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Hi all Planning to invest in a BTL in Birmingham soon. Please can you share your recommendation(s) for letting/property management agency(s) in Birmingham? Preferably a local business/boutique/family run agency, working with BTLs. If you recommend a chain, the name of a particular agent would be appreciated (if you would rather message privately, please let me know). Any recommendations on ones to avoid welcomed too. Thanks and good day Richard

I'm thinking of studying for Level 3 (Residential Sales, Letting) Certificate through MOL Propertymark Qualifications Awards. Has anyone studied using these courses? I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has studied these courses or has thought about doing so. Are they worth doing?

Hello,I've made an offer for a property selling through this local Birmingham agency (Loveyourpostcode). Have you had any experience as a buyer/seller with this company? I’ve heard good things about Bobby Singh and Love Your Postcode. He seems very sociable and has a lot of funny posts on LinkedIn.

Hey PH team My name's Joe and I'm a movie obsessed designer living in London with my wife Rachel, and we're both eager to really get going in property. Why I'm writing this post Over the past few weeks we've been crunching the numbers and building spreadsheets to assess the areas we'd like to invest in and so far Coventry is feeling right for us. It's around the right price we can afford and isn't *too* far from London. We're aiming to visit in the next few weeks to get a feel for the place and maybe visit some properties and would love to grab coffees/lunch with other investors in the area! We're also looking for recommendations for builders/contractors in the area that you have worked with. What we've done in property so far We've gone from knowing ABSOLUTELY nothing about property 2 months ago, to attending the Legacy 3 day intro course, attended two Property Hub networking events in Kings Cross, viewed an auction property for research, attended an auction for research, carried out lots of work on the business like reaching out to accountants/solicitors/brokers etc and lastly working out our area to invest in (which is feeling like Coventry). Areas we want to invest in As I've mentioned a few times we are exclusively looking in Coventry at the moment and are excited to reach out and start making connections in the area with other like minded property investors, as well as contractors and estate agents. Our plans for the future We spent half a day cutting up images we found on Google to create our 'Why' board', which we've stuck on our fridge. This is to ensure we're always keeping our reason for doing this front of mind. We definitely want to be hands off investors so any processes/techniques to make investment more passive is definitely a win for us. We love to travel (I know everyone does), but for me personally a huge part of my why is to help my family financially and to ensure when Rachel and I have kids in the next few years, that I'm as much a part of their lives as she is. We also both love learning and trying new things and dream of being able to travel to Italy for a month to learn to cook, or travel to Hawaii for a month to learn to surf etc. Any skills or knowledge that other members might benefit from I was a professional photographer for 6 years specialising in music, corporate/events and portraiture. I am now a digital designer which basically means I design (not develop) websites and apps focusing on user experience and visuals. I'd also consider myself a people person so if anyone needs any help with confidence, approaching strangers or networking I'm happy to share my approach. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Hello, I rented out my previous home in Oxford in 2013 and moved back up North to be closer to my Mother. It's also currently my main income. Have ended up staying with the same agents ever since even though I've been disappointed with their service quite a bit. I guess overall it's made my life easier to just stay with them, seeing as I live about 200 miles away. I need to pick up the courage to terminate the contract but finding the idea daunting! Have left it until now and now time pressure is on. Need some handholding!

Hi all, I was having a lively discussion with some fellow investors and wanted to hear what people on this forum think. Whether you're a seller or a landlord, how do you choose which agent to market your property? I've had 3 projects with 3 different agents and I can't say I've nailed down a system yet. First, I went with the cheapest, thinking it was good business sense. But of course, you get what you pay for, which I learned the hard way. Then I went for the agent who originally sold me the property - thinking they know the property and how much work I put in renovating it. And lastly I went with a personal recommendation from a friend who had a good experience. All 3 eventually sold, which means I can't complain too much, but I want to develop some kind of rule/decision process to make this easier. What does everyone else do?

Hi all, I'd love to hear your experiences and advice. I have six BTL properties, four in different parts of London and two in Liverpool. They are all managed by estate agents. I find dealing with different agents for all the properties a nightmare, different systems, difficulty building decent relationships with the agents, etc. I've tried using one agent for all four properties in London but that's difficult as one company doesn't have a physical shop in each location. This makes last minute viewings difficult plus one of my (dream) tenants saw the property in the estate agent windows and went in to enquire. Wondering if anyone else has a similar experience? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, just wanted to see what the general consensus was in regards to putting an offer in, I offered on a property last Tuesday and after phoning nearly every day to find the outcome i eventually got the news yesterday (1 week later) that it had been rejected by the vendor and would I like to up the offer... What's the longest you should wait until you get a decision ?

Hello, I want to know all of the problems you have or have experienced with the property industry. Whether it is in relation to owning a property or be the buying/selling process, management of properties, communication between parties or anything else. I want to get a clear idea of what the problems are or what you see as negative within the property industry?

I need some advice in relation to the sale of my property. It is a leasehold flat and it currently has a tenant residing. I am giving notice via my letting agents who also manage the property which will be 2 months. The AST comes to an end on 28th April so I understand that we cannot give him notice for before that period. The buyer was unsure whether she was going to buy to let and keep the tenant on or vacant possession. She has since said she can't get a buy to let and will buy with vacant possession. The agent let slip to me that she intends to keep the tenant on but without the buy to let mortgage he will move out for one day and move back in again. My worries are that if I'm selling the property with vacant possession then the tenant will need to move all his furniture out and back in again. Also I don't believe the buyer's solicitor will want to exchange while there is a tenant in place. I think I have answered my own question here I don't want to lose the buyer and I'm sure nothing would go wrong but if it did I think I would be the only one at fault legally?

Hi everyone, Would appreciate your advice.... I am planning to sell a London flat I have owned for around 12 years. It has been rented out through a local agent for around 8 years. I am not resident in the UK, so using an internet agent is probably difficult as I would need a local agent to show people around. I am fairly experienced with letting and buying property - but I am a complete newbie when it comes to sales! So I would greatly appreciate advice on 1) whether I should ask several agents for valuations or just the current managing agent (they are local and deal with sales and lettings)? 2) how to get the best fee? 3) the property is tenanted, so should I wait until the tenants have moved out or go ahead? All advice would be very welcome! Many thanks hubbers!

Hi everyone My name is Emma and I am new to Property Hub! I love everything property and am looking to network with people who can help me to source houses to buy in Birmingham. I have a 5 year plan to buy 20 by 2021 which will be four properties a year. Ideally looking to buy houses within half a mile of city center Birmingham. My main challenge is time to source properties as I have a job that requires long hours. My role is commission based to looking to invest between £100-£125k a year in property. My strategy is Buy to Let, i have bought a few houses personally and have now set up LTD company to continue investments due to tax reasons. Please let me know if you would be interested in discussing further on here or at 07885 521516 Thanks

Hi all I am looking for a good agent for let only or rent collection service to rent out my studio flat in Bow. In the past I have done everything myself but I want to use an agent this time. I have so far got quotes from 3 of the top agents in the area. They all seem to hover around the 8-9% mark for let only service. Some charge for contract and inventory ON TOP which I find hard to swallow. And they charge 1% less for second term and so on. Is this normal or should i be getting a better deal?? anyone got any good agents to recommend that cover Bow area?? many thanks Leila

Hello everyone, My name is Sara and i am the Manager of 247 Property Services n Sheffield and Rotherham. I would like to introduce myself and what we do here at 247. I have in worked in property for many years both here in the UK and Dubai UAE. I have a passion for the property industry and thoroughly enjoy the work i do. 247 is an amazing company providing services for both Lettings and Sales. On the Lettings side we do a tenant find only service and a fully managed service. On the Sales side we do our full Sales service and an online only service. We have many happy clients and customers, however, our tenant and buyer base is so large we are always looking for more properties. We deal with all types of homes from HMO's to Apartments, to 3,4,5 and 6 bed houses, The same goes for both Sales and lettings. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact me 01142 996 247 or on 07940 881 597 Thanks for reading Sara

Hi all, I have seen there has been a very similar post to this just posted in the general forum however I feel that I don't want to hijack anyone elses posts with more questions so I will create a new topic and see how it goes. I have been doing a lot of research with buy to lets in the last couple of months and recently I have started viewing potential properties. I am hoping to build up more experience and become more efficient at this "viewing" phase of the process. With that in mind I wonder if anyone would have any advice on what to look out for when viewing a property and in particular what type of questions should I be asking the estate agent? I have some examples here but perhaps I have missed some or perhaps some are not needed: How long has the property been on the market? How quickly do the owners want to sell? Why do the owners want to sell? How quickly do properties in this vacinity tend to become tenanted? What rent do you think the property could get? What is the service charge/ground rent? How much longer is left on the lease? Is there a review on the service charge coming up? Are the management company planning any large painting or renovation works soon? Is the sink fund large? Does any the property need any maintanance that I may have missed? What type of renters do you tend to see in the market? How popular is this type of property with renters? Does the lease prohibit changing carpets/flooring? I can't think of any others right now but if I do I will put them in a reply to this post. Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated! --Ewan

I need to prove to court that I had a residential property on the market in 2008 or 2009. I can't remember dates or agents or anything useful to my case. The property is in Mansfield Nottinghamshire. I live in the US. Who should I ask? Where should I go for help? Unfortunately, the sale fell through. Would agents keep records of properties they marketed but did not sell?? Desperate need of your help. Thank you. Holly Warren

Hi, I currently live in Edinburgh and am looking to purchase my first property (see my Edinburgh Intro post ). I was wondering if anyone had any good or bad experiences with solicitors in Edinburgh? There are loads of solicitors and knowing which are good is hard to find by research alone. Similarly if anyone had any experiences (good or bad) with mortgage brokers in the same area that would be great. I have been testing the waters but some personal experience would be welcomed for a property beginner like myself. Likewise, if anyone has advice and pointers from outwith Edinburgh this would also be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Mikey

Hi Everyone, Need some help/advice on a rather frustrating situation I'm facing. A now Ex-estate agent who used to lease my property are yet to provide me with 6 months of statements, However took the management fee each month. I have called to ask them for the statements, However they keep stating that they have introduced a new computer system and are having issues retrieving/generating everyones statements. I have called and spoke to over 20 people at the company and they all say they are looking into resolving this. The latest I received is a formal letter of apology, However i stated that i should receive some kind of compensation for this lack of service which is an essential part of estate agency. Really need your advice on what i can do to progress/resolve this... is there an organisation I can report this to? Not sure if I'm allowed to name the agents, so haven't done at this stage. Look forward to hearing from you all. E

Hi All, I have managed to remortgage my 2 bed flat in HIghbury to a buy-to-let. It has recently been done up and is quite high-spec (as we used to live there!) and am now on the lookout for someone to fully manage it. I have been looking at high street estate agents, and WOW THE COSTS - 18% one offered me (although he did say it was negotiable). So, I have been looking at online agents, and wondered if anyone had any experience? cheers charlie

I was chatting with Rob D recently and he mentioned that, if there was a documentary in this country about estate agents, it'd probably be an expose (I don't know how to do the little hat thing!) Well, it looks like the BBC were doing a CIA on us because here it is:- http://forum.allagents.co.uk/blogs/bradleys-estate-agents/160-bbc-to-unlock-doors-on-estate-agents It doesn't look like it's got a concrete airing date yet but April seems to be the time. Will be very interesting to see how agents are portrayed now we're the market is on an upward turn. Do you think it'll lean on stereotypes like 'Benefits Street' did? Do you think they'll explore alternative methods of selling your home, i.e. without an estate agent?