Page 7 - Russell & Buttler

all meters are also taken at this time where accessible and readings documented. The inventory will also include contents held within the property. Prior to the inventory company attending, all landlords personal items must be removed and the property should be cleaned throughout, to include interior and exterior windows. We require ovens, hobs and extractor fans to be professionally cleaned, an invoice confirming this will be attached to the ongoing inventory with the tenants required to have the same professional cleaning carried out at their expense on vacating
the property. Chimneys should also be swept and an invoice provided, again the tenants will be required to have the same completed on vacating and at least once annually during their occupation. Grass should be cut and all borders weeded.
Periodic Inspection Visits
We will visit the property on a quarterly basis during the first year of the tenancy to ensure that the property is being looked after and the terms of the tenancy are being adhered to, together with advising the landlord of any maintenance issues which we
feel require addressing either at the that time, or in the future. A written report will then be emailed to the landlord together with supporting photographs where relevant. Should the tenant be found to look after the property beautifully during the first year of their occupation with no concerns raised, we will then continue with six monthly inspections.
Maintenance Issues
Russell & Butler will action any repairs and renewals the landlord is responsible for in accordance with your wishes. We will work with a pre-set limit for all minor maintenance issues reported by the tenant unless instructed otherwise, whereby we will proceed with automatic instruction of the relevant contractor for the job. We will however also email the landlord
at this time, providing all details of the maintenance issue raised and advising that a contractor has been instructed. All invoices are received by Russell & Butler with copies emailed to the landlord for their reference, a further copy is then sent to our accounts company to process from the next month’s rent received. All of our contractors are carefully sourced to ensure that they are trustworthy and will provide good quality workmanship at a reasonable cost to the landlord.
Tenancy Renewals and Annual Rent Reviews
We will contact the tenants approximately three months prior to the expiry of their current tenancy agreement, enquiring as to their future plans relating to the tenancy. We will then contact the landlord with any requests from the tenants moving forward in order to gain their approval prior to proceeding. We will revalue the property on an annual basis and discuss with the landlord whether to implement any rent increase and, if instructed to do so, we will then put this forward to the tenant and action this.
Move Out
Once notified of an intention to move out of
the property by a tenant, Russell & Butler will automatically begin to advertise the property for
a new tenant with the landlords consent. We will arrange a date for a final move out inspection and
will conduct a thorough check against the ingoing inventory and photographs. If there are any issues,
we will email the landlord a detailed report of our findings and offer the landlord the opportunity to
also inspect the property to confirm our findings. Once the landlord is in agreement to the content of our report, a copy of this will then be emailed to the tenant for their response. Any damage or cleaning will be discussed and where necessary, contractors will
be instructed to attend to any work required and will inform the tenants of deductions to be claimed from the tenant’s security deposit held. Once all deductions have been agreed by both the landlord and tenant, the remainder of the deposit will then be returned to the tenant.
Legal Compliance
We will ensure that the landlord remains compliant with all statutory and contractual obligations before the tenancy begins and throughout the tenancy. Russell & Butler lettings has a dedicated team
for all of your lettings and property management requirements, we fully appreciate that our landlords are entrusting us to look after their most valuable asset. Not all letting agents are the same and as a landlord who is searching for an agent, most agents appear to offer similar services, this doesn’t always mean that you will be provided with the same dedicated level of knowledge, service and experience. There are now over 170 pieces of legislation which landlords must adhere to and which have been increasing year on year, good agents will be undertaking constant ongoing training in order to keep up to date with all of these changes in order
to prevent landlords falling foul of the Law, which
can result in serious financial penalties and even imprisonment in some cases, this requires substantial time and investment from agents. Russell & Butler offer an honest transparent approach to our business, with a drive and passion to provide excellent customer service and advice to our landlords.
Buy-To-Let-Advice
If you are a potential landlord looking to purchase your first investment property and are unsure of
the best property or area in which to choose, we
can provide expert knowledge and help guide you through the process. If you would like to discuss the services we offer in more detail together with our fees, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01280 815999 and select option 2 for the lettings team or visit our website: www.russellandbutler.com