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! So, in honour of all the self-managing landlords out there, this one is for you! Here are some top tips to help make life a little easier and, hopefully, simpler. We have put together our 5 top tips for you – but remember this is not an exhaustive list and there are lots of things that you can do to maximise your rentals and minimise your voids – also, our door is always open if you decide that you’d like an agent who will work alongside you to protect both you and your asset and, help maximise your portfolio. Here are our top 5 tips:

Templates

Documenting standard procedures saves huge amounts of time. 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 if, for some reason, you are not available, then someone else can communicate your procedures, using “your voice” in any communications with your tenants, your team or any other interested parties.

Do regular inspections

Not doing regular inspections, because you’re “too busy” is a false economy of time. We hear, time and time again from landlords, that they “just don’t have time…” to do inspections or that they” …have a great relationship with their tenants” and a myriad of other justifications. This is very short-sighted because the protection of your biggest asset should never ever be left to chance or a “gut feeling” and because inspections are your opportunity to catch any issues, and sort them, before they become a bigger problem. 20

The phrase “a stitch in time saves nine” was made for property inspections – have a checklist, have a procedure and you will be “in and out” in no time and it will save you no end of time and hassle!

Pictures and videos of issues

Getting tenants to send pictures and videos can save so much time!

It’s hard not to have that “sinking feeling” when you get a message from a tenant that something is amiss; especially when you are a self-managing landlord, because this usually means that you will be the one jump ing in the car to go and assess the damage!

We find that asking tenants to send a picture or, even better, a video of the problem, helps tremendously. Often it is something that you can talk them through over the phone or via whatever platform you use for communication. If action is required, then you will not be in the dark and can make an informed decision as to whether you need to visit the property or can call your maintenance team direct, thereby dispensing with unnecessary journeys. This is also especially good for appliance and boiler breakdowns, as tenants can provide details of make, model and serial numbers, so that you have all the information to hand when calling breakdown companies. The bonus, also, here is that it gets tenants into the habit of taking responsibility for their home, which is in the interest of both parties.

Qualify applicants

Its impossible to overstate the importance of tenant selection.

Tenant selection is more important than ever and if you are a self-managing landlord, then you will find that this takes up large chunks of your time. Where do you find your tenants and how do you conduct viewings? Do you have a pre-selection process and, if so, how stringent is it? The answers to these questions will determine just how much time you spend doing viewings and how much of that time could be saved if you had a solid pre-viewings qualification procedure in place.

Keep detailed notes

The importance of detailed note-keeping, about every property.

There is really nothing worse than being in a stressful situation and not having the right information to hand. With a property, this stressful situation could mean fire, flood, gas leak or a whole number of other dramatic and highly charged situations – but you don’t need to turn a drama into a crisis!

Keeping detailed notes, about every property in your portfolio is invaluable. Things like the location of the stop cock, gas meter, gas shut off valve and consumer unit and information about broadband passwords, make and model of the boiler, white goods and even things like paint colours (especially of any feature walls).