Decisions, decisions

Well, I thought I'd made up my mind about what letting agency to go with. Then I had a chat with one of my neighbours who has a number of properties on with Coopers. He told me last night that he's moving from Coopers to another agency. The reason? The fees were starting to get too high and the quality of tenant was starting to drop (in his opinion!). So, that put a spanner in the works! He gave me a number of the guy that he's going to be using now, so I guess I'll give him a call. It wasn't all bad and he did have some very redeeming points about them too so I'm still pretty confident. Anyway, it's good to speak to someone who's actually experienced the aforementioned agent, even if it has muddied the water somewhat! That will bring to a total of six Letting Agents I'll have had in. Oh well, it's got to be worth it to get the right one. It's not like we're just round the corner to deal with mishaps is it? I need to have absolute confidence in them (as far as I possibly can anyway!).
On another note I managed to get hold of an old acquaintance of mine to come and do the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate, seen by most in the industry as a complete waste of time!), for me at half the price the Lettings Agency were talking about. I get the feeling there are going to be a lot of 'extra' charges necessary to get going. So, although the initial 7.5% might be great there is going to be a hefty lump sum on top.
Going to have a beer with a an old mate of mine tomorrow. He's been letting properties in London for years, so he should have a pretty good idea of the ins-and-outs of the trade. And he'll probably scare me half to death will his stories!