Before choosing your letting agent in Cardiff there are a number of factors that you should take into account. There are many different markets for Letting agents in Cardiff to deal with, from student lets, general families to the more executive style properties. Each area requires specialist knowledge and experience. You should choose a letting agent in Cardiff who specialises is student lets if that is the type of property you have invested in.
A common mistake made by investors is that they chose an estate agent with a lettings department. There are many reputable letting agents in Cardiff and covering Cardiff to choose from. It would always be advisable to select a pure letting agent rather than pick an estate agent who run a letting programme as a side line.
That doesn’t mean that you should only go down the route of a pure letting agent in Cardiff, there may be a decent estate agent who operate a professional lettings business but sadly this generally isn’t the case. Most estate agents see the rental market as an added income stream to their core business and do not provide anywhere near the same support offered to their estate’s department.
The letting agents in Cardiff can be found in various locations, there are plenty of letting agents in Cardiff Bay whom all appeared during the period when many apartments were built on the water front area. This coincided with the regeneration of the Cardiff bay area including the barrage etc. The Cardiff letting agents who are located around the Cathays or Roath area tend to predominantly deal with student lets although some venture into other markets too.
Generally most of the other areas are covered by estate agents whom have rental departments. Which is what I suggest you avoid.
Key questions to ask letting agents would be if they have any affiliation with ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents), how often are inspections carried out on managed property, what level of reference checks are carried out, what level of service is provided on tenant find only and does it differ from the managed product, are any premiums charged on maintenance work and do they have a list of approved contractors?
All these questions can help you find the perfect letting agent in Cardiff. Once again avoid picking a letting agent in Cardiff who specialise in the bay if you want to rent a executive property in Roath. Avoid one that specialises in students lets if you have an apartment in Cardiff bay. It’s all basic advice but well worth taking that little bit extra time picking the right one.
Top tips:-
* Always chose a pure letting agent in Cardiff
* Always check for areas of specialisation if any.
* Get recommendations if possible.
* Any ARLA association.
* Find out what level of service is being offered.
* How frequent are inspections and see evidence if possible of this.
* What typical void periods do they experience.
* What are the arrears levels with their managed property.
* What experience do they have with properties like yours
Things to avoid:-
* Estate agents with rental department
* Auctioneers with rental departments
* Rent guarantees (you are guaranteed to get less than if you take the risk yourself)
* Agents that have specialised in certain areas (unless you require that specialised area)
http://www.landlordslettingcompany.co.uk is an Estate agent that operates in Wales and specialises in lettings.
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