YOUR NEWSLETTER FROM JAMES GIBB RESIDENTIAL FACTORS

theaddressAUTUMN 2012

WelcomeThis, latest, edition of The Address arrives with you as the final glimmers of hope for a good summer fade. I hope many of you managed to escape the rain for a while and enjoy a holiday in the sun.

July saw some of the worst floods in the East for many years and we are grateful to our emergency contractors some of whom worked round the clock to fix leaks, pump water from garages, basements and lift shafts etc to ensure our customers were able to resume normal life as soon as possible. We rely so much on good contractors, especially at times like this, and we are very fortunate to have developed such a good relationship with a number of competent and honest suppliers over the years.

As we head towards autumn, though, let’s hope none of us need to make use of these emergency services again.

Douglas C. WeirMANAGING DIRECTOR

residential factorsESTABLISHED 1872

Behind the ScenesMOST OF YOU WILL KNOW and recognise your property manager. They are our dedicated “front of house” team and are the face of James Gibb residential factors. Behind the scenes though, there is another, equally dedicated team, working hard to ensure the smooth flow of our business.

Accounts: We have many thousand individual accounts to manage, payments to process, invoices to generate, late payments to chase etc etc and our accounts team works tirelessly to ensure all suppliers are paid within 14 days of invoice; to ensure that your incoming payments are registered on your account and to ensure that we are complying, at all times, with the requirements of our regulators.

Insurance: We’re keeping down the cost of your block insurance by handling much of the work in-house, from claims handling to statistical analysis. This can take one person 2 – 3 days per week to accomplish.

Admin: Whether it’s arranging a parking permit, sending out welcome packs to new owners or completing the admin for a property sale, our admin team demonstrates cheerful efficiency in their quest to assist our customers.

Meet the TeamALTHOUGH MANY OF YOU have spoken to our staff on the telephone, it’s sometimes nice to put a face to a name, particularly as we have such a good looking team here - it’s a shame to hide them away.

www.jamesgibb.co.uk

Douglas Weir Managing DirectorDouglas ensures the business performs safely, fairly, efficiently

and in accordance with its regulatory requirements.

Val Black Office Manager Val manages the admin staff and activities such

as accounts, credit control, banking, insurance, IT, compliance procedures, internal controls and queries.

Brian Duncan Factoring ManagerAs well as managing our property managers, Brian looks

after a small number of developments in addition to heading our business development division. Brian is also our font of all knowledge when we have any queries about Edinburgh Developments.

Lindsay Elliot Accounts AdministratorLindsay is the newest member of our team having joined us in

July of this year to strengthen our accounts role. As well as day to day banking and other financial transactions, Lindsay is beginning to spend significant time on one of his areas of expertise, credit control.

Gordon Innes, David McCallister, Richard Murdock, Andy Wood(from left to right)

These are our property managers and, normally, the first line of communication with our customers. All our property managers have significant experience in, and knowledge of, local property management.

Natalie Brown, Claire Wallace Administrators

Natalie and Claire share the vast array of administrative tasks required in our business. Change of address, emergency contact numbers, insurance claims, parking permits, maintenance of records, approved suppliers, insurance statistics, new owner welcome packs, reception duties are just some of the very important roles fulfilled here.

All of our team are based in our office at Atholl Place and can be contacted at the usual number.

It’s also good to know who does what so we’ve put together this guide to help you get to the right person when you call or come in and see us.

Are you a Landlord or thinking about renting out your property?

SOMETIMES, our factoring customers become reluctant landlords because they have to move and can’t sell their property for an acceptable price. This can be a stressful time for many: how do you find the right tenant and what are your obligations as a landlord?

However you have become a Landlord, there are some golden rules to ensure you have a trouble free rental and avoid the void!

Rental Guide

1 Ensure you are registered with the Council – it is the law!

2 The property must have an Energy Performance Certificate before it is advertised

3 Advertise your property on at least one of the City’s portals to ensure a wide coverage

4 Take up references from previous landlords and employers and check for regular income for the past six months

5 Ensure the lease you use is current and Scottish!

6 As of 12th October, ensure your tenants deposit is paid into one of the three tenants deposit schemes within 30 working days of receiving it.

7 Make sure you have a robust inventory which is signed on the date of entry

8 Regularly inspect your property, with your tenants permission, to ensure your tenant is fulfilling their lease obligations

James Gibb Lettings (now owned by Bondsave Ltd) is there to help should you decide you do not want to deal directly with your tenant or if you decide to invest in residential property. They can help you source something suitable, refurbish it and then manage it going forward. As an existing James Gibb residential factors customer, all new lettings clients enjoy a “no fee” sign up and registration. James Gibb Lettings are more than happy to arrange a free appraisal of a property and, if you haven’t bought yet, can give you guide rental prices from sales particulars due to their wide knowledge of renting in the City.

Call and speak to Steven Sutterby or Karel Broughton on 0131 229 3481 (Option 1).

www.jamesgibb.co.uk

Champagne Success

A HUGE THANK YOU to those of you who have signed up for email communications. Great news too, for two of our customers who won our prizes. We were delighted to present Heather Dawson of Littlejohn Road and Valerie Brown of Slateford Road each with a nice bottle of champagne. We hope you enjoy your winnings, ladies.

We now have about 8% of our customers on paperless communications which certainly helps all of us but we really need lots more to make a difference to the environment and on-going costs. If you haven’t already done so, please let us know if you are willing to receive communications, easily and safely, by email. We should confirm that all email addresses we receive remain fully confidential and are not used for any other purposes or given / sold to anyone else. I’ll even provide more champagne or chocolates to each 50th receipt as an on-going incentive!

Let us know, please, if you are willing to sign up for paperless communications by sending an email to factors@jamesgibb.co.uk

residential factorsESTABLISHED 1872

4 atholl place | edinburgh | eh3 8ht

t: 0131 229 3481f: 0131 229 3771e: factors@jamesgibb.co.ukw: www.jamesgibb.co.uk

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