Top 10 questions to ask before instructing a letting agent.

After buying a new rental investment property, the next job is to find tenants! Letting agents come in all shapes and sizes, but sorting the wheat from the chaff might be a harder task than you’d think.  We’ve put together a list of the most important questions to ask a prospective agent before instructing them to find tenants for you:

1) Are you a member of a regulatory organisation such as ARLA or NALS?

2) Are you a member of the SAFEagent scheme, an organisation whose members all hold client money protection insurance?

3) Will my property be advertised on both Rightmove and Zoopla?

4) Do you use an independent referencing agency to assess all potential tenants and can I see the final reference reports before committing to a tenancy?

5) Do you take a holding deposit from interested tenants when they make an offer, so that I can be sure that they are serious about renting my property?

6) How many lettings staff will be working on my property?

7) How many active tenants does your office have on its database?

8) How many similar properties have you let in the last few months?

9) On average how long would you expect it to take before you achieve an offer from tenants?

10) What are your branch opening hours?

Alex Evans

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

Castles, cottages, vineyards and barn conversions

The latest data from LandSale has revealed what buyers can expect to pay, and how much they can get for their money if they want to escape to the country, with castles, vineyards, barn conversions, and cottages currently offering very different routes to rural living. The analysis draws on LandSale’s internal listing data and examines…
Read More
Breaking News

Poor property maintenance could wipe £59,000 in value

The latest research by property management specialist, Rushbrook, has revealed that landlords who fail to adequately maintain their rental properties could see as much as £30,172 wiped from the value of the average buy-to-let investment across England, with this potential loss climbing to almost £59,000 in London.   Rushbrook analysed landlord-specific property values across each…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 20/8/26

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   Why Angela Rayner Housing Secretary is in the wrong job – again   A smile, bluster and vague soundbites will not solve the UK housing crisis  Thought Leadership by Andrew Stanton – CEO Proptech-PR  ‘I have been involved in the UK property industry since the mid 1980’s…
Read More
Breaking News

Buyers Looking Beyond London

London new-build demand plummets behind commuter belt as buyers look beyond the capital   Demand for new-build homes in Essex more than three times higher than in London, while Hertfordshire faces supply squeeze amid growing buyer appetite   The latest research by UK Property Development has revealed a growing divide between London’s new-build market and…
Read More
Finance

Top six tips for first-time buyers

Independent mortgage broker, Flagstone Financial, has outlined key advice for first-time buyers, pointing to flexible options as signs of an improving mortgage market.   With high loan-to-value lending (80–95%) becoming more widely available, the property ladder is more accessible than in recent years, and experts at Flagstone Financial, partner of the Beresfords Group, are advising…
Read More
to let sign 2025
Breaking News

England’s rental stock surges by as much as 86.6% in a year

Rental listings have almost doubled in Tyne and Wear since August 2025, with Greater Manchester and a host of other markets also recording double-digit growth   The latest research from Propoly has revealed that England’s rental listings have climbed by an average of 7.4% in the past year, led by an 86.6% increase in Tyne and…
Read More