Released on: September 24, 2008, 7:07 am

Press Release Author: Holyrood Partnership

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: Edinburgh's leading letting agent, Braemore Property
Management, has unveiled a new property refurbishment service for its clients. The
scheme allows landlords to maximise their rental yields by upgrading the properties
they lease out to tenants.

Press Release Body: Landlords are being offered the chance to maximise their rental
yields thanks to a new service being offered by Edinburgh’s leading letting agents.

Braemore Property Management has launched a new property maintenance and
refurbishment service, which it says can help landlords earn substantially higher
rents per month.

The Edinburgh-based firm, which has a portfolio of 800 properties worth more than
£250 million, has created the service to help landlords achieve the best rental
yield possible for their properties – by carrying out kitchen and bathroom
refurbishments and furniture and interior upgrades.

And it is already proving popular with city-based landlords and overseas investors,
who do not want the hassle of hiring their own contractors to fully refurbish their
properties.

Andrew Markham, who heads the property maintenance and refurbishment service, said:
“The rental sector has been very busy of late but this does not mean that Landlords
can rest on their laurels. Tenants demand high standards if they are to pay premium
rental rates and Landlords need to have the best properties in order to let theirs
over their competitors.

“Our service is designed to make it as easy as possible for Landlords to maximise
the potential of their properties. We survey each home and then let the Landlords
know how much work needs to be done on improving their property, and what the
financial gain will be for them in the long run.

“There are many Landlords who don’t really know how much work needs to be done in
order to bring their property up to the highest standard. They don’t know what
features they need to upgrade and, occasionally, they even consider upgrading areas
of their properties that they do not need to, while ignoring the ones that they do.

“A lot of the work we do involves completely renovating bathrooms and refitting
kitchens with modern equipment, but we also fit new carpets and provide a complete
redecoration service for furniture and fittings. By carrying out the work ourselves,
it also means that we know when it will be finished and we can line up new tenants
to move straight in, which minimises void periods and subsequent costs.

“Depending on what exactly is required, a job can cost between £5000 and £50,000 but
whatever the spend, it is an investment which will be recouped in the long run; as
usually you will be able to charge more rent per month and in many cases increase
the value of your property.”

Andrew adds that the financial rewards of using the service can be impressive, with
some properties substantially increasing their monthly rental levels after a
refurbishment.

He added: “We do work on all kinds of properties, from tenement flats to big family
homes, so the cost of the refurbishment will differ greatly with every job we do –
as will the expected rise of rent after the work is finished.

“One of the latest flats we worked on was a two-bedroom property on Rose Street,
where we carried out a £6000 refurbishment and were able to put the flat back up for
rent at an additional £150 per month.

“We also had a one-bed flat on Henderson Row where we carried out a £10,000
refurbishment and were able to rent it out for an extra £125 per month, which has
now put it at the very top end of the rental scale for that kind of property.

“Of course, it’s not just the higher rents that are the attraction for landlords, as
any work we do will simply add to the overall value of the property and should be
easily recouped when it comes to selling. It’s a long term investment that is vital
if you’re renting out a property.”

Colette Murphy, director at Braemore Property Management, said that the service had
been introduced following numerous requests from Braemore’s clients who wanted the
chance to refurbish their properties.

She added: “There have been many Landlords over the last few years who have enquired
whether we can introduce a service like this, but it isn’t something that you can
simply introduce overnight. We had to ensure that our property management service -
which is the core part of our business - was more than meeting our customer’s
expectations before we could consider bringing in something like this.

“Now that it is in place, we believe that it is a service that will benefit everyone
in our business. Not only can Landlords increase the overall value of their
properties, but it means they can maximise the level of rent that they charge –
which, in turn, means that the monthly management fee we collect increases.

“We hope that that this will become a major part of our business and is part of our
drive to offer an all encompassing professional property service.”


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