Frequently Asked Questions - The Online Letting Agents Ltd

Once your advert is live, tenants contact us and we filter them according to your requirements. You will receive an eMail and an SMS message with the details of potential tenants. You simply arrange a convenient time with the tenant and show them around.

If you’ve asked us to complete your tenant’s references, simply ask them to contact us. We confirm all details with them, and contact you for the “green light”. You will receive copies of all reference reports so you can make a final decision and if all is ok, we can complete any of the other admin that you’ve asked us to do (tenancy agreements, deposit protection, inventory etc).

If you’ve opted for a managed service, we’ll take care of everything for you, all they way to the check out at the end of the tenancy!

When will my property be on the market?

Your property will normally be listed on our website, Rightmove & Zoopla within 2-3 hours of upload (during normal office hours), and on all of the other property portals within 24 hours (please bear in mind we are not in control of external sites and so cannot guarantee their response times).

Your residential property will be advertised until let for a maximum of 60 days, should your advert expire and you wish to continue advertising, we will ask you to pay for the advertising only portion of the package. Any additional products you purchased originally would still be valid with the advert extension.

What is the letting process?

The process is simple, and begins with you building your bespoke advertising package and uploading your property details & photographs.
We then check your listing and once approved, it is uploaded on to our website and is sent out to all the property portals, different portals take a different amount of time to show the advert. We’ll send you a link to your property once it goes live.
Tenants see your advertisement and contact us to arrange a viewing.
We contact every enquiry and gather basic information such as who’s moving in, working status, do they claim benefits, pets, move date, etc and filter to your specified criteria. Providing that they are suitable, we forward their details to you by both eMail and SMS.
You meet the prospective tenant and show them the property.
If the tenant likes the property, and you’ve asked us to complete tenant references on your behalf, simply ask them to contact us to make a formal offer to let. We will then put this offer to you. If you are happy to proceed, we will go ahead and perform comprehensive reference checks.
Our reference checks include a credit history check, bankruptcy and CCJ check, previous landlord reference and employer reference. We use one of the UK’s leading provider or referencing services to complete these checks. These are normally returned within 3-5 working days.
We will provide you with the results of the tenant’s reference check.
Provided you are happy to proceed, depending on what services you’ve chosen, we will then complete the administrative work.
You then make contact with the tenant to arrange the details of their move in day.

You can download various documents and guides from our website.

Do you offer any additional services?

Yes. We offer a wide range of Landlord services such as EPC’s, Safety Certificates, Professional Photography and Professional Inventories to name but a few. Please see our Landlord Services page for more details.

Do you accompany viewings?

No. We do not offer accompanied viewings. We believe that no one knows your property as well as you, and our experience tells us that when someone who is unfamiliar with a property conducts viewings they are less likely to secure a tenant. Also, by meeting your prospective tenants face to face, you can judge whether or not you are happy to let to them. For more information on do’s and don’ts when conducting a viewing, please see our guide.

How do I value my property?

Please see our guide on how to calculate the rental value of your property.

Why do I need to get references for my tenants?

Your property is possibly the most valuable thing you own, and regaining possession from a tenant who has not paid their rent can be a traumatic, expensive and a time consuming process. We recommend landlords protect themselves as much as possible from “bad tenants” and tenant referencing is a good place to start. Please see our guide on what is included in our reference check and why they are so important.

Can I make changes to my advert?

Yes. Simply send us an email with the changes you would like to make, including any photographs that you would like to be added to your advert and we will take care of everything else. Alternatively, just give us a call during office hours and we’ll make the changes for you there and then.

When will my property be visible to potential tenants?

Your property will normally be listed on our website, Rightmove & Zoopla within 1-2 hours of upload (during normal office hours), and on all of the other property portals within 24 hours.

How long does an EPC last?

An EPC is a legal requirement for all properties being let, and is valid for ten years. If you do not have one, you can add one to your cart at our landlord services page.

How long does a gas safety (CP12) certificate last?

Twelve months. If you have selected our fully managed service, we will automatically arrange for a Gas Safe engineer to test your appliances, and upon successful inspection, issue you with a new certificate. We can also arrange a Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) for you.

What if my property is already advertised with my local agent?

That’s no problem for us. Although you will need to check the terms and conditions with the other agent as some do not allow the use of multi-agents. Please also bear in mind that the property statistic reports we can produce for you will not be accurate as tenants tend to randomly click on the first property advert they see, irrelevant of who the agent is. This means your tenants are split across the agents and the report will only show tenants who clicked on our advert.

Who checks the tenant has the right to rent?

It is now a legal requirement for landlords to check that all adult occupants have the right to live in England (whether they are on the contract or not). If your property is not going to be managed by ourselves, you must complete the right to rent checks. You can read more about this in our Right to Rent Guide. If your property is to be managed by ourselves, we will complete the right to rent checks for you.

Can I get my property advert to the top of the listings?

The property portals sort properties by the newest first. Unfortunately the property portals don’t allow adverts to be “bumped back to the top”, however Rightmove will move your advert to the top of the listings if the price is reduced by 2% or more. Your Gumtree advert will be automatically bumped to the top of the listing every day. Zoopla don’t allow “bumping” at all.

What is a premium listing and why should i have one?

Landlord’s can make their properties stand out in the property list by adding a premium listing. According to Rightmove statistics, Premium Listings received approximately 26% more views than a standard property advertisement. A premium listing is strongly recommended where there are a large number of properties to let in your area. Premium Listings do not make your property appear at the top of the listings.

What does your reference check include?

Our references include a credit history check (which gives a general credit score, as well as identifying any adverse credit, such as CCJ’s), previous landlord reference and employment reference. The reference report will give your tenants either an “accept” or “fail” recommendation. If there are any issues with your tenant’s references, we will contact you to discuss this, and the options that are open to you. You will be provided with a copy of the reference report. Our referencing service also includes full back office support to help you every step of the way. This could include negotiating the deal, informing unsuccessful candidates, guiding you through taking a holding deposit and anything else you might need assistance with.

How can you fully manage my property if you’re not local?

We’re not local, but we always know someone who is! We use trusted and approved local inventory clerks, contractors, engineers etc to complete the elements of our service that require someone to visit your property. In fact, managing your property remotely is what allows us to provide the high quality service that we’ve become renowned for, at a very competitive price (service available in England only).