TIME AND MONEY SAVING TIPS FOR LANDLORDS Being a self-managing landlord is really hard work and never more so than right now. There are 178 pieces of legislation, regulations, and compliance in the private rental sector and, as a landlord, you are expected to know all about them and implement them, as applicable. We know lots of self-managing landlords and they take on the management of their properties for a variety of reasons – some manage because they are portfolio builders who haven’t reached the point of taking on an agent just yet; some have had bad experiences with agents and some like to be hands on, at the coal face and manage themselves. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure, they all work extremely hard, know how to juggle and are usually “on call” 24 hours a day – it’s a very hard job, it’s time consuming and you need to have a long list of skill sets!
Whenever you do something, for the first time, document it and create a template. That way, the next time you come to do it, you won’t be wasting valuable time thinking “how did I do that?” Or “what wording did I use for that?” Think and learn the procedure once and then template it, so that you can rinse and repeat for the next occasion, saving yourself valuable time and minimising mistakes. What can be templated?
Templates don’t just have to be documents, they can be letters, emails, procedures and even shortcuts on your phone, replies to texts, WhatsApp messages and for communicating on your favourite platforms like Spare Room etc. You don’t have to waste time thinking “what did I say/do last time?” If it’s templated, then it’s there, whenever you need it and it’s consistent. It also means that So, in honour of all the self-managing landif, for some reason, you are not available, lords out there, this one is for you! Here are some top tips to help make life a little easier then someone else can communicate your and, hopefully, simpler. We have put together procedures, using “your voice” in any communications with your tenants, your team our 5 top tips for you – but remember this is or any other interested parties. not an exhaustive list and there are lots of things that you can do to maximise your Do regular inspections rentals and minimise your voids – also, our door is always open if you decide that you’d Not doing regular inspections, because you’re like an agent who will work alongside you to “too busy” is a false economy of time. protect both you and your asset and, help maximise your portfolio. We hear, time and time again from landlords, that they “just don’t have time…” to do Here are our top 5 tips: inspections or that they” …have a great relationship with their tenants” and a myriad Templates of other justifications. This is very short-sighted because the protection of your Documenting standard procedures saves biggest asset should never ever be left huge amounts of time. to chance or a “gut feeling” and because inspections are your opportunity to catch any issues, and sort them, before they become a 20 bigger problem.
