Letting agents

[quinne]

What can I expect from letting agents? I've never rented before so I don't know what to expect but so far I've found them incredibly unhelpful! We are moving back to the UK (Weybridge probably) from Eastern Europe and I am asking the agents simple questions like "is this school in the catchment area for ... school" and they are just ignoring my question. All they will do is send me a brochure which usually only shows a couple of rooms and tell me to book a flight if I want to know more. Are there any good letting agents in Weybridge?

not a lot. they are not the brightest of the bunch and i wouldnt trust them with something as important as catchment areas, you should rely on your own information/reasearch.

sorry to be on a downer about this, appreciate that if you are abroad it isnt exactly easy.

some estate agents have video clips but so many of the photos are taken with wide angle lenses it would be difficult to get a real sense of the space.

If they are going to be that useless then i'm not sure they should be paid. Is there a private rental market which doesn't use agents... just the lettor and the lettee (made those words up!) getting in direct contact?

I've always found letting agents completely useless. Most of the time they struggle to work the front door of places, let alone being able to tell you anything about the area or the house . My advice would be to thoroughly research the areas you are considering yourself. Find out from the LA or the school exactly where their catchment area is and then plot it on a map so you can check if a potential house is within the area.

As someone who lets a house out through agents I can confirm that our agents are pretty useless. You would be foolish to rely on them for information because all they want from you is regular rent cheques. The quicker they let a house, the sooner they get their commission, and the less they have to do for it the better of course.

copuld i avoid them altogether if i placed an ad in a local paper asking people who have a house to let to get in touch?

Letting agents are crap, DON'T rely on them to tell you anything about schools or facilities, they are mostly young men with no interest in anything other than getting their commission.

Use Google maps if you can, much better for working out what an area is like - street view is amazing, it let me see that the 'lovely' flat I was considering was surrounded by boarded-up windows. If you don't want to use an agent, you could try Gumtree or Craigslist for private landlords, or local newspapers (most available online).

I realise all this advice is useless if you don't have much time/access to the internet

The advice is good and gratefully received. Thanks. I do have access to the internet and to skype so i can call, email and search streetview. I am just astounded that when things are so tight the agents still can't be bothered doing any work!

Can you use a relocation agency ? That might be money well spent, they'll do a lot of the leg work for you and things might be a bit tight for them with less company lets around, however the rental market i'd imagine is booming, so these half wits probably are actually quite busy right now.

that's a good idea. It depends on what they cost but a bit of pre-screening before we come to see houses would be really helpful.

...put any potential addresses into Up My Street, or About My Place.

This will give you access to maps showing you nearest schools, social profiles etc...

Surrey county council can confirm by email areas of primary responsibility etc..

The agents will be of zero aid, best do it yourself!