At Northwood, we talk about giving landlords ‘peace of mind’ a lot. But it occurred to us – how do you know what peace of mind actually looks like? Doesn’t it look different to everybody? And how do you measure peace of mind, to know if one agent will give you more of it than another. It’s all very confusing. So today, we wanted to share with you some common worries landlords have, and how our services address each one and provide that peace of mind, every time.
Rent
Perhaps the biggest worry of the landlord will be the rent. Landlords want to know they are going to get their rent, on time, and that it will be the right amount. They don’t want to have to go chasing tenants who’ve not paid, and they don’t want the unstable income that goes with it. They also want to know that they will get the rent quickly, not have to chase their agent, and not have to wait forever to find a tenant in the first place. At Northwood, our guaranteed rent service means that landlords will always get their rent on time, even if there isn’t a tenant in the property. The rent is paid from a guaranteed start date, so landlords know exactly what is coming in, when, and that it will always come in at the same time each month. So they don’t have to worry about non-paying tenants, or about tenants leaving and creating tenancy gaps, which without guaranteed rent would mean a gap in their income as well.
Fees
With a typical estate agent, every time a tenant leaves, and every time a new tenant arrives, landlords are charged fees. These fees can add up to hundreds of pounds and can come at any time. And that’s before the tenant fee ban comes into place, which will see most estate agents shifting the fees they can no longer charge tenants onto landlords instead to cover the loss. But not at Northwood. If you are a landlord using our guaranteed rent service, there are no fees at all. So there are no fees for us to put up! Even if you have a tenancy gap, there are no fees for you to pay – instead the onus is on us to fill the tenancy for you as quickly and effectively as possible. And since we don’t charge any fees, we have no incentive to turn tenants over quickly, as other estate agents do – it doesn’t make us any money in fees, so instead we focus on finding you good quality tenants who will stay with you long-term.
Maintenance
As part of your agreement with an estate agent, there will often be a maintenance contract. This essentially means your estate agent will handle maintenance in the property for you, and simply send you the bill. The problem is, most estate agents will often put a commission of 10-15% on top of the contractor fees, and charge that to the landlord. This means landlords often worry about having work done to the property, since it’s so expensive. This can lead to them putting off work that needs to be done, which causes more worry, or having to foot the bill. Either way, it’s a worry they don’t need. But at Northwood, guaranteed rent also means guaranteed condition. We guarantee the condition of the property, so if a tenant causes damage, we foot the bill to get it repaired to the original condition.
Insurance
Landlord insurance is a difficult area at the best of times, and the mere thought causes some landlords to break into a cold sweat. But the thing most forget is something called ‘unoccupied property insurance’. Essentially, if your property is left unoccupied for over 30 days, your standard landlords’ insurance will require the property to be inspected every 7 days to ensure everything is ok. Most estate agents will charge extra for this service, and so many landlords don’t bother having it done. This is a big mistake! Recently a new landlord of ours told us he had passed on having his old estate agent inspect the property while it was empty, only to find that during the unoccupied time a pipe had burst, causing major damage. Since the property wasn’t being inspected as it should, the insurance was invalidated, and he had to pay for the (very costly) repairs. At Northwood, we don’t charge for property inspections. Instead, we do unoccupied property checks as part of the Guaranteed Rent Service, so you can rest easy knowing your insurance terms are still intact and valid.
Good Tenants
And finally, there’s the worry about having good tenants in the property. Many landlords worry about the quality of tenant living in their house. They worry about if any damage will be caused that they will have to foot the bill for, neighbour complaints and much, much more. At Northwood we have an incentive to find and keep good quality tenants because of the guarantees that we provide, and it simply doesn’t make sense to install poor ones. Each tenant goes through a strict checking policy, and we look after them to make sure they want to stay long term, so your costs will be lower across the board.
At Northwood, we are dedicated to providing the best quality service possible to every landlord we work with. Our guaranteed rent service is ideal for landlords who want complete peace of mind, and don’t want to worry about a thing. Our team take care of everything, so all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the benefits of renting out a property. If you would like to know more about our guaranteed rent service, please just get in touch with the team today.
