We are delighted to announce that at the recent Landlord & Buy to Let Awards, a prestigious ceremony that recognises the companies and individuals who have excelled in their field in the private rental sector, that Property Portfolio Software was the commended finalist in the Innovation category, marginally pipped to the post by the winners, a pest control company!

Whilst this is a big honour for us, validating our dedication and resolve to make life easier for landlords, a big ‘Thank You’ must go out to our customers for their feedback and suggestions that not only enabled us to be nominated for the award, but also ensures that we continue to head in the right direction. Thank you.

The private rental sector is showing signs of stability after a phase of uncertainty caused by falling rents and rising vacancy.

Britain’s Excel Centre survey shows that more than one in five rents have increased over the last 12 weeks and an additional 39 percent of rents have remained stable at current levels. This spells good news for residential landlords, as rents are either rising or staying the same for a large majority of rental properties.

Thankfully, the demand for residential rental properties has seen a 50 percent jump over the past six months, and conditions look conducive for the current landlords as well as for those who are looking to buy a stake in the rental sector.

However, property values continue to remain low throughout much of the UK. A large number of properties in the UK are still selling below the original asking price. One in ten properties sold for the listed amount and 50 percent of residential property for 10 percent below the original asking price.

Nevertheless, this could be an opportunity to expand our portfolios and is a boon to first time buy-to-let business entrants.

The renewed interest among investors is a positive sign. 75 percent of estate agents noted a marked growth in demand.

It is a worrying fact, according to the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) that a huge number of landlords are still ignoring the deposit legislation that requires them to put their tenant deposits with a Government registered body. It is true that the number of landlords choosing to ignore the law has halved over the past year but that still leaves an awful lot who are taking the risk of continuing to totally ignore it. According to the DPDS 30 percent of landlords openly admit to ignoring the law.

The result of this situation is that the DPS have now put their support behind the idea of a landlord register in the hopes that it will make forcing landlords to comply with the deposit laws easier.

Kevin Firth, director of the DPS, said “More needs to be done and ignorance is no excuse. We believe that the introduction of a national register would make landlords more accountable and offer tenants a greater level of protection. Mandatory registration and deposit protection would leave rogue landlords with nowhere to hide.”

Whatever you make think of this legal requirement, the fact that so many landlords continue to ignore it is great fodder for those who wish to make sure our industry is tightly controlled by Government. Perhaps it is time we all thought about doing the right thing as this demonstration that we are unable to self-regulate can only lead to trouble as far as I am concerned.

Lots of landlords start off with no need for any help at all with their property management. They have a very small portfolio and trick themselves into thinking that they are just as efficient with their hand records as any software or management firm. That is clearly a mistake, but the fact is that when the going gets tough and landlords finally face up to needing help, they often make another error. This one has the potential to cost them a lot of money. They choose property management firms over property management software.

When they start to struggle as their portfolio grows, many landlords panic and throw the whole lot into the hands of a property management firm. This can be a major mistake for a couple of reasons:
 
Of course, first there is the money. Most property management firms charge a substantial block of money every week. The alternative of buying and setting up decent landlord software does involve an initial cost but once that is paid the monthly outgoing is minimal, if anything at all. In contrast, a property management firm will cost a huge block of cash and it will charge increasingly more as your portfolio grows.

Landlord software does not work like that.

It does not care how big your portfolio gets, it just allows you to enter more into the system and does not hit you with a huge bill for the privilege.
Another thing that landlords do not anticipate about property management firms, is the sense of disempowerment they bring with them. Most people go into property in their own business to achieve a sense of being in control of their future and their finances. With a property management firm you lose all of this. They take over the whole thing and you have little say in how they run things. They may claim you will but when it all comes down to it they have their policies. On the other hand, property software dramatically reduces the hours you spend running the show but still allows you to be completely in control and in charge.

Property management software allows you to build your own reputation just with the help of a tool to make things a lot easier. When you hire a property management firm, you are placing your business reputation, the most vital thing of all, in the hand of strangers. Some of them are probably very good but no matter how good they are mistakes are made and it is a very frustrating feeling when those mistakes that harm your business are not even your own.
 
If you are getting to the point where your property portfolio is growing and becoming unwieldy, do not make the knee jerk decision to turn it all over to the property management firms. Not without at least giving property management software a try first. It will help you to reduce your hours and maintain control, so it really is the best of both worlds

We have talked on here before about the new scheme the government have dreamt up which involves landlords joining a national register and paying £50 for the privilege, ostensibly to cover administration costs. 

Whether you agree with the aims of the national body or not, being forced to join one feels is a little dictatorial and to be forced to pay for it as well just adds insult to injury. 

Landlord Assist is concerned with this fee being the straw to break the camels back on top of all the other fees associated with setting up to become a landlord. I tend to be of the opinion that if you are going to be put off by an extra £50 then perhaps you do not have enough financial flexibility to be considering entering into the property game. But I also feel this is not the point.  

In my opinion you cannot make joining a club compulsory and then force reluctant joiners to pay for it as well. I feel my opinion on the matter is unlikely to make any difference as the government has already set a precedent on this type of thing. Teachers were not long ago forced to join a national registering body and still pay around £50 pound a year to be a member of something many disagree with. 

I feel that the national registry for landlords and the fee associated with it are probably inevitable but it will not stop me voicing the fact that I am opposed to it as a matter of principle.

Whether it’s an agreement for a new tenancy, or a notice concerning a rent increase, renewal or updated terms and conditions, any documents related to the tenancy agreement are very important items for a landlord.  A good tenancy agreement is one of the most important factors in ensuring that your interests and property assets are protected in a landlord – tenant relationship. It also ensures a smoother relationship, since there are lesser chances of misunderstandings or misinterpretations from either party.   (more…)

There is little doubt that the technology that surrounds us today is helping us to make decisions more quickly, with more accuracy. Technology helps in the gathering of data, and also in its interpretation. There are software applications for virtually every business you can name, and choices are numerous.   (more…)

A landlord often has the unenviable task of having to collect money that is owed to him; money that, for some reason or other, just doesn’t seem to be coming in.

This is an extremely frustrating task for you, not to mention stressful. And since you deal with people everyday, you don’t want to take a hard-line approach and offend hassle-free tenants who pay their rent on time.

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As a landlord, you operate as any other business owner would, and you face the same challenges.

In fact, in some ways the rental business is more complicated because of the way the cash flow works. Monthly cash inflow (the rent) and outflows (taxes, other expenditures) are all happening at different times. In such a scenario, calculating whether your property is making you a profit is not a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation.

And the task becomes even more complicated when you manage multiple properties.

Most importantly, it becomes time consuming.

On the other hand, this information can help you make crucial investment decisions, with the confidence that you’ve got all your numbers in place.

What’s the answer?

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One of the questions I used to dread answering when purchasing a new property or re-financing an existing one was “what other mortgage and loans do you have?” This is such a time consuming question as it normally involves having to sift through lots of mortgage related paperwork for each property to give them the details that they need.
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