Belvoir Basingstoke - Letting agent Basingstoke, Letting agents Basingstoke, Lettings Basingstoke, Lettings Hampshire, letting agents winchester, letting agent winchester, Lettings Winchester,

Belvoir Basingstoke

10 Winton House, Winton Square, Winchester Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 8EN

01256 830800

basingstoke@belvoirlettings.com

Weekdays: 9.00am-6.00pm
Saturday: 10.00am-2.00pm
Sunday: By appointment.
Bank Holidays: By appointment.

Belvoir Basingstoke: "The only letting agent in Basingstoke where every member of staff owns part of the business and has a vested interest in its success."

Or, you can text Belvoir Basingstoke and your email address to 61211

Dedicated single point of contact.
Transparent fees. No hidden charges. No surprises.
Property appraisals at times to suit you.
Your property on BELVOIR! website within 4 working hours.
Strategic pro-active marketing of your property.
Tenants` incentives.
Weekly up-dates prior to letting.
Clarity of professionally prepared documentation.
Evidenced reports within 24 hrs of periodic visits.
Payments and statements processed daily.
No deviation from agreed maintenance spending limits.
Timely notification of all issues concerning the tenancy.
Exclusive market-leading buildings, rent and legal insurance.

In order to arrange for a free, no obligation appraisal or discussion, please contact either Andrew or Mike.

And please take a moment to look at our testimonial pages-just click the tab above.

Got a few minutes to spare? Want to know a bit more about what makes Belvoir Basingstoke tick?

Here are a few articles on subjects relevant to landlords which might help you learn about the way in which we operate. We`ll be adding to them regularly, so feel free to come back periodically.

We hope they prove to be of interest.

1. An example of Belvoir high standards of customer service.
2. Why would a letting agent insist upon signing up a landlord on a sole agency agreement?
3. Is using an agent really that expensive?
4. Should a landlord accept pets?
5. Guaranteed rent schemes and the true cost to the landlord.
6. Belvoir’s rapid response in a landlord’s time of need.
7. Honest property appraisals.
8. Belvoir Basingstoke’s payment policy explained.
9. About our marketing.
10. Is your credit-checking procedure all it could be?
11. We`re going digital.
12. Social Media.
13. Considering property investment?
14. Good times breed bad habits.
15. Why we use Google for our testimonials.

An example of Belvoir high standards of customer service.

In early 2009, we telephoned a landlord who had been advertising in the local newspaper. He was happy to talk and he explained that he was now fixed up, but was happy for us to ring back a few months down the line. It turns out that he had two brand new properties, next door to each other, in a popular new development.

Over the course of a year or so we kept in touch and one day he told us that his tenant was moving out and that he would like us to find a replacement. We were invited to appraise the property with a view to moving a tenant in as soon as. He then wanted us to manage both, since he was overseas.

We visited the property which it transpired, rather unfortunately, had been comprehensively trashed. He’d used an online agency to arrange the two tenancies and hadn’t carried out periodic visits. We had to inform him that it would need a complete redecoration, new carpets, a new washing machine, a new window, extensive gardening and a variety of other minor maintenance jobs carried out before we could even contemplate re-letting it. There were also minor arrears and an inadequate deposit.

In order to get the problem resolved, we negotiated an early move-out by the tenant and arranged for all the necessary estimates and quotations. The landlord sent funds for us and we oversaw the entire job. At the same time, we “soft” marketed the property; any suitable applicants applying for similar properties were told of this one and we carried out two viewings when it was in the process of being renovated. Before the painting had been completed, we took a holding fee from a young professional couple.

They have now been living there for some time and we now also manage next door with new tenants who moved in at about the same time.

We very much doubt that he will ever be tempted to use an online agency again or to manage his properties at arms-length.

And our charges for all of this work? A modest set-up fee and our standard monthly management charge. As a matter of principal, we don’t make a margin on maintenance work. He paid what we were invoiced for the work and no more.

No doubt, some would have charged him for their input. But this experience had cost him the best part of £4000 in repairs, renewals, cleaning and lost rent. By not adding to this, we believe we have secured a long term landlord who will no doubt tell others.

Obviously, we’re also very happy to take on properties which don’t require such attention. Feel free to email or telephone us if you have one.

Or, you can text Belvoir Basingstoke and your email address to 61211

Return to top

Customer Testimonials

Share this page with a friend

Contact BELVOIR! Basingstoke.

Subscribe to Landlord`s Newsletter

Why would a letting agent insist upon signing up a landlord on a sole agency agreement?

Sole-agency agreements for 16-20 weeks are not particularly unusual.

We don’t sell property and don’t profess to know much about it, but we imagine that the relationship drawn up between a vendor and their agent, over a matter of a few months, is somewhat different to that between us and our landlords; sure they appraise the property the way we do, they market it, conduct viewings and oversee the sales process. But then the relationship either ceases, or possibly pauses for some considerable time, until the vendor moves on again.

A letting agent, however, either repeats a similar process each time a landlord needs new tenants, or, in very many cases, extends the relationship on an almost permanent basis by virtue of the fact that he is managing the property for the landlord.

Such a relationship is built very heavily upon trust. The landlord wants the agent to accurately appraise the property’s worth. He assumes that the agent will then market the property in the best possible light and as widely as possible. He requires the agent to ensure that the best possible tenants are secured and, more importantly, that the entirely inappropriate applicants are politely declined. The agent surely has a better knowledge of the legal implications and will keep the landlord fully compliant. The deposit will be kept legally and monies due to the landlord will be paid expediently, accurately and properly accounted for. The property will be visited periodically and, for the duration of the tenancy, the landlord’s interests will be of paramount importance. We don’t seek to illustrate every facet of an agent’s responsibilities here, but we imagine you get the picture.

If, at any time in this relationship, the landlord has issues with the agent, then it is entirely right and proper that he have an opportunity to raise such issues. And it is fair to expect them to be resolved, or for the landlord to express his displeasure by terminating his agreement. And why not?

Now take a step back for a moment and consider the situation where such displeasure has been expressed prior to a tenancy beginning. If an agent has intimated that the landlord may trust him; this surely being implicit by the landlord’s acceptance of the agent’s offer to market the property, why should a landlord be shackled by a sole-agency agreement for a period of time to an agent when, for whatever reason, the landlord feels aggrieved?

Whilst a landlord must sign terms of business with us, we don’t insist on such an agreement being on an exclusive basis. That said, we will invariably disinstruct ourselves in the very unlikely event that a landlord wishes to appoint another agent. That might sound contradictory, but in fact it isn’t. What in effect we are saying is that we believe that we will do a very good job and keep our promises and, therefore, a landlord will have no need to look elsewhere. If, however, he wishes to do so, for whatever reason, then he is free to do so with our blessing and without penalty. But at that juncture, we’ll choose to distance ourselves from the whole process. It goes without saying that we wouldn’t be happy to lose a landlord, but why keep one exclusively against his wishes?

The bottom line is that as a result, we are very definitely accountable for our actions. We genuinely do only promise what we can deliver and we do then genuinely take all steps to ensure that we come across.

If, however, an agent were to sign a landlord up on an exclusive basis, he can abuse that trust and he can fail to deliver, often time and time again. So long as he eventually gets a tenant lined up, the landlord will probably, albeit begrudgingly, stay. The landlord often perceives the grief of changing agents as potentially costing him even more time and even more lost rent. And, just for good measure, he’s likely in the process of convincing himself that all agents are the same anyway.

So the result is that an agent who doesn’t deserve the business gets to keep it. He has an unhappy landlord who feels trapped and who no doubt begrudges every penny the agent charges him for his services.

If the agent behaves in this manner with the landlord for whom he acts, how do you expect he behaves towards the landlord’s tenants? Unhappy tenants don’t look after properties as well as happy ones and the potential for more problems in the landlord’s already stressful relationship with this particular property will be by now, in such an example, well-defined.

Does an agent arrogantly strut around the market place with a wake of destruction following in his path because he knows he can as a result of the sole-agency agreement? Or does he have the agreement because he knows that he has badly motivated staff, appalling procedures and an approach to business that is Neolithic?

And we don’t think that we can be persuaded that there are some good agents with sole-agency agreements. If they are that good, they wouldn’t need them.

Is using an agent really that expensive?

When, in early 2009, we first opened our shop, we did so with virtually no landlords and no tenants. We had a few friends who allowed us to advertise for tenants for them, but certainly not sufficient to form a viable business. Whilst buying a portfolio was an option, their scarcity and the likelihood of inherent problems with such portfolios meant that we didn’t.

The local paper and some of the free websites are an incredible source of prospects, but there are invariably two problems; the landlords we speak with have very often had expensive or bad experiences with agents in the past and as a result, we often are told “I never use agents.” Sometimes, the next thing we hear is the telephone call being terminated!

Naturally, when a landlord is actually advertising, his telephone is ringing off the hook with applicants and so, most of the time, we now simply make a note of the number and ring back some time later. They still very often tell us that they have been a landlord for years and never need to resort to an agent’s help, but occasionally we come across one who now has a “tenant from hell” in their property.

The landlord who “never uses agents” is, all of a sudden, very happy to take the time to talk with us. “What grounds should I use to try and get them out?” “The council and the Citizens Advice Bureau are telling them to wait until the bailiffs come...” “They’ve split up, he’s left, she gets benefits but doesn’t pay me...” You name it, we hear it, over and over again.

A newspaper advert running for a couple of weeks might cost the landlord £30. That’s a lot less than our fees. For this bargain price, the landlord suffers the grief of telephone calls at all times of the day and night and weekend, even after the property has been let. And, no doubt, calls from agents as well!

Then the landlord needs to arrange viewings and waste time and petrol on viewings for applicants who choose not to turn up. Then he needs to do his credit checks and take references. If he does it properly, this will also cost time and money. He’s obviously going to authenticate the applicant’s identity, draw up an up-to-date tenancy agreement and inventory and then oversee the move-in, inform the utility companies and the council and then put the deposit in a government approved scheme. (which might cost more money)

Once the tenants are in, the landlord will collect the rent, carry out occasional visits to the property and arrange for any maintenance issues to be resolved. If it genuinely goes according to plan, what has all this really cost the landlord? What value does he put on his time? Is it really cheaper than using an agent?

More to the point, if it goes wrong, where is the supposed saving?

We cannot guarantee that each and every tenant we place is a blue-chip tenant who will respect the property, the terms of the agreement and pay rent on time. Such a guarantee would be insane and prohibitively costly.

What we can guarantee, however, is that the landlord will only need to take the occasional call or email from us and these will be at sensible times of the day. We’ll field all the calls. We’ll suffer the frustration associated with applicants not turning up. We’ll properly reference check and credit check applicants. We’ll even offer insurance against rent default and legal expenses with a major insurance company. And, we’ll ensure that the property is marketed to as wide an audience as is possible and is seen on all the major web portals.

What would you rather, a lineage ad; “2 bed Chineham, white goods, no DSS or pets, references req’d £700pcm” or ten or twelve photographs, descriptions and room sizes on dozens of websites, available to anyone anywhere in the world, 24/7? And remember, it will cost nothing if we don’t find a suitable tenant.

No doubt, there are still sceptics among you who argue that you are able to do all of this. It’s what you do for a living, you have a huge portfolio and you do everything as well and maybe even better than we do.

That may be the case, but we would like to point out one final issue that sets an agent aside from a landlord acting independently:

Everyone applying for a property through an agent knows that we will do everything that we have mentioned above. They will be sure that we will seek references and establish, with certainty, what their financial circumstances are. Furthermore, they know that we will charge a fee for our services. And if they cannot afford, or see no reason why they should pay a reasonable fee for our services, can they really afford the rent?

We vet applicants at every stage; their manner on the telephone or in the shop, the message in their email and their demeanour on a viewing. At every turn we are looking for the reason to turn down their application. And what do you think our response is to those whom we cannot help?

“Try the local newspaper on Thursday, there are always landlords advertising there.”

And you might like to see what Rebecca, one of our landlords has to say in her very public testimonial on Google.

Should a landlord accept pets?

We almost always state that our default position with regards to pets is, sadly, no. But we only do this so that we get an opportunity to discuss each and every case individually, on its merit. And applicants with pets seem to have more time to discuss their circumstances in detail, presumably because so many landlords and agents stick to their default stance.

Our tenancy agreement states no pets without the landlord’s permission which will not unreasonably be withheld. The discussions we have enable us and the landlord to establish whether or not it is unreasonable.

We consider all requests for pets closely, since there are a number of potential benefits to a landlord who is prepared to consider them:

Our tenancy agreement, for example, provides that all carpets be cleaned professionally with a treatment appropriate for homes which have had pets. Whilst professional cleaning is always the preferred position, a landlord cannot usually fairly expect this is he hasn’t had them professionally cleaned prior to the tenants moving in. So, nice carpets which haven’t been deep cleaned for a while, will now be given a treat when a pet-owning tenant leaves. And this isn’t an unreasonable term and is usually happily accepted.

We take a higher deposit, commensurate with the higher risk of damage. However, the deposit isn’t itemised into £1000 “general security deposit” and £300 “for the dog”. It’s a sum of, in this example, £1300, end of story. This gives an enhanced level of comfort for the landlord in general.

It would appear that since less landlords are prepared to accept pets and since most tenants with pets know this, they tend to stay longer.

Since we genuinely take more time to discuss their position and only accept sensible pet owners, we tend to find that they are better in other regards, for example, carpets tend to be vacuumed more regularly and more care is taken over ensuring that the pet doesn’t knock things over (making it simultaneously more unlikely that a child will either.)

Is the section of the animal-loving country that has pets for the right reason also a more caring sector? There’s a very good argument that they are and that amongst other things, they are more respectful of their surroundings which in the examples we are talking of here are surroundings belonging to the landlord. And remember, they are conscious of the fact that we are looking after a larger deposit for them.

For the right applicant, the right pet and the right circumstances, the real benefit is that a property may be let more quickly. Did you know that there are nearly 14m cats and dogs in the UK and that about 43% of the population are pet owners? That’s a whole lot of tenants with pets looking at your competitor’s property if you stick to your guns and keep saying no.

Guaranteed rent schemes and the true cost to the landlord.

Every now and then we come across a landlord who is considering a guaranteed rent scheme of one sort or another and very often they are seeking our advice. Indeed, we have been offered such a deal in the past for at least one of our personal properties, prior to our becoming agents.

A scheme such as this will typically have a lead in time of 3 or 4 weeks whereby, if the property remains unlet, the agent will pay the rent to the landlord anyway. And the agent will continue to do so for 365 days of the year for the duration of the contract.

It sounds enticing doesn’t it? Assuming the agent is financially viable himself, there seems as if there is theoretically absolutely no risk.

In fairness, there might be the occasional landlord for whom on the surface it looks particularly attractive; maybe an inherited property where the landlord is overseas or too busy elsewhere to have any involvement whatsoever, or a property with little or no mortgage, or a property which has been, or might prove troublesome to let. But rest assured, these schemes all come at a price.

In the vast majority of cases, whoever offers the deal is, like us, a commercial venture; in business to make money. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with making a profit. But, by offering to pay the landlord for the duration of the contract which is often between 12 and 60 months in duration, whether the property is tenanted or not, the business is taking a bigger risk.

The strict definition of profit, in economic terms is “the return on risk to the entrepreneur.” And, as a result, the cost to the landlord is commensurately higher, since it is the agent in this case who is demonstrating his entrepreneurial skills!

The extra cost may simply be passed on by way of a lower rent. This is sometimes achieved by the agent becoming the tenant and agreeing a rent with the landlord and then effectively sub-letting at a higher rent. The margin will be significant, since the agent must also cover his usual costs associated with managing a property.

Or, it might be that the agent works on a slightly smaller margin on the rent side of the equation and then charges his normal fees. Or slightly higher fees.

Please remember that the agent will be building in periods of void during which you will effectively be paying not only the rent, but also his fees. Yes, you did read that correctly; you will be paying yourself the rent! Despite his protestations to the contrary, the agent most assuredly will not be paying your rent when the property is empty. It will all be built into his figures somewhere. He is a commercial venture as stated above, he is not a charity.

When we have compared quoted rents, we have been amazed at the margins and the agent’s fees associated with such schemes.

Despite this, some still consider that it is worth taking the deal to be guaranteed of an income of some description.

It is to those concerned landlords then that we offer a final word of caution:

When a property is going to cost an agent money, isn’t it likely that he is going to be tempted to consider an application from a tenant who under normal circumstances wouldn’t be entertained? The landlord is overseas or so wrapped up in whatever else he is doing that he probably won’t even notice. The applicant doesn’t have glowing previous landlord references, or has loads of unruly children or animals. And, besides, nobody else will entertain this particular property.

We don’t offer such schemes. Ever.

Belvoir’s rapid response in a landlord’s time of need.

Late in 2010, we heard through a contractor of ours, about a landlord who was considering letting his family home instead of selling it when they moved to a larger property. This is always good to hear; a contractor passing on praise of an agent for whom he works- and he works for many local agents.

Sadly, by the time we were informed, another agent had already been instructed and we thought we had missed out.

A number of weeks went by and then, out of the blue, we had a call from the landlord who was becoming concerned at the prospect of the property remaining empty for a protracted period of time. He’d signed up with them on a sole-agency basis, (see our article on sole-agency agreements) and was moving out the following day, having completed on his purchase that afternoon. But it would be well over a month before a tenant could be moved in by his agent.

It was a Friday and we visited in order to have a chat about the situation. In principal, we agreed a deal and in fact that afternoon we carried out a viewing with applicants very interested in the property and, at a slightly higher rent.

The following day, the landlord terminated his agreement with the other agent and we were instructed. On the Monday we conducted a second viewing with another professional couple who put in an offer and would move in as quickly as we could make the necessary arrangements. This offer was accepted.

The other agent had the property for some sixteen weeks and coincidentally, was also involved in the landlord’s purchase. It should have been straightforward then for them to liaise with the various parties and to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

So, where did it go wrong for them?

In our opinion, they didn’t correctly manage their position or indeed the landlord’s expectations. They put the property up for rent with no idea of a move-out date and this was always going to be fraught.

Had it been us, we would have appraised the property, taken photographs and asked the landlord to let us know when they had exchanged. That would have given us four weeks to market the property. Plenty of time; we let it in a fraction of that.

The landlord would only have had to worry about his purchase, which is generally stressful enough, and the letting process would have comfortably sat on the back-burner.

Honest property appraisals.

If a prospective tenant were to walk into an agent’s shop and start asking about the type of properties which were financially outside his reach, the agent would have absolutely no hesitation in letting him know how unrealistic his aspirations were. The agent doesn’t have time to show an applicant a property which he cannot afford. It’s far simpler to let him down straight away and, if he leaves and goes to another agent, so be it. He’ll be told the same there as well.

By the same token, staff at Belvoir are as honest and straightforward with a landlord as possible.

We go to great lengths in our presentation to a landlord to explain all about the letting process in great detail. As part of that explanation, we go into a fair amount of detail about the rent that is likely to be achieved, how long it is likely to take, what changes or minor improvements would make a difference to the prospect of a quick letting etc.

We hope that the landlord accepts our opinion and works with us on that basis, but, sometimes, he’ll disagree. It might be that he has bought at the peak of the market and has a large mortgage to cover. Or it might be that he is reliant upon the rent for income. Both might, on the face of it, seem like valid reasons to hold out for top dollar. But the truth is that letting is very much supply and demand and, no matter what a landlord’s personal circumstances may be, a given property will have its limitations.

We see dozens of similar properties very regularly and we will back up our suggestions with details of other truly similar properties which we, and others have let in the recent past. It isn’t in our interests to get this wrong; we only charge for successful lettings and much of what we charge is based upon the rent.

Of course, rent is by no means the only factor. The general condition of the property plays a part, as do the facilities within the property, the white-goods, or lack of, whether it has a shower etc. All manner of issues play a part. And, occasionally it will be less physical issues, such as the availability for viewings or having a definite date for the start of the proposed tenancy.

In a fully honest appraisal, all of this and often much more is discussed.

By not managing this process properly, the landlord is being done a disservice; his property may well get viewings, but offers may be short on the ground. Remember that those viewing the property will also be viewing others and will have a very good idea of market prices themselves.

We’re honest with tenants because we don’t want our time wasted. We’re similarly honest with landlords and, by so doing, we are not wasting their time or costing them money either.

Belvoir Basingstoke’s payment policy explained.

We don’t believe in making anyone wait unduly for payment of any money that may be due to them. Whether it be landlord’s rent, a contractor’s payment for works or a tenant’s refund, we deal with it expediently.

Whether rent comes in a few days early, which happens very often, on the day upon which it is due, which is the norm, or a day or two late, which does happen, we initiate the payment to the landlord on the day we receive it. We don’t try and sit on payments as long as we can so that we may benefit from the meagre interest our bank pays and won’t operate in this manner, even when rates improve.

Some agents have payment runs once a week, or even once a month. We’re not implying that they are sitting on money; indeed it may be that all rents are arranged to come in on the same day each month, or each week and they choose to operate in this manner in order to save on their own administration costs.

We generally make a tenant’s rent day coincide with the day they move in, which serves to help keep their initial costs to a minimum. The result is that rents are due every day of the month and we pass it on every single working day of the month.

The primary reason for this is one of credibility; originally, being new in town, we wanted a good reputation for payments. And we also recognised that those to whom we owed money were, by and large, relatively small businesses and might well be reliant upon the payment for their own cash-flow. We don’t like being owed money and in this regard, we were pretty certain that we were not alone.

And, with so many horror stories in the press concerning rents and deposits being misappropriated, we figured that we should be as prompt and as transparent as we possibly can be.

The fact that we are no longer so new has not changed our attitude in this regard.

We make electronic payments whenever we can; cheques take time to clear and have a habit of going astray in the post and cash is an expensive commodity in which to deal. Most of the time, we use “faster pay”. Unlike BACS, it can very often hit a recipient’s bank account on the day we send it. Sadly, this is not always the case and for some reason, we have to resort to three day payment cycles to certain recipients. It depends upon the recipient’s bank and the type of account and, sadly, we have no control over this. The banks seem to have a veil of secrecy over certain transactions, even today.

Sometimes a landlord will telephone to ask where a payment is, but the fact that most never do would seem to imply that we have it right and we have gained their trust in this regard.

Rest assured, if there is a reason for us not making a payment when it is due, we will communicate with the intended recipient. We chase unpaid rents immediately and with vigour and are proud of the fact that there is not one single landlord who has been paid anything other than a day or two late without a full explanation.

About our marketing.

When we first opened our shop in Basingstoke, we used to take full page adverts in the local paper. Now, we knew that newspaper advertising wasn’t as useful as it once was, but we did it anyway. In fairness, our local paper is remarkably good value for money compared to many in other parts of the country and it has a really good piece of online software which enables us to design and upload our own copy and to save photographs and layouts for use over and over again.

The biggest problem, apart from the fact that within a couple of days it would be “chip-wrapping” was that it wasn’t really read by that many people with whom we wished to communicate. Tenants almost all use the internet and, maybe even now we don’t fully understand from where our landlords come. But it formed part of a general market awareness campaign. Along with “To-Let” boards, our branded Minis and the two London Taxis running around town, it served to keep our name in the public eye.

In truth, we struggled to quantify the enquiries we gleaned from such advertising and so, after a year or so, we stopped such adverts. And we’re not alone in this. Most of Belvoir’s 150 shops no longer regularly advertise in the local press.

The internet was, and still is, from where the bulk of our enquiries hail.

It’s strange in many ways; we upload our information through software we have, to one site in particular and from there it is disseminated to a number of the major sites; Rightmove, Prime-Location, Zoopla and Find-A-property, to name but a few. In fact, there are now so many that we probably don’t even know of the very existence of a significant number of them. Web-portals seem to like having a property section and we know we are on a growing number, the vast majority of which take information from sites automatically and then use it for their own purposes.

One in particular, however, is responsible for probably 75% of all enquiries. Another five or six are responsible for 20% between them and all the others are responsible for the remaining 5%. The exact market-share of a few seems to vary slightly, but by and large, by subscribing to probably six of the largest, we ensure our name is out there and that our properties are being advertised as widely as possible.

From the landlord’s point of view, this is very good news indeed. And, most of the time, we are able to offer our landlords enhanced listings on the major site; more and larger photographs being the most important factor.

From the tenant’s perspective, the nature of the internet can be frustrating. Most seem to gravitate towards the major sites and this is, by and large, absolutely fine, since we have a degree of control over the listings and they can be pretty certain that if a property is showing as available, then it is just that. Sadly, many of the smaller sites are not as efficient and all too often, we take calls or emails regarding properties which have already been let, sometimes many weeks or even months before.

Since so much of our time can be wasted in fielding calls about properties which have already been let, we try to change the status of our properties as soon as we are able. As a result, it often looks as if we have little property available.

By searching the larger sites, however, it’s possible to find dozens and sometimes hundreds of properties that appear to be available with other agents.

One day in June 2011, however, we showed a family around three properties and they chose to apply for one. They had visited from Jersey and had, therefore, spent an entire day telephoning to make appointments in advance. Three agents, all with a much larger online presence than us were able to show them a total of three properties between them, each of which being, apparently, sub-standard. And the vast majority in town had nothing suitable to view at all. Our competitors’ huge online presence then, consisted of properties the majority of which were already let.

Perhaps you might like to bear this in mind. Many appear to be much busier than us, but very often it’s just smoke and mirrors. They probably won’t have too much time to talk to you either, since they will be too busy telling tenants that the property they are after has “just this morning been let”.

We suggest you telephone them and pretend to be a prospective tenant to prove our point.

Is your credit-checking procedure all it could be?

Very often when we are talking with landlords, they tell us that they do their own referencing and credit-checking. To be entirely honest, we don’t usually delve too deeply into the manner in which they carry out their checks; they’re doing them in whatever way they are and, invariably have been doing so for some while.

Once in a while, a landlord will say something like “he had a score of 654”. Since we don’t know exactly how they do their checking, in isolation this means little. Okay, so we understand that the higher the score the better, but it’s entirely possible for someone of modest means to have a reasonable score yet be quite unable to afford the rent. He might, for example, have been made redundant from a well paid job recently, and be relying upon modest savings and not entitled to state aid.

Sadly, we get the impression that on many occasions, this is the extent of the checks carried out by some landlords.

We use a division of Experian to carry out all our referencing and credit-checks. They are looking for a lack of adverse credit data on an applicant’s file and have the ability to do so accurately and quickly. They also confirm the employment status and salary and seek references from previous landlords.

We never issue a tenancy agreement without having established all the facts and, if appropriate, taken additional precautions to safeguard a landlord. This might be six months’ rent in advance or a guarantor, or both.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that a landlord does all his checks properly and moves a tenant in and everything goes smoothly. After the initial fixed period, some landlords like the comfort of knowing that a tenant is always tied in for a period of time and so they arrange a brand new tenancy agreement.

Hardly a week goes by without us speaking to a landlord who admits that when issuing a new tenancy agreement to an existing tenant, he doesn’t re-reference and credit-check. The fact that he has paid his rent on time and has mown the lawn seems to be sufficient grounds for issuing a new 12 month agreement.

The tenant might have just lost his job, or is imminently to do so. He might be in the throes of being taken to court for bankruptcy proceedings, which in the current economic climate is pretty common, or he might have entered into a voluntary agreement with Visa for an unpaid credit-card bill. Without checking again, how does a landlord know?

Is a new fixed period tenancy agreement wise until such time as you have established the basic facts?

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t check again just so that we can charge everyone involved another fee. We check again because it’s in the landlord’s best interest for us to do so. And, on the subject of fees in this regard, ours at least, are modest.

It’s quite likely that a lot of the time, a landlord will get away with it. But when he doesn’t, he’ll find that even if he has insurance, he won’t be covered and getting a tenant out of a property when he has a valid tenancy agreement in place can be a protracted and very expensive exercise.

Feel free to come and speak with us if we’ve hit a nerve and you’re at all concerned about any of your procedures. Our coffee is probably the best in the top of town.

We`re going digital.

It might seem as if we’re simply shouting about what a clever bunch of agents we are; boys, their toys and all that, but in fact there is more to it than that and there are a number of tangible benefits to landlords.

We will be introducing new features which will enable us to deliver content to your email inbox in a particularly efficient manner, so that you don’t have to deal with large file downloads to get hold of, for example, our brochure. Simply click one of a number of buttons on our website, or in our emails and it will arrive, almost instantaneously.

Another, similar feature will enable landlords and, more importantly (from a landlord’s point of view) tenants, to receive emailed details simply by sending a text to us. And we all know just how popular, cheap and easy SMS text messaging is nowadays.

Some of you may already have received our first periodic newsletter. On the face of it, it’s no big deal and you have probably received many such missives from many different quarters over the years. We like to think that we have something of interest to share with you and indeed, judging by the percentage of the emails which were opened, many of you agree.

Our new systems enable us to determine not only who opened it, but also what articles were viewed; something that hitherto, we have been unable to do. In time, this should mean that we know what sort of article is of interest and, indeed, what isn’t. We know you’re busy and we don’t want to waste anybody’s time just for the sake of it.

More to the point, one or two landlords decided that it wasn’t for them. This is their prerogative and they were able to “unsubscribe” which means that we won’t bother them in future. How many times have you received totally unsolicited emails which you were unable to stop? Please don’t unsubscribe simply to try out this function. Take our word for it, it works!

Shortly, we will also be using a form of “digital stationery”. Whilst this is simply a fancy email template, it will enable the recipient to click on a variety of tabs and be transported to sections of our website, or indeed external websites.

We’re currently putting the final touches to a piece of software which enables us to produce highly tailored, succinct and circumstance-specific letters for both tenants and landlords alike. This means that there will be no reason for all parties not to be made fully aware of exactly what is happening at critical stages of the letting process.

The final trick up our sleeve is a system which we hope will enable us to get application forms, tenancy agreements, terms of business and similar paperwork electronically completed and signed.

These are just a few examples of Belvoir continuing to stay ahead of the game. Some may still look a bit like toys, but they should, we hope, enable us to be even more effective in letting properties. And we might look pretty neat too!

Social Media.

To be honest, it took some time to convince us of the merits of social media sites; after all, Facebook is simply somewhere to share holiday and party photographs isn’t it? And what can Twitter possibly have to offer?

In common with lots of businesses new to social media sites, a goodly proportion of our “friends” who “like” us, or “follow” us are actually other branches of our own network, our competitors, suppliers or those who would like to be our suppliers.

As time goes on, however, through the establishment of a local network of “friends”, we’ll become better known to the wider local audience. Two years before we were even on Twitter ourselves we learned of someone looking for a property as a result of a throwaway comment on Twitter.

Applicants haven’t fully grasped the nettle with regard to finding properties on social networks yet, but those that have done so are growing slowly but surely; with so much time spent online, especially with the advent of so-called “smart-phones”, it’s only a matter of time before the penny drops and we want to be there when it does.

Belvoir were one of the first agents to have an app for the iphone and even we are surprised at the number of downloads.

The software which we use to virtually run our business; it keeps track of all our applicants, tenancies, landlords and their properties, looks after the financial side of our business and even controls what is uploaded to websites and when, is now also able to upload properties to Facebook and Twitter.

It even has a search facility built into our Facebook page.

Whilst in fairness, Belvoir Basingstoke is among the first to have a search facility as part of a Facebook page, we’re not claiming to be at the cutting edge of all the changes.

We are, however, certainly going to be part of as much of it as we can.

Of course, if you want to be seen to be doing your bit to help promote your properties with us, you could “follow” us or “like” us. It could be that someone who stumbles across us as a result of your own actions ends up renting one of your properties!

Here are links to our Facebook page and Twitter. No doubt, when we figure out how to work various other social networks, we`ll have links for those as well!

Considering property investment?

Hardly a day goes by without one or other of the big building societies publishing the results of a survey; "houses prices have risen by 0.6%", "house prices set to fall by 30% over the next 3 years." Or maybe it’s something from one of the big housing portals; "demand up by 5%", "demand down by 12%". Or, "rents have risen by 2.5%", or "rents are flat", or "rents are falling". We`ve all seen the headlines.

The Government, too, are pretty good at chipping in with statistics every now and then.

Let’s be perfectly honest about this; it would appear that nobody really knows and indeed, not only do the experts contradict one another, they even contradict themselves, on a regular basis, in the light of a hundred and one hitherto unforeseen circumstances.

Oil prices, Royal Weddings, inflation, employment, the ability and willingness of the U.S. to pay its debts; you name it, it is apparently having an effect upon the expert’s abilities to predict just about everything.

You might be surprised to learn then, that here, at Belvoir in Basingstoke, we have no opinion whatsoever on any of this.

Well, almost no opinion; but we’re going to be deliberately broad, brush-stroke in our opinions here. You won’t find us contradicting ourselves in a few week’s time!

Statistically, over the years, if we are to believe what we have been told, we have gone from being a nation who by and large were happy to rent, to a nation whose one aim in life was to own a property, back to a nation who are either happy, or forced, to reconsider renting for a protracted period of time.

Given that the proportion of tenancies in the private sector is rising, then the future for landlords is surely rosy. It’s just that nobody it seems, is able to effectively quantify the degree of rosiness.

What is more or less certain is that we are either at the bottom of the housing price-market, or certainly closer to it than we were a few years ago. And not only are interest rates pretty low right now, but there are also an increasing number of buy-to-let products available.

Regulation has tightened up significantly on the condition of properties that may be let and the terms and conditions of the actual agreement. Quite rightly, the rights and welfare of the tenant is now of paramount importance; no longer can a landlord expect to let out unsafe, unsanitary, damp and decaying properties and run away into the night with a tenant’s deposit once they vacate. The market isn’t entirely regulated yet, but it’s getting pretty close to becoming a safe place for tenants to fish.

None of this, however, need necessarily deter a prudent potential landlord. So a tenant’s expectations are higher than they once were, but as a result of the general conditions that exist, tenants are very often far happier than they once were; a happy tenant doesn’t complain so much, pays rent on time and looks after his home; your investment.

So long as a landlord is sensible in his approach, in the current market he has little to fear. A sensible approach will result in avoiding many sometimes less than obvious pitfalls. (But, whilst we believe it can be managed, we are not saying there is no risk.)

Not that long ago, it was possible to purchase an investment property with little or no money down; dubious lending decisions, together with creative valuations and conveyancing meant that those who couldn’t really afford an investment were suckered into believing that they could. The rents they were told they could expect often didn’t materialise and increasing interest rates, very often together with a glut of similar properties on the same development and the associated void periods spelled financial ruin for many.

We encourage all potential landlords to consider what might happen in the event that the cost of borrowing were to increase. And we suggest they counter their initial enthusiasm with a degree of caution; they will have void periods, things will need repair or replacement, tenants will lose jobs.

And there will be costs associated with many purchases prior to a tenancy starting; if it isn’t a new property, it’s quite likely that it will need decorating, carpets, a shower installing, maybe a new bathroom or possibly even a replacement kitchen. Even the tidying up of a garden costs money.

So, having established that a potential landlord is not, by nature, “risk averse”, that he has a sizeable deposit, funds in reserve and the wherewithal and inclination to bring a property up to scratch, all he has to do is find the right property and a quality agent to take care of the day-to-day running of the tenancy. Easy isn’t it?

Well, almost. There isn’t time or space here to discuss all the other issues, but there are a couple of pointers we would like to leave you with.

Consider whether you are after a monthly income, or whether you are after capital growth (maybe with a monthly income further down the line). This will help to determine the yield you are seeking. A high yield will almost certainly involve less attractive properties and more work for all involved. A lower yield property might be in a nicer area and attract different tenants, but this property might cost significantly more. And as a rule of thumb, very expensive but desirable properties, often result in lower yields.

Decide what type of tenant you wish to attract; a young professional couple might have a wish-list that differs to a couple with three or four children. There would be little point in deciding upon a type of property and a type of tenant that are incompatible.

And the list goes on.

We like to think that we know a little about the industry and a bit about the local market. If any of this has whetted your appetite, feel free to contact us. We don’t sell property and there will be absolutely no obligation. Just a good cup of coffee and a friendly chat.

Good times breed bad habits.

It’s an oft churned-out phrase, but it really is true. And it’s as true for the letting business as it is for any other business.

When things are swinging along nicely; all your properties are fully let, you have no rent arrears and you haven’t heard a peep from anyone about maintenance issues, complacency has a habit of creeping up. Complacency hasn’t just taken the seat next to you, it’s practically your business-partner.

The tenant who has always been reliable gets given a new tenancy agreement without you taking the right precautions; you haven’t re-referenced or credit-checked him. Or maybe a tenant knows someone else who “he can vouch for”; that’ll save the time and expense of proper checks.

You carry on dealing with deposits in exactly the same way as you always have; you don’t register it because you’ve never seen the need to before. In fact, sometimes, you don’t take a deposit “as such”; you hold a couple of extra weeks’ worth of rent because someone told you it wouldn’t count as a deposit.

Your last periodic visit at the property was two years ago; the place was fine then, why should it be any different now?

Obviously you have a gas safety check carried out, because that’s the one legal requirement you do take notice of, but the last “handyman” tenant carried out electrical alterations and you didn’t see the need to have it checked out properly by a qualified electrician. Or he promised to redecorate in return for a reduced rent; £100 less a month for 12 months has to be an awful lot cheaper than getting in a proper firm, hasn’t it?

Inventories? They just cost money don’t they? And besides, you let unfurnished and there’s nothing to list. Or maybe that page of A4 with wall and carpet colours will suffice; you’ve never had a tenant argue the toss over deposit deductions before.

We come across this sort of thing and very much more almost every week. “I’ve been doing this for years and I’ve not come unstuck yet” is to paraphrase the sort of explanation we are given for practices of this nature.

Yet, almost every week we also come across a landlord for whom luck has run out. And it’s when he becomes unstuck that he realises that things have to change.

All of a sudden, it becomes apparent that the various checks on a prospective tenant are worthwhile. The penalties for not dealing with a tenant’s deposit correctly make the cost associated with dealing with deposits correctly seem very reasonable. The time taken to carry out periodic visits is now time very well spent. The attitude taken to a tenant making alterations himself to save money is now changed. Now the inventory has become perhaps the second most important piece of paper in this type of transaction.

Sooner or later, the bad times will arrive; it is one of the unfortunate laws of inevitability. One day it will be your turn. However, one good thing will come about as a result of this; you will change your attitude to all of the elements you were treating in such a cavalier manner.

Good times might breed bad habits, but bad times breed good habits.

We here at Belvoir do have some bad habits; we’re only human after all. But ours tend to be staying up too late on a “school night” or not putting our socks in the laundry basket.

We don’t cut corners with letting properties and as a consequence, we are gaining a very good reputation. Check out our "Testimonials" page if you like. And then, why not give us a ring or email us and see whether any of our habits might rub off onto you?

Why we use Google for our testimonials.

We try and add something to this page each week; generally something happens which makes us stop and think that maybe someone out there might be interested in it. This week was shaping up to be one of those weeks which was defined by nothing in particular and we thought there would be nothing to share at all.

And then we heard of a phantom bad review of us that had been placed on an agents’ review site. It’s “phantom” insofar as it makes reference to us having installed an air extraction system; something which we categorically have never ever done. It then made reference to our own builders, which we don’t have, and then went on to accuse us of having ripped someone off, which is not how we operate. We were called “rude” and “arrogant” and it was suggested that someone ought to investigate us. The person posting the comments suggested that it was a “nice little earner” and his parting suggestion was to “avoid at all costs”.

All pretty damning stuff from a website purporting to promote “transparency” and yet unwilling to suspend a wayward review, pending investigation.

Google is our preferred supplier for customer testimonials and, we suspect that it is somewhat larger and more often viewed than the site in question. Indeed, we have had over 20 very positive reviews in the few months we have been using it. Two positive and one negative exist on the other site in the whole two and a half years we have been trading.

Our new digital stationery has a direct link to the Google page. Such is the level of our confidence. And, as a direct result of this phantom episode, we have also decided to add links after each article on this page.

The point is that it is entirely possible to get the wrong impression about an individual or a business from one or two statements. It’s pretty difficult, however, to try and fly in the face of numerous glowing references.

And don`t forget that by using an external resource such as Google, we`re not promoting a page full of testimonials hand-picked by us; all reviews will be there in the public eye; warts and all. Of course, we still won`t be able to "duck" true or phantom bad reviews, but at least if there ever are any, they will be sitting alongside a significant volume of other reviews. It will, we are certain, be possible then for the casual observer to accurately arrive at the true picture.

Come and investigate us over a coffee and judge for yourselves just how rude and arrogant we are. We are absolutely certain that you won’t be calling in Trading Standards afterwards.

Belvoir Basingstoke is a SAFEagent.

SAFE – Safe Agent Fully Endorsed – is a mark denoting firms that protect landlords and tenants money through a client money protection scheme. Full details of the scope of the scheme can be obtained from the scheme operator. For more information on SAFEagent visit www.safeagents.co.uk

Enter a town, locality or postcode: