KEY PROPERTIES (UK) LTD

• Key Properties Are Awful

  1 out of 5

  unhappyman

  Key Properties are the worst letting company I have ever dealt with. In fact they are the worst COMPANY I have ever dealt with. And by a huge distance at that. I am tempted to really vent here but that won't help the clarity of my point (and may get my posting removed) so let me try and walk you through why you should never, in your wildest dreams, even consider talking to these people. These are my experiences with them as a landord for a single property (with a single tenant) over a two year period. It should have been oh-so easy! INCOMPETENT: They never know what's going on. In fact they never even NEARLY know what's going on. I have called them on at least a dosen occasions (over a 24 month occupancy) to inquire where my latest missing payment was. First you are greeted with a dumbstruck ehhhh. Then you get a covering lie 'That payment was made....but let me just check that'. Then you get a 'It's someone elses fault' reply - usually the banks. Or the account teams. Or the tenants. Always problems and always someone else problems. Over the two years I dealt with them I got the correct payment on time about twice. Every other month took usualy three or four emails, one or two phone calls and much hair-pulling. UNABLE TO MANAGE ANYTHING OR TO ACCEPT ANY RESONSIBILITY: It is always someone else's fault. Never once did my agent actually manage the property in a way that anyone in their right mind would be satisfied with. Even after persistent problems, responsibilty was never assumed by the letting agent to try and iron out problems in the future. I asked many times (and quite nicely too I must add) for my letting agent to follow up each month with the account team to ensure payment was made and to email me confirmation each time. "But that's impossible", I was told, "The accounts team can't do that!" Why the hell not!?!? More banging my head off a brick wall!! MANAGEMENT DOESN'T EVEN CARE: On a number of accasions my frustration led me to raise the issue to management. But management ist seems couldn't care less. Even after I explained to them the numerous missed payments, the numerous account mistakes, the numerous failures to reply to queries I had made regarding the account, management didnt seem at all surprised and just made bland assurances that it wouldn't happen again. Which of course it did - THE FOLLOWING MONTH! SLOW AT LETTING AND LET AT A POOR PRICE: I let the property once through Key Properties, well before the recent economic problems started. It was during the middle of summer too. It took two and a half months to let and was et at a poor price. I changed from Key Properties at the end of last year. In December (a worse month) and after the Financial Meltdown (worse letting market) my new Letting Agent let the apartment within a week and at a better price than before. So Key Properties will get you a poor price, and slooowly. OVERPRICED - A RIP OFF: Key Properties charges 10%. But it may not tell you that on top of this 10% you pay vat, making it in fact 12.5%. Same goes for all the repairs they carry out - any price they quote to you is plus VAT. And it is already enhorbitant. Take one comparison between Key Properties and my new Letting Agent - A Fire Certificate would have cost twice as much to arrange through Key Properties as it did with my new Letting Agent. Somebody is taking a nice slice of cash there. Also my new letting agent takes only 8% fee (no VAT) for a faultless service. A FINAL DAGGER TO THE HEART: I have long intended to write this review and let people know how thoroughly awful Key Properties are. I got my final encouragement today when The Deposit Service (TDS) which held my deposit ruled against me and in favour of my tenant over the remaining £100 of deposit which they held. It cost me this £100 to clean the apartment and do some minor repairs after the tenant left. I chased my letting agent at Key Properties into submitting photos of what was left to be cleaned and what was broken (Key Properies checkout obviously found nothing wrong - actually looking would have involved far too much work). The summary of the settlement said that no evidence has been provided so that I could get my money. So Key Properties didn't bother submitting what I asked them to submit. Well, not really a surprise, but infuriating nonetheless. Now I have to raise a dispute, wasting more of my time! And since the money is already back with the tenant, it's probably a futlie exercise also. THERE IS A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR: Thankfully I have moved to a letting agent that doesn;t screw me at every turn, that get the money into my account on time every month and is a general pleasure to deal with. I feel it only fair to name him here to give you a good alternative to Key Properties. James at Manchester Property Group is an excellent letting agent - precisely the opposite of all that I have moaned about above. He deserves your business and Key Properties deserves to go bust!!3/31/2010 4:31:40 PM

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