Owner – Renting out a Property

For every real estate investment the option of leasing or renting out some years in the useful life of the property is almost inevitable. This implies that the intrinsic but yet unique features of the property is handed over in trust to a third party who may or may not appreciate the relative value of your property. This experience can be unsettling for most property owners who are very concerned of their hard earned investment. Having difficult and non-credible tenants present serious management problems and are potential threat to the value of your investment. We have adopted a unique Tenants Selection procedures that ensure that significant threats to your investments are curtailed to barest minimum.

Before you decide on which agent to contact ask if they do all these:

Property Owner

1. Meet with the lessor to assess his/her real estate need and motivation. The meeting usually takes place at our office or at the lessor’s office whichever the lessor find’s convenient. NB: It is against our company policy to meet with the owner at his or her private residence. Where the lessor does not have an office (e.g. retirees), then the meeting would be at our office.
2. Ask the lessor questions about the home and themselves in a bid to establish the lessor’s motivation and preferred class of tenant.
3. Establish proof of ownership by reviewing all original copies of title documents to the property as well as all relevant documents such as building permit. Duplicated copies are collected for our record.
4. Set up a meeting to locate and preview the property with the owner (or his/her proxy).
5. Execute a second inspection to crosscheck any omitted details and to carryout internal and external measurement.
6. Take internal and external pictures of the property
7. Encourage the owner to disclose any information that may be important for our marketing and that may be of interest to the prospective tenant such as if the property is likely to be sold before the expiration of the lease.
8. Establish if there are any outstanding charges, e.g., Service Charge, Land Use Charge, Power Bills, Water Bills, Waste Management Bills, etc.
9. Review the owner’s expectations in terms of rental value and to advice accordingly based on Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report.
10. Once an applicable rent has been agreed upon we prepare a ‘Letter of Acceptance’ to act as the principal’s agent/realtor.
11. Included in the letter would be details of our agreement and discussions between both parties. Also included in the letter are details of our professional/agency fee which is 5% of the Total Rent receivable. There is a space for the principal to acknowledge the terms of engagement.
12. Attached to the ‘Letter of Acceptance’ is a form requesting for permission on the marketing/listing approach that could be adopted such as: National Dailies; Property Magazines; Monthly Magazines; First Colony webpage; On-line based adverts; placement of “FOR ENQUIRIES” board on the property, and; Word of Mouth marketing approach. The owner would be required to tick the appropriate box as approval for the marketing medium that could or could not be adopted.
13. Review all outstanding renovation/repair works that is required to put the property in a habitable state. We will supervise all outstanding renovation/refurbishment/redecoration of the property at a fee of 0% of the Total Cost of the project (i.e., FREE). Where the owner is unwilling to reinstate the property to a habitable state, First Colony Real Estate Company reserves the right to reject her appointment as the principal’s agent/realtor.
14. Only the minimum acceptable rent (net rent) of the property is been published. We do not market at Asking Rent(s).
15. We require owners to make available to our office an extra key to allow access for prospective tenants to view the property.
16. At our weekly official meetings we discuss details, attributes, and comparative advantages of the property and, the marketing format to adopt.
17. We commence marketing/listing of the property depending on the marketing/list approach approved by the owner.
18. Give guided tour of the property to prospective tenants.
19. Keep a record of all prospective tenants who call or send mails inquiring about the property
20. Continually update the owner (via e-mails) on market feedbacks as it relates to number of viewings per week and offers received or countered.

Prospective Tenant

1. Ensure that prospective tenants have all relevant information about the property
2. Ask the prospective tenant relevant questions in a bid to verify the use for which they require the property
3. Schedule an appointment for viewing of the property
4. Ensure that the property is accessible at the scheduled time of viewing
5. Guide the prospective Tenant on inspection of the property and making available all relevant information regarding the property, the available services, and the neighbourhood
6. Upon the client verbal expression of interest to rent or lease the property we make available to him/her a comprehensive and detailed Tenants’ acquaintance Form depending on whether the tenant is a corporate or individual/family tenant.
7. We ensure that non-negotiable disclosure as: The Name, Address, Office Telephone Number and E-mail of the Company/Employer; Name, Address, office telephone number and e-mail of Reference; Number of intended occupants; proposed date of possession; etc.; are extrapolated from the prospective tenant.
8. We make an official visit to the company/employer to verify such information as: number of years in the company’s employment; position of the staff in the company; etc. Where the veracity of the information provided is questionable or where a prospective tenant declines our official visit to his/her company we immediately inform the property owner of the development and subsequently give our recommendations.
9. Upon the satisfaction of our investigation, (where the owner so wishes) we prepare a meeting between the owner and the prospective tenant at our office or the subject property
10. Drafted copies of the Tenancy Agreement is provided by our legal team which is then made available to both parties for perusal and subsequent approval
11. Upon the satisfaction of all parties regarding the terms, conditions, and clauses in the drafted tenancy agreement, an offer letter and an invoice is prepared and sent to the prospective tenant
12. Details in the letter will include the following: the name and the address of the receiver; the purpose of the offer letter; the address of the property; the agreed rent of the property; professional agency fee which is 10% of the total rental consideration; legal fee which is 5% of the total rental consideration; and all relevant terms and conditions as may have been previously agreed; and, an attached invoice providing details of payment
13. Upon receipt of payment we ensure that all necessary minor repairs as may have been agreed are executed before the tenant moves in
14. Where the lease is long-term, say five (5) years, we ensure that the legal document is stamped and sealed at the relevant court house
15. All three copies of the lease agreement is retrieved from our lawyer, a copy is handed over to the owner, a copy is handed over to the prospective tenant while the last copy is kept in our office files.
16. Where the tenant may be new in the neighbourhood and may require relevant assistance such as the need for such services as: Interior Decoration Experts; Cleaners; Air Conditioning installation and/or Engineers; Relocation service providers; Corporate security personnel; etc., we recommend reputable persons or companies to the tenant and give partial supervision of the services they offer.
17. Where our input or assistance is required we help provide any information as may be required by relevant government authorities like the power companies, water board, land use charge agencies; waste disposal agencies; etc.
18. Carryout periodic inspection and maintenance of the property as may have been stated in the agreement.
19. Maintain a loyal relationship with the tenant

You can also view how to sell a property by clicking here and how to rent in a property by clicking here