How it works: letting, renting and selling with Flexiestays
Three journeys, step by step: letting your property with us, renting a Flexiestays apartment from 28 nights, and selling your home. What we do, what you decide and what happens next.
- 4.9/5 ★★★★★ 786 reviews
- 130 properties managed
- Since 2018 letting in Bournemouth
There are three ways people use Flexie Estate Agents: landlords let a property through us, residents rent one of the group's furnished apartments, and vendors sell their home. Each journey is set out below as numbered steps, with who does what at each one. Fees for every service are on our fees page and are agreed in writing before anything starts.
Letting your property with us
1. Valuation
We visit, look at the condition, the layout, the parking, the EPC and, for a flat, the lease, and give you a rent range with the reasons and the likely tenant. The instant rent estimate gives a first figure online before we come.
2. Preparing and marketing
We confirm the certificates the property needs (gas safety, electrical report, EPC, alarms, any licence), take photographs, draw a floor plan and write the listing. It goes on the portals, on this site and to the tenants who have registered with us.
3. Viewings
We arrange and accompany viewings and report back on every one. Where there are several interested applicants we put them to you with their circumstances; rental bidding is banned, so the advertised rent is the rent.
4. Referencing
Every adult is referenced: identity, Right to Rent, credit, income and a previous landlord reference, with a guarantor where needed. A holding deposit of no more than one week's rent secures the property while this happens. You see the result before you accept.
5. Move in
A tenancy agreement written to the current law, the deposit protected within 30 days with the prescribed information, the How to Rent guide and the certificates served, the first month's rent collected, and a photographed inventory on the day.
6. Management
With rent collection we collect, chase and report every month. With full management we also inspect, arrange repairs with local contractors, renew certificates and handle every call from the tenant. See property management.
Renting a Flexiestays apartment
1. Choose
Pick a building and an apartment type from property to rent: studios to three-bedroom apartments in eight buildings on the West Cliff and St Michael's Road, all furnished, with parking and gym access.
2. Book or enquire
Book the dates online, or send us your dates and needs and we confirm availability and the price. Stays are 28 nights or more for a long term let; companies booking for staff use corporate lets.
3. Viewing
Ask for a viewing if you are local and want to see the apartment first; we arrange it around changeovers. Many residents book from photographs because they are moving from elsewhere.
4. Deposit
A standard cleaning and security deposit is taken. There is no agency fee, no holding fee and no referencing fee.
5. Move in
Check in from 15:00. Electricity, gas, water, fibre Wi-Fi, council tax, TV licence, gym and parking are already included; bed linen, towels and a full kitchen are in place. Support runs 24 hours a day.
6. Extend
There is no fixed term. If you need longer, ask and we extend the stay if the apartment is free for those dates.
Selling your home
1. Valuation
A free visit, a price range with the comparable sales behind it and an honest view of who will buy it. See property valuation.
2. Preparation
The EPC, the title, the leasehold pack for a flat, any planning or building control papers, and advice on presentation before photographs.
3. Marketing
Photographs, floor plan, description and listing on the portals and to buyers who have registered with us.
4. Offers
Every offer is reported to you in writing with the buyer's position: chain, mortgage, deposit and timescale. You decide which to accept.
5. Sales progression
We chase searches, the survey, the mortgage offer and enquiries between the solicitors, and keep both sides informed.
6. Completion
Exchange of contracts, then completion and the keys. Sell your property has the detail and sellers the questions vendors ask.
How it works: questions
How long does it take to let a property with you?
It depends on the property, the time of year and the rent. We do not promise a number of days. After the valuation visit we tell you who the likely tenant is and how demand looks for that type of home, and the property goes live as soon as the certificates, photographs and agreement are ready.
Do I have to sign a tenancy to rent a Flexiestays apartment?
No. A Flexiestays apartment is a serviced let of 28 nights or more, not an assured shorthold tenancy. You book the dates you need, pay a standard cleaning and security deposit, and extend if the apartment is free. A landlord's property let through our lettings team is a tenancy, with a written agreement.
What does a sales valuation cost?
Nothing. Sales and rental valuations are free and carry no obligation to instruct us. We visit, look at the property and the lease or title, and give you a price range with the reasons and the comparable evidence behind it. Our fee is set out in writing if you decide to go ahead.
Can I switch from another letting agent mid-tenancy?
Usually, yes. Check the notice period and any tenant introduction clause in your current agent's terms first. We then take over the deposit registration, the certificates, the rent account and the tenant contact, and tell the tenant in writing who to pay from which date.
Who do I deal with once the property is let?
The same local team at our Charminster Road office. With tenant find you deal with the tenant yourself after move in; with rent collection we handle the money; with full management we handle the tenant, the repairs, the inspections and the renewals of certificates.
Ready to let or sell with Flexiestays?
Tell us about the property and we come back with a rent or price range, what it needs before it goes on the market and our fees in writing.