Landlords

Our Letting Services to you.

We at Alpha Estate Agents understand that letting your property, especially for the first time, can be an worrying experience and with this in mind our most important consideration is providing you the Landlord with the best possible service and the right tenant for your property.

We never forget that the property is your most important asset and we can confidently assure you that by instructing Alpha to act as you’re letting and Management Agents your asset will be in professional and caring hands.

Let Only/ Tenant find

Our Let Only Service is perfect for the landlord who wants to be hands-on. We will find you a great tenant, advise you about your legal obligations and then leave you to enjoy your tenancy. The service is set out below:

Market Appraisal

• We provide a Market Report on your property
• We use the data gathered in the Market Report to advise you on your expected rental income
• We get to know you and provide a tailor-made service
• We offer maintenance and improvement advice, letting you know what improvements you can make to increase your rental income

Regulation and Compliance

We check that the property is in compliance with all current regulations (see our Landlords’ Guide for more information about regulations) and advise you as to what you need to do. We can also arrange for the property to be brought into compliance.

• Ensuring that specific furnishings must meet the minimum standards of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988
• Obtaining an annual Gas Safety Check under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
• Obtaining an Energy Performance Certificate
• It is optional but good practice to get an Electrical Equipment Check
• If your property is an HMO, there are further regulations to comply with

High Profile Marketing

Here at Alpha we organise high profile marketing campaigns for each property on our books.

• We advertise on all major property portals, including Rightmove and Zoopla
• We also advertise on our own website
• We use a database to match potential tenants with your property
• We use quality images from a high resolution DSLR Camera
• We use highly descriptive writing to ensure that your property gets the attention it deserves
• We periodically advertise in local newspapers
• We utilise “To Let” boards so that potential tenants can see your property is available
• We are an established local company and we use our local links to publicise your property
• Our adverts include QR codes so that potential tenants can get instant information on your property

Viewings & Feedback

• We are able to offer short-notice viewings due to the central location of our office
• We provide registered tenants
• We qualify tenants over the phone prior to viewing
• We provide feedback reports with online statistics and viewer feedback

Applicants and Offers

Finding the right tenant really is the key to a successful tenancy. We do all we can to ensure that you are happy with your tenant.

• Prospective tenants undergo an extensive assessment procedure
• A financial check including a credit check and a fraud check
• An employer check to verify identification and salary
• A previous landlord check to vet character and to check if there were any rent arrears and the condition that the property was left in
• We will pre-vet tenants according to your requests, for example if you would prefer no smokers or no pets. Obviously we cannot vet according to illegal requirements such as age, sex or race discrimination!
• All offers will be put to the landlord and the landlord can select the best offer. We provide all the information we can when it comes to this final decision-making
• We use negative terms on the client’s behalf to achieve the best outcome possible for our client, for example negative rent level, core terms of the contract or move-in dates (to avoid a long void period

Contracts and Agreements

• We will discuss and provide the right contract for you, for example aL odger licence, an Assured short hold tenancy or a Deed (for long leases)
• Our contracts are all easy to read and understand
• Our contracts cover the landlords, with reference to the latest legislation
• Our contracts are almost exclusively at a minimum of six months

Inventory

We highly recommend that you instruct us to carry out an inventory, which will help in case of dispute at the end of a tenancy.

Move-in day

• On move-in day we meet the landlord and tenant at the property, introduce them and exchange their phone numbers
• The landlord and tenant will sign and exchange contracts
• We take meter readings for the gas, electricity and water
• We inform the council of the change of tenancy
• We provide the landlord with a landlord pack which includes tenants’ references, inventory,a landlord statement, the contract and the forward rent and deposit minus the agreed commission

Rent Collection Service

In addition to all of the services provided in our Let Only Service, for our Rent Collection Service we also take care of the following:

• Collecting rent & transferring it to you via BACs transfer, less our agreed fees
• Monitoring rent payments
• Issuing monthly rent statements
• Negotiating a rent review according to the current market
• Notification if the tenant falls behind on rent
• Issuing rent arrears letter to the tenants
• Protecting tenants’ security deposits via a government-approved scheme
• Check-out: we provide a check out at the end of tenancy providing that the inventory has been carried out by Alpha

Full Property Management

Our Full Management Service gives you complete peace of mind, knowing that your property is in safe hands, being managed by qualified professionals who are experts in their field. This ensures the optimum performance of your property and the smooth running of your tenancy.

In addition to all the services covered by Let Only and Rent Collect, in Full Management we take care of the following:

• Arranging and supervising repairs and maintenance
• Property inspections every quarter
• Fully qualified & approved tradesmen
• Full negotiation of deposit return
• Issuing notices for possession and rent arrears
• Overseas landlord registration
• Pursuing rent arrears
• Instigating legal action

Rest assured all the management needs of a property are covered in our service; we pride ourselves in ensuring that we act in the best interests of our clients.

When your tenant decides to leave

• We will contact you for re-let instructions
• Commence re-marketing
• Return tenants’ deposit once we are informed of the mutual agreement between the landlord and tenant
• Arrange repair and cleaning (if required)
• Make the required preparations for the new tenancy

When the contract expires

When the contract expires, the agreement will continue on a periodic basis unless otherwise agreed.

Our Price Promise

We guarantee to beat any agency quote on ANY service.

The potential landlord would provide us with either a verbal or written quote from an agent highlighting the amount (inc VAT) they have received, and the details of the service provided.

The amount by which we guarantee to beat the quote is determined upon original quote and service.