graceandrose

Understandably, all landlords are keen to minimise their outgoings when renting their properties. Some may also decide to source their own tenants or manage the property themselves, in order to avoid agency fees – however, we would urge a word of caution here, cost cutting or worse still, corner cutting, can lead to bigger problems in the [...]

In a competitive market, we know that as long as your property is priced attractively, it will sell. However, many people spend a fortune on improving their home expecting at least the cost of the improvements to be returned to them via an increased sale price. This can be a mistake, as almost all of a property’s [...]

When letting your property, your primary objective is simple – you want to find a reliable tenant who pays the rent regularly and looks after your property as you would yourself. The reality though is usually more complex than this. Letting your property comes with legal obligations and social responsibilities, many of which are unknown to anyone who does [...]

The national housing market currently paints a rather dull picture.  Combining the prospect of “a few interest rate rises over the next few years” according to the Bank of England and the political and economic uncertainty of the ongoing Brexit negotiations and we’re left with a subdued and challenging housing market in need of some direction. What impact is this [...]

According to the Department of the Environment about half of all landlords have had cause to ask a tenant to leave on at least one occasion, usually because of arrears, noise, damage, violence, or abusive behavior - around thirty percent of these end up having to go to court. When you let your property, you hope that [...]

Photographs form a crucially important part of the marketing mix, designed to promote your property at its best.  Every image counts, as people will decide whether to inquire further or dismiss a property based solely on the first impression given by the photographs. So why allow your Estate Agent, an amateur photographer, to take the photos?  Whilst [...]

Looking after an investment property is not straight forward and Landlords who choose to do it themselves will need to have time, knowledge of legislation and compliance matters and a lot of patience when looking after their property and their tenants. If not handled correctly, it can be a minefield and one missed step along the way [...]

In a largely unregulated industry, it is so important that you choose an agency that puts a high value on training and regulation. At Grace & Rose we are trained, regulated and are members of The National Association of Estate Agents, The Property Ombudsman, The Association of Residential Letting Agents and SafeAgent. Well-trained staff gain an in-depth [...]

All residential tenancy deposits must, by law, be protected and lodged in a government-recognised scheme, such as the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), which is where we, at Grace & Rose, protect our tenant’s deposits.  The DPS is evidence based, meaning that the decision to either return or withhold a deposit at the end of a tenancy is [...]

For homeowners wishing to sell their property and buy another, it’s the classic dilemma – what do you do first? Sell first or Buy first?...the Chicken or the Egg? Typically, people will start investigating the market to find out what they can buy for their money and inevitably, it’s during this initial research that they will fall in love [...]