Lay My Hat

Do any agents allow the use of multiple agents (or just one other)?

I have a property that I want to list soon in North Wales and I have considered Sykes and one other smaller concern. They are happy to be engaged on that basis but I suspect Sykes wouldn't. Balancing rental fees may be an issue with two agents I suppose?

You appoint Sykes Cottages Limited as your only letting agent to promote, arrange and accept holiday bookings from holidaymakers who want to rent the property on your behalf, and we accept the appointment onthese terms. This means you must not appoint anyone else as your letting agent, list the property on any website or booking service where we list the property on your behalf, or take bookings direct from holidaymakers who have previously booked the property with us.

https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/assets/ ... rms-uk.pdf

Do you represent Sykes then Sparks?

No, they are my agent. Sykes produced 80% of my bookings last year.

My intepretation is that a letting agent is a company that sets prices for you (Sykes) a booking service is a company that lets you set your own prices (Airbnb).

As I see it, they are all holiday letting agents - Sykes, AB&B, etc. etc. - but they differ widely amongst themselves regarding their methods of operation. For example (as here) as to whether it is the owner or themselves who fixes prices. The acid test is what you, the owner, have signed up to when engaging the agent - does the contract (T's & C's) give the agent sole letting rights or not? It would be somewhere in the small print, if sole letting rights are demanded.

Yes I realise that Andrew but I have not actually engaged anyone yet so not all the info to hand.

Also some appear to 'police their T & C' s ' less than others. I suppose its all down to strictly they enforce them

You would be taking a huge risk once you have signed a contract with a big agent if you then sign with someone else.

The big operators want to use you to make their money, and it would all come to light as soon as there is an issue of the same week being reserved/booked or an overlap of a booking.
They would also be alerted to have you on their radar because of the number of “owner bookings” you have ( from yourself and the other agent)

I think they would go to town on you, easily win their case for breech of contract, claim damages and make you pay their legal fees.

You only have to search the forum to see how harshly Sykes have implemented their contract when an owner wishes to leave to predict how they police their contract.

New postPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:00 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
You would be taking a huge risk once you have signed a contract with a big agent if you then sign with someone else.

That's why I was asking which agents allow it.

Rambling wrote:That's why I was asking which agents allow it.

It seems that no one here knows which agents allow it and which don't.

I think you would just need to ask an agency before you sign up with them. Better still, search the terms and conditions of all agencies you have in mind. They publish their terms on their websites, in most cases.

Where an agency is very much "hands on" in its methods and deals with the lettings (as opposed to the owner), I can see a practical reason for it wanting to have sole rights.

I agree with the poster who suggested that it may depend what is defined as a letting agent - the standard Skyes T and Cs state that they expect to be sole agent, but in the area I plan to let, most of the properties on there are also on other sites, so I can only think that TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Homeaway, are not defined as 'letting agents'.

TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Homeaway are booking services. However Sykes use all three on your behalf so you can't use them either.

Some agencies will work with others yes. Holiday Cottages is the one national I know of but there will be more local ones that do so too. Just a question of contacting all those you fancy and asking the question. If you get the answer you want then have a really close read of the terms to check that any contract you sign, matches what you were told.

Sparks wrote:No, they are my agent. Sykes produced 80% of my bookings last year.

My intepretation is that a letting agent is a company that sets prices for you (Sykes) a booking service is a company that lets you set your own prices (Airbnb).

Sparks. If Sykes are exclusive and do 80% of your bookings. Who does the other 20%?

Airbnb, my own website, working Facebook and good old fashioned talking to people and dropping business cards whenever I can slip it into the conversation.

It's my aim to cut down that 80% year on year.

So can you do that with Sykes and use other promoters such as Airbnb, Facebook and own website?

I thought you were saying you have to be exclusive with them.

I'm thinking of looking at alternatives and Sykes/Facebook/Airbnb will be the way I'd go.