One Quality Service for all Landlords

Based in Middlesbrough, Collier Property Management offers a full set of services for residential landlords and potential landlords in the Tees Valley area. We take the worries away from the landlord, dealing with any unforeseen problems e.g. lost keys, callouts, Council Tax, utilities, and many other problems.

Getting started
The temptation to enter the buy to let market is high in these days of low interest on both borrowing and savings, but it is not as simple as it may sound. There is a significant amount of legislation that affects would be landlords. The Gas Safety Regulations require that all gas installations in a property are inspected annually by an engineer who is on the Gas Safety Register. Likewise the Electrical Regulations mean that all electrical installations must be safe. Offgem regulates the supply and resale of gas and electricity to tenants and the Furnishing Regulations apply to all furniture and bedding in a property. This is just the tip of the iceberg!

In addition to this there is legislation covering bonds, security of tenure for tenants and the recovery of your property through the courts if things go wrong, such as non-payment of rent. We have had experience of most situations and can help you avoid the pitfalls.

If you have recently purchased a property with the intention of letting it out, but it needs refurbishment first, again we can help. We have an experienced team of tradesmen we can call upon to get the property in shape. Lindsay Thompson-Moore will supervise this; however we do have to charge for this service.

Tenancies
We have a standard form of Six Month Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, which has been prepared by our solicitors, alternatively we use the National Landlords Association standard form. Either way we don’t charge Landlords for preparing the paperwork. If you have a specific agreement you wish to use, providing it ticks all the legal boxes this can be used. We credit check and reference all prospective new tenants. All viewings are accompanied.

Money
Rent: as you would expect all client money received by us is kept in a separate bank account from our own money (not all property management companies do this so it's worth checking). The account is a designated client account with HSBC. Rent is ideally collected by Standing Order, but we also receive rent payments at our office and we have the facility to take Card Payments over the telephone, which is proving very popular. If necessary the girls will call to collect rents if there is a problem. Rents collected on your behalf are paid to you monthly.
Bonds: are an area where legislation applies. Taken at the start of a tenancy they are sent to the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS), where they are held until such time that the tenancy comes to a satisfactory end.

Safety and Red Tape
On your behalf we will organize Gas Safety Certificates, Energy Performance Certificates, Portable Appliance Tests, NICEIC, Fire Risk Assessments and any new safety legislation that the Government throws at the lettings industry.

What we do for you

Full Property Management

This is the service that most landlords require and once set up is based upon our being paid a percentage of rents received. Included are the following:

Advertising
We will advertise your property on the Rightmove and Gumtree websites and at our offices. If required we will also arrange a “To Let” sign or newspaper advertising (a small additional charge is payable for these services).

Insurance
This is your responsibility and we require evidence of it from you. If required we can help arrange insurance via out insurance broker contacts. We will assist you if claims are made, but can only make and manage your claims on your behalf where we have made the insurance arrangements for you.

Rental Advice & Valuations
Advice and rental valuations can be provided, however this will be based on our experience and knowledge of the area, we do not provide formal valuations as part of the management service.

Reletting
When your property becoming vacant we will take steps to relet it with a view to minimizing any vacant periods.

Viewings
These are always accompanied by a member of our staff.

Tenant Referencing
All tenants are referenced and credit checked. The prospective tenant pays an administration fee for this.

Security Deposit
Security deposits (Bonds) are taken from every tenant and sent to the Deposit Protection Service. We manage all the relevant paperwork for this and if there has been a problem with the tenancy make sure that all photographs and documentation are provided to make sure the Landlord gets any money due back.

Inventory
We will prepare an inventory and take photographs of the property at the start of the tenancy.

Rent Collection
This happens all the time!
We collect rents weekly or monthly, in the office, over the phone by PDQ, Standing Order, cash... And on some occasions we will collect rent from the tenant if they are unable or unwilling to come into the office.

Inspections
We carry out six monthly inspections on all properties; however we inspect more often if we think there may be a problem.

Rent Arrears
We hope that there will be none, but if the situation develops we will advise you and agree appropriate action with you.

Maintenance & Repairs
We use a local company to do all of our general maintenance. They have worked for us for a number of years and are reasonably prices and reliable.

Safety Regulations
These are many, varied and ever increasing and can be found under the heading ‘Advice for Landlords’.

Utilities
Normally this would be the Landlord’s responsibility; however we prefer to do this as we have all the relevant information on our Management System. Council Tax, Water Rates, Gas & Electricity are therefore all dealt with by our staff.

We will also do more for you but you may have to pay!!

Purchase of Property for Letting
We can advise on the suitability and location of properties if you are thinking of buying to let. We will agree a fee with you in advance for this service.

Refurbishment
If you have recently purchased a property to let in need of improvement we can advice you on works needed by bring the property up to a lettable standard and how to furnish and decorate to make your property more attractive for the lettings market. Again we will agree a fee with you in advance for this service.

Letting Only Service
We can provide a letting only “tenant find” service for a fixed fee if required. Our fee will be taken from any Deposit/Bond and advance rent paid. Landlords should be aware that they will still be required to protect the full Deposit/Bond paid by the tenant from their own funds.

Finally…
A few more useful links
www.rla.org.uk/join/join.shtml?gclid=CLfzrMuui6ICFReX2Aod-EYqWg
www.landlords.org.uk
www.letlink.co.uk