August 2013

August 28, 2013

Property manager tasks

Do you need a task management system to deal with them?

Rentview have developed a complete property management task manager which is designed to allow letting agents, property managers, brokers and admin staff to manage multiple task management, in one easy to use property management software.

Letting Agency Administrators

With the Rentview task manager an office administrator who is manning the phone and generic email addresses can simply upload tasks which need attention to the correct property manager. By centralising all tasks within one system letting agencies will remove the chance of having tasks lost or forgotten about.

All property manager tasks are view able in either pipeline view or list view, allowing users to quickly track and complete property management tasks more efficiently.

Pipeline View

The pipeline view allows the user to see tasks assigned to themselves or to other property managers within the office. It also allows them to view the status of the task from ‘in progress’ to ‘complete’. Our drag and drop feature makes task management more interactive and is designed to lessen the time it takes property managers to complete tasks. Property manager tasks can be dragged from the ‘in progress’ status to ‘complete’ with ease.

List View

The list view will show all tasks assigned to property managers showing the address of the property, date due and status of the task. We have built some really cool alert buttons which illustrate to users the priority levels of each task with red illustrating late, orange; due today, white; due soon and green; complete.

And lastly, you can also see a list of all historic tasks associated with a property giving you better reports on which properties you are working harder on.

Property Manager Tasks

Property manager tasks can take up the majority of a letting agent’s day, but by using the task manager software from Rentview you can dramatically improve your your efficiency.

August 23, 2013

How to show a property in 5 simple steps

One question a letting agent or landlord may ask themselves is how to show property successfully. In an ideal world, the letting agent would simply open the door to a rental property and the features of the property would speak for themselves, thus leading to a successful letting.

However in reality, the letting market is flooded with properties, all with perceived positives and negatives. In short, the letting agent must put the ground work in to set the property on view apart from the competition!

I have listed below five key rules on how to show a property. These will ensure the tenant gets the best impression of the property, and also of the professional service the letting agent provides. Please read the rules below and put them into practice because as the great Roy Keane says, “fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

1. Be punctual for the viewing – arrive early!

When you are showing your rental property it is important that you arrive early for the viewing to make sure the place is presentable and to allow you to find your bearings in the property. There is nothing worse than arriving at the same time as the prospective tenant or worse, arriving late for an appointment.

If you are conducting viewings in the colder months, try to arrive a little early to put the heating and lights on so they are coming into a cosy well-lit property. Meet and greet your prospective tenants in a calm friendly manner, as this will put the tenants at ease when viewing. You may be under pressure for time, but remain calm! Remember first impressions last!

2. Clean and tidy property is essential!

Make sure the property is clean and tidy as first impressions of the property will most likely sway your tenant’s decision. Your prospective tenant must be able to visualise living in the property and with clutter lying around, it won’t feel like a blank canvas for the tenant to make their mark.

A good cleaning company can provide a deep clean of the property which is something your tenants will expect before moving in so get this sorted before you conduct your viewings to maximise the letting potential.

3. Know your property inside out!

It is so important to know the property inside out. Would you buy a car off a garage if the salesperson couldn’t tell you what size engine the car had, or what fuel it uses? All too often agents don’t familiarise themselves with the property leading to poor communication of the features and benefits.

Your tenants will have lots of different questions and if you are well prepared, you will be able to answer them there and then. This could be the difference between the tenant renting your property or the next one on their list.

Some questions tenants will ask:

Is the cooker electric or gas operated?
What type of TV connection is available and can I bring my own satellite dish?
How much is the average electricity and gas bill?
What is the energy rating for the property?
How much for water charges, waste collection and council taxes?
Is the shower an electric shower and what is the pressure like?

4. Know the area – local amenities

Some letting agents or landlords may not live in the locality or be too familiar with the local area. It is good practice to familiarise yourself with the local amenities including local schools, shops, sports and social clubs, transport routes or motorways etc.

Depending on the age group of the tenants, you can tailor your pitch to the relevant resources they may be interested in, e.g. information relevant to families would be schools and local clubs.

5. Have important documents at hand

Make sure you have all the relevant documents at hand for your prospective tenants to read or take away with them. This will speed up the decision of the potential applicant and prompt the tenant to accept your property as their new home.

Relevant Documents

Deposit receipt book
Application form
Copy of house rules (If the property is in an apartment complex)
Terms of rental and additional charges
Copy of Inventory

This blog is from my experience within the letting industry of how to show a property, from conducting thousands of showings. I hope you find it useful. This is the best way, in my opinion, of how to show a property. Please let me know if it makes your life easier!

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August 22, 2013

Landlords negotiation of fees with letting agents

Whats the best approach to take when landlords negotiate fees

Many say the letting industry is currently in a race to the bottom, with letting agencies competing with each other in order to win new business. Some agencies think that by simply reducing their fee structures and marketing this that business will pour in. I would argue the point that whilst it may work well to have a few listings on their books now, it will do greater damage in the long run.

Image Credit Matt Biddulph

A typical example of this is a company reducing its fees to what would appear to be a level where the ability to turn a profit is significantly reduced.

We should all know that in order to provide a professional service, their needs to be some profit in the margin. I mean, if not why go into business? I have no reservations about a company offering a limited time only promotion in order to stand out. For Example – Reducing the fees for the first 3 months of management is an incentive to do business whilst placing a restriction on the discount.

However when I see a letting company offering a letting or management package at a set cost or on a percentage base well below that of the competition, I see this as a race to the bottom. It affects the market, as it becomes a bargaining point for landlords. This normally happens with a landlord with whom you already do business, who will say something like “company X is offering the same package for half of your fee”. It is clear that your landlord is looking for negotiation on fees.

So what can you do here?

Well the obvious first step is to compare service with service. This should allow you to point out that the difference in this fee is that company X are not providing the extras which make the landlord’s life easier.

What if the company offer the same service?

This is typical as company X will market the fact that they offer the complete package with the only difference being the cost. The reality of this is that as industry professionals we understand that it is next to impossible to offer this at the rate advertised and still make a profit. So in reality what the landlord will get is a below-par service at a below market value fee. The only problem is that the landlord will sometimes find it hard to understand this.

So what is the solution in fee negotiation?

I am a big believer in offering more services rather than reducing fees in order to win business. A great way to achieve this is to offer the landlord a service which will cost you less after costs than a reduction in fees. By doing so, you will secure the business whilst increasing the value of your services to the landlord. Give the landlord a free digital inventory reports instead of reducing your fees.This is the best way to handle negotiation of fees.

Image Credit Victor1558

Building Value

A simple way to maintain your fee structure and deal with competitors’ lower pricing is to offer more services for the same value. The skill here is to build value in your additional services. So for example, if I were offering a landlord a free inventory service with my letting service I would ask what type of inventory they currently use. If it does not have detailed photos, I would highlight the important of this.

If the master inventory is not up-to-date, once again I would highlight the importance of this.

Lastly, I would inform the landlord that you can offer a solution to all of these areas, inform them of the value of this, and then remind them that you are going to include it with your letting service for FREE.

Same fees, more value

By doing this, you are creating value for your landlords rather than just dropping price. I must highlight the importance of building value in your additional services, as without these, all the landlord will consider is the lower fee. If you bear this in mind the next negotiation of fees that you will have you will come out the better.
by Andreas Riha