Poole Dorset a few of my favorite things No longer the enclave for a sleepy retirement

Poole Dorset a special place to live and still very English. A few years ago I spent a year travelling backwards and forwards to Brighton. I had never been there before and for me it was a place that television programs have you believe Londoners dream of escaping for wonderful seaside weekends. Well all I can say is that those that are committed to Brighton as a resort for weekends or second homes have never been to Poole in Dorset. Primarily Poole has its wonderful Harbour

A harbour reported to be the second largest natural harbour in the World and Poole has surrounded the harbour with Country parks recreational playing fields, footpath walks from Upton Country Park, to Baiter park, Poole park lake, Whitecliff recreational ground and the landscaped evening hill walk down to the bay at Sandbanks. Then just take a look at the beach, it has to have the softest golden sand in the world who would swap that for the stoney Brighton beach. There is miles of beach from the tip of the Sandbanks peninsula find sand sand and more sand as far as Southbourne 10 miles away. Dispersed between these beach front take a stroll inland following the beautiful wooded chine walks Durley Chine, Branksome Dene Chine, Canford Cliffs chine. Take a walk through any of the tree lined Roads in districts approaching the harbour and you will be impressed by the results of Poole Local Authority Tree preservation control.

When I return on my regular visits back to Poole I am also impressed by the surge in people walking,jogging,cycling,windsurfing,kyte surfing and generally playing sport. There are so many tracks and trails to discover not to mention access across on the Sandbanks ferry to the trails across the Purbeck hills to Corfe Castle Swanage or Lulworth beyond or go 30 minutes East and spend the day exploring the New Forset around villages such as Fordingbridge, Lyndhurst, Bramshaw,Lymington

For those that like to Party Bournemouth offers Poole residents all the delights of a busy night life social scene and has become a mecca for stag and hen weekends add the University students to the mix and Bournemouth town centre area has become a young persons night life venue.

As you come further away from the upmarket suburbs that surround Poole harbour and beach you can now find trendy enclaves that once lay dark and dormant after 6pm most nights. Now places such as Ashley Cross, Penn Hill, Lilliput and Canford Cliffs Village compete for business with trendy cafes, bars, patisseries and restaurants. There is a definate a buzz in the air about the place with brand new designer homes being built and investment in business wherever you turn. Poole is no longer the sleepy town that is attached to Bournemouth and this is shown by the quality and value of property being built in the Poole area.

Tailor Made Lettings and Tailor Made estate agents have been part of this property scene since 1992 and have seen the demand grow year on year from people vacating Cities such as London, Manchester,Birmingham to enjoy this great lifestyle location

I myself have talked about Poole as a great UK town to many of my friends here in Sotogrande Spain and several have been back and bought homes there as well as a few buy to let properties. The most recent expat friend I took to Poole bought a house in Blake Hill Crescent, Lilliput for retirement in 10 years time paid just under 700,000.00 calculating a 100k refurbishment if he were to live in it. Presently property is rented out for 2200 per month on long term contract. Another expat friend whose daughter plans to go to Bournemouth University is now looking to buy an apartment in Poole / Bournemouth targeting an apartment on the border between the two towns possibly Westcliff, Westbourne, Alum Chine where the family can visit and enjoy themselves and once his daughter leaves the halls of residence she will have a ready made home. Of the expat friends I have shown around Poole in recent years there are now potentially 3 more looking to invest in the area a beautiful town in Southern England, its a case of seen it like it want a part of it.

Letting agents Poole Dorset find a property in Poole Dorset & Bournemouth

Tailor Made Lettings are based in Poole town centre this office was opened in 1992 and has been a dedicated rental agent / property management business for 22 years. If you are seeking rented accommodation long term in the Poole or Bournemouth areas we can assist. Tailor Made letting agency maintains a good selection of rental property across all suburbs of Poole and West of Bournemouth town centre including Westbourne, Westcliff & Talbot Woods. The jpeg image attached details the main locations where you can find property to rent by searching our website.

If you would like to meet us and discuss finding a suitable property then please feel free to collect a rental list of flats and houses on offer from one of our locations click on the MAP LINK for Poole town centre office #MAPLINK

Alternatively why not pop down to Sandbanks beach and collect a rental property listing from Tailor Made estate Agents on the peninsula the office is next to Cafe Shore restaurant opposite the main Sandbanks beach car park.

Map of Poole /Bournemouth

Tailor Made rental agency 234 High Street North Poole Dorset BH15 1DY

www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

0044 1202 770040

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

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

Truth about property and living on Sandbanks enjoying this stunning location

Sandbanks Dorset the truth

The press love Sandbanks and 2 years ago part of my long association with Sandbanks partially ended when I left with my family to live in Sotogrande Spain. Prior to that I had lived and worked in and around Sandbanks since 1979 at that time I started my first job as an office junior in an old established property management business earning £98 per month. My then boss had opened in 1937 and despite his years intended to work until he dropped. His home was a large house sitting on 1 acre of Sandbanks beach front with gates opening directly onto the beach at the rear and great views of Poole harbor from the front of the house. This property was sold around 1990 a time when property had crashed an acre on sandbanks which sold for under £1 million.

In 1992 I left my old firm to open up Tailor Made in Poole town centre and in 1999 we as a family business had bought the old beach goods shop on Sandbanks and reformed the premises into Tailor Made estate agents where my wife and mother in law took over the selling of up market property in the area from the sleeping agents that existed at that time. Good times followed on a rising market and Sandbanks made headlines as one of the most expensive places to live in the world. Then pre Crisis my wife and I sold our share in the Sandbanks estate agency and moved to Spain.

During the boom years at Sandbanks developers built and city dwellers bought, second homes, retirement homes and weekend retreats. Throughout those years the press fuelled with an insatiable appetite for Sandbanks visited and revisited the highs and lows but mainly highs of property news in this exclusive uk enclave.

So what is the truth about Sandbanks

Speculation has been rife about who is buying, who lives there, whether it will sink due to global warming and whether it is affordable.

Now having taken a step away from Sandbanks I feel a compulsion to provide some insight into the reality that I know to be Sandbanks.

The first thing people should know is that Sandbanks is a place of natural beauty offering a stunning harbour, beautifully maintained beach’s, nature reserves and an un-spoilt example of UK seaside life. Very popular for kite or board surfing in one of the safest bays in the country. Here you will not find any bingo, amusement arcades or night life. Sandbanks offers a couple of quirky waterfront hotels an up-market restaurant, a breakfast bar, water sport shop & schools, a post office newsagents, a holiday letting company, beach café, and of course Tailor Made estate agents and two sailing clubs. For those who think that Piers Morgan’s Sandbanks program was a true snapshot then think again. Having said that Piers Morgan repeatedly mentions the natural beauty of the place. Many people simply drive down by car do a circuit of the one way system get out at the beach car park and make judgment. To really enjoy this area you need to get back to basics. Arrive early ditch the car and walk. I recommend park in the main beach car park at Banks Road, breakfast in the parade at the Café then walk the beach westwards until you reach the public path leading back into the peninsula keep travelling westward and you will arrive at the quirky chain ferry, stop here and have a tea or coffee in the sea view bar of the haven before making the 5 minute crossing to the Shell bay nature reserve owned by the national trust a sand dune and Dorset heath land where apart from a small boatyard and café restaurant you will not come across any other buildings for many miles. As a teenager I would walk from Sandbanks to the old harry rocks via Studland but for that you will need to set a full day with a stop at the Studland Banks arms for refreshment en-route. Anyway if you have spent time over the ferry cross back to Sandbanks and take the small boat to Brownsea Island again a national trust nature reserve and a well preserved wooded island which make a beautiful location for picnics. How many of us have forgotten the joy and fun of a picnic and believe me Brownsea Island is the perfect place to spend a few hours. Then travel back from Brownsea (you can take a boat back to Poole Quay) to Sandbanks and once back follow the one way system as it takes you back to the main beach. Once you take a left from the ferry you will be tracking along the houses multi million pound homes that make the news headlines including Harry Redknapps gothic style mini mansion complete with a country cottage gate house. As you draw near to the parade there are a couple of public access paths taking you alongside the boat yards where small beach areas allow you to the shore edge of the harbor. Back on the one way system you are soon back at the parade. Café Shore restaurant is the hub of Sandbanks social life , the food is always great and the views are wonderful and the prices are strictly London for those that want to spend less the beach café offers you the alternative.

Who Lives on Sandbanks Having lived and worked on Sandbanks I always respond “well there’s Harry Redknapp and there’s Harry Redknapp” and whilst there are a few other celebrities and footballers living in the area none of them actually live on Sandbanks peninsula. Of course programs such as Piers Morgan suggest that the location is awash with celebs. Again the truth is that the majority of the people that Piers interviewed on the program were not from and never had lived on Sandbanks. The local business man more recently famous for his bankruptcy lived over 3 miles away and none of his bars night clubs or developments were on or that close to Sandbanks. The bar owner who hated Sandbanks had two years previously tried to buy there but having made an offer did not see the sale through and at the time simply disappeared, the estate agent had offices 3 miles away and had lost his market share of the peninsula 5 years before the program was made. All in all the program did not reflect the people that live or holiday on Sandbanks most of whom are British business people who shun any publicity and have bought on the peninsula because they love its natural beauty and the tranquility it can offer whilst still being part of a larger town.

Property Prices The house previously mentioned where i tended the garden 85 Banks Road occupying an acre on Sandbanks beach would pre-crisis have been valued at around £15 million. The family actually sold for £850,000 in 1993. So what can I tell you about values over the years in Sandbanks. Well those who bought on Sandbanks in the late 80′s took a hit in the early 1990s. Having said that in 1989 the same house with an acre was receiving bids of up to £2 million then the crash and the resultant sale for £850,000 move along 10 years to 2003 and the value if that house was available (8 townhouses were built on the site) £10 million (talking land value of course). By 2005 an acre on Sandbanks where you can enjoy two way views estimated £15 million. A conservative price now would be around 12/13 million

Another good example of historical values stems from my own experience in 1991 the market had turned and prices were tumbling I was in the market to buy and was looking for a deal. I bid £98,000 on a brand new apartment on the Esplanade Canford Cliffs in Poole 2 miles from Sandbanks the apartment had been on the market 18 months before for £165,000. The sale was quite advanced when I received a call from a fellow agent. He told me that he had bought an apartment on Sandbanks in Carina Court first floor flat on the beach with views he had paid £192,000 for the apartment and could not make the payments would I like to buy it for £105,000 but needed to be exchanged within 7 days. I was out in the car and immediately headed down to Sandbanks, I viewed it and immediately said yes to buying for £105,000 excitedly I phoned my Solicitors to tell them to withdraw from the apartment in Canford Cliffs as usual no one was available so I left an urgent message. Twenty minutes later I get a call to congratulate me I had exchanged on the Canford Cliffs property . Move on to 2006 the value of the 3 bed apartment in canford cliffs had increased to around £350,000 the apartment in Sandbanks was now £630,000. So here are some figures that those considering Sandbanks as somewhere to invest post credit crunch may like to think about.

Of course if you cannot spend millions on a property it does not mean you cannot live on Sandbanks apartments to buy start at 350,000.00 or maybe a town house for 650,000.00 alternatively rent an apartment or town house from 800 pcm

Its a fact that the second home places of natural beauty and the prime locations take a knock but when the market bounces back they do tend to bounce back quicker. Whilst I am no longer part of Sandbanks estate agency (only have a rental business there now in Poole town centre Tailor Made Lettings) my family members who now own the estate agency are starting to see the smart cash investors move in for Sandbanks deals. Sandbanks along with many of the other luxury hotspots around the world can take the knocks but in my view the long term investment is a secure one.

Sandbanks Sinking due to Global Warming As you are now aware from my earlier history I worked for a man who bought a large house on Sandbanks in 1950, he paid circa 40,000 for the house named “storm” where the development of 8 grey townhouses now stand also called “storm”(built by Seven developments). At the time he opened up his office in 1942 a small building plot on Sandbanks could be bought for around £800 still a sizable sum in those days. However plots in Canford Cliffs in much higher elevations could be bought for £1000 and were much easier to sell as the warning was that Sandbanks would sink within 15 years. Interestingly at the turn of the century the Sandbanks land was considered unsellable because it would erode within 15 years. When my old boss bought the house known as “storm” in 1950 he was warned that it was a gamble as the peninsula would be cut off from the mainland within ? yes you guessed 15 years. The same claims were made in the 80's and then the 90's. Pre credit crunch every time there was any press about Sandbanks they would find someone who predicted Sandbanks would be gone due to Global warming. In all my years I have never come across anyone who owned a property on Sandbanks with any hint of flooding, there are the odd problems where people have built basements and the tanking has failed but no flooding as a result of water levels apart from when storm drains block near Tesco Express. If you travel 7 miles around the harbor to Poole old town then on a high spring tide you will see flooding and Sandbags protecting many of the fishermen’s cottages was always a fact of life. My view is that Poole town will disappear before Sandbanks ever will. The cynics keep saying it will sink yet fact is that Sandbanks has grown. The beach is far bigger than it was in the 1970s and the groin system in place brings more and more sand onto the beach each year.

Would I live on Sandbanks I get very frustrated with people who believe everything in the newspapers. Its difficult to convey what makes a multi millionaire want to live on this penisula. To judge you need to have tried living there yourself. I spent 9 months in a rented town house on Sandbanks 150 meters from the chain ferry. As a family I can say it was a fantastic 9 months and we loved the seaside life. The only problem was that to live in a house of a size we needed with a large garden was no affordable. Still the 3 bedroom town house at 1200 pcm provided us with a super 9 month stay where I really made the best of beach walks, crossing on the chain ferry and exploring Studland beach and the Purbecks. Regular Ice-cream visits at the ferry area,fishing off the sea wall, membership of the haven hotel health club facility,beers in the waterside Haven Hotel bar watching the boats come in and out,evening Sail races from the Royal Motor yacht club,cycling along the prom to Bournemouth and back and hot chocolate and jazz music on a cold winters Sunday morning at Jazz'es Cafe. Even enjoyed being woken up early by the sea gulls. Sandbanks gave me fond memories and I understand that multi millionaires start with an apartment on the beach then end up upgrading to a waterside house. Francis Payne Tailor Made Lettings www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

Sandbanks property rental strong for luxury homes Poole Dorset

Letting Agents Tailor Made Lettings have rented out Ripplesea a beautiful home on the Sandbanks bay in Poole Dorset

This beautiful home has been rented on long term rental contract and the new occupants will enjoy panoramic harbour views and the bustling waterside activity of Sandbanks.

Tailor Made Lettings are in need of similar luxury homes across the Poole area and recent rentals negotiated have been in Canford Cliffs, Westbourne, Broadstone,Westcliff, Branksome Park, Lower Parkstone all with rents in excess of 2500 per month

Landlords please contact our Poole town office for a rental brochure. The rental market has been very busy in the last 6 months so busy that we have a shortage of property to market. Rents have increase but so has demand Jamie Rolls of Tailor Made quotes

its not uncommon for City people searching for the right property to rent for more than £5000 per month

. Lack of rental property has come about as Landlords cash in on the recent sales boom and buyers have mainly bought to occupy. The selling boom has removed a lot of rented homes from the market and as a result those Landlords that have remained are seeing improved returns. Tailor Made Lettings offer a rental analysis report where owners supply us with the address of the property and brief description. Tailor Made can then provide a report showing rentals over last 12 months in your street adjoining streets or a postcode area . For more info Contact Jamie Rolls 01202 673454 or email jamie@tailormadelettings.co.uk

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

National publicity for Tailor Made estate agents in new iTV series Harbour Lives

Tailor Made estate agents Sandbanks Poole are regularly featured in this new TV series presented by Ben Fogle. Harbour Lives follows the lives of local people living and working around Poole harbour. First episode iTV is Friday 14th June 2013 at 8pm. This will provide superb national publicity for Poole Dorset and a welcome boost for Tailor Made estate agents on Sandbanks in Poole. If anyone is thinking of marketing their property in the Sandbanks Canford Cliffs Lilliput Lower Parkstone areas then nows the time to move quickly and list your property. Robert Dunford of Tailor Made Sandbanks comments "we are anticipating an imense amount of interest and already with the trailer advertising our website has seen a vast increase in traffic. Really am anticipating a lot of inquiries over the weeks the programme is going to run for. Harbour Lives iTV 8PM Friday 13th June 2013 episode One

Does your property fall within our expertise ? location location location

Did you know Tailor Made Lettings are renting managing property right across Poole Once upon a time we looked to cover a radius of 15 miles from our offices in Poole town centre.In recent years to enable efficient management of property it has proved a sensible strategy to reduce the working radius to within 10 miles.

So if you are a Landlord interested in our services we confirm that we cover property from Lytchett Mattravers west of Poole across as far as Westbourne & the westcliff (Bournemouth)on Poole´s eastern boundary´

Whilst the name Tailor Made maybe connected to fabulous upmarket property in areas such as Sandbanks and Canford cliffs the reality is that with 20 years trading from Poole Town centre our bread & butter property tends to be in Poole town, Oakdale, Parkstone, Lower Parkstone,Branksome, Pennhill,Fleetsbridge,Broadstone,Hamworthy,Upton,Creekmoor,whitecliff and Lilliput. These are locations where we regularly rent out 1 & 2 bedroom apartments and 3 or 4 bedroom houses.

Our presence for rentals in the Sandbanks sales office continues, courtesy of Adrian Dunford & his sales team ensuring a continuous stream of high value rental inquiries

Want to know more about renting through Tailor Made Lettings then visit our office in the shadow of the Barclays international building opposite the Dolphin shopping centre. We are at the Poole end of Longfleet Rd

www.tailormadelettings.co.uk

tel:01202 770040

Info you may not know about Tailor Made

The long established Letting Agent for Poole Dorset Tailor Made Lettings maintains a choice of furnished and unfurnished property in the Poole area. Our rentals are mainly between Lytchett Mattravers (west of Poole) and as far as Westbourne & the Westcliff (east of Poole). Our main office established in 1992 is in Poole town centre on the Barclays International roundabout across the way from the Dolphin shopping centre. Tailor Made Lettings has a presence in the Tailor Made estate agents sales office on the Sandbanks peninsula. The rental & sales agencies are seperately owned but work together to promote the successful Tailor Made brand. Tailor Made Letting provide a range of rental services that include Full Management and for those who prefer to manage themselves we can provide a Tenant intro only service. Tailor Made Lettings do not take on bedsit property or student accommodation. We prefer to concentrate on the corporate market finding working people to occupy well maintained homes. Tailor Made Lettings are a dedicated letting agency and one of the few agents who do not award repair contracts and take a cut from the contractor. In fact we prefer to ask the Landlords to pass us contact details of their own plumbers electricians and repair men. After all if the Landlord has used them in the past they will know the property and save time and money. We do expect contractors proposed by a landlord to have 3rd party liability insurance. Whilst we are known for renting out luxury multi million pound homes the fact is that the 1 & 2 bedroom apartment market particularly around Poole town, Parkstone, Lower Parkstone, Hamworthy, Creekmoor, Westbourne, Oakdale etc is our bread and butter market. We are very pleased to have a very high profile in the area and this enables us to continually maintain a good register of prospective tenants. The results is that we often find Tenants faster than many of the smaller local agents. Time is money and once we have a keen taker for the property we put in place a 48 hour referencing & credit checking service. Jamie Rolls runs the Poole town centre office. Jamie born & bred in Poole is a keen golfer and member of Parkstone Golf club and is a committee member of his much loved East Dorset Croquet & Tennis club where years ago he played county junior tennis but now plays cat A doubles tennis for the club.

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