OUTSOURCING
NEW SCOTTISH LEGISLATION
Now tenancy deposit legislation has come into force north of the border. From 2nd July, The Letting Protection Service Scotland, Safedeposits Scotland and My|deposits Scotland began receiving deposits. Landlords and letting agencies must protect all deposits. Pinstripe Inventories, one of Scotland’s
most established inventory specialists, opened its fifth office in February covering Perth and Dundee; demand for outsourced inventories has dramatically increased and Pinstripe has taken on hundreds of homes from agents including CKD Galbraith, Lettings Direct and Aberdein Considine. Nigel McAfee, MD, Pinstripe Inventories
Perth & Dundee, has 27 years experience in estate agency and lettings, “We have had a very good response. Agents wanted to gear up ahead of the launch of the deposit schemes. The rental market is healthy, but the preparation of inventories has lagged behind. The schemes are a strong incentive for letting agents to make their procedures the best they can be.” Ian Potter, MD, ARLA, agrees, “A good inventory and the quality of checking at the end of the tenancy are key.” Garry Cumming, a director of Lettings
Direct in Perth, said, “Professional inventories are a good idea – it has been a bit of a grey area. Having a good inventory
in place is absolutely paramount. It might mean more paperwork but if you are not working within the law, there is no point being in business.”
INNOVATIVE INVENTORIES
Technology also plays an increasing part in inventory management. iSurvey’s inventory services, with an innovative App can save time and resources. Using a smart phone, the user collects the data and rate the condition of each element of a property. Multiple photos and comments can be inserted and once completed, it can be emailed directly to the client as a PDF. MD Derek Mair says it is another tool in
the office that can really help. ”Letting agents and property managers cannot afford to ignore developments that will make their business more streamlined and effective, just one trial convinces most that this is a great asset.”
OPTIONS AND DECISIONS
It isn’t only the lettings process that creates an avalanche of tasks for a busy agent. Photographs, floorplans and EPCs add to the list. Help is at hand. Companies like Evolve Partnership offer single or multiple services to use as and when you wish, saving time, stress and, in the end, money. They say, “We have identified the areas of your work which take up an unnecessary
Outsourcing makes sense, and the inspector’s role escalates the agent’s professionalism.’
NIGEL MCAFEE PINSTRIPE INVENTORIES
Tenancy deposit schemes are a strong incentive for agents to improve procedures.’
amount of your time and developed solutions around them.” Evolve launched in 2007 to supply EPCs
and HIPs, using the EPC as an opportunity to supply other services whilst the DEA was at the property. MD, David Brierley says, “EPCs only now form a small part of our instructions as about 85 per cent of instructions include at least two of other options: floorplans, photography including the editing of agents own photos, property particulars, digital brochures, inventories and check-ins/outs. “It makes sense, the DEA is there and
it escalates the agent’s professionalism to have a professional inspector prepare an EPC, draw the floorplan and take photos.” Evolve has an impressive client list which
includes members of the Homesale Network, the Guild of Professional Estate Agents, Grainger PLC, and ARIM. Andrew Coulson, of Northumbria and
Cumbria, says, “Evolve’s services have meant that we have been able to develop a comprehensive marketing pack so that we can concentrate on our core business of winning instructions and selling houses,” which is of course, the whole point. Dowling Jones Design offers
photography, floorplans, lease plans and full service brochure design and print. “We take a phone call or email and the agents have peace of mind that the photos, floorplans and EPCs are taken care of by a reliable and efficient company,” says Elliott Rowland. Ordering the three services together can bring the total cost down and often we produce brochures and window cards on the same instruction so turnaround time is very quick. We create packages for each agent.” One client, David Cleary, Winkworth Fulham & Parsons Green, wrote, “We really
PROPERTYdrum AUGUST 2012 33
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