Property Landlord advice: The art of Property Management for Landlords.

By Steve Roulstone

Why manage yourself?

As a professional Letting agent, we are often asked to find Tenants for Landlords who are going to manage the property themselves. This is because they feel that once the initial service has been provided, which is requested because of our ability to both provide professional referencing as well as ensure that the process and agreements are correct in format and content, they will be capable of looking after the property after the Tenant has moved in.

What happens next?

What happens after we have completed our job and handed the Tenant contact details for the Landlord is the key to self Management, because if the Tenant is under a Full Management service, they will then continue to receive contact and information whilst they settle in, including more detailed information and utility confirmation and usually continued contact as the final details are completed for their tenure. At this stage the Tenant is getting to know how the Management works and getting to know the people involved. I actually firmly believe that the smaller agency is very good at this, because they offer the same contact no matter what the issue.

More contact = Happy Tenant

We know from experience that by ensuring the Tenants are settled in, knowledgeable about how the Tenancy is going to work and receiving assistance in dealing with utilities, keys, maintenance issues (which always seem to come at the start of most Tenancies) and the legal side of the Tenancy including setting up rental payments, they feel welcome and comfortable with the situation. Rather than the Agent becoming a nuisance to them, we prove that we are going to be able to make living at the property a more pleasurable time in their lives.

Less contact = Abandoned Tenant

But if they do not have anybody who is prepared to assist in sorting these issues out, the opposite happens. They will probably not let you know that the door to one of the kitchen cupboards has become loose, that post has arrived for the Landlord, that they have a new Mobile number etc etc! Instead, what happens is unless as a self Management Landlord you keep regular contact with your Tenant, they feel that you have abandoned them in the property.

The consequences.

And this is important, as many Landlords find to their cost when they either need to visit the property or even worse, at the end of the Tenancy. A Tenant who is left to feel that the Landlord is happy to take the rent, but not to ensure they are comfortable will possibly stop looking after the property and advising of any issues. I would state that it is a dangerous scenario and not wanted by any Landlord. If you are a Landlord who wants to manage the property yourself, always make sure that you keep regular contact and carry out regular visits to the property. If you do not want to do this, use your Letting Agent to manage the property on your behalf!