YPC Lettings new "game changer" London Property fee structure and how its bringing some honesty back into this industry
Brett Alegre-WoodChairman, YPC Group
Hey guys,
Right from the beginning of YPC's history, I've always setup each business with the view of effortlessly managing my own portfolio of properties. Therefore giving clients as good a service as I will expect for myself. This is still the philosophy today.
On top of this I have always believed in being upfront with charges, so I have been on a mission of exposing the deceptive practices of many property companies out there. Having said that, I want to eliminate any hearsay about YPC Lettings by introducing a new way of charging you for our services.
YPC Lettings offers you the ability to manage all your property with a single point of contact. Unlike a normal lettings company who are restricted to a specific area around their office. YPC Lettings have the job of overseeing any property purchased by you in any area in the UK. This makes your job of managing your properties and building a portfolio so much easier.
There are two major fees in the letting and management of your property; Tenant Find Fees and the Ongoing Monthly Management fees.
I will say first that the following is applicable to London properties only, outside London different fees structured accordingly.
Tenant Find Fees
In most cases you will be charged an upfront fee out of your first month's rent. This is only charged once an agent finds you a tenant. In YPC's case this is usually around 5% to 7% depending on the local agent we use for the property.
A normal agent will charge you between 7.5% and 11.5% for this service. This is solely to find a tenant and set up the AST or the 'Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement' (which is the formal agreement between the Landlord and the Tenant setting out all the terms).
I will add this though, some agents will offer reduced fees each month to try and get your business but be warned they will also reduce the service they provide when things go wrong. And watch how quickly you'll realise the true expense of paying peanuts. They are also not totally upfront with the 'little extras' they charge i.e £50 for registering a deposit, £15 for re-issuing you any paperwork/statements etc...
Ongoing Property Management
If you also want the property managed, which as an overseas investor I would say: you simply do not have the choice (I'd even suggest that unless you are an experienced Lettings Agent no one should attempt to do it themselves). In any case if you want management you will be charged a monthly management fee.
YPC Lettings will charge you the difference between the Tenant Find Fee (5%-7%) and 12.5% so if the tenant find fee is 5% you will be charged 7.5%, bringing it up to 12.5% for the first year. This is where YPC Lettings provides a major point of difference which I will explain later why this will save you over other agents.
Here are a couple of typical deceptive behaviors practiced in some London letting agents:
London Lettings Deception #1 - The 2 Year AST Deception
Firstly, let me expose one of the most deceptive practices of London agents. Most London agents will suggest that you accept a 2 Year AST agreement. There is absolutely no reason for this except that they will charge you the full two years of the Tenant Find Fee upfront. This in many cases will cost you your first 2 or 3 months rent, because they charge this fee upfront.
London Lettings Deception #2 - Not registering your deposit within 14 days because they used the money to pay their commission
In addition to the 2 Year AST Deception many agents will take money out of the deposit that tenants will pay you and expect you to register it on time, this by UK law must be forwarded to a recognised deposit scheme within 14 days. In many cases this puts the Landlord in breach and the consequences can be that the courts award the tenant up to 3 times the deposit.
What does Fully Managed really mean?
Before we consider YPC's unique advantage, let me explain the differences in the definition of Fully Managed by many agents. Fully Managed by some agents actually means; in the worst case - only collecting the rent for you, maybe they will also chase small arrears for you, but they will normally fail when it comes to managing small maintenance issues, forget about handling serious rent arrears, serious maintenance, and only the top agents (YPC included) will manage the legal process and project management.
Very few if any will not charge you considerable fees for the hours they spend on many of these tasks. They consider them outside their remit. In many cases, too often to name when something happens the agent will simply pass the problem to the landlord and expect them to deal with it. This isn't the way of YPC.
Why YPC provides the ultimate management?
Our philosophy has always been that we will do everything for you. Rather than worrying about what we should do, we will just get it done. Sure you will still be responsible for direct costs involved but we never charge for our time outside of the monthly management fee's (except where major project work is required and the team have to go onsite, manage contractors etc).
Why YPC turns out to be massively cheaper than other agents?
Because of the new way we have chosen to charge, rather than like most agents who will charge a flat fee for every month (and possibly a Tenant Find fee on top). With YPC you pay the Tenant Find fee to the agent (a maximum of 12 months, we never suggest a 2 Year AST as I already explained) and then you pay the flat fee per month to us. This means that having paid the Tenant Find fee upfront and as long as your tenant stays over a 12-month period you will only be paying YPC's management fee of up to 12.5%, this can save you literally thousands of pounds in management fees over the years.
How can YPC afford to charge so little but offer the most comprehensive service in the UK?
The answer is our size, we are approaching 1000 properties under management which makes us one of the largest residential investment property management companies in the country. It's this size that allows us to achieve economies of such scale whilst still giving each landlord (and tenant) a personalised service.
You don't need to have bought your property through YPC for us to make the difference.
Here at YPC Lettings we believe in sharing our knowledge and extending our reach, therefore we will also take on board properties that have not been purchased through YPC, our team will guide you through this very simple process, just 1 step involved: inform YPC and your current agent of the change, and YPC will take care of everything else for you by coordinating with the current agent - provided they have everything that we need then you wont here from us until we send you your rent!
Kirsty Nightingale, Managing Director of YPC Lettings, has spent many hours drawing up and fine tuning YPC's tenancy agreement to ensure that each of your tenants abide by the same rules and regulations no matter where they are in the country.
So give Kirsty and the team a call today on 01522 503 717 and take advantage of our total lettings and management solution for your portfolio.
Live with passion
Brett Alegre-Wood
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