How to be a great landlord
The question of how to be a great landlord is an important one. It not only makes sense in terms of providing a great service to tenants but also to optimise the financial return of your property investment.
1. Carry out repairs quickly
The first and most important point has to be in relation to repairs. If something needs fixing in your property, your tenants rely on you to address the issue. Apart from minor things that clearly fall under your tenant’s responsibility, like changing lightbulbs, your tenants rely very much on you to address the issue at hand. As per most tenancy agreements tenants are not allowed to address maintenance issues and it is your obligation to address maintenance issues whether small or large. That means that your tenants rely on you to action any repairs that your tenants have raised with you. It ranks amongst the most frustrating issues for tenants if their landlords either ignore repair requests or deal with them slowly. It is therefore important that you have reliable contractors at your disposal that can act quickly when required. Make it a priority to get things fixed if they are broken and don’t make your tenants beg you to sort their maintenance issue.
2. Don’t be greedy with your rents
Clearly, most landlords want to get the best possible return on their investment and the achievable rent is a key factor in that calculation. Before setting your rent, do your research. If you have an agent, ask them for what the current market rent is for similar properties. You can also do your own research by looking at what rent comparable properties are advertised at on rightmove or other property portals. Don’t forget to select the ‘Let Agreed Properties’ option when looking at the listing. Not only will this give you a bigger pool of properties to compare to, it will also show which properties have already been let. In most cases the advertised price is the price that is actually agreed between tenant and landlord.
Trying to get a rent at an inflated level is not only greedy but also can lead to longer advertising times and fewer applications for your property. In extreme cases your tenants might jump ship sooner than hoped for when they find something cheaper. Don’t forget that you are in competition with other landlords and their properties. If you price yourself out of the market, you make less rental income than with a well-pitched rent that attracts good long-term tenants.
3. Keep in touch and communicate well with your tenants
The key point here is to be approachable and respond quickly to questions from your tenants. You don’t want your tenants to be anxious about approaching you if something breaks. It’s always better to fix something early rather than finding out late when things have gone worse (think leaks!). Make sure you have given your tenants your mobile number, email address and alternative methods of contact in case you unavailable.
4. Allow for reasonable requests
Over the years of letting properties I have received all weird and wonderful requests from tenants. Whilst some of them are strange and have to be turned down, others are worth considering. After all tenants make requests for alteration and customisations because they want to make the property their home. And when they do that it typically means they want to stay and are not plotting their next home move. All the better for you and your uninterrupted rent income.
I have found that these are the most common request:
- Paint the property internally
- Install a sky dish
- Put up a shed or similar structure in the garden
- Hang a wall mounted TV
- Hang mirrors and pictures
- Paint internal doors
- Allow a pet
- Allow additional people to move in
- Connect their own appliances instead of the provided ones (e.g. washing machine)
This list is certainly not exhaustive but gives you a good flavour of what you might expect from your tenants. I any case, weigh up the pros and cons, see what you can do to mitigate any risks and then make sure you record whatever you have agreed in writing so there are no misunderstanding further down the line.
5. Consider pets
For people pets are part of the family and your tenants are no different. One of the most common requests we get is the one for a pet to be taken into the property. You might have good reasons for not wanting a large dog or young kittens in your property but there are ways to mitigate any potential damage that might occur. You should definitely make a pet addendum to your tenancy agreement and potentially take an extra safety deposit that could be used to remedy any damages that a pet has caused. A strict no to any pet request from your tenants can often be interpreted as a harsh no. Consider carefully what damage could occur and then discuss with your tenants what they have in mind and what your concerns might be. There is certainly a variety of pets like hamsters, Guinea pigs and other small, caged animals that usually don't cause any issues at all. When it comes to dogs and cats though, give the request careful consideration and allow the pet to move in with the right precautions being taken. Your tenants, and their kids, we love you for it and might stay for a while longer than they otherwise would.
6. Stay on top of legislation
Renting out a property comes with lots of regulations and landlord obligations. From landlord gas safety checks to electrical safety and fire prevention, it is your legal obligation as a landlord to stay on top of these regulations. Not only is it crucial the two stay legally compliant it is also imperative to keep your tenants safe. Landlords have a duty of care and sometimes it can seem quite onerous staying on top of the ever-changing legislation and regulations. If you have engaged a letting agent to manage the property on your behalf, then hopefully they will do a good job of staying on top of things and keeping you updated. However, you cannot abdicate your responsibility of having illegally compliant property to an agent. The buck stops with you! It is also a good idea to be a member of a landlord organisation such as the Scottish Association of Landlords [SAL]. As a member of a landlord organisation, you will benefit from legal updates that will be published in magazines or e-newsletters. Many landlords also find it helpful to attend in person events where best practise and legal updates can be discussed.
7. Give helpful property maintenance advice
Bearing in mind that many tenants are not experts in maintaining properties, it makes sense to provide them with helpful advice for the most common issues that occur in private rented properties. High on the list are thing such as:
- how to avoid damp and condensation
- how to prevent pipes from freezing
- how to secure the property when away for extended periods of time
- what insurance might be required for tenants
- how to test smoke, heat and CO alarms
This is only a small list – consider incorporating this and other helpful advice into a welcome pack that tenants can keep and refer back to when needed. You don’t need to babysit your tenants but providing tenants with useful practical information really is good practice.
8. Look after your property and carry out routine maintenance and upgrades
A common complaint from tenants is directed at landlords who don’t maintain their properties on a regular basis and at worst let their property fall into disrepair. As a landlord it can be easy to ‘forget’ about the routine maintenance and upgrades in a rental property. After all, if you don’t see your property regularly it is easy to be unaware of problems developing or things starting to wear out and look tired. Regular property inspection should help you to flag up what upgrades might be required next. A planned maintenance programme is useful too. It doesn’t need to be to elaborate ore technical. A simple checklist that details when and how often you want to action routine maintenance or upgrades will do the trick. Examples here are, every year in November I will arrange for gutter clearing at my property or every five years I will redecorate high traffic areas in all rooms. Tenants will appreciate you keeping the property well looked-after and it is certainly in your interest too to have a well-maintained property. As you will know ‘A stitch in time saves nine’. So, a late autumn gutter clearance for example will help the property cope with heavy rainfalls and will protect it from water blockages that could damage the integrity of the building.
9. Have a repair fund available
it is expected that as a landlord you have a pot of money available so that when repairs are required for your property they can be carried out without undue delay. Of course, like in your own home, he never know when disaster strikes and a repair is needed. Some repairs might of course be covered by your landlord insurance {link} so if there is for example a flood into your property, then your insurer should hopefully cover the expense. However, delays can occur when dealing with insurers and some repairs like a boiler breakdown I'm most likely not covered. They will then need you to dip into your repair phones. Murphy's law of course is always in action, so be prepared for multiple repairs to be required at the same time or if you have several properties you might be very quiet to carry out repairs in all of them around the same time full time.
10. Keep a distance
Your tenants have a right of quiet enjoyment of their home. Yes, it is your property but it is the tenants home and an overly keen landlord who likes to drop in or keep in touch more than required can be overbearing for your tenants. Once it is a good idea to keep a friendly relationship with your tenants you don't want to go over the top and annoy them. we have found that it's mostly local landlords or first-time landlords who feel the temptation to be a little too close to their tenants and their beloved property investment. Don't be that landlord; keep a distance but be there if your tenants need you. Make sure that your tenants can easily get hold of you if required and that they have all your contact details.
11. Maintaining a good relationship
Sometimes overlooked, but nevertheless quite helpful is to maintain a good relationship with your tenants. I have seen landlords who put a bottle of wine in the fridge for the tenants’ moving-in day, send birthday cards or drop over a little gift for Christmas. Of course, none of this is required or even expected by most tenants and that's exactly what makes it such a nice thing to do. It builds a level of goodwill and helps to maintain a relationship that allows for small disagreement and bumps along the road to be smoothed out much easier than otherwise possible.
12. Be professional
Acting in a professional manner as a landlord and presenting a professional appearance can often be underestimated. Consider that letting out a property is a business and any dealings in relation to this business should reflect your professional approach to it. This shows in the way you communicate with your tenants, contractors, and authorities such as the local council. If you want to convey that you will be a good responsible landlord, it goes a long way to show this in your professionalism. Turning up to in jour joggers and baseball cap to a viewing and responding late or unprofessionally to tenant communication will likely detract from the impression you would want to convey and ultimately from the success of your business. I am not saying you have to be suited an booted to meet your tenants, but first impressions do form opinions, so be mindful what impression you are conveying.
