Taylor Engall

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The following is a brief guide to how we can help you let your property.

We have outlined the key stages below that you will need to go through, however we are only a phone call away if you need further guidance (01284 725800). Alternatively feel free to pop into our offices in Churchgate Street or email us with any questions.

Establishing Your Property's Rental Value
Promoting your rental
Preparing Your Property
Gas Safety
Electricity
Tax
Tenants References
Consents
Insurance
Arranging the Tenancy
Management

Establishing Your Property’s Rental Value
One of Taylor Engall’s experienced representatives will visit your home to meet with you and inspect the property at a convenient time. We will discuss the needs relevant to your own situation, market forces and current demand, previous transactions in your street and activity levels with other properties similar to your own.

From this we will be able to advise you on the value range applicable to your property and anything we think you can do to enhance this value. We will then suggest an appropriate monthly rental fee.

Promoting your property
Having established the rental value of your property and decided to go onto the market, we will promote your property on the rentals market.

Choosing Taylor Engall means:

1. That you will receive expert local knowledge from staff who have lived and worked in the area all their lives which ensures accurate and professional advice on all aspects of the property market.
2. We will match our database of new tenants to your property. You will gain access to a vast number of potential tenants via our ever expanding mailing list.
3. We will advertise your property in the local paper.
4. We will promote your property in our window.
5. Your property will not only be featured on our website it will also be included on: www.teamprop.co.uk the website of Team Anglia, a consortium of professional independent estate agents of which Taylor Engall are a founding member; www.rightmove.co.uk property portal (the UK's busiest site) and www.primelocation.com.

Preparing Your Property
First impressions are very important, tenants are usually prepared to pay more to get more but a property in first-class condition will usually let more easily.

To optimise your rental potential the following are some hints as to what a tenant looks for in a property:

• Fresh decorations – light colours, such as white or off-white, are always acceptable.
• Flooring – carpets should be of high quality and the same neutral colour throughout. Wooden floors are fine for the ground floor but we would recommend carpets in the bedrooms. Easy clean flooring in the kitchen and bathroom is essential (i.e. tiles or lino).
• Window dressings - good-quality, well-lined curtains or blinds.
• Grounds - well-maintained exterior and tidy, well-planted gardens.
• Furnished - this is usually defined as being a property ready for someone to move into. The furniture needs to be good quality and the property should be uncluttered.
• Unfurnished - this is normally defined as being fully carpeted (or with wooden floors in the reception areas), fully curtained and with white goods provided in the kitchen.
• Fixtures & fittings - fixtures and appliances should be serviced before the start of the tenancy and in good working order. If you have instruction booklets, make them available or write out clear instructions for use.
• Kitchen - modern and well-equipped kitchen with a washing machine and separate dryer (or combined machine to save space), dishwasher, large fridge/freezer and microwave.
• Bathroom – modern with a shower, modern fittings and good lighting.
• Heating - efficient central heating system which provides plenty of hot water.

Gas Safety
There are Gas Safety Regulations that you need to adhere to in order to rent out your property. Please ask for details on these regulations at our office. We will be happy to explain what you need to do to compile with this regulation and arrange the necessary inspections.

Electricity
Before renting your property you need to ensure your electricity is in good working order. All electrical items must be examined by a qualified electrician prior to the property being rented. There are Electrical Safety Regulation and Plugs and Sockets Safety Regulations that need to be adhered to in order to rent out your property. We will be happy to explain what you need to do to compile with this regulation and arrange the inspections as necessary.

Tax
When you have decided to let your property we will arrange a meeting with you to go through all the financial implication of renting including explaining in-depth to you about the legislation governing the tax on rental income.

Consents
If your property is a freehold property with no mortgage, there should be no issues with letting it out. However if your property is leasehold, you must check your lease to see if there are any restrictions on sub-letting. If the property you are renting out has a mortgage you are best to check with your lender in case you need to obtain their consent to do so.

Insurance
The property and its contents need to be fully insured. This is normally provided for in the Tenancy Agreement. You must inform your insurance company that the property is to be let, check that the conditions of the policy are complied with and that there are no restrictions on letting.

Arranging the Tenancy

Tenants References
We will notify you once we have a prospective tenant, in order to establish commitment we will take a holding deposit.

We will then appoint our independent licensed credit reference agency, to take references on the prospective tenant. These cover employment, computerised credit checks, bank reference, previous Landlord or character references. If you wish, you will receive copies of these references to help you decide acceptability.

Inventory
Part of our service is to provide you with a fully itemised Inventory. This is then checked and signed by the Tenant and the keys are handed over at the start of the Tenancy.

Management
We provide you with a highly professional management service, designed to take care of any day-to-day problems. You will be allocated a designated representative to handle your property, their responsibilities will be to:

1. Inform you of any new rules and safety regulations governing residential lettings and advise you on what action if any that needs to be taken to keep your property in line with these.
2. Arrange low cost repairs, at very short notice if necessary to be carried out by competitively priced and reliable trades people.
3. Inform you of larger expenditure required.
4. Rent collection.
5. Liaise with tenants.
6. Carry out regular inspections of your property.
7. Send you feedback from the client or as a result of the property inspections so you are aware of any maintenance that needs to be carried out on the property.
8. Find prospective tenants when rentals are ending.