Why Choose Us

Property Management has been part of Andrew Craig’s history since 1974 when he worked as a trainee surveyor and one of his first jobs was to collect rents around the North East. Since then it has been an integral part of the business and today we manage almost 1000 properties within our Property Management department.

Our name is synonymous with the highest levels of care in lettings and management of residential and commercial property.

You can be sure of clear, impartial and expert advice from our professional teams. We are regulated by RICS, which means that we maintain the highest professional standards by conforming to the strict rules of conduct of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and we protect our client money with the RICS Client Money Protection scheme.

As we are Regulated by RICS you have the comfort of knowing that the firm:

• Abides by the ethical requirements of RICS
• Comply with all RICS accounting standards
• Have a complaints procedure in place, which ultimately provides consumers with access to free redress.
• Have Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) in place to protect you in case you need to make a claim against us
• Provide RICS Client Money Protection for our clients money

We have the North East covered for lettings and management, with lettings branches across the region and our branch staff have the local knowledge to find you a tenant fast.

Our accounting and administration is handled locally, at our Head Office in Gateshead. Here our team of skilled professionals deal with tenancy administration, property management and accounting.

Andrew Craig FRICS is directly involved in the lettings and management business, having worked in the field since 1974.

We use modern cloud technology, to ensure our staff and clients have access to accurate and up to date information and fast communications. All staff have access to all properties and applicants, meaning that all branches can offer all properties to rent.

Tenants do move around the area meaning landlords have the benefit of all of our branches working for them

Tenants want to move fast, so we have found we get the best response from extensive internet marketing. Properties are instantly available on our web site and we also upload to the major property portals, including Rightmove and OnTheMarket.

This 24/7 marketing is supplemented by traditional methods such as To Let boards.

To get your property seen fast, and to accommodate schedules, we carry out Live Video Viewings where we take prospective tenants through the property using a Live Stream Video on an app, and they can ask us any questions in real time. All viewers have to be logged in to view the video so we can follow up the viewings afterwards. If they then want to see the property in person then we can arrange a physical viewing.

Lots of them! As a major North East letting agent, many tenants contact us first when they decide to look for a new home. We keep in regular contact with hot applicants and also use sophisticated email marketing systems to keep in touch with applicants, ensuring new properties are showcased – fast.

We pre-qualify tenants before we book them in for any viewings, to ensure that their current situation would allow them to rent the property in question, saving wasting anyone's time with viewings.

Only our truly professional administration and accounting teams look after the specialised work of tenancy admin and financial accounting. Collection of the rent regularly and on time is one of our priorities. Careful and professional monitoring of the tenants, from initial vetting and referencing to property visits, means that we are constantly looking for warning signs of any problems.

If we discover a problem we work with the tenant and the landlord to try and find a solution. We never forget who we work for however and our prime responsibility is to the landlord.

We cannot stress strongly enough how vital it is to have a detailed inventory report including photographs before the tenancy starts. This is included in our fully managed solution. Having an inventory is absolutely vital, as it ensures that if unfortunately the tenant does not leave the property in the same way they found it when they moved in, that you can make a claim against the tenant’s deposit for damages.

Once a tenant applies for your property, we will conduct a referencing check on all tenants that will be living at the property, and guarantors if applicable. This is done through an external, reputable referencing company.

We do this to ensure that your tenant is able to pay the rent on time, to make sure that they are not using a fraudulent identity, and also we apply for a previous landlord reference (where applicable), to check that the tenants left their previous property with no arrears or damage.

Accounting software enables us to produce professional statements, which are acceptable to your accountant and bank and also HMRC. RICS regulation means that these accounts are balanced weekly, so your money is always accounted for.

Our team of property managers are dedicated to ensuring that your tenancy runs smoothly, from tenancy to check in and all the way through to check out. They continuously work to ensure compliance is maintained throughout the tenancy.

Each Landlord and tenant(s), will be allocated a dedicated property manager to manage your tenancy. They are also supported by an inventory clerk to perform inventories before the tenancy begins, and check outs when it ends, and also an inspection clerk, who conducts periodic inspections of our fully managed properties, to ensure that the tenants are looking after your property.

We have an approved list of contractors that we use for all of the maintenance work on our Fully Managed properties. The contractors have to reach our service, price and efficiency levels to be considered for this list, and also provide us with the relevant certification for their business. We have developed great working relationships with our contractors over the Years.

We use an online system to log any repairs from tenants, meaning we are able to then deal with these efficiently and can keep track of the repairs as they are dealt with. This is available to tenants 24/7 so any repairs and maintenance issues are recorded and date stamped.

If you rely on rental payments as income each month, you should consider having Rent Guarantee Cover, to cover if your tenants do not pay their rent for any reason. Get peace of mind that you will still receive your rent each month. We can offer all landlords this cover for an additional monthly or annual fee. Ask us for full details.

As a Regulated by RICS firm, we provide CMP for landlords and tenants under the RICS CMP scheme.

Our management services are designed with flexibility in mind – to suit each individual client's needs. Don’t hesitate to ask if you would like to discuss a bespoke service to suit your needs.

To find out more about our Property Management Services and what we can do for you click here.

Take a look at our Fees for Landlords here.