Different roles, relationships and duties
Inevitably at some point property owners will want to realise their investment. This could be because of the '3 Ds' (debt, divorce, death) or because they want to release cash for other projects. Whatever the reason, the tenant (occupier) is most likely to lose out. How the letting agent manages the relationship between the vendor, buyer and tenant (occupier) is the key to the transaction.
Owners will expect their lettings managing agent to look after their interests and arrange access with the tenants (occupiers) for valuation and viewings. Alternatively owners may wish to keep their options open by marketing the property for both sale and letting.
Terminology
The terms occupier and tenant are not interchangeable: the occupier is the person legally or illegally living in the property and the tenant is the person contractually obliged to pay the rent; equally, the landlord is the person doing the renting and the owner is the legal owner. But for ease of reading, throughout this section please assume that the landlord is the legal owner and the tenant is the person living in the property and contractually obliged.
Different scenarios will affect the demand on the sales, letting and management agents. This section looks at the different roles, relationships and duties relating to residential sales, property lettings and management.
This section is maintained by Serena Burt of David Burt Property Lettings Ltd.