Choosing the Best Agency for Renting in Barcelona

Renting out your own apartment is a great way of making quick assets. However, the key features stopping owners from renting are the risk and complexity of the process. In order to make the process secure and efficient, you should consider publishing it through a real estate agency. This blog will help you in deciding how to choose the best agency for renting in Barcelona.

Service Fee Comparison

It is not a secret that real estate agencies generate their key profits from service fees. Acting as an intermediate between tenant and landlord is just one out of many other services that agencies provide. They offer a numerous amount of additional services, such as handling paperwork, taking photos, publishing and advertising your properties. Some brokerages charge you for each service they provide, whereas others may offer some of their services for free. In most cases, such a service charge is covered by the landlord. In other cases, it might be covered by the tenant. There are companies that charge both, the landlord and the tenant. In order to choose the best agency for renting and purchase, you should look at which agency you get the best lines from and pay the least.

Specifically in Spain, the fee is to be paid by the tenant. Renting out for less than a year the usual service fee amounts to one month’s rent adding up 21% VAT. Renting for longer than a year the service fee is 10% of the annual rent + 21% VAT. Therefore, when choosing an agency find out the service fee range and who is the one to cover it.

Marketing Intensity

When choosing an agency check how intense they are willing to advertise your property. Some agencies may only advertise it through newspapers or magazines. Some may only publish it on their website online. Others might use different types of advertising tools at once. Agencies should let the owner decide whether he wants his property to be published on all of the sites the company uses or not.  You may feel that some sites have a bad reputation. Ask for a list of the agency’s publishing platforms to take a look at whom the agency collaborates with. Then, choose only the ones you’d like your property to be posted on.

We do recommend allowing your apartment to be published through as many agency’s partners as possible. It boosts your apartment’s display and gives faster results. However, you should bear in mind that if agencies post through other partners the price of your property must appear exactly the same as you have given it to the agency. Otherwise, it might cause a huge confusion for the client and uneven partnership between the agency and its publishing partners.

Relationship Management

When renting your apartment through an agency it is crucial to keep constant contact with the company. This is in order to update each other on the news or potential changes. If you rent your apartment through an agency for the long-term, they make regular calls every 6-12 months to keep in touch with you. If you rent for the short-term they make regular calls every 2-4 months. This is in order to find out if your apartment is still occupied or not.

In case of availability, they make sure it is republished as soon as possible in order to accelerate the search of new tenants. During the call, they will also double check on renting conditions such as price and period of rental length to ensure correct information on your apartment’s publication. Your collaboration with the company will always be much appreciated as well. Therefore, if there are any changes in the price or availability of your apartment, remember to contact the agency and inform about the changes.

It is up to the landlord to decide whether he wants to rent it out on his own or through an agency. Renting out through an agency might cost you a little extra, however, it saves time and speeds up the best matching tenant’s search. If you have an available property that you would like to rent do not hesitate to contact us!