Landlord Information

The First Steps

Having your property in our portfolio is essential to us, we will start the process at our desk by gaining as much information as we can, then visit your property to carry out a detailed inspection to formulate a realistic marketing price.

Call us to arrange for one of our team to look at your property. We will provide you with an accurate guide as to the likely rental return that the property will achieve. We may even be able to do this over the telephone if you require a rough guideline and will base it upon other similar properties that we have recently let.

We will run through our comprehensive marketing strategy with you including portal, website & social media advertising which we do more of than any other agents locally.

If you decide to go ahead and instruct us, we will arrange professional photography, floorplan, and market video where necessary, we will present your property at its very best.

Accompanied Viewings

We believe that accompanied viewings are essential and the best way to let your property, we recommend that the property is empty while we accompany any viewings.

All viewers are qualified before they physically view your property establishing their contact details and letting position. We will not arrange viewings for tenants that are just generally looking or want to compare with other properties they are viewing unless they can convince us otherwise. Same-day feedback will be provided via WhatsApp/text or email and then followed up by phone, if possible, the very next day.

Fully Managed or Tenant-Find Only

For many, this question is easily answered – Fully Managed! Why would you want the hassle of dealing with your tenants directly, collecting their rent and worrying about your property? With a fully managed option, we take the stress and hassle out of the process for you, and we will deal with any problems that might arise.

If you do want a tenant find only, that’s fine of course – ADKINS Property will still carry out all the checks and take a full inventory etc. After your tenants move in, we’ll hand them over to you for the remainder of the tenancy. At any stage you want us to take over the management, then we’d be delighted to do so.

Finding a Tenant

We’ll leave no stone unturned with our marketing as we advertise extensively on all the popular property portals and extensive social media.

On top of this, we have an up-to-date mailing list to ensure we match the right tenants to your property, not just any tenant! Once we have a tenant interested, we then carry out a full credit/reference check to ensure we know as much as we can about your prospective tenant. If necessary, we’ll ask the tenant to appoint guarantors if the need arises.

Before Moving In

Before your tenant moves in, we will complete a photographic inventory so there is no argument over the condition and what was included in the rental. We will also read the meters, arrange for the keys to be ready, ensure any safety checks are completed and ask you to ensure that the property is clean and ready for your tenant to move in to.

Whether it is fully managed, or tenant find only we will complete the tenancy agreement, collect the first months’ rent, ask the tenants to set up a standing order for future rent payments and take a deposit (see below).

Deposit

Current legislation means that any deposit taken for a rental property must be held in an approved scheme. Adkins will pay your tenants’ deposit into a government-backed scheme and supply you and them with the details. This safeguards everybody and protects the deposit.

At the end of the tenancy, assuming everything is ok, the deposit is returned to the tenant once the checkout process is completed. If there are grounds to retain some of the deposit, then this can be put to the scheme for a decision.

Insurance

The landlord will generally be responsible for insurance of the property being let and is advised to check that appropriate building insurance has been obtained. It is also prudent to check the policy provides cover when the property is let since many policies specifically exclude cover in this situation.

As a landlord, it is wise to ensure that the insurance includes protection against public liability. There is a small risk that a defect in the property could cause injury to a third party for which a landlord could become liable. Most policies drawn up specifically for the rented property will contain such cover.

The landlord should also consider taking cover for any contents provided in the property (especially for furnished accommodation) either as an extension of the building’s insurance or as a separate policy.

Moving In

We will hand over the keys to the new tenants on the day the tenancy starts.

After Moving In

The tenants are in, and you have some rent! If we are fully managing the property, we will arrange an inspection after the 1st quarter and then annual inspections after that. In the meantime, the tenant will contact us (if fully managed) or you if there are any issues. Equally, if you need advice then you can call us.

Notice

If you want to regain possession again, this needs to be done in writing and can only be done after a set period (outlined in the tenancy agreement). The minimum length of a tenancy is usually 6 months, and this will be explained to you when you sign your agreement.

Moving Out

Once a date has been agreed for the tenant to move out, we will complete the checkout process, which involves meter readings, condition checks against the inventory and getting this signed off by you, the landlord. We will then apply to have the deposit returned to the tenant so long as it is in the condition it was at the beginning of the tenancy.