Fully Managed Landlord Letting Services by Heather Hilder on July 17, 2021 Fully Managed Landlord Letting Services Management for less than £3/day I’m not really a coffee-lover. I rarely frequent the Costas, Cafe Neros and Starbucks of our local community. Frankly, I’d rather have a cup of thirst-quenching tea. But some members of my Lettings Team, who always seem to have a cup of coffee close at hand, made what I thought was a startling announcement the other day. ‘Do you realise, Heather, that our Fully Managed Landlord Letting Services cost LESS than £3 a day”. So let me tell you more… Lettings Management Landlords you’re essentially running a business when you let out even a single property. You need to consider how much time you can give to properly managing your property. This includes, but is not limited to: finding a tenant carrying out references arranging the tenancy ensuring you have covered all the health and safety aspects arranging repairs with contractors making sure you’re adhering to Right to Rent legislation renewing the AST at the right time paying your tax on income Do you have time to carry out all these tasks if you’re already in work? Can you rely on a family member or friend to cover for you when you’re unavailable? Programmes such as ‘Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords‘ are enough to make tenants and landlords run for cover! As a result, many Landlords turn to a professional Lettings Agent. Lettings Tasks Consider just some of the tasks and disruptions that may occur during a tenancy: emergencies out-of-hours calls maintenance works and call-outs serving relevant notices keeping up to date with regulations and legislation Imagine you’re just about to leave to go to work or on holiday, a theatre outing or a soiree with friends and family. No one can predict when emergencies or these type of calls occur! Landlords considering using the services of a Letting Agent may find the costs overly expensive at first glance. Take a closer look at fees, and you’ll see that’s not the case. The ‘Daily Rate’ often works out at less than £3 per day (less than a cup of Costa Black Forest Frostino, or Starbucks Eggnog Latte coffee, and with far less sugar!), for your letting agent to take care of all the above, including collecting rent and arrears. Certainly as a Landlord, your stress levels should be considerably reduced with a professional (eg ARLA Propertymark) taking care of your tenants and property. Agency fees are tax deductible, making it worthwhile to remove a level of stress you really don’t need. Have you taken into account how important YOUR time is. Factor this in if you live a distance away from your rental property, or have numerous rental properties. Managing a property can be a full time job in itself – and understanding the complexity of the lettings industry, legislation and compliance and keeping up-to-date with ever-changing laws could land you in hot water, and out of pocket to the tune of £££s if you fail to comply. Professional Letting Agent The services of a professional letting agent has the following benefits: ARLA Propertymark Protected – with a Code of Conduct implicit in membership TPO Registered (The Property Ombudsman) so there is redress if things go wrong Client Account Auditing – so every penny of our Landlords is accounted for Stringent vetting and screening process for applicants – using an independent referencing agency to carry out relevant credit checks for CCJs and bankruptcy – to prevent rogue tenants or those who do not have the ‘Right to Rent’ in the UK Administration including AST, Prescribed Information, secure Deposit Protection Scheme and Deposit Registration all managed in-house – so you can be sure if things do go wrong, we have documentation to support a case Inventory (by independent company) – check in – check-out of Tenants – to reduce disputes at the end of the tenancy Mid Term Assessments – to ensure there are no hidden defects, repairs that maybe the Tenants haven’t noticed, or ‘extra’ tenants Rent collection including monthly statement of account and collecting arrears – so you can be sure your rental monies are collected on time and you have the paperwork to present to your Accountant for Tax Purposes Day to day property management of your property and maintenance issues – the quicker repairs and maintenance are dealt with, generally the least damage done; Arrangements/agreements to assist with out-of-hours issues – giving Landlords peace of mind Updating all the utility providers and Council on change of tenants – ensuring that records are correct are an important part of the service Issuing breach letters, annual Gas Safety Certificate, EICR, PAT – to ensure the tenancy is at all times fully compliant Tenancy renewals and negotiations – these should be up-to-date with letting compliance and legislation. Tenant Preference Tenants often ask whether we manage the property they’re about to rent. This is not the case where a Landlord appoints us on a ‘Tenant Find Only’ or ‘Tenant Find & Rent Collection’ basis. Tenants worry when they are unable to contact their Landlord when problems arise. Tenants like knowing they can contact someone immediately to report issues. Overseas Landlords We always recommend that Overseas Landlords subscribe to our Full Management Service. Imagine you’re on the other side of world, and your tenant calls you at 3am in the morning saying they have a burst water pipe (it’s that time of year)? In one particular instance a Tenant reported a Hazard 1 problem; the Landlord was out of the country and couldn’t, or didn’t respond, creating, so put it mildly, a bit of a catastrophe… So for the price of less than £3/day (or a cup of coffee at your local preferred café), I recommend that Landlords seriously consider taking out a Fully Managed Service. Do you have any queries about Landlord Lettings and Property Management Services? Call 01273-735237 or email enquiries@callaways.co.uk
