Letting agents are crucial for any landlord’s success in the market. Most landlords depend on letting agents perform myriad property management tasks. No doubt, having a competent and skilled letting agent can do wonders for you. From finding tenants to collecting rent, they can run your real estate with ease. Lately, we have seen online letting agents gaining popularity over conventional high street letting agents.
Without any further ado, in the following post, you’ll learn the capabilities of online letting agents over traditional letting agents. Furthermore, how to find the best online letting agents for landlords in London.
What is an Online Letting Agent?
Online letting agents serve the same purpose as conventional street smart letting agents. But there are some apparent differences in the functionality offered by both. With the regular letting agents, you get a high street human presence. Whereas with Online letting agents, there is no human on the other side, instead of a computer algorithm offering a cheaper alternative for keeping an impressive property portfolio.
Technology has turned up as a crucial element in the evolution of letting agents. Letting agents have utilized 20th-century communication devices for expanding their operation services and client network. With the rise of Online Letting Agents, we are witnessing a complete revolution in doing real estate business.
How Online Letting Agents Differ from Regular Letting Agents?
- Online letting agents employ a broader database to devise plans. In comparison, regular letting agents are restricted to their contacts.
- With online letting agents, you do not get a high street agent physically present in the market. Few landlords see this as a disadvantage of online letting agents. But as technology develops online letting agents will be capable of conducting business more efficiently than street smart agents.
- A quality advertisement strategy is crucial for finding clients and tenants. Online letting agents are more capable of using digital mediums for marketing purposes. On the contrary ordinary letting agents rely on word of mouth or putting up ineffective banners.
- The most significant advantage that an online letting agent has is the relatively low-cost service. Having a full-time ordinary letting agent can make your budget suffer in the long run.
- Most online letting agents have a fixed one-off fee for services with no commission charged. On the other hand, high street agents require a varied percentage of the total rent as their fee and commission. Do you want free consultation from the best letting agent in London?
How Do Letting Agents Work for Landlords?
There are no fixed services offered by letting agents to landlords. Handling Real-estate has many complex aspects in which letting agents aid private landlords. To state the obvious, letting agents are used for finding tenants, rent collection, and managing clients. Either online or high street regular letting agents, their services revolve around these tasks. A letting agent works as a mediator between two interested parties for making deals.
The concept of having a letting agent is to have a trustworthy professional. They are managing all the bizarre details of your property business. Most landlords are overwhelmed by their personal lives and cannot afford to spend days looking for tenants and collecting rent. A letting agent for landlords is like a personal assistant for managing all the property-related business. Online property letting agents have their downsides, but they undoubtedly provide the same functionality as high street agents.
Letting agents are helpful for convincing clients and closing deals. However, with online property letting agents, some people are sceptical of their ability to market and convince clients as human agents can do.
Furthermore, letting agents are used for signing on behalf of landlords. If you ever had to travel across cities to sign a deal, you know how inconvenient it is. With letting agents, you do not need to be present to make a deal, as they can do that for you. With the landlord’s consent, letting agents can administer and sign agreements on behalf of the landowner.
Finding Tenants with Online Letting Agents
One of the core purposes of using a letting agent is to find the best possible tenants for your property. Online letting agents are great at linking you up with decent clients as tenants. The ability to find serious tenants in little time is what sets online letting agents apart.
The cost for finding tenants by online letting agents can vary depending on the service used. But on average, an online letting agent can hook you up with a possible tenant in just £80. The charges depend upon the service used, with various options available from only finding tenants to full-time management. According to property mark, a full-time management program of online letting agents can cost up to 10-20% share of the rent.
With UK’s top online letting agencies like The Online Letting Agents and Easy Property you can easily find the best plans for yourself.
Furthermore, you can find the UK’s best online letting agents on these sites:
- Lettingaproperty works excellent as a letting agent providing cheaper rates and accessible advertising opportunities on Zoopla and Rightmove.
- Make Ur Move is another letting agent provider with a diverse range of options, including VIP and DIY.
- OpenRent is an efficient and straightforward online letting agent. Open Rent takes care of security and all the legal underpinnings quite well.
- Pad is one of the most advanced letting agent providers in the UK. They have a well-managed network of tested and verified tenants.
- Oasis Living is one of the best online letting agencies active in London. We provide several services for landlords and tenants. For landlords, we ask for just 10% total for tenant find and property management.
How to Select the Best Online Letting Agent?
To make the best choice when looking for an online property agent, you need to consider a few things as a landlord. Firstly, as a landlord, the best letting agent, whether online or high street, depends upon your requirements. But the following factors remain crucial in choosing the best online letting agent:
Customer service
If you’re hiring an online letting agent, you need to make sure they are good at dealing with clients. A tiresome interaction with an agent can ruin the deal, and you don’t want that.
Check reviews
A reputable online letting agent will have loads of positive reviews on the internet. Analyze customer reviews and make a decision based on their gist.
Advertising capability
In the property business, you need to have a strong marketing network to reach as many clients as possible. Choose an online letting agency with impressive marketing prospects.
Cost of services
Reduced cost is probably the most significant factor for any landlord to switch from high street agents to an online agent. Ensure that the online letting agency you choose is not overcharged as that can wreak havoc on your rental incomes. For more information on rental income see our article on how much rent to charge for your property.
Bottom Line
Letting agents are a great aid in keeping your property running and profitable. Although not known very well, online letting agents offer greater value to landlords. With reduced service costs and no commissions, they have turned out as more affordable alternatives to high street agents. Moreover, unlike conventional agents, online letting agents provide landlords more control in their property matters. All this is considered in this digital technology era; an online letting agent is just your real-estate business needs. If you are facing property maintenance issues or looking for a reliable online letting agent then contact us today.
