DHC ask an expert Lettings; Montana, 3Keys Property

In the latest instalment of our ‘Ask An Expert’ series we have in the House Clearance HQ today Montanna Wiffen Doncaster Letting Agent and Manager of the Lettings Team at the highly regarded independent agent 3Keys Property, based in Auckley, & providing coverage across the Doncaster area.

Hi Montana really happy you have taken time to talk to us today regarding lettings and the clearance and cleaning services hopefully the readers will find some of this information interesting but also useful as I’m sure there will be plenty of this stuff that folks reading whether they be fellow Lettings Agents, Managers or Property Owners looking to get maximum value for their own or clients rental properties.

How’s the lettings market in Doncaster in general at present?

For ourselves, the Lettings market is incredibly buoyant at present, there is a high demand for quality rental properties, with quick turn arounds on vacant properties. 

So when it comes to clearance do you think all agents take it as seriously as they should?

Montana: In my experience, sadly I would say not. I speak regularly to friends & associates in the industry, and many don’t have a ‘go to’ clearance and clean company or a company to provide post-tenancy services in general, so they just end up ringing around local contractors and subsequently struggle to achieve reliability where time is of the essence and best price for their clients, which is imperative when a client has a vacant property.

Clearance tactics around marketing is always an interesting one, whilst we always try to prioritise getting a vacant property listed as quickly as possible, we stand firm that you only have one chance to make a first impression. Wherever possible, we always ensure our properties are, clear, clean and viewing ready prior to marketing. Having an efficient & reliable clearance company to call upon helps us minimise turn around & void periods for clients, enabling us to get properties marketed swiftly. 

It is not uncommon to see rental properties on the market, which in my opinion are not ‘viewing ready’ resulting in wasted efforts on part of the Agent, and wasted time, money & prospective Tenants for the Landlord. Again, it is not uncommon for some Landlords to ask you to list a property with the promise that it will be cleared prior to a new Tenant moving in.

Regrettably, we have found ourselves in a position before where new Landlord clients to us have promised but failed to deliver, resulting in disappointed prospective Tenants.

Fortunately, we are in a position now where we have long-standing relationships with many of our Landlord clients, and manage and new clients expectations very clearly; in so far as we will not list the property until it is ready, or unless we have a clearly defined & confirmed time frame for clearance.

Again, to reiterate my earlier point that you only get one chance to make a first impression, if a prospective Tenant walks in to a property and sees damp or smells dog, it will give an instant negative first impression, trying to ‘sell’ the property from there will be an uphill battle.

We also ensure our properties are professional cleaned, including such as carpets where necessary to minimise any potential Inventory discrepancies. 

DHC; Completely agree with you on that and again when we get clearance instructions from lettings agents we are thinking with a little bit of a property investors mindset, so we will be wanting to get the house clear, clean and best presented for the least amount of money some of the one day transformations we do for landlords stuff is just a crazy difference for less that a month’s rent of that particular property real bang for buck

DHC; So what’s the worst you have seen when it comes to house clearances?

The ones I’ve seen you guys do online ha-ha!

We are generally very lucky in this regard because we set clear expectations at the outset with our Tenant applicants as to how we expect the Tenancy to be conducted and how we expect the property to be returned at the end of the Tenancy, so for ourselves, the worst we generally have are a few bags of rubbish and a bit of touch up painting & a carpet clean.

However, working in the industry I’ve heard of some real horror stories of rouge Tenants filling a house up with rubbish, fridges full of rotting food because the electric has been disconnected etc, but definitely nothing as bad as what you guys deal with.

DHC; Tips for portfolio landlords or other agents dealing with property clearance companies for the post tenancy stuff;

Montana: Always make sure they are paid on time, that’s always the firstly thing a contractor asks when they come on board and the biggest complaint they have had about working for other Agents, it’s always the delay with payment. If they know you will pay them promptly, they will work with you and prioritize workloads if you have an urgent job come in. Keep open lines of communication, be clear with instructions & pay them on time.

DHC; What’s your thought on maintain gardens and outdoor space, prior or while marketing etc;

Montana: Absolutely essential. Any vacant property needs to have curb appeal. This will speak volumes about the type of client the Landlord is, keeping the property tidy & well-presented when it is vacant would indicate they are the type of Landlord who cares about their property – and will subsequently keep the property & grounds in a good state of repair (ie promptly attend to maintenance & repair issues) once a Tenant is in situ.

This does not mean gardens etc have to be fully landscaped at a huge expense to clients, but gardens & driveways should be kept tidy, maintained according to season and weed free.

DHC; Well I think we covered the key points there for lettings teams and landlords that are interested in how being a little more strategic with their house clearance processes can add value to clients and ease some of the friction it can have on lettings management performance.

DHC; Montana I know your always looking to talk to landlords and property owners who are considering employing an lettings agent, switching existing agents or even taking on a new rental property, what areas geographically do 3Keys cover at the moment?

3Keys offer property services across the Doncaster & surrounding areas. We pride ourselves on being a local Agent, being accessible for our clients, and being able to regularly visit our portfolio properties, which is why we keep our geographical coverage to Doncaster & surrounding and haven’t ventured further to such as Sheffield / Barnsley as yet.

We are open 6 days a week and I am contactable directly on montana@3keysproperty.co.uk or 07494488621 should any readers wish to reach out. Thank you for your time today, it’s been a pleasure.