Tenant – Renting in a Property

When something as important as your family’s comfort and productivity is at stake you can’t settle for any ordinary real estate consultant. The scope of real estate professionals who are passionate, knowledgeable, honest, and experienced, is fairly extensive. Thus, engaging the services of a competent professional depends basically on chance. Why consult with someone who does not fancy building a global brand through professional service but rather misguide you and misjudge your requirement just to meets his/her own needs when your needs should remain their priority.

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

1. Speak with the prospective tenant first to truly understand why they are moving and the motivation behind their real estate need
2. Ask the prospective tenant about preferred type and class of both the property and neighbourhood
3. In cases where the prospective tenants’ need is not within our property portfolio, will establish contact with a network of very few trusted professional and knowledgeable colleagues via an e-mail identifying all the prospective tenant’s requirement
4. Upon receiving relevant response from the email sent we set out to view the available options on behalf of the client. We spend considerable amount of time to evaluate all claims regarding the property.
5. Carryout internal and external measurement of all spaces in the property.
6. Once a two (2) or three (3) properties are within the specifications of the prospective tenant, pictures and all relevant details about the respective properties are collated and sent to the client.
7. Once the client has selected an option(s), we set up an appointment for the client to gain access for a preview of the property.
8. Upon making subsequent appointments we ensure that the client’s family member(s), colleague(s), or friend(s) are also giving a guided tour of the property. NB: The maximum viewing appointments for a particular property with a client and/or their centre of influence is five (5). This is to ensure that our staff, who are currently limited in number, are available to other prospective clients.
9. Once the client has decided which option to take and upon his/her verbal expression of interest to rent or lease the property we make available to him/her a comprehensive and detailed Letter of Offer stating Terms and Conditions of the Offer.
10. Attached to the Letter of Offer is a Tenants’ Acquaintance Form depending on whether the tenant is a Corporate Tenant or an Individual/Family.
11. In the Tenants’ Acquaintance Form provision is made for the tenant to make a counter offer for the property
12. Once the form is filled, signed and received, a copy is sent to the owner via the managing agent.
13. Once an agreement is reached, where the owner so wishes a meeting between the owner and the prospective tenant is scheduled at our office, the managing agent’s office, or at the subject property.
14. Drafted copies of the Tenancy Agreement is received from the owner’s lawyer or the managing agent by our legal team.
15. The drafted tenancy agreement is reviewed by our legal team and relevant corrections are made and sent back to the owner’s lawyer or managing agent for necessary correction.
16. Once our legal team is satisfied with the corrections, a copy is sent to the prospective tenant to review.
17. Where the prospective client has issues with one or more clauses in the Tenancy Agreement we request for such concerns to be made via a mail which is then sent to the owner’s lawyer or managing agent.
18. Once there are no outstanding issues in the Tenancy Agreement we request for a letter from the managing agent stating details of payment.
19. Details of payment are then extrapolated from the managing agent’s letter and such information are then provided in our letter to the prospective tenant.
20. 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
21. Behind the scene we check with our network of colleagues, the property owner, and/or relevant government authorities to establish proof of ownership by sighting all original copies of title documents to the property as well as all relevant documents such as building permit. Where possible, duplicated copies are collected for our record.
22. Behind the scene we encourage the owner, the managing agent, and/or relevant government authorities to disclose any information that may be of interest to the prospective tenant such as if the property is likely to be sold or foreclosed before the expiration of the lease, if there are any outstanding charges, e.g., Service Charge, Land Use Charge, Power Bills, Water Bills, Waste Management Bills, etc.
23. Review the owner’s expectations in terms of rental value and to advice accordingly based on Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report.
24. Once an applicable rent has been agreed upon we prepare a ‘Letter of Acceptance’ to act as the principal’s agent/realtor.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. Only the minimum acceptable rent (net rent) of the property is been published. We do not market at Asking Rent(s).
29. We require owners to make available to our office an extra key to allow access for prospective tenants to view the property.
30. At our weekly official meetings we discuss details, attributes, and comparative advantages of the property and, the marketing format to adopt.
31. We commence marketing/listing of the property depending on the marketing/list approach approved by the owner.
32. Give guided tour of the property to prospective tenants.
33. Keep a record of all prospective tenants who call or send mails inquiring about the property
34. 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. 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.
7. 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.
8. Upon the satisfaction of our investigation,
9. 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
10. Upon receipt of payment we ensure that all necessary minor repairs as may have been agreed are executed before the tenant moves in
11. 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
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. Carryout periodic inspection and maintenance of the property as may have been stated in the agreement
16. Maintain a loyal relationship with the tenant

You can also view how to rent out a property by clicking here