Our services

Alternatively, call into one of our high street offices where a member of staff will be happy to take all the necessary information. Our valuer will provide you with an up-to-date market valuation for sales, lettings, or both, and will advise you of current market trends and provide you with detailed information on how your property would be marketed. You can be confident that you will receive an honest and frank appraisal – we see no benefit in grossly inflating an asking price or setting unrealistic expectations.

Websites

Within 24 hours of instruction, Franklyn James place a detailed advert for every property for sale or to let onto the major property portals, such as Rightmove, Zoopla, Primelocation and our own fully responsive Franklyn James website. Descriptions of sales properties are accompanied by a set of key features, a selection of full colour professional photographs, a detailed floor plan and an Energy Performance Certificate. Descriptions of lettings properties are accompanied by a set of key features, a selection of full colour photographs and an Energy Performance Certificate.

Window displays

Detailed, full colour adverts of available sales and rental properties are displayed in our state-of-the-art window displays at the front of our offices. Since we have two offices spread throughout the East London area, each advertising a wide range of available properties to a large audience, the effect is that each client receives the benefits of a multi-agency service, but for a sole agency fee.

Social media

Franklyn James are active on social media, with a growing following. In addition to interesting content about the local area, the property market and interiors, we also advertise a selection of available sales and rental properties via Facebook and Twitter. Sign boardsWe have newly designed For Sale and To Let boards in Franklyn James’ distinctive brand and eye-catching colours, which can be erected outside an available house, or on the side of an available apartment, to show passers-by that the property is on the market.

Canvassing

We regularly carry out widespread leaflet drops in the local area using specially prepared leaflets and letters to target particular applicants. The aim is to ‘seek out’ specific buyers and tenants, rather than just waiting for them to contact us.

Knowledge

Having an in-depth knowledge of the processes involved enables our team to offer the most suitable advice to landlords or tenants and provide swift resolutions to any issues. We believe that the key to a successful tenancy is to build strong relationships with both landlords and tenants and, to this end, you will always find our staff knowledgeable, informative and helpful.

Location

Our main property management team is based in our Limehouse office, with further members of staff located in our Docklands office, so you will always be able to contact a qualified, competent and local person to help you.

Contractors

We use a wide range of carefully vetted and qualified independent contractors to carry out maintenance services, including plumbing, heating, cleaning, refurbishments and general handyman jobs. We also have access to recognised legal advisors, so that you can be sure that even the most technical of matters can be responded to with the utmost confidence and precision. We ensure that any contractors we recommend or instruct share our values of honesty and straight-taking and always doing a great job.

Data management

As a company, Franklyn James is proactive in ensuring that all our software is kept up to date, facilitating effective all-round management of your property, particularly the monitoring of important areas such as renewals, gas safety certificates and arrears management.

Service in detail

Franklyn James full management service takes over the day to day running of your property, providing peace of mind that the property is in safe hands. This service includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Collecting rent and providing an accompanying rental statement
• Providing a main point of contact for the tenant
• Arranging maintenance as required, with the landlord’s agreement, by independent, qualified and competent contractors
• Arranging inventory and check-in at the start of the tenancy
• Arranging check-out at the end of the tenancy
• Communicating with all parties for any dilapidations to be remedied
• Providing an independent mid-term inspection and typed report
• Notifying utility companies of departing and new tenants in order to close and open accounts and ensure smooth transition
• Organising gas and electrical checks (where applicable) by suitably certified contractors
• Assisting with the initiation of litigation in the unlikely event that this is necessary

Contacting us

Franklyn James manage a large portfolio of residential properties throughout London, but we still ensure that our property managers are not overstretched, so they can provide a ‘hands on’ approach to each property and promptly deal with any issues as they present themselves. Each member of the property management team has a direct telephone number and we encourage landlords and tenants to make contact so that they know in advance who to speak to when the need arises. If a team member is on annual leave their telephone will be answered by another member of the team and all of the team have open access to the emails of the others, ensuring that prompt responses can be provided to all queries. Our full management package has proved highly successful, not only with overseas landlords, but also with landlords in the UK who either have a large property portfolio, or who find it is more cost effective to delegate property management responsibilities.

Alternatively, employ the services of a mortgage broker, fill in a lot of forms and then let them compare available mortgage deals for you. Franklyn James can provide the details of experienced mortgage brokers who will do the research for you and ensure that you will not be paying a higher rate of interest than you need to. A mortgage broker will know when products are due to expire, they will know about mortgage products which aren’t even being advertised yet and they will have a very high tolerance for financial jargon, which means you won’t have to read quite so much of it.

Choosing a conveyancer who is already familiar with the history and geography of the area in which you are buying cannot be underestimated. This may sound odd, surely one sale is very similar to another, as all houses and flats are just basically bricks and mortar and the sale price has already been agreed?

If only it were that straightforward!

A solicitor who is not familiar with chancel repair liability in a city, or flood risk and contaminated land reports, or even just not used to dealing with selling leasehold properties, is very likely to slow the sales process down whilst they familiarise themselves with these topics, and delay is the enemy of the smooth sale.

All solicitors are highly qualified professionals, but a solicitor who has done a brilliant job of selling a freehold house in the Cotswolds may not be the best conveyancer to do the legal work for a riverside flat in Docklands.