Before you can decide whether it's the right time to rent out your property, you must first know more about:

• The area you're letting in - Get to know the details people look for, such as transport links, school information, crime rates, proximity to local amenities etc.
• What the local property market is doing - This can be things such as house prices, the number of houses up for sale or recently sold, and how many properties are currently listed to let. This can give you an indication of what's happening in your area.
• Who's looking to rent in the area - Find out about the types of people renting in the area, such as families, professionals, students etc. This can help you estimate how long they might want to rent the property.
• Whether the property is ready to rent, or whether it needs improvements first - There are legal requirements to meet such as electrical and gas safety tests, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors etc. Learn more about the legislation for landlords to ensure you meet all of these requirements.

You could spend hours researching this yourself, or better still, you could leave the hard work to us. As experts in property letting, we have the experience and tools to accurately provide this information, and we will present all of this to you on a valuation appointment, either in person or over the phone.

Now that you have chosen your letting agent, it is time for them to create detailed marketing information for your property.

There is more to marketing a property than you might think, so using an experienced letting agent with a transparent process makes all the difference.

With Edwards, our marketing includes:

• High-quality photographs, both internal and external, capturing the property's best features.
• Property measurements, accurate floor plans and well-written property descriptions, which will include information tailored to the types of tenants you want to let the property to. We will send the listing to you prior to it going live for you to review, and will only set it live upon your approval.
• We provide a 'To Let' board for outside the property to get local attention.
• We post listings on popular property marketing websites such as Rightmove, On The Market and our own website.
• Marketing on social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn - Getting your property in front of a wider audience, and giving the potential for it to be seen by people who are looking for a rental property, and shared by those who aren't actively looking, but know people who are!
• Property viewings are arranged and accompanied by us. We provide regular property reviews and your own property portal on the Street app, to keep you up to date with viewings, feedback and applications.

The art of negotiation is a skill essential to any good letting agent. To get the right tenants for your property, it is essential you share your ideal tenant with your letting agent so they can then get a good idea of who would be a great fit for you.

Here at Edwards, we follow up on all viewings personally, by phone, as well as by email, and we send applications to you immediately. We will qualify prospective tenants and advise you on their timescales and future intentions, so you can make an informed decision. We won't take the property off the market, or take any fees from the tenants until you are happy they are the right tenants for you. Once the references have been received by our team, we will negotiate the tenancy with the prospective tenants. This ensures that the start date, and terms and conditions are all right for you.

Finding a tenant is just the beginning! Managing the property once you have tenants settled in can take up a lot of time and energy. Let us take the headache out of letting by managing the property for you.

At Edwards, we provide 2 options for property management, depending on your needs. Both include:

• Registering the deposit with a deposit protection scheme.
• Ensuring that you comply with all current legislation, which we also provide with our tenant finding-only service too.
• We will draw up an initial inventory, which gives a detailed overview of all fixtures and fittings in the property, and the condition at the start of the tenancy.
• 3 monthly property inspections, giving you peace of mind that your property is well looked after.
• At Edwards, we conduct a check-out report at the end of the tenancy, which details the condition of the property and is compared with the initial inventory and any interim reports.
• We are appointed as the first point of contact for all maintenance issues and work with local, trusted contractors to resolve all issues in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
• We receive, chase and process monthly rents, and give you true peace of mind with our rent and legal cover.