How to Manage Your Property Portfolio

Whether you manage your properties yourself or you take advantage of a letting agent and use a property management service, it pays to be up to date on all the latest advice on managing a property portfolio effectively.

Here we will share our knowledge on the key points you need to know based on our years of experience as professional landlords and letting agents.

Market effectively

Right off the bat it’s essential to get your properties in front of the right audience. This is where a quality letting agent is worth their weight in gold. They can master all the particulars including taking professional photos of your property which makes a real difference to attract the right tenants quickly. Perhaps most importantly, an expert agent will likely have tenants queuing up ready to view your property giving you access to your target audience immediately. We certainly have tenants lined up across Lancashire, we just need more properties for them! Avoid the tyre kickers at the same time and work with a local agent with a strong presence in your area.

Create your ‘power team’

No one can do everything on their own, which is especially true in property. Create your power team of accountants, solicitors, brokers, trades, and local experts. We have all this at our disposal if you would like any introductions.

Get the right power team in place and success will come easier and quicker.

Referencing is crucial

Don’t let anyone in your property until you’ve vetted them thoroughly, regardless of their situation or yours. Once they’re in it’s hard to get them out so get this right at the beginning. Your portfolio is your future, protect it at all costs.

Check references, speak to local councils, see what information is in the public domain, check affordability and check credit history. Go the extra mile here, it will save you a lot of time and expense long term. If you don’t have the time or inclination to do this yourself, ask your agent – we do all this and more for each and every landlord/property.

Get all the legalities in place at the beginning

Be sure to set up the tenancy correctly at the beginning. Follow all legislation and provide all the necessary information. If you don’t get this right evictions will be a lot harder down the line. This is where your power team or any good letting agent can help if you need it.

Be flexible

So, that takes care of what you need to do to find and onboard the right tenant, now let’s look at how to manage the tenancy.

First of all our advice is to be flexible and be prepared to go the extra mile in terms of customer service. Be flexible on check ins and check outs and be willing to work unsociable hours. We provide 24/7 check ins for example.

Don’t neglect checks

Once you have a tenant you need to carry out monthly or quarterly checks – these are essential. Once they are in and paying don’t just forget about them, they could be doing anything in your property so you need to keep checking up on them. Keep in mind though that your property is someone’s home so treat them with respect and always arrange checks in advance with your tenant.

Keep safety certificates up to date

You need to have a yearly gas safety check completed by a qualified gas safety professional and keep the certificate up to date. The danger and risk to life simply isn’t worth it, plus it’s a legal requirement.

Keep up to date with your accounting

We recommend you keep monthly accounts. Itemise them so that you can see exactly how your investment is doing. Keeping on top of this will help you get future financing and ensure your investments stay in the black. We can help with any templates that you need to help you stay on track.

Stay up to date

Keep yourself up to date with everything that’s going on in the property world. Legislation is an ever evolving thing and it’s super important to keep up to date – it can be a costly mistake not to and could also lead to missed opportunities.

Ask for our help

If you’re looking to build your portfolio and you need a letting agent in Burnley who can support you across the entire North West region, please get in touch – we can help you with everything we’ve discussed here and more. Let’s succeed in property together.