the message the better chance of attracting the Landlord with the property you need. All said and done finding the Landlord then matching property with tenant is the final result where personality rules yet spare a thought for the amount of time effort and process that goes into the many forms of promotion that an agency follows to achieve the end result.This next photo shows a cheeky promo on a friends Ferrari our magnetic promotion was on there for couple hours outside the tennis club then once we mentioned it to him, it was ordered to be removed immediately
Gone are the days where an agent sat on a busy street with a sign saying property for sale and a bunch of keys. Social media web promotion newspaper advertising need an expertise and for people like myself it has become second nature to follow internet trends and look to stay ahead or keep up with the game yet continue with physical processes to gain public awareness Francis Payne Tailor Made Letting agents The dedicated rental agency in Poole Dorset

Friday, September 19, 2014

Property in Broadstone on the market to rent

Rental property in Broadstone is scarce
Did you know that Broadstone in the Poole Dorset area scores high on prospective tenant searches. Broadstone location is the highest searched for rental property via Primelocation, Zoopla, Rightmove portals. Despite this Broastone has the lowest stats for properties available to rent.
Very interesting stats for the buy to let investor in Poole for next time when considering where to purchase. Broadstone is great for school catchment and this we believe this reason to be biggest driving factor for the high interest in renting a property in Broadstone.
Letting Agency Tailor Made Lettings of Poole town office have available this house To Let in Broadstone . Contact us for viewings 01202 770040
Broadstone rental property

Monday, September 15, 2014

Properties to rent in the Poole area in short supply Dorset hotspot

Poole a beautiful place to live and work
In Poole Dorset the demand for rental property is high and the interest from Companies looking to relocate is on increase. As more and more Company directors buy second homes in and around the beach and harbour locations its hardly surprising that the same business people are investigating the commercial property market for offices and industrial units. Tailor Made estate agents in Sandbanks report a lot of interest and sales happening to Directors of London Companies looking to buy a second home in or near Sandbanks many investing over 1 million pounds for designer homes close to the beach.
It must be said that office space is a fraction of the price of London. Within the last 5 years many Companies tightening their belts have rented space for their City back office operations and systems in and around Poole. The result has seen a continuous flow of new workers arriving in Poole and seeking rental property in the area. Demand has in the last 12 months outstripped supply and the recent increase in property sales has seen buy to let Landlords rent newly purchased homes out within 7 days of coming on the market.
Jamie Rolls of Tailor Made lettings Poole town office advises that existing landlords should take a fresh look at market conditions on renewal of contract. Jamie says "people tend to get trapped into a rental value void where existing agents looking for an easy renewal simply tell an owner that its best not to increase the rent and owners comply worried about the property coming vacant" The owner is often happy to do this but often does so for years on end. In Poole the average 1 bedroom apartment 3 years ago was renting for £500.00 pcm most owners in the area who have renewed several times in that period are now seeing rents of £575.00 pcm yet the same flats on the market to new comers are letting for £650.00 pcm. The key here for property owners is to seek small annual increases that keep up with inflation rather than let a rent stay the same for several years and then ask for a large hike in rent. Jamie Rolls invites Landlords to contact him for a written rental analysis report as the stats make interesting reading and will indicate rentals in the same street or same postcode over the last 12 months. For those seeking to buy and rent out property the same analysis will show where the demand is highest in the area and what the average rents will be for a specified type of property in a stated location.
Tailor Made letting agency on behalf of a Gibraltar buyer recently sourced and rented a home in the desirable Lilliput area of Poole this particular owner was nervous about being out of the UK property market and wanted to invest in a property he would one day hope to live in on retirement. The client wanted to buy now whilst he still had income and with a view to returning to UK in next 10 years. Tailor Made Letting agency were able to find a suitable long term tenant for the property within 10 days of completion
A walk around the harbour and beach areas of Poole will reveal a buzz in the property market as more developers buy up many of the older properties and build in their place designer houses and apartments and you will also see that most of the homes that are built have a sold board on them. The South Coast of England is definately a property hotspot for the future and where the smart money continues to invest with Poole Dorset at the forefront.
. A recent property rented 3 days of coming vacant allowing time for cleaning polishing and a few maintenance items. Lilliput house.
Francis Payne 13 Sept 2014 www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

Monday, August 11, 2014

The residential lettings game is your agent minimising the risk or are sales his forte

The professional approach by Tailor Made Letting Agents in Poole Dorset So your a landlord and you hopefully you have found a tenant with a great job and good credit score. So what more can go wrong ? Plenty says Jamie Rolls of Tailor Made Management "In my experience it happens so often where a Landlord deals direct with a tenant that things turn to pot as essentially there can be a clash of personalities over the most minor of issues resulting in failed co-operation" Are you a Landlord who has fallen out with the tenant where the tenant has then gone out of his way to make things as difficult as possible for you directly or through your property agency. Or maybe you are a Landlord and the tenant has fallen out with your Agent. What then?
Residential property management is in many ways a game of chess. A professional experienced rental agent will have come across every possible scenario over many years and learned through their own mistakes or systems what works and what will exacerbate problems as opposed to resolving them. An agent worth his salt will know that in dealing with a rented property issue that tackling the matter in the wrong way can result in total breakdown in communications between all concerned. A letting agent is in-fact only a middle man, yet reality is that he is working for the person that pays him "the owner". The Letting agent therefore must take the role of ambassador to achieve the best result for all concerned. Not easy when your paymaster is the owner yet the tenant is expecting a great service from the agent they chose to rent through.
So the Letting Agent must never fall out with a tenant they must at all costs maintain the communication irrespective of how testing and difficult a tenant may prove to be. The best agents have deaf ears to insults and will simply do what they need to do to make the problem go away. So when a tenant has had no electricity for two days and several electricians cannot find the cause a good agent will ensure that the tenant remains in the loop of every effort made to tackle the issue. Even if its only one line texts or emails. If the tenant can see that there is something happening then it will soften the frustration. Left alone without any news and you may get them festering and be on your way to trading insults, a situation that will leave a barrier between you and the tenant for the rest of the contract.
Maintaining good communication is where a letting agent will excel. At Tailor Made Lettings we have always looked to manage a tenants expectations whilst carrying out the Landlords instructions. The best way to achieve this is to leave very little to chance. The main keyword used in our office is Preconditioning. This means that from day one of marketing a property our policy of preconditioning becomes effective. If an inventory is done attach the carpet cleaning receipt to it and the cleaners bill. In the letter enclosing the inventory mention the clean has been done in readiness for their occupation. prior to the end of the tenancy if they are vacating in a letter make sure you precondition the tenant and recall the cleaning bill suggest that they may like to use the same cleaners where 2 cleaners spent 5 hours cleaning internally. In this way it may mean the tenant will not ask their own cleaning lady to come in for an hour and dust down. This is one example of many where proper management is ensuring a happy ending.
So many times I have been to Letting Agent seminars listened to a speaker then met with fellow agents in the bar and listened to stories of how they do not take any nonsense from a tenant and give them what for. Recently i met an estate agent just going into the property rental business because of the recession, she commented on how after a property inspection she gave the tenant hell because of the state the apartment was in. You can bet your life that the tenant on the firing end of such attitude was belittled and most probably alienated. This means that the Landlords representative may have lost the ability to be able to sensibly deal with the tenant in the future.
Examples The Inspection process My approach to inspections is to drop the tenant a friendly email along the lines of "hi we are due to make a report to the landlord on the progress of the tenancy are there any issues we need to make him aware of. Also advise if we can pop in and do a routine inspection as we would like to confirm to the owner that the apartment is well maintained and would like to send the owner a few pics to support this" Then if an inspection is made and the place is a state, do not go off on one. My line is "thanks for letting us inspect the property it may have been too short notice as photographing it as it was would not reflect well, maybe we can pop back middle next week. What day would be best for you"
The Deposit issue Experience has shown that where good preconditioning has been performed there is less likelihood of fall-outs between parties. Hence prior to a tenant vacating we offer as part of our service a fast track tenant deposit return system where we help the tenant make sure that everything is booked to be done before the hand back day. Again precondition a tenant in a letter suggesting they book a carpet cleaner in early so to avoid stress last minute if none are available. We offer our own people to meet and quote to clean carpet clean or put right any damages. That way we are seen to be working with the tenant to get back the deposit.
Another common error made by many agents renting property is to receive a report from a tenant about some accidental damage. When a tenant reports the damage they often say they will sort it out when they leave and the agent simply thinks yes great make a note of that. This to me is not the correct way to deal with accidental damage. When a tenant leaves a property their minds are usually on the next home not the one they are in. As with all moves costs arise beyond their initial expectations. The last thing a tenant will want to sort out is spending money on the property they are vacating so they move hoping the burnt carpet will have been forgotten. The key here is to tackle the problem on the day you are told about it mid tenancy. Again a letter to thank the tenant for bringing this to your attention and for wanting the matter dealt with and tell the tenant you will send in your carpet man to quote for the damage and you will shop around to find a bargain deal for the tenant. Notify the owner you have sourced a replacement and get the job done ASAP. It means one less issue at the end. These are but a few simple ways in which to tackle matters efficiently. If you have belittled insulted or upset the tenant in anyway then if the day comes he gets made redundant and cannot pay the rent he will simply clam up and avoid having to visit the arrogant agent who he cannot stand.
For the Letting agent Communication is king. I hope you can see that good methodology works and to benefit from such fine tuning can only mean using a specialist property manager. Do you really think the sales agent who dabbles in lettings to pay his stationary bill and rent will have a strategy. Lets face it for the sales agent when the sales market gets busy it will be all hands to the pump. That's the way it is down at the Tailor Made Sandbanks Dorset office and hence we have a separate office and team for rrental management office in Poole town centre.
Tailor Made Letting Agents 234 High Street North Poole Dorset BH15 1DY www.tailormadelettings.co.uk tel. 01202 673454

Thursday, August 2, 2012

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

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Poole rental agent

The rental agent in Poole Town centre committed to the rental market

Tailor Made Lettings is proud that it has remained committed to the rental market and next month will be our 18th year for the Poole town centre office on the Barclays international Round-about at High Street North.

Whilst many of our competitors start off as selling agents who incorporate rentals as a sideline the Tailor Made office located at the end of Longfleet Road Poole has never sold property.

Jamie Rolls managing partner states “our business at Poole town centre is about risk minimization and for this reason each member of staff needs to be trained to specialise in rentals & management” The firm points out that their systems and techniques in minimizing risk has developed over many years resulting in virtually a trouble free management programme. Francis Payne senior partner confirms “ If you permit a troublesome problematic tenant into a property you will end up spending most of your time dealing with problems and too many agents who are inexperienced or simply greedy for commission permit the wrong people to occupy creating a headache for everyone involved. With experience, the correct vetting and the right approach problems are avoidable” Whilst the Tailor Made brand name has become synonymous with high end luxury homes the firm is quick to point out that the Poole office applies the same standards of care and risk minimization to all property be it a 1 bedroom town centre apartment or a 6 bedroom waterside mansion the systems are the same for all and are tried and tested. In 18 years Tailor Made Lettings are probably now one of the largest local letting agents and if you are thinking of renting a property the likelihood is that they will have a number of comparables in your area of Poole to support achieving the maximum rent possible without the property remaining empty for too long.