UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi I'm new to this blog so please be gentle

I'm in the process of letting my first property a 3 bed house.  I found my tenents through an online agents who have been brilliant!
I paid them to reference the tenents (who needed Guarentors) and to draw up the tendency agreement.
I've sent a copy of the tendency agreement to the tenants but was wondering if it's better for them to sign the agreement and return it to me or is it better to meet them at the house on the day they are due to move in and get the guarantors, tenents and our signatures witnessed together?

Sorry if this is odd question but I can't find the answer anywhere online!  ( what do others do in this situation?)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Provided its done before you give them the keys, its not important.

Personally I would try to get it done before, so that on the day you can really focus on a spot on inventory.... Dont be shy about getting loads of pictures, and a signed statement from the tenants as to the condition of the property and contents.

I do what you seem to be considering doing.

I send them my AST about a week before the move-in date... my AST is written in plain English and has a highlighted bit at the front that tells them to read it thoroughly and ensure it contains everything they want and nothing they don't want (no-one has yet come back with request for modifications - that might just be luck) then we arrange to all sign it on the day of move-in... when we meet at the property I will already have funds cleared, of course, and we go through the CHECK-IN procedure then sign the things we are required to do... AST, DPS PI and, also, the CHECK-IN document. The Inventory and Schedule of Condition document is gone through... I either leave that with them, giving them 7 days to raise any concerns or we sign it there and then (this happened last time, but I certainly do not pressure them to do so, it was just mega convenient for me).

 Hi thanks for the reply
I have already sent a copy of the Tenancy agreement over and they are happy with that, I will indeed take lots of photos showing the condition of each room and I'll get these signed and dated with the inventory. Cleared funds for first months rent have been received and their deposit is being registered through the online agency I've Used. I will arrange for both tenants and guarantors to meet me at the property on the date the tenentcy starts. I Hope I've thought of everything and it all goes to plan on the day
Thanks for the help!

I create my own Inventory and Schedule of Condition document which covers the contents and condition of things in the property, and the property. The photos can all be included in there... it can be an onerous task but if there are things of reasonable value it is really worth you taking your time over it (some Landlords employ someone to do this and there are benefits, a third party is more objective, to doing this) but the beauty of spending the right amount of time on your own, and covering all the detail, is that you can probably re-use it (with slight alterations) time and time again.

I would always protect the deposit myself. I noted you said the on-line Agent is doing it. Of course, I expect they'll do it correctly. However, I do not trust Agents to always do it correctly, therefore I always protect the deposits myself. I don't want to cause alarm, at all, just be sure you're fully aware of everything in this regard.

Thanks Hippogriff

With hindsight I should have registered the deposit myself. Because I'd never done it before I was leaning on
Upad my online agent.

Having researched further and especially after receiving the litreture from my|Deposit todayI feel I could have done it my self!  Lesson learnt I suppose or is it to late to change that now and register it myself?

If it's done, it's done - don't worry too much about it... as long as you're sure it's been done correctly. I use DPS Custodial and I know there is a facility to transfer deposits to different 'accounts'... I would assume the same thing is with there with them all.

Do it yourself next time... as you say, it's not that hard and at least you can ensure it's been done correctly. You're not depending on anyone else. Although I suspect uPad will be fine (I've had a little bit of experience with them and they seemed to be quite professional to me). I just don't ever want to be liable for someone else's mistakes (I hate being liable for my own, even).

Thank you Boboff and Hippgriff for putting my mind at ease.  I have to say that Upad have been excellent so far so I'm pretty confident they will handle the deposit correctly.  But will definately do it myself next time!

Thanks once again for taking the time to share your knowledge.

Give them a copy of the proposed agreement,
Take their full deposit as a holding deposit
Protect the deposit with DPS, TDS or MyDesposits
Put the DPS ref in the Final tenancy agreement in one of the terms put the DPS PI at the back
Have them sign the agreement and pay rent in cash before giving keys
Give them the DPS tenant leaflet
Do the inventory, record all negatives,
Keep lines of communication open, call them 2 weeks after moving in asking if everything OK and to call you if they have any problems

As you have used the agent, get the DPS ref number and make sure you can access the DPS website yourself, get the PI issued within the 30 day limit.

Agents are all very well but it is your wallet on the line if they screw up.

Just to add you can also do digital signatures if your in a rush. No waiting around.

There are some services that will do this for free. Some offer starter packages for 3 documents a month for free which should be more than enough for most.

Following the DPS thread i let the agent register it once just once .He then failed to submit a report in time, when there was a dispute ,and we lost out on a legitimate claim on that basis alone . Do not trust agents .