Streetlife

Hi there I don't think there is much in it. I would choose a local agent I have heard of and whose office looks good and I would choose the cheapest on price. I imagine Foxton's charges would be among the highest but they are professional. I think they mostly deal with corporate lets though. Get the agent round and they will give you a rental price and a sample contract so you can see their terms. Any agent will require you to let for 6 months plus. You could consider letting it yourself if you are nearby to avoid all charges. People look on Gumtree for places to rent.

I would use Colin Brown of Seymour Green.  They are local, very helpful and charge a flat fee not a fat fee.

Foxtons will charge the earth.  I would suggest Woollens (I know the owner and hes a decent guy) or Quinton Scott.

Thanks everyone - good variety of thought 

Samuel Estates in Balham come highly recommended by many Streetlifers. I was going to use them but ended up doing it privately with no regrets.

Hi,
Give Diana at Personal Property Management, 07971 786712.
She manages my property and is just the best.

Hi there,

I have let a house in Mandrake Rd for the last 4 years and have tried many of the local agents. 

Without question I have had the best tenants and best service from both Sullivan Thomas and John D. Wood. If you are letting a house I would recommend only taking a family, they will take responsibility for your house and it will be in their interests to look after it. Sharers will trash the place and there will be constant churn of tenants who will blame each other for dilapidation.

Put the place in perfect order before you let it and get a good inventory clerk to record the check-in and check-out. They can arbitrate as to what is fair wear and tear and what is damage. Treat your tenants fairly by fixing any problems straight away and you should have very few issues.

Good luck.

Do you need the agent to manage it? If not, try Gumtree. As a renter Gumtree is by far the best way of finding somewhere to rent.

From a tenant's point of view I can't stand letting agents and would rather go with an independent landlord but from my extensive experience, Palace Gate Estates are the least worst option.

Hi David
I have heard good things about Realm estates on Old York Road SW18 and they have another office in Southfields ,.
They are very grown up, and respect your home when it comes to finding tennants to suit as they are very strict, I work with many home owners that use Realms and they are extremely happy with them.
Hope it helps !

Have people found that the service received depends on the actual people in the office rather than the corporate name of the company?

Well Simon, its a mixture of both company ethos and the attitude of the staff. I tried F*****s briefly and found both to be dreadful. In the end its about finding an agency with good staff who stay, and a company culture of long term client satisfaction put ahead of short term profit. Hence my dealings with Sullivan Thomas and John D. Wood who have both been excellent.

I bet you wished you never asked !!

I don't think it's fair to say all sharers will trash the place! I have a work colleague who is also a uni student looking to rent with 3 friends & wouldn't trash the place, if you are willing to take a chance send me a pm & we can go from there. Doing it privately will also save on agent fees, if you choose to go through an agent I'd do some research & see who rents out the most in your area. The big boys will charge the most but get it done quickly but a small local agent may be better. Quite a few on Bellevue road that might be of interest, can't remember the names though sorry.

I've rented for many years. I dispensed with agents & used www.gumtree.com .  I asked for 3 references; Bank, job & previous landlord. And I interview personally & get a signed (ordinary type) Contract.  The vital things: get an Inventory Clerk before & after; you pay before, they pay on leaving. I recommend daliabradley@hotmail.com whom I have used for 5 years.
And use the Government Deposit Scheme; http://www.depositprotection.com/about

When you interview, ask everything you want you know & let them do the same. If noise is a factor, add it to the Contract. Make sure everything is perfect when they go in-check all references & insist they have a cleaning lady. Good luck.

I've just used Foxtons to sell a house and was pleasantly surprised by them. Their letting division might be different.

I've been a tenant and a landlord and rather object to the view that sharers will care for a property less than a family. As a sharer, I lived in one flat for 8 years and cared for it well. As a landlord, one couple, who then had a child, treated our property with very little respect, stole furniture and left without paying (that was through an agency, who we paid to manage the flat).

To be honest, unless you want the agency to manage the property, you may as well rent it privately and save yourself the fees. Most agents appear to not do much in the way of vetting and charge through the nose for everything.

Ah but what if he gets a B ? The house will look Beirut !!

I have used Edmund Cude in Northcote Road, who are not necessarily the cheapest but are efficient, and you have the reassurance that they will sort out any tangles with tenants and contracts, inventories, etc. They do also take references before accepting tenants, and report back to you. You can choose to manage the property yourself (sort out repairs, getting rid of mice etc) and just have the agents dealing with the tenants, or pay more to have the agents do all that for you too. Read the contracts carefully - you will have landlord's obligations and responsibilities as well as the tenants.

Laura