Recommend A Letting Agent in Edinburgh?

A question about : Recommend A Letting Agent in Edinburgh?

Hi,

I am looking to move in Edinburgh, have had an absolute disaster with the letting agent we've been using for the past 6 months! Keen to avoid the same thing happening again! (RossClare Lettings - avoid them like the plague!)

I was just wondering if anyone can recommend a letting agent? I only seem to hear bad things! We've rented privately before and it was great, but there don't seem to be many private lets available just now.

Thanks!!

POP

Best answers:

• can't help with positive recommendations -but what i have heard from a number of sources is avoid Grant Management like the plague...
• I've heard plenty of bad things about a lot of the letting agencies in Edinburgh! (Grant Manangement included!)
  I can only tell you about the experiences I've had - I've been in two flats from Alba Residential, and haven't really had any serious problems with them. You don't have ANYTHING to do with the owner of the flat if you go through Alba, and you don't even find out who they are. Everything is done through the agency and they tend to be pretty good at dealing with any repairs etc that need done in the flat, and respond quite quickly. They are quite strict about how you look after the flat though - thorough inventory when you move in, flat inspections every so often, and when you leave everything has to be back exactly where it was when you moved in. They seem to be quite fussy about you cleaning the flat when you move out, and send you a very detailed letter about how to do it! I suppose that's a good thing though as the next people will hopefully have a spotless flat in good repair! I've heard stories of people not getting their deposits back from Alba but I've had no problems - as long as you look after the place you should be ok.
  At the moment I'm with Albany Lettings and it's a completely different experience. They don't really seem to want a lot to do with you and everything is done through the landlord if you have any problems! They're not very good at responding to emails etc either.
  Some friends are with James Gibb, and apparently they aren't very organised at all! Once they were told to expect a flat inspection on a certain day and no one turned up. When they phoned to ask why, they were told there wasn't one scheduled!
  With any letting agencies, sadly you can't seem to avoid their reference/admin fees - these tend to be about Ј75!!
  If you need any further info I'll try to help!
• Thank you both for replying!
  Friends have also advised me to avoid grant management - they seem to just send out a standard letter at the same time of the tenancy to everyone saying they are keeping your deposit and a list of (rubbish!) reasons why.
  Thanks for the info on Alba, a friend has had trouble getting their deposit back but i'm glad to hear you didn't. We tend to be good tenants so hopefully if we do end up with them we'll be ok! We almost rented from them before, got half way through filling in the forms and a guy came through and, very sheepishly, said he'd already let the flat to someone over the phone! After telling me at the viewing that if we wanted the place we HAD to go to the office! Also had problems with them turning up to show us a house without bringing the keys!!
  Only problem now - can't find anywhere we want to rent!
• Yeah, I think you can phone the office once you've viewed the flat to let them know that you're coming in and want to rent it, and hopefully they will hold it for you for a short time til you get there, but I've been in the situation of rushing across town in a taxi before, trying to get to the office before anyone else gets there! Can be stressful!
• Used to have a flat a year ago managed by Imagine Homes ,can thoroughly recomend them ,i read somewhere they were having difficulties at Xmas time with the recession ,think they are still trading though .
• ive used steyn lettings a few times
  definatly not the cheapest!!! but if anything breaks/needs fixed they get right on it
• Martin & co. have an award for LANDLORD OF YEAR.
  Its a franachise so personally run by owners.
  Regards,
  N.
• Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply, it really helps to know other people's experiences!
  Looked up imagine homes, but they are now in administration. Still looking!
• When I rented (Now a homeowner so have to fix my own leaky taps ) I had a bad experience with The Flat Company who were somewhere near Queen Street at the time. This was a couple of years ago. The staff were downright rude in the office (I don't think I was well-dressed enough for them) and they were snippy about flat inspections. They once sent me a letter the day before a visit - I received it the morning they were due to arrive.
  I also had to threaten them with legal action to get my deposit returned.
  The trouble with a lot of Edinburgh is that Grant Management seem to have the market sown up.
  Good luck finding somewhere nice!
• Dove Davis and D J Alexanders were good as agents when we rented.
• I would recommend Dove Davies. Their office is near the west End at Atholl Place. You can look up their properties for rent at www.dovedavies.com Good luck
• Just wanted to thank everyone again, it really is great to have real recommendations (and know who to avoid!)
  Still looking, going to see somewhere with DJ Alexander this week so good to know they were good to you, CCStar.
• Have you had a look at ARLA or RICS web sites? They will have a list of letting agents in the area you are looking for who are member firms. Letting agents are unregulated, ARLA and RICS are the only organisations who make sure their member firms operate within the law, are fully insured etc.
  Lots of franchises and one office agencies have gone bust in Glasgow recently, taking the tenants deposits with them.
  Iv had dealings with Rydens in Edinburgh previously, always very positive and professional
• i have previously used click-let and they were really good. not too sure how many properties they have though or even if they are still running
• No matter how nice the property is avoid Grant Management like the plague, have heard too many horror stories about them. Heard a few complaints about the Flat company too. DJ Alex is okay but they try and squeeze as much rent out of the property as possible so prices tend to be a bit higher than the same property might be with another agency. Good for the owner but not so much for the tenant.
  On the plus side, other agencies I have heard people have been happy with are:
  Littlejohns
  Charles White
  Craigflower
  Of course in reality you probably will choose the property first and then worry about the agency so unless it's one that people have said "avoid at all costs" you have to hope that they will be okay.
  If at all possible go for a private landlord rather than an agency - it's usually cheaper and quicker to get things fixed (although obviously there are terrible private landlords too). Best place for private lettings is Gumtree. There are a few private landlord ads in the List, Scotsman and Evening News too. For agency lets citylets is useful - however when they first list a property they often put a certain price and then if it does not let after a certain time they drop the rent. So the really nice properties which go quickly often have quite high rents. If something has been listed for a while it's always worth offering a bit less than the asking rate - easier with private landlords as they can say yes or no straight away, but worth a try with agencies too.
• Steyn Lettings
  Braemore Property
  Grant Management
  D.J. Alexander
  Have 9 years in letting experience and this lot are right money grabbing barstewards!!
  Good luck and have a look on Citylets an Gumtree
• Currently looking at renting a property in Edinburgh provided by a letting agency called Lettingweb and also known as Lettingref. Just wandering if anyone has any feedback or has had an dealings with this agency? It was difficult to find somewhere suitable with a private landlord whuch would have been preferable.
  Also can't agree enough with what people are saying about Grant Management, never again. Took over half of our deposit. The worst thing about this agency is that most of the tenants that they are robbing are students with limited fiscal means.
• I'm slightly uneasy about reccomending this company. My daughter is just about to rent a house in london, sharing with 4 others. In addition to paying 1 months rent in advance, they have also been asked to pay a 5 weeks deposit, a holding fee of Ј600 and an admin fee of Ј650. Its been a few years sionce I have rented, but I thought these sort of fees were illegal. Sadly the housing market in London is such that if they don't pay, someone else will. I hope you have better luck in Edinburgh.