LettingAProperty.com Discount Code & Review 2020

So, I recently used the Online Letting Agent lettingaproperty.com to market my vacant BTL property to assist in finding tenants. And now, inevitably, I want to gossip and share my experience, because sharing is caring!

Letting A Property (hmm… that’s awkward to continually write, so I’m just going to go shift between the acronym and the un-acronymed version, depending on my mood) is one of those online services that will take your property details and market it across the UK’s biggest property portals like Rightmove, Primelocation, Zoopla etc. in order to maximise exposure for the purpose of generating tenant enquiries. Sweet!

In my opinion, using a service like LAP, or similar (there are a shit-tonne out there, many of which I have used), is the best way of finding tenants in terms of value (and arguably efficiency, too)! However, with so many online agents sprouting up all over the shop, we’re left with a dilemma… which online agent is the best? From my experience, many of the top online agents provide great service and value, and you’ll do just fine picking any one of them. So the gazillion dollar question is, is LettingaProperty one of the best? You’ll see.

For more details on the ‘concept’ and particulars (if you’re not aware), you may want to read my complete guide on Online Letting Agents before further tumbling down this road.

My thoughts and experience with LettingAProperty.com

I agreed to give lettingaproperty.com a ‘complimentary’ spin on the basis that I’m allowed to share an open and honest review, even if that entails pulling their website and service apart and dragging their good name through a sweltering pit of diarrhoea. Basically, I wanted the assurance of no comeback. I’m sick of asshole companies dishing out bogus ‘Take down’ notices on the basis of defamation, when all I’m doing is providing an honest review. In any case, I was pleased to hear the Director, Jonathan Daines, was more than happy to oblige with my condition. Ballsy decision, Mr Daines, and it’s appreciated.

I wonder if he’s actually read any of my other reviews (a few of which lead to me being threatened with legal action)? Either way… too late, no takesy-backsies!!!

Table of contents:

• Did I find tenants with their service?
• How many enquiries did I receive?
• Pricing Overview
• Need more than just advertising your property?
• Why is LettingaProperty comparatively expensive?
• What I liked about LettingaProperty
• Would I recommend LettingaProperty?
• Thanks for the ride
• The best way to find tenants

Did I find tenants with their service?

Let’s cut a long story short… and then you can decide if you want to continue reading the rest of my drivel…

Yes, I certainly did find tenants with LAP. I found suitable candidates with in 2 weeks of the advert going live. Not bad going. I was pleased.

How many enquiries did I receive?

I received 17 enquiries in exactly 1 month. I think that’s pretty good. I certainly received a healthy amount of interest.

Granted, a few of the applicants weren’t suitable (which became apparent after referencing), so I never considered them all to be enquiries of any significant value. However, that’s no reflection on LAP’s service, because you’re ALWAYS going to get time-wasters and inadequate-donkeys applying. That’s part of the bizz.

Pricing Overview

LettingaProperty offer 4 packages.

Find a tenant package

• List on Rightmove & Zoopla
• Text & email enquiries
• Phone support available

£149 fixed fee, inc VAT.

More details available from here.

3 Managed packages

I personally tried the “Find a tenant” package, being a relatively experienced landlord myself this was more than suitable for the level of service I required. All I really cared about was shoving my vacant property on Rightmove & Zoopla in order to receive the enquiries. A buttload of them.

In my opinion, that should be the biggest priority for all self-managing landlords when looking for tenants – to get their crib onto Rightmove and Zoopla.

Need more than just advertising your property?

For the less experienced landlords, or for those wanting a little more hand-holding beyond the basic tenant-find services, your eyes are probably prying over the more comprehensive packages available- and I don’t blame you. They’re excellent packages (and I’m not just saying that), packed with features, which take a lot of the heavy-lifting and stress away from landlords that want extra assurances and rent guarantees in place.

From what I’ve seen, LettingAproperty.com offers, by far, the best solution for landlords looking for the most robust management solutions, which includes full management, rent collection, rent guarantee, and home emergency cover!

Why is LettingaProperty comparatively expensive?

If you’ve been doing your research (which you should ALL be doing) and scoured through the list of my recommended Online letting Agents you’ll notice the freakishly large elephant in the room. That is, LAP’s comparative basic ‘Find a Tenant’ package is more expensive than every other online agent’s basic ‘Tenant find’ service. The cheapest is currently £29, so there’s a huge gap! So, what are LAP bloody playing at, right?

Have I used other online agents for less and found tenants? Yes
Have I been pleased with other cheaper online agents? Yes
Have I used the OpenRent, the £29 online agent and found tenants? Yes

Oh. So should I use LAP?

There’s a two-fold answer to this question.

Firstly, after much contemplation and reflection… do you know what I realised? Even though I have used cheaper agents and received positive experiences, I didn’t feel ripped off (ignore the fact I didn’t pay for for the service in the first place). I mean, I received, felt and saw the value in their service. I realised that’s the main thing. I guess other landlords feel the same too, because LAP were among the first to emerge in this ever-growing and competitive sector, and they appear to be going strong, despite the Rolls-Royce pricetag.

So my point is, even though LAP is comparatively more expensive, I didn’t at any point feel like they were under or over charging. I felt like their price-tag reflected in the service and value they provided.

You do actually receive a recognisably smooth and complete service with LAP. It was pretty obvious that they have invested heavily in user-experience…

Now, the second aspect to the answer; I’ll just directly quote the Big Cheese, Jonathan:

…in comparison to other cheaper sites, we are more expensive…in terms of competing with all the services a high street agent offers, we are considerably cheaper with our Essential (Rent Guarantee) and Complete (Rent on Time) packages. We really are not trying to compete with other online letting sites…

Basically, their core interest isn’t vested in shifting their quick tenant-find bronze package, but rather, to provide a much more elaborate and managed service to those landlords that are looking for a cost-effective package comparable to a fully managed high-street service.

I get it!

What I liked about LettingaProperty

• It works
  Obviously, the service worked. After loading my property onto the LettingaProperty.com website, my advert was exported to hundreds of property portals with in 24 hours. I received plenty of enquiries, and I found suitable tenants.
• Tenant referencing
  Their tenant referencing service was decent, and unlike many of the other agents, it was included with the package, so I didn’t have to pay any additional fees, neither to landlord or tenant.

  They carried out comprehensive checks including a 6 year credit check, CCJs, an employment reference and referenced a previous landlord.

• Enquiry notification
  Every time an enquiry came through, I got an email and a text message. I liked that.
• The information provided in the enquiry emails were quite useful. They included:
  • Tenants name
  • Tenants Contact Number
  • Tenants Email Address
  • Tenants Employment status
  • Details of whether they have pets
  • When the tenant is looking to move
  • Preferred viewing time for tenant
  • Best time to call tenant

  I thought that was all pretty useful because in some cases there was enough information to tell me whether the applicant was suitable or not, even before contacting them and/or giving them the opportunity to view the property. Avoids a lot of time-wasting.

• Customer Service
  I had a personal customer service rep that was always informative and contactable (this makes a big difference). Oh, BIG shout out to my rep, Thomas. He was always friendly and useful! He actually contacted me on a regular basis, I didn’t have to contact him. That was cool shit.
• Enquiry handling
  Another feature I liked about LettingaProperty is that they handle all the calls from a call centre, and then send the applicants details to the landlord in an email. That way I knew the tenants credentials beforehand, and it allowed me to contact them in my own time. Other services I’ve used attach a unique 0845 number to the adverts that got redirected to my mobile, which meant I had received and handled all the calls. That also meant I had no information on the prospective tenant calling. Personally, I prefer the email method. Obviously, some landlords may prefer getting the calls direct. So this is more of a personal preference of mine, as opposed to a “positive”. Going forward, maybe the landlord should have the choice of how they want to receive their leads. That would be a neat feature.
• 24 hour Appointment line
  This is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s a good feature. Prospective tenants can make appointments during any time. This also continues from my previous point, landlords won’t receive calls at ungodly or inappropriate times, because they’ll always go to the call centre.
• LAP listened to my complaints
  I don’t expect any service to be perfect or infallible. Improvements can always be made to any system. What gets on my tits is when you raise legitimate and logical flaws, only for them to be ignored.

  I noticed a few problems during my experience, and they’re issues I raised with LAP immediately.

  I don’t know if LAP paid extra attention to my complaints because they knew I was going to blog about it, or whether they genuinely listen to all their customers. I’ve had a few discussions with Jonathan Daines, and my gut tells me he genuinely cares about all his customers, but that’s just speculation. For all I know, he could use the slips in the suggestion box as toilet paper.

  Anyways, my point is, I raised a few things I didn’t like about the system:

  • All the phonecalls from their support was from a ‘unknown number’ – I didn’t like that at all, and I suspect many of you don’t either! I’m genuinely scared when I see “Unknown number” flash up on my mobile, consequently I rarely answer them. No one in the history of mankind has ever called from a withheld number carrying good news.
  • I couldn’t ‘pause’ my advert, which was pretty surprising! At one point I wanted to pause my advert to prevent further enquiries, but I wanted the ability to re-enable my advert just in case the deal I had on the table with a prospective tenant fell through (which frequently happens in this game). This feature is imperative for every self-respecting landlord!

  So while these are all negatives, I still listed them under the ‘What I liked about LettingaProperty’ section. Why? Because shortly after raising these issues, they were resolved. To me, that’s a sign of a company that listens!

Would I recommend LettingaProperty?

Yes. For sure.

By any landlord’s standards, receiving a good service with outstanding customer support and finding a tenant for £149… can’t shouldn’t complain. It really is chump-change compared to the prices high-street agents charge for practically the same service.

LettingaProperty’s slogan actually states that they’re “The UK’s No1 Online Letting Agents” – would I agree with that? I honestly can’t answer that, not because I’m saying they’re not, but because I’ve used other agents for less, which also provided value! Operate word being “value”

Thanks for the ride

I’d like to give a big thank you to LettingaProperty for giving me the opportunity to try out their service. I’d especially like to thank the Managing Director, Jonathan Daines, and my customer service rep, Thomas Foley, for all his assistance. We had a good thing going on.

The best way to find tenants

I would recommend EVERY landlord to use a combination of the FREE landlord marketing services I’ve previously mentioned and Websites That Allow Landlords To Advertise Rentals On Rightmove And Other Property Portals (there are cheaper, but not necessarily better alternatives to LettingaProperty), to find tenants.

Have you used LettingaProperty or any other similar service?

Please let me know, I’d love to hear your feedback. Similarly, if you have any suggestions on how to improve LettingaProperty’s service, or online lettings services in general.