So we are in the less than ideal process of having sold our house (see here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18522662) and have 4 weeks to find something. The problem seems to be the lack of supply to meet demand. I think the letting agents know this so the standard of service they provide is non-existent.
A couple of examples:
I called one letting agent last Thursday to be told that there was no one in the office for a couple of days to help me as they were all on holiday
Why advertise a house for rent if you aren't going to have anyone there to deal with it? I'd be livid if I was the landlord. Anyway, after 1/2 calls per day (this house was probably the best we could hope for) it's removed from the market as the neighbour might want to rent the house. Not strictly the letting agents fault but they never return my calls or give me any confidence that they knew what they were doing, an absolute waste of time all in all.
Second example today was a bungalow which looked half decent. The agent turns up 10-15 minutes late with no call to apologise or give us any warning. I'm stood outside with my partner and 10 month old baby who wants to go to bed. When this kid arrives (after approaching the house at speed and braking harshly), he seems pretty put out that I told him it was unprofessional for him to be so late and I would have expected a call to let me know what's going on. Then his sales pitch began, every room we had him stating the obvious and asking us what our thoughts were. In the end I told him it would be best if he allowed us to look around and we will ask him any questions if we were to have any. The garage was unusable (damp and looked like it was about to fall down), the master bedroom (which was a loft conversion) was so poorly thought out and tight that it would be impossible to get any furniture up there and the bathroom was basic to say the least.
The house was probably £200/250 per month over priced and they won't negotiate on the tenancy term or the price. The amount of dust suggests it's been sitting there empty for some time. I have absolutely no doubt someone will snap it up though and therefore the letting agent have done their job.
I was also told today that an agent had just taken on a semi detached end of terrace I called about another place without any pictures and it was completely different to how it was described to me (the pictures were woeful as well, all out of focus and wonky). Do these people not take any pride in the service they provide or the brand of their employer?
A couple of examples:
I called one letting agent last Thursday to be told that there was no one in the office for a couple of days to help me as they were all on holiday
Why advertise a house for rent if you aren't going to have anyone there to deal with it? I'd be livid if I was the landlord. Anyway, after 1/2 calls per day (this house was probably the best we could hope for) it's removed from the market as the neighbour might want to rent the house. Not strictly the letting agents fault but they never return my calls or give me any confidence that they knew what they were doing, an absolute waste of time all in all.Second example today was a bungalow which looked half decent. The agent turns up 10-15 minutes late with no call to apologise or give us any warning. I'm stood outside with my partner and 10 month old baby who wants to go to bed. When this kid arrives (after approaching the house at speed and braking harshly), he seems pretty put out that I told him it was unprofessional for him to be so late and I would have expected a call to let me know what's going on. Then his sales pitch began, every room we had him stating the obvious and asking us what our thoughts were. In the end I told him it would be best if he allowed us to look around and we will ask him any questions if we were to have any. The garage was unusable (damp and looked like it was about to fall down), the master bedroom (which was a loft conversion) was so poorly thought out and tight that it would be impossible to get any furniture up there and the bathroom was basic to say the least.
The house was probably £200/250 per month over priced and they won't negotiate on the tenancy term or the price. The amount of dust suggests it's been sitting there empty for some time. I have absolutely no doubt someone will snap it up though and therefore the letting agent have done their job.
I was also told today that an agent had just taken on a semi detached end of terrace
I called about another place without any pictures and it was completely different to how it was described to me (the pictures were woeful as well, all out of focus and wonky). Do these people not take any pride in the service they provide or the brand of their employer?
