Letting with Boatwrights

Letting Out Your Property with Boatwrights Letting Agents

At Boatwrights, our Lettings Office has recently won the Gold Award for the Shaftesbury area in the national and prestigious British Property Awards 2023/24.

Our key objective is simple – to let your property quickly, at the best possible rent and to good quality Tenants who will pay on time and look after your property.

The letting process starts with a valuation appointment. Then it’s time to get your home ready to put on the market. Next is the marketing, viewing and referencing processes so that we end up with suitable tenants for you. We will ensure that you comply with current legislation when the tenancy starts and, if we are managing the property for you, we will ensure that you continue to comply during the tenancy, protecting your asset along the way.

Our knowledge of the local area and the property itself, along with the key skills we possess, underpin the whole letting process.

Valuation

The initial valuation appointment is crucial and is about far more than just giving you a potential rental value for your property and discussing our fee. Key elements covered include:

• An explanation of what your moral and legal responsibilities are of being a Landlord.
• What consents (e.g. lender, freeholder) you may need to obtain before you will be able to let out the property.
• What safety checks will be required to make your property safe to let out.
• Recommendations on any changes potentially required prior to letting (e.g. redecorate in neutral colours, DIY jobs to finish, installation of smoke alarms).
• Your preferences in terms of the types of Tenants (and pets) you would accept.
• An explanation of our different ‘Letting Services’ and a discussion about which would potentially suit you best.
• A recommended marketing and pricing strategy for securing you suitable Tenants quickly.
• Basic information on the taxation of letting and a strong recommendation to seek professional advice early on.

Preparing to Let

You may be ready to go straight onto the market after the valuation, or instead just thinking about renting out your property in the future.

Once you have decided to let out your property, your key actions points are to:
• Obtain the necessary ‘consents’
• Speak to a tax adviser/specialist
• Complete an NRL1 form if you are moving abroad
• Complete any outstanding DIY jobs and redecorate if/as required
• Tidy up and cut back everything in the garden
• Ensure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
• Declutter and get the property ready for viewings
• Get the boiler, heating system and electrics ‘safety checked’ and serviced
• Arrange for an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) to be carried out
• Ask us to book up an Energy Assessment (EPC), if needed
• Arrange a second visit for us to run through the next steps in more detail

During this second visit, we will:
• Agree the best ‘Letting Service’ for you, talking through everything in finer detail.
• Run through the Landlord Information Questionnaire.
• Confirm your ‘Tenant (and pet) preferences’ and finalise the asking rent.
• Discuss what (if anything) is left to do to the property prior to a tenancy starting.
• Take photos, room measurements and prepare a floorplan.
• Ask for a set of keys so we can conduct viewings.

Marketing Your Property

With the marketing details produced, we will then proactively contact potentially suitable Tenants and encourage them to view your property as soon as possible.

We will place your property on some of the largest property portals in the UK including Rightmove. Through our exclusive membership of The Guild of Property Professionals, your property will also receive valuable exposure to the lucrative London market.

In addition, we will erect a ‘To Let’ board outside your property and we will advertise it on our own website, in our office windows, through social media and within the local property paper.

We conduct viewings 6 days a week (into the early evening) and will provide you with feedback on a regular basis.

We are extremely successful in agreeing a let within the first 6 weeks but this can vary dependent on the market. We would therefore ask that you ideally give us 8 weeks to secure your first Tenants. If we have not successfully agreed a let after 3 weeks, we will review our marketing details and photos. Also, if we think that it would be best advice to do so, we will recommend reducing the asking rent to ensure we can find you suitable Tenants more quickly.

Finding Suitable Tenants

We will always try to find you suitable, good quality Tenants in line with your stated preferences.

At Boatwrights, we take our own view on prospective Tenants based on our initial dealings with them. We then use a professional, independent company to conduct referencing, credit and other checks – this ensures that no corners are cut and that you quite rightly end up with the right Tenants.

Complying with the Law

More and more legislation is coming out every year, making it increasingly difficult for Landlords to comply. Even though some of the legislation is not ‘statutory’, if anything does go wrong, then you may still end up with a fine or imprisonment. It may well be better therefore to leave it to a professional letting agent to manage the whole process for you.

If you choose one of our ‘Fully Managed’ Services, we will ensure you comply with current law and legislation. If you choose one of our ‘Tenant Find’ Services you will need to ensure you comply. For more advice about complying with the law, click here.

Protecting Your Asset

If you choose one of our ‘Fully Managed’ Services, managing your property efficiently becomes our top priority and we will act professionally at all times to protect your asset. We will always look to proactively prevent issues wherever possible – but will work to resolve them quickly if they do arise!

At Boatwrights, we believe that looking after your property and dealing with issues quickly helps to safeguard your property’s condition and therefore value. In addition, your Tenants will take better care of it and when they do leave, the property will be better presented – thereby allowing us to re-let it more quickly to suitable Tenants at a better market rent (or sell it for a better price if that is your preferred choice).

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