getting work from letting agents

[cobra]

hi guys
looking at contacting letting agents in regards to mainly ie landlord gas safety certs/servicing and possibly breakdowns etc but before i do can u give me some pointers ie would i be dealing with letting agents in regards to payment or would i deal directly with landlord and would i be expected to give letting agent commission and how much would i be asking ie for a landlord gas safety cert- just dont know what the going rate is when dealing with letting agents.
i want to get my pricing about right. i just dont want to be undercutting myself or overpricing. i would be working in and around wolverhampton, walsall and surrounding area. i would also like to know if any of you guys specialise in this type of work and whether you can makes a regular income from this. also do you know how i could get contact information for landlords if letting agents dont want to know. any feedback will be appreciated, sorry if im asking stupid or misguided questions- just recently self employed but would much rather stick to servicing/landlord gas safety certs and small installs ie gas fires, cookers and boiler swaps thanks guys

 

[stevetheplumber]

all letting agents pay the same which is as little as possible,want it done yesterday and think an invoice is something to wipe there derieeres with

 

[woodsy]

Regarding price, its a case of how long is a piece of string. Anywhere from £25 to £80 and above. Several threads on here regarding this. With letting agents its generally how cheap you can be which tends to lend to people cutting corners. You need to work out your costs, allow for running backwards and forwards for keys and not be swayed by ' i can give you 400 houses etc as it never happens. Sorry to be a bit negative but generally letting agents / landlords can be some of the most trying people to work for.

 

[diamondgas]

I agree woodsy ... I have quite a few landlords that are really good I must say but the majority of letting agents I've done work for are tight!

So if you look at what you're worth then half it I'd imagine you'll get plenty work cobra! lol

 

[secret squirrel]

I sit on the fence quite nicely with this post.

As a landlord I only deal with the tradesmen directly. I find it much easier to speak to the trades. You get a direct answer to a question. You also build up a rapport with them and tend to get them to deal with the tennant directly. Much easier to arrange appts that way. Any problems I then meet the trades there and gain access to the property for them.

As a tradesman dealing with some letting agents is very problematic. I agree with woodsy to a greater part. Problem is everyone wants there cut, the letting agent then claims your amount plus there cut from the landlord, who, can't believe that the boiler needs a new part because he hasn't spoken to you or that the leak in the downstairs toilet is worth £150.

If you can speak to the landlord directly, to start off with if you can get him to join you at the house. This way you can get the measure of each other.

 

[princegoose]

I've been 'lukcy' enough to have most of my work from 3 different letting agents and a few landlords.

One letting agent is brilliant, Invoices paid in full at end of month, trust me with quotes and ''apparently'' I'm the 1st person they ring. I dont get gas safety check work from them as I charge £70 which is over twice the amount they can get them from elsewhere. I did get one, which ''coincidently'' had a gas leak. It was the inlet pressure test screw inside the boiler. Which tells you alot about the cowboys even the best letting agents stoop to.

My advice, if you want to work for peanuts and/or get moaned at for finding faults with gas fires and ventillation the do the work. Bear in mind they'll drop you as soon as someone does the job £5 cheaper. Have you ever seen a GS van without ''landlords gas safety certificates' on? not many are there. everyones got the same idea.

 

[secret squirrel]

I've been 'lukcy' enough to have most of my work from 3 different letting agents and a few landlords.

One letting agent is brilliant, Invoices paid in full at end of month, trust me with quotes and ''apparently'' I'm the 1st person they ring. I dont get gas safety check work from them as I charge £70 which is over twice the amount they can get them from elsewhere. I did get one, which ''coincidently'' had a gas leak. It was the inlet pressure test screw inside the boiler. Which tells you alot about the cowboys even the best letting agents stoop to.

My advice, if you want to work for peanuts and/or get moaned at for finding faults with gas fires and ventillation the do the work. Bear in mind they'll drop you as soon as someone does the job £5 cheaper. Have you ever seen a GS van without ''landlords gas safety certificates' on? not many are there. everyones got the same idea.

Trouble is at £70 by the time the letting agents put there bit on probably closer to £85.

I'm not saying your expensive by the way. For me again as a landlord not a tradesman, what I want is the gas safe chap to take the hassel away from me. I give him the number to phone a week later I get a bill or a phone call. If there is a thermo coupler that needs sorting I don't expect a phone call I expect it sorted and the cost goes on the bill. This has happened in the past with no argument from me.

One of the properties I've got is a back boiler service and gas safe cert is £60. incl vat.

Trouble is renting properties is a business like any other, 5 X £60 OR 5 X £85. If your unlucky they're all in the same month...... adds up.

Just to be clear I don't think £70 is too expensive

 

[Steve @ TheHeatingHub]

you also have to consider the time it takes for them to pay you in the past I have waited 4-6weeks for my dough which to me isn;t worth the hassle.

 

[Leadbetter]

Iv been working for my self for 1year 8months and i did exactly what your doing now, dont want to put on here what i charge but the way i work it is,,, i just do the work slightly cheaper than i would for a private customer because obviousaly they can.give you constant work,, i normaly charge the lettting agent and they pay me direct or some times i deal with the landlord every lettting agent deal with things different,,, they can be annoying thou so be prepared for a few jobs that are a waste of time i have gone out to jobs where its an electrition they need not a plumber so it was a wasted journey and i dont charge them a call out because i have to keep them happy for future business, over all i would say they are a good contact to have but they do want every thing doing and thr cheapest boilers always that get me fed up but its all work i surpose

 

[princegoose]

Trouble is at £70 by the time the letting agents put there bit on probably closer to £85.

I'm not saying your expensive by the way. For me again as a landlord not a tradesman, what I want is the gas safe chap to take the hassel away from me. I give him the number to phone a week later I get a bill or a phone call. If there is a thermo coupler that needs sorting I don't expect a phone call I expect it sorted and the cost goes on the bill. This has happened in the past with no argument from me.

One of the properties I've got is a back boiler service and gas safe cert is £60. incl vat.

Trouble is renting properties is a business like any other, 5 X £60 OR 5 X £85. If your unlucky they're all in the same month...... adds up.

Just to be clear I don't think £70 is too expensive

You think I'm expensive ay??

The one letting agency wanted me to do them for £55 for 3 appliances, with no extras for 30 minute journeys and no show tenants. Truth is I could be busier, but Im doint a hell of a lot better than I thought I'd be doing, and don't want my diary full with £30 here and £50 there. Letting agency work is handy for the bigger jobs though.

Makes me feel bad for the bloke whos doing the cheap landlord safety checks hoping to get the better jobs which I get. :-(

Was fitting band B boilers up until the last day we could though :-(

 

[cobra]

thanks for the varied responses so far, definately some things to ponder over. maybe i should become a letting agent then i can charge landlords top whack by doing the work myself £100 per service + extras lol,
but seriously if there was a way of bypassing letting agent and having details for landlords in your area you then could contact them directly and deal with them, therefore cutting out the greedy letting agent, but thats easier said than done. cheers guys

 

[gmac]

Letting agents use and abuse, its really that simple, there is the odd exception, take last winter for example, got snowed under with calls from letting agents regardiing the wetside of the game, burst pipes, frozen pipes etc, only had my number for two plus years and never a call until they are under pressure and tenants goin nuts, I'll let you guess how much of a priority their work was. done a few jobs for some but payment dragged beyond the reasonable.
Do work for one letting agent on a regular basis and they are the exception, probably because one of the partners is a ex-tradesman and has an idea of the real world

 

[princegoose]

You might get lucky if you turn up to a property and the landlords there, they'll ask for your card. But plent of them are abroad or dont want the hassle of dealing with tenants and in my experience tenants are scum.

 

[secret squirrel]

You might get lucky if you turn up to a property and the landlords there, they'll ask for your card. But plent of them are abroad or dont want the hassle of dealing with tenants and in my experience tenants are scum.

Some certainly can be,

I had one who never paid on time and never direct into my account. I always had to go round to collect it. When she wanted the deposit though, that was a different story, I can't afford to move with out it. TOUGH, get out of my house and take your scraggy kid with you.

Oh and everytime something went wrong you had to go round right away. Yeah right.