Landlord's Guide to Letting Property

Once you have decided which service you wish to opt for and instruct us, you will need to provide us with your anti-money laundering documents along with proof of ownership of the property. Neilson & Bauer will then act swiftly to let your property.

We will set out a marketing plan and outline all legal requirements. These will include matters such as the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), Gas Safety Certificate and Electrical Safety Check.

We will also provide you with a set of draft property particulars for your approval. Once you have confirmed you are happy with these, we will place your rental property on the market. Your property will be immediately listed on our website NeilsonBauer.com, as well as the major property internet portal such as Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and Primelocation.

In a fast paced world, you only have a few seconds to really engage and make an impression to not only encourage a potential tenant to view your property, but get them excited to do so. All lettings staff will visit your property prior to launch and the commencement of viewings with suitable tenants. This enables the team to discuss your property with confidence, whilst actively marketing. This will help minimise any void period.

We have great presence in the local area, and as we are located on Upper Street we have significant foot flow passing our office. This will be beneficial when we display your property in our window.

You only get one chance to create a first impression and as Graham's mum would say: “First impressions count!”

So, to ensure you make the right first impression we would advise you to look at your whole property with a critical eye.

If your property is rented and your tenant/s aren’t too house proud, you may wish to consider getting a cleaner to pop round once a week before viewings. This is something Neilson & Bauer can arrange for you.

We would ask you to provide us with a good key (and not the tricky one that you loathe to use). Once again, it’s about ensuring that we work together to create the right impression.

If your property is currently rented out, we would recommend a three day gap between your current tenant/s leaving and your new tenant/s moving in. This will enable you to check and arrange any further cleaning or light remedial works that may be necessary. This will create an excellent and lasting first impression for your new tenant/s.

Although this may be tricky in terms of timing, especially if your property is currently tenanted, you may wish to take out the paint brush and give your property a touch up, if required. It’s amazing what a lick of paint can do in terms of revitalising your property. Also, if your property is offered to the market in excellent condition, it is more likely that your tenant/s will wish to enter into a long-term tenancy.

Also, if possible, try to create as much floor space as possible. This may even require some things going into storage or asking your current tenant/s to have a tidy up. Although it may seem like a burden, this can significantly enhance your chances of letting your property swiftly.

When it comes to achieving the best possible rental price, we have the expertise in achieving this. Neilson & Bauer offers an hour’s free advice from our in-house property ‘doctor’ and interior designer. Please contact us if you want us to put you in touch.

Neilson & Bauer will put all offers to you promptly and keep you informed of negotiations. Once we have found you a tenant/s, we will ask the tenant/s to fill out our online pre-qualification offer form.

Wonderful news! Once you have accepted the tenants’ offer, we will require the tenant/s to put down a holding deposit of one week’s rent. At this stage, we will obtain references for the tenant/s and make sure they are eligible to rent your property. We will ensure the tenant/s fill out our online application form, which requires them to upload a copy of their passport and, if applicable, details of their visa status.

Once the tenant/s have completed their online application form and passed referencing, the next step will be signing the tenancy agreement. Please note, this is a legally binding contract and if you have any specific clauses you wish to add to the tenancy agreement, this must be done promptly (and before the agreement is signed).

We will ask the tenant/s to pay the balance of their move in monies at least 48 hours prior to the tenancy beginning. This will equate to four weeks’ rent and one month’s rent in advance. The initial one week’s deposit that the tenant/s placed at the offer stage can be added to the four weeks’ rent. Therefore, the tenant/s will be putting down a five week deposit, which will be held under the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). For further information regarding the TDS, please visit their website or our link our Reference Library. If you are registered to hold the deposit, then we will forward the deposit directly to you.

Exciting times! We will arrange for the inventory to take place on the property on the day the tenant/s move into the property. Once this has taken place, we will hand over the keys to the tenant/s. Subsequently, you will receive a copy of the inventory, which we would advise you to check and keep safe. The inventory is a comprehensive document that takes a couple of days to draft, but, needless to say, we will send this to you as soon as we receive it.

If you intend managing your property yourself, we will pass on your details to the tenant/s and vice versa.

Neilson & Bauer are proud to have teamed up with a high quality Wealth Management and Financial Advisory company who can assist with any of your financial queries, from acquiring a buy-to-let mortgage to suit you, to wealth management to tax planning. For further information please click on the link below.