Letting agent admin fees?

Why is it that letting agents dont have what their fees are listed on their sites or postings?
It would be much easier than  having to call/email all around...

Also, on sites like gumtree when you search, you find a lot of places that to me, at first, seem too good to be true.
I know this happens in NYC, where they just want you to click to their site for ad purposes, or they want you to call them so they can let you know that this specific place is no longer available but another similar one is except it's worth double...
can I expect the same here?

You should probably look over Gumtree's forums.  They have a lot of information about common scams/problems with ads on there.  This isn't to say that all ads on Gumtree are problematic, but it will give you an idea of what to avoid.

didnt knwo they had forums, silly me, now I know,.. I'll look around. thanks!
so basically half or so could be bad...

No clue how high it would be, but I doubt it's as high as 50%,

We replied to an ad on Gumtree thinking it was a private renter, only to find it was an agency who hadn't advertised that fact. Annoying.   

thanks for the heads up!!

I better start testing the waters and see how many times this happens to me!
annoying indeed...
they think you're gonna be like 'oh well, that's fine,  oh and the price is double, sure, no prob...'   

On our current place, DH paid an admin fee of £150, plus a deposit of £550, and the last month's rent, bringing the grand total to £1150 plus the first month's rent to move in.    For our new place, we paid £75 for the admin fee and we pay the first and last month's rent when we move in, no deposit. I guess it depends on the place, but DH knew he was getting ripped off, he just really liked the location of the place because he was searching for something close to the beach. We are now going to rent the place next door, newly refurbished and still down the street from the beach, for £25 less per month, plus no deposit and lower admin fee. But maybe they have had to lower rates a bit to get people to rent due to the economic situation.

We replied to an ad on Gumtree thinking it was a private renter, only to find it was an agency who hadn't advertised that fact. Annoying.  [smiley=beadyeyes.gif] 

That's actually illegal - and you should report the ad to Gumtree!!

(the reason being that private ads are still fee, but agencies have to pay.  If they've advertised as private, it's because they're trying to get around having to pay!)

We paid 35 for the credit check, 1 1/2 months deposit and 135 in fees for both of us.  Oh well.

So...
any agency recommendations..
and any others we should skip and save the trouble?

based on recent or not so recent personal experiences...

(Many) Thanks!  and Cheers!

I'm in the same boat as you NYStacey, so my ears are to ground!

or maybe I'll come back and list some, and the maybe someone can comment later...
I dont know yet though...
The first one I've seen is Ludlow Thompson...   Yes/No/Maybe?  Fees?

I can only go by my experience in Newcastle... and I dont think any of the agencies I've met with have offices in London. But the one we signed with is Pat Robson, and the one who offered to lower our fee is Wright Residential.


Aless- that is very interesting. It makes much more sense now.

I signed up to get emails from Ludlow Thompson. Their prices seem more reasonable than Foxton's (are they, like, the most expensive in London, or what?) But their information on flats is not as extensive, nor are the photos. Still, I'm considering them unless somebody says "whoa, Nelly!"

same boat

I was thinking of registering with them.. and also writing and trying to apply for one either short term or long, and explaining I'm coming over from US and other details, and see how receptive they are to the idea or if they ignore me like recruiters do these days

I wanted to ask if i should expect to pay 6mos up front and what other fees to them.