[schumi22]

OK, so i've been browsing gumtree for a few months now and everytime i look at this forum there is a lot of info about scammers and letting agents you shouldn't use. Don't get me wrong, this is very useful information, however it would be nice to hear from some people who have had positive experiences with letting agents etc as well as this would also be very useful information.
Would anyone like to offer good experiences they have had?

[montyzuma]

good point schu

generally if you have a bad experience you tell 10 people, if you have a good one you tell 1 human nature i'm afraid.

you do get the occasional positive post here but not generally on accomodation

[Bluey]

Yes, it's the nature of a forum for the moans and whinges to reach the surface.

However, letting agents are just sales people on commission who earn income from both tenants and landlords for very little service from, and risk, to themselves and generally offer low value for money.

Anybody can set themselves up as a letting agent - it requires no skills, training, experience or qualifications, not even the slightest proven knowledge of housing law.

There are regulatory bodies run by letting agents, such as ARLA, which have codes of conducts, complaints procedures, ensure their members protect client money, etc. But it is voluntary to join and most agents don't belong to them.

Also, agents/landlords want to minimise their expenses and maximise their income while tenants want the opposite - there's a complete conflict in needs and requirements.

So I reckon there's pretty little to celebrate in this combative relationship.

The job forum isn't much cheerier....

[hugheskevi]

I've had postive Gumtree experiences

Currently living in the second place I have found through Gumtree...the first place was okay (one of those cases you get what you pay for, and I didn't pay much!)...the place I am in now is fab. Really nice place, and very cheap, definately a good find!

Personally I've never encountered any scammers (seen them of course, but none have every contacted me). Been to see a few places that were ridiculously over-priced, but that isn't a scam.

Sadly can't say I have *ever* had a good experience with letting agents, but several good experiences from dealing directly with a landlord.

[Sanne]

I had a good experience using Bective Leslie Marsh agency in Notting Hill. The staff there were professional, listened to what I was looking for, did not try to show me places outside of my budget or desired areas, and the places listed on their website and in their windows were actually available.

Bad experiences - Foxtons - agent was incredibly rude, kept contacting me about places that did not meet my requirements, tried to bully me into taking a place that was much more than I was willing to spend, told me I'd never find what I was looking for in my budget, took me to areas I was not interested in, and the list can go on. Willmotts had places listed on their website and window for weeks, but everything I asked about was no longer available and they recommended unsuitable places. If I'm looking for spend 300/wk in a certain area, I'm not going to spend 350/wk further away.

[impaired]

There are sub-prime properties, sub-prime landlords and sub-prime agents. And this is what the fuss is all about.

There are prime properties on the rental market (quite often because the owners have been posted abroad for a few years) and these tend to be let and managed by long-established estate agencies. OK they're not all angels but … generally speaking … if one goes to one of the better known agents with a tidy high street shop you are going to see professional service and will be offered superior properties …. at a price.

[gums]

yes there are postives on gumtree but they are just over looked because of all the bad things on this site that there are more bad then good on this site because of scammers etc just ruining the site giveing it a bad name