MyPropp.com helps property investors understand their real estate portfolio better – to track and monitor what they are actually making and what their portfolio is worth. Tim Parsons Co-Founder, of MyPropp.com designed the tool to be as easy to use as possible, giving the information you need at your fingertips. mypropp.com offers a range of graphs and tables (which can be customised by date) to graphically understand what’s happening with your portfolio. All data held within the platform can be downloaded into spreadsheets for further analysis.
Do you often complain to friends and family about your property agent? Perhaps your agent always turn up late when showing you a new property or neglects to inform you of the boiler/fridge/washing machine that broke down a month ago has now caused irreparable damage to your property? Or maybe your agent notified you through your invoice that a new tenant did not in fact start renting your property and now it has been left empty for weeks?
Despite all these potential scenarios, let’s ask ourselves – can we run our property portfolios effectively without them?
When choosing an agent to run a property, consider:
- What are their fees? Typically Agents will charge a fee for finding tenants for your property and another for ongoing service to ensure the property is being maintained and sorting out any issues as they may arise. These costs can add up to as much as 15% of annual rent (+VAT) in the UK and can vary significantly from location to location, but don’t be afraid to negotiate for a better deal particularly if they are managing several of your properties. Be wary of any additional hidden costs – one agent we came across charges an additional monthly “Out-of-Hours” fee, regardless of any calls made or use of a service.
- Do you trust them? Consider Letting Agents as partners and aim to build a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with them. For this to happen there needs to be trust and mutual appreciation from both parties – don’t begrudge their fees but set expectations and ensure that these expectations are being met. As in any relationship, if there are issues, make sure they are aired quickly and acted on
- Following on from the point above, can they deliver on their promises – it’s very easy to say a property will let quickly with a high level of rent, but can they/are they delivering on what their sales pitch? Ensure the property is obtaining a decent level of income, had few (if any) void periods and is being properly looked after.
- Track record – if you are not 100% sure they can deliver on their promises do your research; how long has the agency being going for, how many staff do they have covering lettings, can you speak with existing customers and/or get referrals from friends? What percentage of their business is lettings versus sales
- Are they specialised enough to match your properties requirements. Different properties appeal to differing target markets (e.g. students, corporate lets), so ensure that they are focused on the correct market for your properties. If you hold a diversified portfolio, is it worth using several agents rather than a one-size fits all agency.
- Are they aware of your goals and expectations? Are you looking to minimise void periods and be flexible in the rent you are willing to accept, or are you determined to get your full asking price, even if it means waiting for longer for a tenant to be found? Is there a specific type of tenant you are not prepared to accept – e.g. families with kids, tenants with animals?
- The frustrating experience our staff member received recently was due to Communication…or the lack of it! Told that a new tenant had offered full asking price, nothing was heard from the agents until after the tenant was due to have moved in and it was only though making a phone call to the agents that we discovered the deal had fallen though and the property was unlet. Whilst the agents should clearly informed the client of the tenancy falling though, perhaps there should have also been more pro-active management of the Letting Agent by the landlord
- Use the agent for information – ideally the Agency should be ingrained into the local community and know what’s happening on the ground. If they know you are looking to expand our portfolio, they may tip you off on any new investment-grade properties before they come onto the market, and give you detailed insights into the market.
Can you run your properties without an agent?
Some Property Investors feel that they can dispense with the services of an agent, and in today’s internet connected world; it’s easy enough to post an advert on Gumtree/Craigslist to rent out the property, do the viewings yourself and negotiate and manage tradesmen and other suppliers. The core question is do really have the time, energy and ability to do all this? If your properties are local to where you live, are not in a full-time job then perhaps you do not require them, but for others, it is simply not practical to ‘go It alone’ and drop everything to investigate a water leak, or simply due to geographical challenges.
Here at MyPropp.com, we view Letting Agents as a trusted partner, helping to ensure that your properties are maintained, tenanted and issues resolved quickly, but whatever your preference, the job of a property agent is not an easy one, so maybe we should go a bit easier on them and appreciate their role in making our properties not only profitable but operate for us.
A few extra points…
Don’t forget the fees paid to your Agents are tax deductible from the rental income received in most jurisdictions
Your agents should send a monthly statement detailing the income and outgoings of the property, along with any invoices for the expenses incurred for your records, and it is important to keep these for tax reporting purposes.
Don’t be afraid to change agents if they are not keeping their end of the bargain, but give them a warning first that you are considering doing so and give them a change to improve their performance.
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