Residential & Commercial Lettings

TIPS FOR TENANTS

Choosing Your Perfect Area

Research, Research, Research! Make sure you do your homework to establish the specific area where you would like to live. Make a list of the things that are important to you, transport links, schools (if applicable), access to shopping, bars, restaurants and use these to re-focus your search area. Talk to your local agent (us of course) for some local knowledge as it’s in the best interests of the agent to find you the right property to rent.

Dealing with Agents

• Identify which local agents are offering the types of properties that suit your requirements. Make sure it is in your preferred area and give them a call. Local agents have key insights into the area, rental property trends and also any other hidden information you may not be offered from a chain type agency. We always suggest you pop into us so we can talk through your rental needs and you can meet us face to face which is very important. We register you on our state of the art system so if any property is available (or about to be available) we can keep you informed.
• Be straight forward about when you need to move into your rental property. If you need somewhere quickly, let us know as we have a daily briefing with our lettings team who know what is going on in and around Solihull.

Viewing Rental Properties

• Be available and flexible to view properties. BU Homes move quickly; a property can sometimes go under application within hours of it becoming available so it's important you can view at short notice.
• Remember if you like a property but something superficial is putting you off, we can always chat to the landlord on your behalf. A different coloured room doesn't cost the earth and it’s in the landlord’s best interests to get you onside in the early stages of the tenancy process.
• If you want to make changes to the property then make sure you say something, we won’t see it as awkward or difficult as it’s important that these little issues are sorted out before you commit. If you’re happy, we're happy.

Doing the Housekeeping

• Once your offer has been accepted you’ll need to hand over a holding deposit to secure the property. The Agent/Landlord is responsible for putting your deposit into an approved tenancy deposit holding scheme and they will pass on the details to you – make sure you keep these details in a safe place.
• All professional estate agents conduct security checks on behalf of the landlord, so make sure you have details of all your previous addresses to hand and any other references you feel are important. Make sure you let your employer, and any other referees, know to expect a request for a reference as we will always check them.

Moving In

• Find out who the property management company is and make sure you have been provided their contact details including 24hour contacts where applicable. If something goes wrong in the property, you’ll know who to get in touch with quickly and easily.
• Look after the property as if it were yours, this reduces the possibility of a dispute over damage when the tenancy comes to an end. No-one likes to be in a situation like this so it’s important you communicate any issues quickly.
• You are responsible for any insurance that may be required for your personal belongings and furniture if applicable, landlords are not responsible for insuring your items.

Moving Out

• If the property was professionally cleaned when you moved in, then you will need to arrange for the same level of cleaning to be done before you move out. Whoever is managing the property, be it the estate agent or the landlord, they will want to see a receipt for the cleaning.
• It's important that you leave the property in a good condition and remove all of your belongings (especially the rubbish) otherwise you risk losing part, or all of your security deposit.