Landlords are opting to pay 18% of their rental income for a Surrey agency's comprehensive, top-tier management service.
One agency's top tier management service is proving so compelling to landlords that they’re prepared to pay 18% of their rental income in order to secure it.
“It is more expensive, but we will handle everything,” says Andy Davies of James Naeve’s Premiere Management Service. The Director of the Surrey-based agency says he discusses with every new landlord what they’re looking for in a management service to find out what management package will work best for them.
“They need to think about whether they want to have a hands-on relationship with their tenants, whether they want to be the one taking the calls if there is a problem or if stuff's going wrong. Or do they want all of those calls to come to us so we can handle everything and take that leg work away,” he says.
“It really comes down to how involved they want to be and whether they want to have a relationship with their tenants or not, because with our Standard Management Service they will still have that relationship, whereas, with the Premier Management Service, they won't - we will handle all communications and everything from there,” says Davies. “It’s a very personal choice - some landlords really don't care, they like the idea of talking to their tenants, they see that as a benefit, but others would prefer not to.”
Davies believes that handling the communication with tenants can be one of landlords’ biggest concerns when approaching an agency to manage their property.
“Some tenants move in and you never hear from them and that’s great but others move in, literally, and you literally never stop hearing from them - they can be very demanding and it can be quite challenging for a landlord.”
The increasingly complex legislative environment means that letting agents’ role as advisors is more important. “I see so many landlords self managing and they don't realise but they're not compliant, they don't do things correctly, and in essence they're breaking the law and they just don't realise it. That's all well and good if the tenancy goes well, but if the tenancy goes sour and you've got to go to court, things get more complicated and that can cause you real issues, he says.
“Agents spot this and can talk through various scenarios with landlords and that’s when they see the value in the advice that we're giving and the service we’re providing.”
