Estate agent and lettings MEGATHREAD - No advertising in here

[Jayne12345 10]

I am looking to rent out a 4 bedroom house (400 years old) in Sheffield and was wondering which Lettings agent to use. Was just wondering which offers best service for money and which are good from a tenants perspective too.

[Plain Talker 11]

Mod Note

 

Multiple threads merged yet again with existing megathread on the subject.

 

Please use the search facility before posting a new thread.

[spicey 10]

Reeds Rain and Sheffield Residentials

 

Anyone have any reviews for either of these companies? I'd like to know how well they treat the tenants for managed properties.

 

Thanks!

Edited February 27, 2014 by spicey

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

Reeds Rain and Sheffield Residentials

 

Anyone have any reviews for either of these companies? I'd like to know how well they treat the tenants for managed properties.

I can't answer that directly- but always keep in mind the quite separate and differing roles of:

a. an Estate Agent; and

b. a Letting Agent.

Neither should try the other's role unless adequately trained!

[Fitproperty1 10]

I completely agree with Jeffrey,

 

A lot of estate agents turned to lettings during the recession to get by and a lot of new landlords (Mostly accidental landlords who wanted to sell their property but couldn’t) used them as they recognised the brand and paid through the nose for the pleasure of doing so.

 

I have personal experience of this, When I renovated my first property at the start of recession with a view to selling it on for a profit I chose to market it with the biggest agent in town (Blu****ls) they overvalued the property in the first place etc but to cut a long story short I ended up renting it out through them and paid a fortune for a substandard service (I didn’t know any better).

 

When I left the mortgage/banking industry and starting working in the lettings industry full time (about a year after renting my first house out) I had a massive wakeup call and realised I was paying three times as much as I need to be and was getting an inferior service to boot. My tenants weren’t happy with them either and where on the verge of leaving before I took the property back from the agent (the tenants are still living in the house to this day).

 

In short if you want to rent your property out use a local agent, they are cheaper, more flexible, generally more experienced, willing to put the work in and you will definitely find that your property comes back to you in much better condition than if you had used a large national agency or franchise.

 

If anyone has any specific questions about the industry or lettings in general I am more than happy to help.

 

 

http://www.fitproperty.com

Edited March 20, 2014 by Fitproperty1

[daniel3982 10]

My girlfriend and me are looking to move house soon to a dog friendlier area but the prices agencies charge for admin fees are ridiculous (upto £200 each we've seen)!

 

Can anyone recommend a letting agent in Sheffield that doesn't charge rip off fees?

[Plain Talker 11]

Mod Note:-

 

Merged with the existing Estate Agents/ Lettings megathread which would have come up as a "prompt" when you started your thread.

 

Please use the Search facility before posting a new thread.

[Fitproperty1 10]

Unfortunately Daniel all letting agents in Sheffield charge admin fees as far as I am aware? (I think a couple of student agency's don't, but I couldn't tell you which ones and they wont be offering the type of houses you are after)

 

The cheapest agency fees are around £100 per person, But make sure you check for hidden fees, pretty much all of the big agency's and franchises have additional hidden fees that they don't inform you of until you have already paid your initial none refundable application fee.

 

The only way to avoid this is to rent from a private landlord directly but due diligence is also required with dealing with private landlords.

[daniel3982 10]

Unfortunately Daniel all letting agents in Sheffield charge admin fees as far as I am aware? (I think a couple of student agency's don't, but I couldn't tell you which ones and they wont be offering the type of houses you are after)

 

The cheapest agency fees are around £100 per person, But make sure you check for hidden fees, pretty much all of the big agency's and franchises have additional hidden fees that they don't inform you of until you have already paid your initial none refundable application fee.

 

The only way to avoid this is to rent from a private landlord directly but due diligence is also required with dealing with private landlords.

 

Thanks,

 

It seems ridiculous how much agents in Sheffield charge. I was looking at one (Blundells) where for myself & my partner to rent a property was going to be over £500 in fees alone! Absolutely exploitative no two ways about it.

 

Even around £100 per person is a lot but if anyone could recommend some of the better value agents I would appreciate it.

[Fitproperty1 10]

Hi Daniel,

 

Blundells are one of the worse for fees (and customer service to both tenants and landlords in my opinion) but the same can be said about a lot of the larger national company's and franchises, I would recommend you use smaller local agency's as they generally have much cheaper fees.

[emmabemma 10]

Could anyone give me a rough idea of how much estate agents charge for marketing and finding tenants? I'm thinking of buying a buy to let property and trying to add up the up front costs. Thanks

[robp_220 10]

I am looking to sell my house in S2 and I am looking for a good, reliable estate agent.

 

I have no experience of selling, only buying (once). We bought the house via Bloor almost 3 years ago, however it had been on the market for over a year. Could have been down to the climate at the time, or through lack of effort by Bloor, I don't know.

 

I am wanting a no sale no fee agreement and no more than 1% selling commission.

 

I dealt with Haybrook a couple of times when looking last time but found them to be very unprofessional and devious at times.

 

My father in law also recently sold his house in S8 through Staves, however he described them as "very lazy" - which is understandable considering the sale was completed last November yet Staves still have the house listed on their website!

 

If anyone is able to share any advice or experience it would be much appreciated!