Upad Review

Upad Review – Billing themselves as ‘the UK’s largest online letting agency’ they are one of the most well-known online agents around but are they worth your time and money? We delve deeper into Upad’s offering…

At A Glance:

Upad claim to have helped over 15,000 landlords let their properties since they were formed in 2008, making them one of the first online-only letting agents.

Here’s how they perform in the most important areas:

• Typical savings of £756 per tenancy (compared to high street agents)
• Listings appear on Rightmove, Zoopla & PrimeLocation
• Optional fully managed letting service
• Excellent reviews on TrustPilot
• Won ‘Best Online Agent’ at the Landlord Awards 2017

So far so good then for our Upad review, but do they deliver the kind of value for money you’re looking for? We’ll explore that shortly but first let’s take a look at the key things on offer:

Which Is The Best Letting Agent For You?

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How Much Does Upad Cost?

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat, Upad aren’t the cheapest online letting agent out there.

They are still cheaper than most traditional high street agents, but they are one of the more costly online agents. What you gain though is one of the most varied ranges of additional services around.

More on that shortly, first let’s take a look at what their advertising packages come with as standard:

• Rightmove, Zoopla & PrimeLocation Listings
• Tenant Referencing
• Tenancy Compliance Service

The cheapest advertising package available (UChoose) costs £149 including VAT and that get’s you all of the above plus a couple of extra bits such as customer support.

If you are looking for more than that, the next package up (UChoosePlus) costs double the amount but also includes a tenant sign-up service and Direct Debit rent collection for one year (£149 per year after that).

The third and final package is essentially the same as the UChoose Plus but rather than paying upfront, you can defer payment until you’ve successfully found a tenant.

This is a great way to reduce your risk and Upad are one of the few online agents offering this service. It does, of course, come at a higher cost though and will set you back a total of £449.

That makes it some £151 more expensive than UChoosePlus so it depends on how important reducing the risk is to you. However, you should also be aware that the pay on success does also come with professional photography and a dedicated lettings executive included.

Upad Add-Ons:

Our Upad review has found that despite the higher costs, one of the most attractive parts of using Upad is their range of additional services. These include:

• Landlord Inventory Service (From £120)
• Property Floor Plans (£99)
• Rightmove Commercial Listings (From £239)
• Property Photography (£99)
• Gas Safety Certificate (£99)
• Full Tenancy Management Service (£599 + £72 per month)

These extra services are, again, not the cheapest around but there are some you just can’t get anywhere else.

For instance, Upad claim to be the only online agent offering Rightmove commercial listings. That means they can help you even if you need to find a tenant and rent out a commercial property.

Their full tenancy management service is also quite unique and gives you a service much more as you may expect from a traditional high street agent.

You’ll still have to do the viewings yourself but everything else is taken care of for a fraction of what a high street agent is likely to charge you.

There are also several other services we haven’t mentioned such as the Legionella Risk Assessment (£150) and Rent Protection Insurance (£159). We encourage you to visit the Upad site for the latest prices and add-on service availability.

How Letting With Upad Works:

The process for renting your property out using Upad depends on whether you’re just using their advertising services or have decided to plump for their fully managed tenancy service.

If you have chosen to just use them for advertising to find a tenant, you’ll do most of the work yourself. This means you’ll need to create your own property listing by adding the details and photographs.

Upad will then place the advert on the likes of Rightmove, Zoopla and PrimeLocation. Any enquiries are sent to you directly and you organise the viewing with the prospective tenant.

Once you’ve found the right tenant, you instruct Upad to reference them or sort out the paperwork (depending on the exact package you chose). And that’s it!

If you’ve gone for the fully managed service then Upad will arrange for everything apart from the viewings to be done for you. That means it’s the easiest way to rent out a property.

So, Is Upad Any Good?

While Upad may be one of the more expensive online letting agents around, it’s clear that they never had any intention of being the cheapest.

What you lack in cost-effectiveness, you make up for in professionalism as every landlord gets an ARLA-certified Account Manager as standard. That shows they are focused on providing a service as close to what you would receive from a high street agent as possible.

With over 30 additional services to choose from, you get more choices than most other online agents too. the fact you can pick and choose the ones you need means you don’t end up paying for anything not required.

As a recognised supplier of the National Landlords Association, and with an ‘Excellent’ rating from over 1,000 reviews on independent review site TrustPilot, they are clearly an agent that can be trusted.

Upad TV Advert:

Negatives Of Upad:

The biggest negative of Upad is that they are more expensive than other comparable online agents. There’s no getting away from that.

While that comes with a number of benefits such as the range of services available, if you’re simply looking for the cheapest service, Upad isn’t for you.

Another point to note is that, despite the number of additional services they offer, they don’t offer hosted viewings. That means even if you go with the fully managed service, you have to conduct all of your own viewings. That’s something that won’t suit everyone.

Finally, although their Trustpilot reviews are excellent, the Upad reviews on Google and Facebook aren’t so favourable. Many of these point to poor customer service as a potential issue. It’s unclear whether this has been resolved.

A Short History Of Upad:

There really isn’t a great deal of information about the Upad story available.

We know they were founded in 2008 by landlord James Davis who wanted to find a better way to help other landlords find tenants and let out their properties.

As one of the first letting agents to truly embrace the Internet, Upad have become one of the largest online agents in the UK.

So much so that in 2017 they were a gold winner in the ‘Best Online Agent’ category at the ESTAS landlord awards.

Upad Review – Summary:

Now we have reached the end of our Upad review, it’s time to summarise what we’ve learned about this online letting agency.

Sure, they are by no means the cheapest option out there but they do offer a good range of services and come across as a very professional outfit.

The option to pay only once you’ve successfully found a tenant is a nice touch and we like the fact they are able to offer a fully managed lettings service too (at the fraction of the cost of most high street agents).

The downside is that you’ll have to conduct all viewings yourself, no matter which service you choose, and reviews are a little mixed if you look beyond their TrustPilot page.

Overall though, Upad appear to be a solid company with a strong offering, providing you can overlook the higher price tag compared to other online agents.

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