The came, they packed, they left.

Hurray, the relocation company turned up today! I must once they were here they were very efficient. D took exception to them packing his toys up, which is understandable but even he was chatting to them the whole way through. He did cry a bit when he finally had to say goodbye though which made me feel bad for him. Z on the other hand couldn't have cared less, she sat on her high chair watching the world go by, but mainly CBeebies!. Took them about two hours in the end, which wasn't bad (although we hadn't got that much to be shipped). The most surprising thing was watching them put our double mattress in an over sized brown paper bag (see below behind Z)! Quite a strange feeling seeing your belongings in the back of a 7.5 tonne lorry and knowing the next time you see them will be roughly 6,741 miles away in five weeks time (I have been doing a bit of research). Gawd knows what was gong through Dan's head! Not much else to say on the subject other than you can guarantee over the next few weeks we're bound to find something we wished we'd shipped.
Another good thing that arrived today was confirmation from our mortgage lenders of permission to let. Phew, that would have been tricky if they hadn't granted that one! Can't say it had even crossed my mind that they wouldn't but I suppose if you've got to ask there's always the possibility they'll say no!

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!