Landlords and tenants, what do you think of 2011 so far?  After the festive period, January and February can be a pretty depressing time for everyone.

New Year’s resolutions can often go by the wayside after a couple of visits to the gym while anything we’ve decided to abstain from such as chocolate or ‘drink’ can appear ever more tempting.  It would seem that the British economy itself has decided to join us in the spirit of abstinence by giving up ‘growth’ for the New Year.

With bad weather being blamed for the economy shrinking by 0.5% during Q4 of 2010 alarm bells are ringing in fear of a ‘double-dip’ recession. Wider statistic from mortgage lenders and the property sector point to an industry that is slowing to the point of stagnation in parts of the market. So, if you don’t want to see the bad news please look away now.

The outlook for 2011 seems quite depressing if the trends from the back end of 2010 continue:

• The British Bankers’ Association revealed that in 2010 bank mortgage lending was at its lowest since 1999 falling by £15bn compared with the previous year.
• Hometrack’s survey of estate agents and surveyors showed that houses prices in England and Wales have fallen for a seventh month in a row, a fall of 2.2% on last years figures with average house prices standing at £153,600.
• Council of Mortgage Lenders predicts that the number of homes changing hands in 2011 is expected to fall by 30,000 to 860,000 the same as 2009 levels.
• The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King recently described the current economic situation as the biggest squeeze on incomes since the 1920’s.
• Former Chancellor and current Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke also warned that a recovery in the economy could take up to 3 years.

Grim reading indeed!

Lettingaproperty.com has searched high and low for some good news for the private rental sector so here goes:

• The National Landlord Association calculated that rental income averaged (making allowances for regional fluctuations and property variation) 4 – 5% of a property’s value last year. For property valued at over £100,000 that is a rental return of the not insignificant sum of £ 4-5000 per annum.

Landlords, we should point out, need to ensure that rental income covers 125% of mortgage interest payment in order to cover the all the expenses associated with the business of renting. Profits, after expenses, are subject to tax and you should bare this in mind when doing your calculations.

• More tenants sourced their rented accommodation through online letting agents during 2010 than in any previous year. Increased access to broadband internet, which the government is striving to provide services for all, will see increased traffic for online letting services throughout 2011 and beyond.

Online letting agents Lettingaproperty.com are helping to reduce costs in the private rental sector by making the business of letting and renting a much more straightforward and less time consuming practice. Let’s hope that the online letting agent boom can soon lift the gloom!

Published on Sky News today is an article from Richard Suchet, Sky News reporter, about how the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has admitted that the days of the high street estate agent could be numbered due to the popularity of property websites.

Mr. Suchet reports that the days of the estate agents’ ‘big shop front’ may be nearing an end and that in the last two years, one in four estate agents in the UK have closed down.

Meanwhile, the online property market has been booming, with a 35% growth this year in the number of property searches on Google.

Property search engine Rightmove says that 90% of all homes on the market can be found on their site.

Philip Bullman of the NAEA told Sky News Online that the internet posed a threat to high street branches but insisted that there would always be a role for an agent.

“I do think there’s an opening for a virtual estate agent out there but you still need the local experience and the people on the ground,” he said.

“Most buyers don’t like to negotiate face-to-face with the seller over prices and they prefer to use a middle man.

“Home Information Packs (HIPS) can also be quite complicated and many people would want an agent to sort that for them.

“But yes, I think maybe the day of the big shop front is nearing an end.”

Sarah Beeny

TV presenter and property expert Sarah Beeny says that circumventing estate agents and selling your home online independently can be quite straightforward.

“It’s actually easier dealing with things yourself – we find our mortgage ourselves, we find our own holidays, we book our own flights,” she said.

“The internet has empowered the average person to deal with things and there’s no actual reason why they can’t deal with selling their house.”

Jonathan Daines, Co-founder of property website Lettingaproperty.com, believes there will always be a need for a “middle man”, not everyone would prefer handling the sale or let of their own properties.

However, the industry is moving forward rapidly and with over 75% – 80% of home hunters finding their properties online, the need for expensive high street offices is becoming a thing of the past.  Websites like ours offers the best of both worlds – experienced letting agents backed by superior web technology and marketing presence.  Landlords have the comfort of knowing there is someone to talk too should they need marketing advice and it does not cost them the earth to do so.

It is correct to say that the estate and letting agency industry receives its fair share of abuse from customers.  However – on occasion it does no harm to balance the poor perception of this industry sector with a good hearted story or two.

The last couple of years have been somewhat challenging for those working in property, let alone the agony that sellers have experienced trying to shift their most valued possession – their homes.  Some recent statistics have indicated that an average of 150 estate agency branches were closing down every month as a result of no sales.  It seemed to be that in almost every town across the UK, a sign in an agent’s door would read – “Closed for Business.”

However, as the saying goes, “As one door closes, another opens” – enter lettingaproperty.com, the landlord’s choice”.

The market is evolving and so are its suppliers and customers.  With the advent of the internet compounded by search engines, more and more home hunters are using the internet over High Street letting agents.

This is exactly what Jamie did when he found his ideal home to let online in Warwickshire.

Landlady, Judith Bailey of Barford has been letting property for almost 15 years.  Until now, she had always opted for advertising her properties in the classified section of the local papers.  Judith explained on her initial call to lettingaproperty.com that “It has become increasingly difficult in finding tenants through the traditional ways and thought it best to try something new.”

She decided to go ahead and advertise her property online.

To her amazement, the following day after the advert had appeared on the website and 15 of the UK’s top property websites including rightmove.co.uk, she received a call to say she had a tenant who had seen the property online and was interested in arranging a viewing in the following hour.

Judith met with Jamie and it was love at first sight – that is Jamie fell in love with the property which is situated on the outskirts of Warwick.  “It is the semi-rural location that attracted me to the property”  explains Jamie.

Judith went on to tell us “We are so delighted with the response from our advert on lettingaproperty.com! This is by far the best form of advertising we have found.  We think the photos make all the difference giving prospective tenants quick and easy access.   Very cost effective at only £49 and simple to upload our property description. Will certainly use lettingaproperty.com next time we need to advertise.  Thanks for all your help and advice.”

It always makes us smile when we receive good news like this and in return for this positive feedback, a bottle of red wine was delivered personally by Jonathan Daines, Co-founder (and Customer Services Representative).

Judith very willingly offered to give direct feedback to any of our prospective Landlords, so we have set up a personal email address that you can contact her on – FeedbackForJudith@lettingaproperty.com.  You can also email any questions or comments to Jonathan directly at jonathan@lettingaproperty.com

If you are looking to advertise a property to let, click here to find out about our service.

As online letting agents, lettingaproperty.com is committed to provide an ‘all-under-one-roof’ service for private landlords and homeowners looking to let a property online.

As online letting agents, we offer a number of landlord and tenant services, some are free and some of which you are able to purchase online:

Online Letting Agents – Our Services

ONLINE HOME VALUATION SERVICE

The online home valuation service can be used by landlords and homeowners to help assess the rental price of a property when conducting a rent review and it will help to benchmark the rent before you start to market the property to let. Get yours online for Free

ADVERTISE A PROPERTY TO LET

We offer the best value tenant find service available online and provide a cost effective way for landlords to find tenants quickly by advertising with us and other major website portals. Choose from 4 tailored landlord packages. Advertise a Property to Let

ORDER A TO-LET BOARD

As online letting agents, we can provide you with a personalised To Let board for Private Landlords and have it delivered to your doorstep within the next 7 working days!

PRICE: 39,95: Order a To-Let Board Now

GAS SAFETY CERTIFICATE

Order a Gas Safety Certificate for as little as 21 pence per day, that’s £6.50 per month or £78 per year.   We work with the UK’s largest supplier.

PRICE: 78,00: Order a Gas Safety Certificate Now

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE

An Energy Performance Certificate or EPC, is mandatory for all property to rent as from the 1st October 2008. Landlords can order an Energy Performance Certificate directly online. PRICE: 75,00: Order an Energy Performance Certificate Now

ONLINE HOME INVENTORY

Our Professional Home and Rental Property Inventory templates are used by thousands of Private Landlords and Letting Agents in the UK to record the Contents and Schedule of Condition for Rental Property. PRICE: £9,95: Download a Rental Property Inventory Now

TENANCY AGREEMENTS

It has never been easier to complete a Tenancy Agreement or purchase professional property management letters online. Simply select your desired agreement, add to your shopping cart and check out securely online. PRICE: £9,95: Download a Tenancy Agreement Now

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT DOCUMENTS

Download our professional Property Management Letters and Notices that have been written by Professional Legal Advisors and used across the Country by Letting Agents.

PRICE: £9,95: Download Property Management Letters Now

COMPETITIVE LANDLORD INSURANCE

For competitive landlord home insurance, we have teamed up with one of the rental industry’ leading landlord insurance providers. 

Get a competitive landlord home insurance quote online.

TENANT CONTENTS INSURANCE

We have teamed up with one of the UK’s dedicated leading providers of Tenants Contents Insurance to be able to provide our Tenants with a quick online Tenants Contents Insurance quote service.

Get a Tenants Contents Insurance quote online

ENERGY PRICE COMPARISON

Energyhelpline, the UK’s leading independent price comparison service, is able to provide our Landlords & Tenants with a fast, FREE and friendly service to compare the best gas & electric deals around. Best Gas & Electric deals Comparison Service

BUY TO LET MORTGAGE SERVICE

Our specialist Buy-to-Let mortgage advisors have been arranging mortgages for just over 20 years for Landlords with portfolios of between 1 – 150 properties.  Request a call back to discuss your Buy-to-Let requirements. Request a call back from our Buy-to-Let mortgage advisors

ONLINE CREDIT CHECK

Tenants – most Letting Agents and Private Landlords will require some form of credit reference when you apply for a property to let. Take advantage of a Free Experian Credit Report.

Online Letting Agents – Our Commitment

Traditionally, we are experienced High Street Letting Agents that have evolved as Online Letting Agents and we now benefit from cutting edge online technology that is simple to use and very effective.

As Online Letting Agents, we are committed to reducing the cost of finding a tenant and any savings are then passed directly onto our landlords. This enables us to offer an extremely competitive service without affecting our standard levels.

As Online Letting Agents, we are also experienced in dealing with tenant enquiries and property management issues and are able to assist you in the key areas where you may require help.