What’s your Property Management approach?
Being a landlord requires you to be proactive. There is a lot to do, not just with recruiting tenants and keeping your properties in good shape but also dealing with the large amount of legislation that now covers the rental property business. Do you have the time to do all this? Is it better to just hand it over to someone else?
Doing it yourself
For sure there are many hurdles, but if you have time, the tools to do the work yourself are there. It seems every specific task is covered by apps the specialise in that task. Good solutions exist for managing tenant information like background and checks, credit worthiness, deposit management, right-to-rent checks, EPC, Gas Safety and PAT certification, inventories, insurance to protect against rent defaults and eviction services.
Also there are packages available for maintenance and furniture management.
Using a portal-based management
Then there are the all-in-one portal type solutions. These range from those that are effectively are a virtual letting service, where all the processes are managed by a central team. You pay a monthly charge and a fee per property and all the services you need are available in one place. The portal provides access via known or validated/endorsed/certified vendors of services.
It’s a compromise between doing it all yourself or having someone providing you and umbrella of services for you to pick and choose as events require.
Using a letting agent or property manager
There is nothing that can beat local knowledge. A good property manager knows the locality and the local market conditions. Their experience will help enormously with recruiting tenants and most importantly providing a bridge between the tenant and yourself. A point of contact is really important for tenants and unless you can guarantee availability at all hours, the service offered by a local agent is hard to beat.
Moreover, most agent also offer a hybrid approach from just recruiting tenants and leaving you to manage deposits and rent collection, to recruiting and managing rents to finally providing a complete management service, including looking after maintenance.
When it comes to making repairs on your behalf, they are more likely to have a long list of professional contacts to draw from, which should help keep costs down. And in the event of properties being vacated earlier than planned, they’ll be the best placed to understand the local rental market and strategically advertise your property so it’s not left standing empty for too long.
Check track records
Get references on their service. See if they belong to an accredited letting organisation with a code-of-conduct with regular spot checks and training programmes. It’s useful to know the number of properties and landlords they manage and their ratio of let to unlet properties. Also worth finding out their historical tenancy duration, tenant turnover and dispute resolution process. Find out what systems they use for managing properties. An investment in good IT systems is mandatory these days.
An agent who has a reliable management process and software can help you stay on top of responsibilities.
Whichever route you choose – DIY, managing with portals or a local agent – we at Reports2Go offer applications and services to aid with part of the task. Try out our free property reports app. It will reduce the time needed by an inventory clerk and will help to standardise workflow for reports.
Our inventory clerk app is good for ensuring a good start between tenants and landlords. Its accurate coverage of all important aspects of the property leaves little room for misunderstandings and confusion.
Dan, 18 December 2020
Post Titles
- Mid-Tenancy Reports are Critical when Letting a Property
- There may be Errors in the Inventory Report
- Reports2Go: the 21st Century way of creating Property Reports
- How to do a Condition Report for your BTL
- The work of an Inventory Clerk can be exceedingly varied
- What should you check for when inspecting your Lettings Property?
- Some things you need to know about Mid-term inspections as a Landlord
- The Reports2Go App makes Property Reports simple
- Why you should carry out Interim Inspections as a Landlord
- Why Check-In and Check-Out Reports are important for Tenants
- Some things to consider if you are thinking of buying a BTL
- The clever way for Letting Agents to create Property Reports
- Our FREE app makes Inventory Reports so much easier
- What to do if your Tenant has Damaged your Property?
- Inventory Reports and Check-Ins – are both really necessary?
- Who should pay for Property Cleaning - Tenants or Landlords?
- Is a Check-in Report Really Necessary?
- New plans and improved resolution for images
- Overheads of being a Landlord
- It is Critical that Inventory Reports are Accurate
- Mid-term Inspections of your BTL are Essential
- Minimising risks with proper tenant checks
- Making a Claim on a Tenant’s Deposit: What you need to consider
- The Importance of an Inventory for Tenants
- Things to note when conducting Check-In/Check-Out reports
- Our App saves a huge amount of time carrying out Inventories
- 5 Handy Screening Topics for New Tenants
- Busting Property Management Myths
- Six Money-Saving Tips for Landlords
- Rules for Tenants and Pets in 2021 - What are the Changes?
- As a Landlord you need to carry out Interim inspections
- Giving your Feedback on an Inventory as a Tenant
- Inventories made easy with Reports2Go
- New to Letting? What you should know about Property Reports
- Three Pillars of Good Property Management
- How can PropTech reduce your Property Inventory burden?
- Choosing the right Rental Management Strategy
- Some Tips for Promoting your Letting Agency Business
- The Importance of an Inventory to you as a Tenant
- Some Ideas to Consider in Order to Reduce your Overheads
- Legislation Concerning Landlords and Tenants is Constantly Changing
- What’s your Property Management approach?
- How to maintain a Positive Relationship with your Tenant
- How important is a Condition Report?
- Tools for New Landlords and Property Managers
- The Check-in Process in the Reports Cycle
- Doing an Inventory: Part 5 - Enhancing the Report
- Doing an Inventory: Part 4 - Finishing Up
- Doing an Inventory: Part 3 - Describing Items
- Doing an Inventory: Part 2 - At the Property
- How to do an Inventory: Part 1 - Preparation
- All you need to know about Property Reports as a Tenant
- Use the FREE Reports2Go App to Speed-up Inventories
- Using on-board Dictation Software for Reports
- A guide to Inventory, Check-In, and Check-Out reports
- Reasons for Landlords to carry out Mid-term Inspections
- How to Carry out an Inventory Quickly, Accurately, and Easily
- What does an Inventory Clerk do, and should I hire one?
- Inventory – A Guide for Tenants
- Things to keep in mind when conducting a Check-in Report
- Free Schedule of Condition - Why You Need it
- End-of-Tenancy clean? All you need to know
- Reports During Covid - 19 Restrictions
- Mid-term inspections as a Landlord
- How to avoid Deposit Angst with the Reports2Go app
- The Importance of the Reports2Go App for Inventories
- All about the Reports2Go App
- The Importance of an Inventory for a Tenant
- Dictation makes for a much faster and more Accurate Inventory
- How the Reports2Go app works
- Free Property App
- Completely Free App
- Tenant Fees Act and Inventories
- When you have a lot of Inventories, Reports2Go will save you time
- Periodic Inspections and why they are good idea
- Inventory meets the 21st century with Reports2Go
- Our App saves you a lot of time on Mid-Term inspections
- What is an inventory and why have one?
- Text Mode
- Audio Mode
- Our Inventory App
- Inventory Associations
- The life cycle of a Report
