I suppose it’s hard to choose a specific letting agent when the property selection is probably more imporatnt. However, if you’ve got a bee in your bonnet and have been burned a few times. Then check out the specific things to do when choosing a letting agent.

Website

In most cases, your first interaction with a letting agent will probably be with their website. Take a look at the general layout of the website and how easy it is to navigate round.

If you find the navigation confusing or struggle to look through the different options, by now letting agents should have sorted this out. After all, this is 2013 and not 1993.

Pics

Are there sufficient pictures of a particular house or flat and are they clear? Is their an ability to enlarge the pictures to get a better look and can you print them out.

All of these features help when choosing the right property. If these features are missing, then this highlights a slight laziness on the letting agents part.

Dimensions

Are the property descriptions displaying the dimensions of the property? We all know that estate agents do a pretty good job f this. however, there are still a few letting agents that aren’t going that extra mile and supplying dimensions for potential tenants. Most people want to know whether certain items will fit in a room before they have a viewing.

Not only does this help eliminate properties ahead of time, it also helps tenants be more efficient with their time when viewing prospective properties.

Social Media

Take a look on sites like titter by either putting in the name of the letting agent in the search bar. Then take a look at the discussions going on and even look at the their particular timeline to see what has been written and what’s being said.

There’s a saying, “no new is good news”. If you don’t see much conversation around the letting agents name. This is good. However, if you see lots of bad comments and virtually no replies form the letting agent. That ain’t good!

If you don’t see a twitter account for the letting agent at all. This could be for a variety of reasons. Either they don’t want 1 on 1 conversations with their tenants, or they simply can’t be bothered set up an account. Either way, this is a really bad sign. In this day and age, letting agents should really be encouraging transparent 2 way conversations.

You can also look at other social platforms like Facebook to see if there’s much conversation going on and whether tenants are happy or upset with the level of service they’re being offered.

You could also try using the hash tag before their name.

Credentials

Frankly, the more the better. Check to see if your letting agent is a member of associations like ARLA, NALS. Also, ensure that they fully protect your deposit through schemes like DPS which a tenancy deposit scheme.

One of the most important things tenants must do is keep a record of everything that has happened during the tenancy. Write a separate log that lists each time that boiler broke down, or the time it took to get something repaired. If you can, keep documented pictures as well. This will help when you’re looking to get your security deposit back and you’ve got issues with the letting agent or landlord.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting you’re going to have any problems. It’s just part of a little back up plan to be prepared for anything.

Moving Out Of Your Flat

When moving out. Ensure you place cardboard or an old sheet in the hall and major walkways. You’ll probably take care of scuffing the walls or ensuring your shoes are clean. I can guarantee that the moving guys or even friends and family probably won’t. They won’t do this on purpose. It’s just they won’t take as much care as you will. I can categorically say that most damages are caused in the moving out phase of your tenancy and by other people other than the tenant.

In a lot of cases, tenants that are moving out of one property are more than likely moving into another rented

property.

Moving Into Your New Flat

Ensure you do a walk around with the landlord and letting agent prior to moving in. Point out absolutely everything you feel needs to be mentioned on the condition report. A lot of letting agents actually record these now. You can either request a copy of the recording or simply make one yourself as you’re walking around

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They called us in to give their oven a once over since they’d struggled to get the oven glass clean when they tried

Anyway, it’s lovely and clean now and we’d like to thank Suzanne for the great testimonial she sent us.

This is our latest cleaning tips video on cleaning your refrigerator the right way.

There are many different ways to clean your fridge. This is just the way we do it and the way we train our operatives how to do it too!

Thank you!

Des

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This is the first edition of cleaning tips provided for clients of Cleaner and Clearer Ltd.

Thank you!

Des

If you enjoyed this short video and got something out of it, we’d love for you to share it with your friends and family by using the share buttons below  

Under the scheme of local housing allowance, we do have the discretion of paying directly to the agent or Landlord, if:

• The tenant does have difficulties in the management of financial affairs

Or

• It is necessary for the tenant to pay rent.

One should see to it if the agent or landlord is suited for the direct payment, when reaching to a decision of making direct payment.

Early intervention is the key of sorting problems of rent payment.

When your tenant’s runs away, it would be in arrears the other day. But it will be only for a day in arrears, if your agreement is for rent it has to be paid in advance within two weeks.

When your tenant’s rent is in arrears, immediately contact your tenant’s in order to discuss the situation with them. As soon as you contact your tenant, by doing this, you’re keeping on top the problem. Most tenant’s won’t want to  lose their home and they’ll be eager to sort out the problem in order to get their rent back on track.

If your tenant is unable to pay all the rent due, then tell them to pay whatever they can rather than missing the whole rent payment. It might prove to be helpful to come to an agreement and sign it, along with your tenant and keep a copy of it for your assurance.

A 14 day’s notice is a sort of letter that makes your tenant aware of the issue which gives them 14 days for its resolution.

Personal handling of 14 day’s notice speeds up the process, and just in case you aren’t able to do that, then you can deliver it through the post (recorded delivery). Make it sure that you have a copy of the agreement.

If your tenant’s rent is less than 21 days in arrears, then you must send your tenant a 14 day’s notice , in order to make them alert of the rent arrears.

Once you send a 14 day’s notice to your tenant, you can apply for the tenancy tribunal in order to ask to pay the arrears. You can apply for the tenancy tribunal before the expiry of 14 day’s notice.

When you give your tenant a 14 day notice, make sure that you have a copy of it including all the details of application form:

• On the expiry of 14 day notice

• date when it was provided

• how was it provided; may be by hand or by post

Hope this helps and look out for more helpful tips in the future!

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Equipment and Supplies

Obviously, professional cleaning services would already have all the tools and resources they need for effectively cleaning all types of carpets. On the other hand, with DIY cleaning, homeowners like you would have to shell out a huge amount of money buying the necessary items for this type of task. One thing you should know is that soap and water are simply not enough. In fact, they are not even safe to use for cleaning carpets!

Training

Vacuum cleaning can get rid of dirt and dust, but it is definitely not enough to get rid of any kind of stain. For stain removal, you will need to undergo sufficient on-the-job training. Experience and theoretical studies enable professional carpet cleaners to determine the appropriate type of solution or mixture to use for eradicating a specific type of stain. If you make the mistake of using the wrong substance, such an error can be more than enough to cause permanent damage to your carpets.

Naturally, carpet cleaning professionals are beyond such rookie mistakes but DIY homeowners like you are not. In fact, mistakes are likely to happen if you insist on mixing and playing with your own custom-made cleaning solutions.

Time

If you have an upcoming house party and it is for this reason that you need your carpet to be reassuringly clean, then there’s no time to waste, is there? If so, you should forget – even if just for now – about your tendency to do some DIY house work and go straight to the professionals for help instead.

Outcome

Eventually, with the use of the best tools and supplies and with considerable experience, you may be able to deep-clean your carpets someday. But for now, you need to keep in mind that the longer your carpets are deprived of deep-cleaning, the harder it will be for the professionals to restore its pristine clean appearance and condition.

If you do not want your carpet to get damaged, then you need to seriously think about hiring a professional cleaning service. With this type of service, you will be able to enjoy complete assurance that your carpets are in good hands.

Moreover, professional cleaning services typically go beyond basic carpet cleaning. They will also take the necessary action to prevent their work from affecting any other part of your home or inflict damage on it. They will make sure that when they reinstall your carpet, it will look and feel brand new while not affecting the quality of your home’s indoor air. They will also perform the necessary checks to ensure if it is indeed completely clean.

As you can see, the best carpet cleaners in the industry won’t let you down with half-baked carpet cleaning service.

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Note: Please don’t use this for plated silver!

Grab yourself a plastic bowl and that aluminium foil from under the sink. Make sure the foil is the shiny side up. Then (if you have any) get some soda crystals and pour a half cup to full cup in the bowl and pour hot water to the (enough so that the cutlery is completely immersed in the liquid). Put on your favourite rubber clothes (wink, wink) and carefully place your cutlery into the solution.

Now stand back and watch in amazement as the cutlery turns a lovely bright shade within minutes of being in the solution. After they’ve been immersed for a few minutes, remove your cutlery and rinse them under warm water until you’ve removed any soda residue. Now simply buff to a brilliant shine with a cloth or duster. That’s it. Simple eh?

Carpet Stains

Trust me as you read this. If you happen to have the mishap by spilling that glass of red or your dog knocks over that cup of coffee. please do me a favour. Don’t use any chemicals on it at all. Simply grab yourself cloth and dab the effected area (better still use kitchen tissue to dab and mob). Don’t rub the area though, that’s where you reach the edge of no return. Even when we come to clean, it’ll be impossible to remove.

Smoking Burns

My advice (if you can). Smoke outside and encourage your friends and family visitor’s to. There’s absolutely nothing we can do about carpet burns and I guarantee you, your letting agent will charge you a new carpet if you have any.

So please, take this advice and everyone will be a lot happier

If you do not want to be troubled with such concerns, then it is best to give up trying to deep-clean your carpets on your own. Instead, why not just let the pros take over and keep your carpets wonderfully clean without any much effort on your part?

Now, professional carpet cleaners typically have a variety of methods to choose from when it comes to carpet cleaning. The first thing they typically do is to assess the current condition of your carpet. Performing such assessments is a skill in itself, which makes it yet another advantage of working with the best in this industry.

If you make the mistake of giving the wrong assessment, rest assured that you would find yourself suffering from a poorly cleaned carpet.

A professional assessment typically includes the following considerations.

• Carpet type – What kind of fabric is it made of? What kind of stitching may have been used for its design?
• Dimensions – Professional cleaners typically measure carpets in terms of length, width, and thickness. These measurements can help professionals provide you with a reasonably accurate quote as to how much you would have to pay for their services.
• Soiling – First of all, they would want to know what kind of dirt or stain has caused your carpet to look the way it does now. They will also want to know when was the last time you hired a professional to clean it. Generally speaking, carpets are best cleaned (by professionals) every six months or as near to this as possible.
• Furniture – More to the point, how much of it will have to be temporarily relocated to other rooms of your house? Furniture rearrangement is necessary if you don’t want them to be adversely affected by the chemicals and supplies used for cleaning your carpet. These substances may be beneficial to your carpet but it might be the opposite when it comes to wooden or patio furniture for instance.

Once the diagnosis has been completed, professional cleaners would then automatically proceed to determining the appropriate solution for your carpet’s needs.

• Steam cleaning – This is the most common way to clean carpets nowadays. If you are aware of how people steam clean their clothes then the same process applies. Many DIY homeowners use this to clean their carpets, but it’s a privilege that comes with a hefty price tag. After all, steam cleaning also requires its own line of equipment.
• Dry foam cleaning – This method is almost as popular as steam cleaning. Rather than making use of a pre-cleaning detergent, you will now rely on a foam solution that will then be poured on to the carpet in order to be absorbed for cleaning inner layers of your carpets.

Other types of carpet cleaning you can enjoy from professional carpet cleaners include encapsulation and carbonated cleaning.