A Guide To Online Rental Management

As a private landlord, you’ll be well aware of just how much time it takes to market and manage a rental property.

Apart from choosing the right place to advertise and sorting through the enquiries, you have to arrange viewings, carry out references, give the tenants the right documents, make sure you get the rent on time every month and deal with any problems that arise.

In between tenants, you need to make sure the property is in good condition and prepare for the next round. And, don’t forget all the landlord legislation you have to comply with. Just try making a list of all the jobs you have to do to find and manage tenants. You may be surprised at how much there is to do!

A not-so-short guide to DIY rental management

A popular blog about operating as a do-it-yourself landlord lists no less than 22 separate steps to getting a new tenant through the door, with separate jobs at each stage. Not easy is it? Fortunately, there is another way – work with an online letting agency. Treehaus is an example. We set the service up as a low-cost alternative for private landlords who don’t want the expense of a traditional letting agent.To show you how the process makes your life easier and ensures you get the best value from your rental property, we’ll explain all the things you won’t have to do.

Low-cost, high–impact advertising for just £1

We’ll start with trying to advertise your property on the right medium. The majority of estate agents advertise on the main sites like Rightmove or Zoopla because they attract millions of views very month.

Unfortunately, private landlords can’t advertise directly on those sites. There are other property sites, but none have the power of Rightmove or Zoopla. But, work with an online letting agency and we can place the ad for you.

At Treehaus, you can advertise your property for seven days on either of those sites for just £1. When you consider the reach you’ll get, we think that’s a pretty good deal. The process of placing an ad is simple. Just upload property details and photographs to an online portal and within hours your ad will be live. One other thing. Are you confident you’ve set the rent at the right level? So many factors come into play, but you’ll find an online rental valuation will do all the calculations for you.

Choose your prospective tenants

If you’ve had to sift through letters, emails, messages and voicemails from prospects, you’ll probably find it easier to deal with a batch of enquiries in a standard format that you can access through an online portal.

After that you’re ready to arrange live or virtual viewings with the leading contenders. Just make sure you comply with all the current Covid regulations that apply in your area.

Make sure you’re ready for the new tenant

An online letting agency can’t prepare the property for you, but you can check all the checks and documents you’ll need with a handy guide like this. It makes sure you don’t forget any important paperwork.

You’ll find a brief description of each item, including:

  • Tenancy agreement
  • Right to rent documentation
  • How to rent checklist
  • Tenant references
  • Confirmation of deposit protection
  • Property inventory
  • Your contact details
  • Privacy notice
  • Energy performance certificate
  • Gas safety certificate
  • Electrical inspection certificate
  • Smoke alarm certificate
  • Carbon monoxide alarm certificate

If you need help with putting together a tenancy agreement , carrying you out those essential reference checks on your tenants or taking deposits, an online letting agency can handle the work for you. At Treehaus, credit checks and referencing cost £20 per tenant and a customised tenancy agreement costs the same £20 for each agreement. We can also take care of deposit registration through a government scheme for £20 per tenancy. And, to keep you up to date with lettings legislation during the pandemic, you can get a simple guide to the changes.

Keeping things under control

So far we hope you’ll agree the process has been stress-free and it’s saved you a lot of time and money on the preliminaries. Now the hard part begins, collecting the monthly rent and making sure you’re covered in case of defaults.

Rent collection can be awkward; you could receive payment in many different forms and you could face problems if your tenants are unable or unwilling to pay.

An online letting agency can take care of that too. Rent collection is just £10 per month per tenancy and you’ll receive a single payment. Rent protection insurance is available too, just in case you incur problems.

Find out more

If you’re interested in taking the stress out of being a landlord, we think you’ll find our online lettings service gives you the control you need and gives you back time to spend on better things. To find out how Treehaus can help, please click here.