When you’re a landlord, it can sometimes become difficult to manage properties as well as own them as you struggle to define your work-life balance. Many letting agents offer property management as a service to make your life as a landlord easier. In this article, we discuss the benefits of having property management in place and key points that need to be achieved when managing property.
What is property management? Property management is the constant management and oversight of rental properties. When you’re a landlord, it can become difficult to manage all your properties, so we recommend having the support of a letting agent. Having the middleman in place allows a professional relationship to be maintained between the landlord and tenant, creating a pathway of clear communication. When managing property, you are regularly juggling multiple issues from different properties or tenants; this can range from maintenance problems to collecting late rent.
Verify your tenants When managing a property, you need to discover the correct tenants that suit your property. Having assistance and support from a letting agent makes this process much simpler. To ensure you find the right tenants and that they are who they say they are, you will need to verify their income and identification before agreeing to a tenancy. It is important to check if your potential tenant has the right to rent in England and that they can supply references from previous landlords, helping you identify if they are the best fit for you and your property.
Legal requirements When managing property, it is vital to ensure that the property is up-to-date with all the legal requirements before letting it out to tenants.
This includes:
- An energy performance certificate
- Fitting smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
- Gas and electrical safety certificates
- Checking your insurance policies
By having these requirements in place allows you to get your property on the market efficiently, reducing its vacant standing period. Having a good tenancy agreement is also an important part of being a property manager. The written agreement provides clear rules, preventing potential misunderstandings and conflict, all while allowing a professional relationship to be maintained.
Establish a professional relationship When managing tenants, you need to ensure you maintain a professional relationship throughout your agreement, allowing you to deal with problems at face value and not have a bias towards or against your tenants. You want your tenants to be able to approach you with issues and have trust and respect within you all while maintaining good, clear communication. When you're a landlord, there's a chance it can become too personal with tenants, potentially breaking the professional relationship you are meant to maintain. This is why it is always good to hire a letting agent to provide this service, creating fewer complications.
Regular property checks Once you have filled your property with tenants, it is vital to maintain regular inspections. This allows you to ensure they are caring for the property to your standard and meeting all their responsibilities as tenants. The regular checks allow you to identify any maintenance and safety issues throughout the property and give you the chance to discuss any issues with the current tenants. When performing these checks, you need to give the tenants notice and they should take place at three or four monthly intervals.
Market trend updates When managing property, it is key to stay up-to-date and on top of what is happening within the rental market. This allows you to keep competitive rental rates, ensuring you adjust yours with the market and maintain happy tenants. This also allows you to stay up-to-date on certain requirements that may be needed in the future, giving you plenty of time to prepare and allowing you to keep your property constantly on the rental market.
Discover a trusted letting agent As a landlord, it can become hard to manage all the different daily tasks of being a property manager, so it is important to find a trusted letting agent to help delegate these tasks. These tasks could involve collecting rent, finding tenants, conducting property checks, achieving legal certificates, and property maintenance. So having the help of a letting agent allows you, as a landlord, to focus on building your property portfolio and letting the agent complete the hard work for you.
