The last thing anyone wants is the property to be taken away and switch letting agents. But the decision to do so isn’t one that’s taken lightly.
I felt it necessary to address this concern as since starting with the business in July 2021, I have had numerous conversations with landlords that are wanting to switch letting agents, and take their business elsewhere.
I Want To Switch Letting Agents
Reasons Why A Landlord Would Want To Take Their Property Back
Fees, fees. fees. Maybe you’re being hesitant about the costs?
No, most landlords won’t go through the hassle of taking their business elsewhere just because of costs – unless what they were paying is significantly more – from my experience it’s come down to the service they’ve received.
More to the point, the lack of service.
Your property is yours. Although being managed by an agent, essentially you should still be kept in the loop. Whether a new baby has arrived, an occupant has unfortunately lost their job, or even £20 was spent on a new shower hose out of the rent money!
These are all aspects that should be relayed to you from your letting agent, if not, you might be considering to switch letting agents.
If they aren’t doing these simple things, how can you trust them to do anything more thorough?
How Do I Switch Letting Agents?
Well, this topic is a little more difficult to clarify.
It entirely depends on the agreement, and most agency agreements will have clauses to take your property away from them, which can sometimes involve applicable fees.
Each agreement will differ between letting agents, dig yours out and scour through it. The likelihood is that you didn’t pay particular attention to that section when you signed up – but then again – why would you?
By this point you’ll have already expressed your concerns with your managing agent, if you’re looking to cut them off, explain why and explain your dissatisfaction with their service.
Making them aware of your long-term dissatisfaction may help in your favour of strengthening why you’d want your property back.
I Managed To Get My Property Back, I Want To Switch Letting Agents
Great, with your – albeit negative – experience under your belt, you’ll know what to look for next.
- Reviews, take a look at the world’s largest search engine, Google. Google ‘letting agent‘, and see who comes out on top. Most reviewed, highest rated, lengthiest attributed comments.
All good set-points to follow to ensure you’re using a tried and tested agent who knows what they’re doing. - Services. See what services are on offer when you narrow down the 1-2-3 agents, and how each package best suits the needs of both you and your property.
Together with seeking out their communication guidelines or policies, it’ll give you a good indication of whether you should work with them or not. - The cost. The cost is going to be a major contributing factor when working with someone. But remember, you’ve just left an agent as their standards weren’t up to scratch, think back, could this be because they were a ‘budget’ choice?
You know what they say, pay peanuts and you’ll get monkeys (From my experience it’s not usually actual monkeys, just untrained or inexperienced property managers!).
Find a letting agent that has a common middle-ground with their applicable fees, sat in the middle of the market with a comprehensive level of service to match! It’ll help save you from attempting to have to switch letting agents again!
What Next?
Follow the vital steps I’ve outlined above, and it’ll pave a simpler way to finding the comfort you’re after.
If in doubt, speak to an alternative professional in the field to get some impartial advice on how to switch letting agents.
If you’re in the Luton area, give me a call, or drop me a message. I’ll endevor to help you to the best of my ability. Failing that we also have a legal department on hand to address and resolve issues relatively quickly!
