Essential Information for Landlords
LANDLORD INFORMATION BROCHURE Whether you are new to being a landlord or have a portfolio of properties, there are several things you may have come up against in the past or are experiencing while deciding on a letting agent that you would like to talk about. Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for you to rent your property. So we have put together this handy little booklet of some of the most commonly asked questions we have from landlords and information on the services we provide. We believe in building strong, honest, relationships with our landlords. If you would like to pop in and meet any of the teams that will be looking after your property, just let us know. We are more than happy to put some time aside to help. Valuation Meeting Key questions to ask all agents at a Valuation During our Valuation meeting you will have a lot of questions about your property, some key questions we would suggest you ask to all agents include: ü ü ü ü ü ü How many tenants do you have waiting for a property like mine? Which of your services is best for me, why? How many staff look after lettings and management in your office? How long have you been letting and managing properties? What do you do to rent my property? What regulatory bodies are you accredited by? (NALS, ARLA or Property Ombudsman)
SOME THINGS ABOUT MONEY What our landlords say How we can help My property is empty which means I'm not getting rent and income There may be several reasons your property is empty, we aim to make sure our valuations are not one of them. We are confident that we get our valuations right we don't over value your property to get your business & reduce the rent at a later date To illustrate this we are happy to show you how we compare to other agents using Rightmove & Zoopla's agent league tables. We compare really well on:! Average rents! Average time to let If you choose to take one of our managed services we advertise your properties two months before the end of the current tenancy. Giving us over 60 days to rent your properties, ensuring you don't have vacant periods! I think I can get a higher rent We focus on not pricing your property to help other landlords rent theirs. We understand that tenants gauge what a property is worth by viewing properties, if they view an overvalued property it makes them take another they deem to be of better value. We don't want you to have an empty property, there are many factors that affect the rental valuation which we are happy to chat to you about. Late and non-payment of rent has been a problem. I don't want to miss a mortgage payment On average we collect 96% of our rent in Cardiff the week it becomes due! It's our top target. We have a dedicated full time accounts and rent chase team, using text messaging, email, and phone calls to contact tenants, co tenants, guarantors and next of kin, to collect rent. We also provide credit card facilities for tenants to pay rent over the phone. It's self-assessment tax time, it's a problem getting copies of my statements As well as sending you monthly statements and enabling you to login to an online account where these are all stored, we can also send you a full tax report based on the properties we manage, detailing your rents and expenses.
SOME THINGS ABOUT MAINTENANCE What our landlords say How we can help I've had maintenance poorly handled in the past Over the last 16 years we have built up a strictly vetted team of pre-approved contractors, they have to be the best to work for us! BEFORE AFTER We keep you up to date with all maintenance in your monthly reports. With certain maintenance jobs we take photos before and after the works are completed and send them to you, so you can see what we have done. I never have the same property manager Although we cover 3 branches our Property Management team work hard to build personal relationships with our landlords. Please come in and visit the award winning team, and meet your property manager. Appointment Would you like to visit us? Just let us know when. DATE: TIME: Furthermore, we will give you a direct dial for your property manager. I don't hear anything unless there is something wrong We like to keep you up to date on all aspects of your property, including viewing feedback, maintenance, if there is outstanding rent what we are doing to chase this, plus much more. Please take a copy of our sample invoice and management report booklet, which explains and shows you how we keep you up to date every month. Additionally, our property managers call you every year for an account review.
SOME THINGS ABOUT MAINTENANCE What our landlords say How we can help My maintenance is made expensive by agents marking up their invoices We send you a copy of the actual contractors invoice with your statement. We do not take invoices and add charges on top. How often do you conduct inspections, do you do quarterlies? We do a number of visits:! Inspections! Settling in visit! Proactive maintenance visits If there are any problems arising from these visits we will resolve them and let you know. I have had a bad experience with deposit return or at a TDS/DPS tribunal In 2013 we had just 4 disputes go to TDS from over 850 active tenancies. We are confident we are able to resolve the majority of issues before it gets that far. It is one reason why we won Gold for Property Management in the 2013 Sunday Times awards!
SOME OTHER THINGS What our landlords say Do you charge tenants renewal fees, I find it discourages them from staying on and makes letting expensive for me. How we can help We contact the tenant two months before the end of the tenancy to see if they want to stay, with an aim to re-let the property to them. We find this is safer for all parties than a 1 month periodic tenancy. But, it is always your choice if you want the tenants to stay on a periodic tenancy we are happy to arrange that for you. Not sure if I should sell my rental property We can help by carrying out a Property Rental Yield Valuation to give you an idea of the potential return on this property if you decided not to sell. I don't hear anything back from viewings or even know if there are any viewings We give you a monthly management report detailing our viewings and the viewing feedback. If you would also like us to call you with feedback just let us know. I though you just let student properties, I didn't know you rented properties in my area Pinnacle has been letting property in South Wales since 1997 and manages over 850 properties. Half of which are rented to professionals, families and local housing authority tenants. Where we let: We do a lot of marketing to students as we know that when they become a Pinnacle tenant they love us and stay with us after they leave university and start a family. Some of our old student tenants are now our landlords too! I'm not getting many viewings on my property We understand tenants buy into a perceived lifestyle, by providing floorplans and high angle quality photos, tenants can visualise themselves in the property. We present the lifestyle. Exceptional property details with nicer and clearer bullet points get tenants through the door, then fall in love with the property, and want it to be their home.
SOME OTHER THINGS Our services Tentant Find/ Let Only Rent Management Full Management Portfolio Management Provide rental valuation report and current tenant demand Market property and contact applicants Reference applicants Prepare & sign tenancy agreement Collect and register deposits Issue keys to the new tenants Notify utility companies and council tax Carry out opening inventory Collect Rent Inspect the property Manage deposit deductions Pay rent within 3 to 4 days of tenant paying Provide monthly management report Property managed by Sunday Times Gold winning company 24 hour emergency maintenance call out
SOME OTHER THINGS Tentant Find/ Let Only Rent Management Full Management Portfolio Management Instruct (our or your) contractors Support with HMO licenses Renew tenancies two months before the end of fixed term Annual account review with Property Manager Rental Yield Review Find investment properties Review meetings with Lettings Manager Tailored portfolio report Our fees Tenant find/let only charges range from: Landlord setup fee for managed service is: Monthly management fee ranges from: Portfolio managed service 50% to 75% 25% of the monthly rent of the monthly rent 10% to 12% Price on depending on the property and level of service application
YOUR NEXT STEPS It is critical for us to visit your property to: carry out a valuation draw-up a floorplan take photos that can attract tenants Once this is complete we will:! call/text our applicants to let them know we have a new property! arrange time you can meet the Sunday Times award winning property management team! we can even carry out a Rental Yield Valuation To take your first step and arrange a valuation, contact... Llyr Gwyndaf T: 02920 367966 M: 07813 185932 E: llyr.gwyndaf@pinnacle-group.com /PinnacleLettingAgents uk.linkedin.com/pub/llyr-gwyndaf/5a/a87/6b9 A lot of agents offer a free valuation for landlords. Since 1997, we have never heard of landlords paying for a valuation, so instead, we offer our landlords trust, the right advice and to rent out their property conveniently.
REFERENCES If this is your first experience of Pinnacle, we do recommend you speak to some of our long standing managed landlords, who are happy to answer your questions: Mr Stifyn Parry will be happy to discuss how: he keeps forgetting that he has a house for rent Stifyn Parry Managed Landlord facebook.com/stifyn.parri.3 Mr Allan Rogers has 20+ properties around the country and uses a total of 5 agencies, with Pinnacle being his favoured agent. Allan says our: communication is faultless Allan Rogers Managed Landlord allan.rogers1@btinternet.com
LANDLORD NOTES Feel free to make some notes here of anything you would like to discuss on your valuation:
www.pinnacle-landlords.co.uk Where we let: Cardiff Newport Pontypridd & Treforest 3-5 Fanny Street Cathays Cardiff CF24 4EG t: 029 2064 0200 9 Station Street Newport Gwent NP20 4AU t: 01633 223 300 66 Park Street Treforest Pontypridd CF37 1SN t: 01443 402 400 Gwasanaeth Cymraeg Ar Gael