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At Proper Local we specialise in properties to rent in East London, but wherever in London you are looking to rent a property, this useful guide will help you save time.
Rental contracts in the UK typically contain two month notice periods for both landlords and tenants, although if the original fixed term of the contract has expired (and has lapsed into what it is termed a ‘statutory periodic tenancy’) tenants are only required to give one month’s notice to vacate.
You may not think that tenancy law has a bearing on when you should start your rental search, but it comes back to this: when do agents start marketing properties to let?
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We’re not the most loved of professions, estate agents, but why is that?
Is it the perception of underhand sales tactics? The unreturned phone calls and emails? Lateness to appointments? Or, perhaps, the needless flashy suits and the general ‘geezer’ image?
To be honest, we don’t care, because we’re not like that, and to be fair we don’t think there are many who fit the approve profile left (but there are a few, so be warned!)
A good estate agent should be your ‘trusted advisor’. A person who knows his or her area, knows the market, knows the ins and outs of the legalities, and isn’t afraid to pick up the phone when the news is bad (funnily enough, we all find it easy to make ‘good news’ phone calls).
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One of the main reasons for a loft conversion is to swap unused space in the roof for useful living space. However, once the design of the proposed room appears, it’s often easy to spot that not all the potential space is being used, largely because it’s awkward – in size, shape or accessibility. So what are the creative ideas for bringing this dead space back to life so you can make the most of your new loft conversion’s accommodation?
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As an estate agency currently tracking at 4.9 out of 5 stars with our Feefo reviews you might think that we think we’ve got this selling and renting lark down to a tee. But do we? No.
OK, so that might be a bit overly-humble – we do know what we’re doing of course – but the point is this: do we, as estate agents, truly understand what our customers want from us?
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Just in case you missed it, we thought it might be worth republishing this recent article from Andrew Ellson of The Times.
Of course, at Proper Local we couldn’t agree with Andrew more: the charging structure of most ‘traditional’ estate agents is indeed ridiculous.
Whilst Andrew doesn’t explicitly say it, the structure to which he is referring is a percentage-based fee structure. What very few agents will ever admit to you is that it’s the same amount of work whether you’re selling (or letting) a one bedroom flat as it is a four bedroom house. So quite why an agent would charge a fee which is two, three, four or even five times as much for doing the same job leaves us at a loss too. That’s why we charge a fixed fee.
