Contracts Exchanged

18 Feb 2007

Regardless of the completion date being delayed until the 2nd of March, we still managed to exchange contracts Friday afternoon. So I’m pleased about that. At this point it’s more than likely that everything will go through, but i’ve heard of cases that even after exchanging contracts things have turned sour. But as far as I know, everything is A-OK, so i’m being very optimistic at this stage.

I’ve spoke to a few Letting Agencies now, and the majority of them seem to charge one month’s rent for the “accommodation-only” package. That also includes the arrangement of the short-term tenancy contract. The only exception to that price was the Letting Agency “Kings”- they seem to be more pricey than the other competitors regarding every package they offer (i’ve also heard bad things about them). They’re asking for a 10% cut of the yearly rental income, and 15% for full-management. Cheeky gits!

I managed to find an Agency called “Futurelet” based in Essex, they seemed to know what they were talking about, and they said they could get tenants for me asap. Of course, i’m sure most agencies say that. However, they also offered a full-management package for 12.5% of the yearly income rental. I thought that was quite well priced compared to all the other quotes. So if anyone else is in the Essex area and is looking for a full-management package, I would recommend looking into their agency. Every other agency was asking for 14-15% for full-management. Of course, as I’ve mentioned several times, I’m not looking for a full-management package for two reasons 1) I think Letting Agencies charge an extortionate amount for that package 2) I want to experience the full landlord life, I think it will be the best way to learn the industry.

While I was on the phone talking to Futurelet, enquiring about prices, my boss was sitting next to me. And after I got off the phone, he said, “are you looking for tenants?” I was like, “yeah, I’m due to complete next week, why?” “a friend of mine owns a letting agency, do you want me to have a word with him, to see if I can get you a good deal?” My response was, “hell yeah”

Hopefully I will be able to sneak in a cheeky little deal for myself. How cool is that? He could have told me before, he knew I was investing!

Unfortunately, for me, I genuinely don’t have any friends that are tradesman, I don’t even know a tiler, and everyone knows at least one tiler. Usually people save money by calling their Uncle Jim who is the local plumber. But like I said, I don’t know anyone with any trade skills, all my friends have useless corporate jobs. So I guess where people usually save their pennies by hiring friends and families for trade related jobs, I’ll try and save my pennies through a letting agency.

Anyways, I’ll ask my boss tomorrow whether he spoke to his friend.

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