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Selling your house
The first step to selling your property is arranging an accurate property valuation. Firmin & Co can provide you with a free, no obligation appraisal, from our local, experienced property Valuers. Getting an accurate initial price from a property valuation is essential when marketing your home, as interest is at its highest when your property first goes onto the market. We advise completing any home improvement projects and making your house look its best before you even get your property valued. However, we always take into consideration current improvements/projects when valuing a property. It’s quick and easy to book your property valuation with Firmin & Co, visit our valuation page.
An EPC is the only legal requirement when marketing your property. This must be ordered and paid for at the point the property goes live on the market. It gives information about a property’s energy usage and typical energy costs, alongside recommendations about how to reduce energy use and save money. It gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most effective) to G (least efficient). EPCs are valid for 10 years, at Firmin & Co we have a recommended Surveyor that will conduct this on your behalf.
We will liaise between you and the potential buyer to find a mutually convenient date and time. We will, whenever possible, be available to accompany a viewing so you don’t have to worry about meeting prospective purchasers. It may be that you would prefer to take any children or pets out of the house to leave purchasers uninterrupted time to view your property, along with one of our experienced sales agents.
You are also advised to keep in contact with your Solicitor on the progress of your sale and any purchase that you are also making. However, once you have accepted an offer, one of the team will be on hand to help you throughout the sales process.
Your solicitor will arrange for you and your buyer to sign contracts; this can either be in their office, or they will post the contract to you to sign. Your Solicitor will telephone the relevant Solicitors in the chain and upon agreeing a Completion date, contracts are formally exchanged.
The sale of any property is governed by four principal factors – namely the price, the property market, the property itself and the agent. Assuming that all of these factors are in order, your property should sell. However, in the unlikely event that your property does not sell, or if your circumstances changes and you decide to withdraw your property from the market, Firmin & Co work on a ‘No Sale/No Fee’ basis.
Buying a house
To register with Firmin & Co, you can visit us at your local branch, request a call back from our expert agents or complete our online registration form. Let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll start searching for properties that meet your criteria.
It is usual to pay 10% of the asking price, though your mortgage company may require more. If your purchase is dependent on a sale, your solicitor will typically use your buyer’s deposit for your related purchase.
If you know that you will need to take out a mortgage in order to buy your property, then it makes sense to seek financial advice at an early stage. Once you have provisionally arranged for the required mortgage funds to be made available to you, it is a good idea to obtain a mortgage certificate from the lender. This can then be used to prove to a seller or estate agent, that you have the necessary funds available to finance your purchase.
If you have a solicitor who you know can work quickly and efficiently where conveyancing of properties is concerned , you can continue to use that firm. However, if you have any doubts we can confidently recommend one of our excellent solicitors.
If you are arranging a mortgage, then your lender will appoint a Valuer to inspect the property. However, this will often not consider the condition of the property in detail, so you should not rely on this report alone. Depending on the age and condition of the property, it might be best to get a Full Survey or Home Buyers Report. If you are buying a new build property from a developer, then there is greater statutory protection
The date set for you to move into the property, known as ‘completion’, will be agreed with your seller during the sales process. This date is usually confirmed by the Solicitors. We recommend at least one week between exchange and completion, to give all parties time to pack etc.
Landlords
If you have chosen to use our Premium Fully Managed Service then you will be covered by the 0 excess rent and legal policy, we will chase the tenants on day 7, 14 and 21 for the rent and contact the insurance company to make a claim after this point if contact has not been made with the tenant to discuss the issue.
If you have chosen our Premium Management Service then this will all be taken care of by the insurance company. If you do not have rent and legal cover however it will be your responsibility to take any further action against the tenant, we will act on your behalf to deliver notices however you will need to instruct a solicitor and deal with them to provide any further information they need.
If damage is seen on an inspection we will of course inform you and inform the tenant of their responsibilities however we cannot enforce any work to be done by the tenant during the tenancy. At the end of the tenancy on a Fully Managed service a final inspection will be conducted and any dilapidations or damaged will be assessed. We will contact you to discuss the detail of a claim on the deposit. We would then seek to claim these back from the deposit following the deposit claims process. If there is damage above the deposit amount there is the option for a landlord to pursue the tenant through small claims court independently.
The option for pets is completely at the landlords discretion, however as deposits are now capped at 5 weeks worth of rent there is the option to add a £25 per month pet premium to the rent. We would still have a pet clause added to the tenancy with confirmation that the property will need to be professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy.
Payments are made by BACS transfer, these will be made the next working day from the rental payment being received.
Assured Shorthold tenancies can range from 6 months to 2 years 11 months.
As a landlord you needs landlords buildings insurance and it is recommended you have a basic level of contents insurance as this may give you public liability insurance however you will need to check this on your policy.
There is no evidence that furnished homes let quicker than unfurnished homes and you should be aware that a different type of tenant you would attract, if the furniture is fire safety compliant and also any awards for damage on the furniture will only be based on furniture claim criteria.
Tenants
Firmin & Co will send you a form to complete for our partners at Goodlord. They will then begin the referencing checks, including with previous Landlords, your employer and a credit check.
Please let us know upfront if you have any adverse credit history. If any of the proposed tenants have any adverse credit such as CCJ’s, IVA’s or a bankruptcy it will be a decline on the referencing and at the landlords discretion if they would accept the application with a guarantor. Failure to notify us upfront will be an automatic decline.
Any prospective tenant that is in a probationary period will require a guarantor to pass the referencing process.
Yes! Any agency.contract worker will need to provide the last 3 months payslips as proof of earnings. The landlord may – at their discretion – require a guarantor, but we’ll notify you should this be the case.
Benefit payments are at the discretion of the landlord, as an agency we do not have a blanket ban of these however we act on the landlords instruction. If the landlord accepts the benefits payments, the referencing company we use would require you to have a guarantor (please see guarantor requirements)
If you fall into any category where you need a guarantor or our referencing company has asked you to provide a guarantor, you’ll need to find someone willing to do this for you. The guarantor will be responsible for the property in the same way as the tenant and will be liable for any rent payments and costs should the tenant fail to pay.
To be a guarantor for our properties, your chosen person will need to be earning the monthly rental price x 12 x 3 as a guaranteed basic salary (e.g. to guarantor a rent of £700 the guarantor would need to be earning £25,200 annually guaranteed)
Any properties that are willing to accept pets are advertised as such, however this is usually subject to a £25/month pet premium with deposit still being applicable. All properties that are let with pets will include a pet clause in the contract and are required to have a deep pet clean at the end of the tenancy.
No, due to government legislations deposits are now capped at 5 weeks rent.
If you would like to make any changes to your property you will need to request this in writing to us (via email). We’ll work to get authorisation from the landlord and notify you of the outcome.
We offer agreements based on the landlords requirements, these are usually 6 or 12 months. Should you be looking for a longer term agreement you can request this as part of an application.
All tenants are liable for rent payments, therefore if you become unemployed rent is still due on the property. If you are worried about any long term rental payments it is advisable you look in to what insurance policies are available to you.
Any damage caused by the tenants/visitors at the property is the tenants responsibility. This will be need to rectified and paid for either during the tenancy or at the end from the deposit. There are contents insurance policies available which may cover damage during the tenancy – you will need to look in to these independently.