Dress for Success (aka Property Staging)

There’s a saying that you should dress for the job that you want. We think the same applies when it comes to finding new tenants or a buyer for your property.

We’re all well-versed in the concept of property dressing within the sales market. You may even have heard stories of people putting the coffee on or leaving out freshly baked bread in the kitchen before viewings to create that ambiance. What is becoming far more common however is dressing lettings properties to attract discerning tenants, particularly in central London.

When marketing, if a property looks a little bit tired and run down – even something as simple as not being professionally cleaned or if it has a few marks on the wall – it sets the tone. Our experience is that tenants look after a property in line with it is handed over. Start with a property in good/great condition and with the right tenant, it will stay that way. Wear and tear is natural, however this can be minimised from the start along with the cost of repair works and void periods between tenancies.

Property dressing is a fantastic way to present your property in the best possible light. For this recent project, we arranged a dressing rental & styling package on behalf of the landlord to supplement the existing furniture already in place. Costs vary, but expect to spend at least £750+VAT for dressing and styling on a two bedroom flat. Typically you’ll have the option to keep the dressing items in the property for an agreed length of time (rather than just for the photos) which means it still looks impressive for viewings.

If you choose the to do-it-yourself approach, bear in mind that A LOT of property searching now happens via mobile phones - so the images are small and need to stand out whilst scrolling. Avoid too much clutter (if in doubt, less is always more). Colour can be eye-catching and greenery makes a property immediately look more appealing (and is very on trend). Ultimately, your images need to be arresting enough for someone to click on your listing and book a viewing. Your property needs to stand up to the visual standards most people have come to unconsciously expect via social media. A well-styled property can produce excellent images that do this for you and make yours stand out from the crowd.

Next week, we’ll be featuring a truly surprising method of dressing your property – virtual staging.

For more details or recommendations to our preferred interior designers, get in touch and check out more before and after photos on our Instagram @maplewoodproperty.

Things You Don't Know About Your Estate Agent: Part 1

The agent who lets your rental property will never speak to your tenant again 

At Maplewood, we’re all about transparency so we’ve decided to lift the lid and show you the inside workings at your typical high street estate agent. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be revealing things you probably didn’t know about your agent. Intrigued? Read on…

If your property is managed by a large or mid-size, multi-branch high street agent, you might be surprised to learn just how far apart are the functions of letting your property and managing your property (and managing your tenant). Consider the number of people involved in the lettings process:

1.     Manager / Valuer / Director: The person who initially comes to meet you at your property and provide a valuation. They’re experienced senior staff whose time is most valuable in convincing you of their company’s ability to let your property and get you to sign on the dotted line.

2.     Office Administrator: Having signed terms, the office administrator back in the office is tasked with creating the marketing materials – the descriptions and brochures seen online. They very rarely will actually step foot in your property, but hopefully they know the area.   

3.     Negotiators: Often on very low base salaries (£15k/year in London is not uncommon), negotiators compete with each other to let your property; their commission depends on it. They can be known to ‘encourage’ multi-year offers regardless of your preferences as break clauses eat into their commission.   

4.     Tenancy Co-ordinator: Once you’ve selected a tenant, the negotiator hands over the tenant’s details to a tenancy co-ordinator (and hopefully with the right information). With luck, this person can complete the referencing and move-in process for you and your new tenant.

5.     Property Manager: After move-in, if a tenant has any issues, they don’t follow up with any of the people they have connected with thus far. A separate property management team looks after any maintenance issues and tenant aftercare.

This chain, when well-oiled, can work very well however it does rely on potentially FIVE different people being excellent at their jobs – and assuming you speak to the same person within each of those roles every time. As with anything, communication is key and when considering the letting of your property, don’t be afraid to ask detailed questions on who takes care of what steps of the process.

Contact us for more information about the process behind the scenes.

Tenants from Hell

We’ve been speaking to a number of landlords recently who are experiencing ‘less than perfect’ tenant scenarios. We’ve heard just about everything over the years from unscrupulous agents pocketing deposits and disappearing without a trace, seemingly perfect tenants installing locks and subletting rooms in unauthorised rent-to-rent accommodation right through to straight-forward squatters – and even a marijuana farm!

As a landlord, how can you protect yourself from these expensive, stressful and time-consuming mistakes and what should you be looking for when choosing an agent to market your property? Once the agent has found new tenants, how do you know if they are any good? You did check, right? In this market you should have a choice of good tenants.

Read on for our top tips to avoid the tenants from hell…

It seems simplistic, but nine times out of ten, a good agent is going to sniff out a problem tenant and avoid introducing them to your property in the first place. Experienced agents have met tens of thousands of potential tenants and should know when something isn’t right. The tenant’s story doesn’t stack up, the source of funds are questionable, the tenant is overly keen or pushy etc. Start by choosing the right estate agent for you.

Ask yourself (or the agent):

• Are they registered with a redress scheme, like The Property Ombudsman? Details of registration with a redress scheme should be clearly visible on their company website and in their communications with you. It’s also a legal requirement. Do they have Client Money Protection? Are they a member of PropertyMark? (The largest professional body for both estate and letting agents respectively.)

• How long has the company been operating and how long has the agent been in the industry? Specifically, who is the individual working on your property? The agency might be ancient but the individual meeting your potential tenants is the person who counts. Do they have less letting experience than the tenants we’re trying to avoid?

• When selecting new tenants, what kind of referencing is your agent undertaking? Does your agent provide you with the referencing reports? Do they undertake any independent checks via open sources like social media and Companies House? Are they checking the tenant’s legal right to rent?

• After move-in, does your agent provide you with a copy of the tenancy agreement, deposit registration certificate and inventory? We’re surprised to hear how often these basic documents are not in place or are not legally-binding – and your ability to take legal action to evict a tenant later on is reliant on the documentation that was issued to a tenant when moving in.

• Are the property management team equipped to deal with such tenants and scenarios? Do they have the experience to realise something isn’t right and then deal with it early? Are they visiting the property for inspections and are you receiving a report of the condition of the property? 

Ultimately, with these simple points in mind, do you trust your agent?

Thinking about it differently, would you hire them to work in your business? Are they reliable, responsible, communicative and transparent? If you have any doubts or any warning bells are ringing, it’s time to pull the plug on this relationship. Ultimately, you are trusting this person with something incredibly valuable, your investment property or portfolio.

We’re launching a landlord advice service where you can connect with us to discuss tricky situations – large or small. Be it a tenant wanting to leave before their notice period, requesting a change in the date they pay rent, clarifying the legal requirements for valid eviction proceedings, or managing the timing of a property sale with tenants in situ, we can offer friendly expertise and there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Let us know what you think and if you think this service would be useful to you. We’ll be announcing the details shortly so keep an eye on our website and social media.

4 Reasons A Property Doesn't Sell

Image: Towfiqu Barbhuiya

Our friends over at leading property data company, Homesearch, have recently been discussing the reasons why a property doesn’t sell, and we tend to agree.

Even in a strong market like this one, there are four possible reasons why a property isn’t selling. Consider the following:

• The Marketing - How do the marketing materials stack up against those for similar properties? Do the photos grab your attention? Are your property’s best and most attractive features on show? Is the listing information accurate, clear, well-written and compelling? Is a virtual tour available?

• The Presentation - On viewings, is the house presented at its best? Is it bright, clean, tidy and welcoming to viewers? Is someone there early to open up and let them in?

• The Agent - Are you happy with your agent and the service they’ve been providing? Are they an expert? Do you trust them? Are they communicative, transparent and honest in their feedback?

• The Price - All property owners would like to sell their property for the best possible price. However, a buyer will only pay what the house is worth to THEM. The market ultimately dictates the pricing. If you’re confident in the marketing, presentation and your agent, it’s the price that is holding things up. This is likely to be the key to getting more people through the door and encouraging them to make an offer.

Ask yourself: Do you agree? What do you think stops a property from selling? What’s been your experience? And, of course, if we can help, please do get in touch.

New Courts to Tackle Backlog of Evictions

Lord Chancellor Unveils Plans for Ten 'Nightingale Courts'

On 19 July the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland, announced that ten ‘Nightingale Courts’ would be set up rapidly to help deal with the backlog of evictions proceedings. With court services having been suspended from March for all ongoing housing possession action in England and Wales due to the coronavirus, the industry has been expressing increasing concern at the significant backlog in the Courts.

On 22 July, it was announced that possession proceedings would recommence from 23 August and MP Christopher Pincher, whilst recognising that the prioritisation of cases is the job of the judiciary, expressed his belief that it is important that serious and antisocial cases be heard as soon as possible.

Two of the new Courts will be located in London and other measures are also being put into place to ease the pressure on the court system, including longer opening hours in order to increase the number of cases that can be heard in a day and continuing to use video technology to hear cases where appropriate.

Through our considerate and professional dealing with our tenants, we have a great track record of keeping our landlords up-to-date with their rent payments.

To work with us - and help avoid the build-up of arrears that can lead to a lengthy eviction proceeding - contact us now.