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superlightr said:
GiantCardboardPlato said:
What’s the profit margin on tenant background checks and admin fees
its a minus figure since the Tenant fee Act 2019. £0 allowed to be charged to tenants for referencing/admin. Unless you misled/lie to us on the referencing and then we can keep the holding fee of 1 week again as per the TF Act 2019. The thing that would lose your holding fee are lying about IVA/Bankruptcy/CCJ's ability to pay the rent. Something serious and material. We dont want you to fail the referencing as its just wasting our time and LL rental income.
Edited by superlightr on Saturday 18th March 23:33
Thank you for taking the time to start this thread. Do you have any recommendations or advice about cloud lettings management software which a landlord could maybe use? It would be to look after about 30 units, and mainly want to keep track/reminders of Right to Rent checks, expiring certs, rent payments etc.
There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
superlightr said:
LFB531 said:
Admire your up front answers to some of the questions OP!
I'm in a similar position to you (were!), in the same industry and sounds like an almost identical business profile. I'm approached most weeks to sell up and do give it some thought. Inevitably the big buyers are the corporate mob (we're probably a bit large for a privateer to take on), if you went that way did you find their due diligence process ok?
Would fully understand if you had no comment!
sorry saw this question and forgot to come back. DD is another topic altogether. We are setting up another business to help other firms prepare and get ready to sell, secure their best price, find compliance issues before buyers do, retain their value and help with the paperwork involved.I'm in a similar position to you (were!), in the same industry and sounds like an almost identical business profile. I'm approached most weeks to sell up and do give it some thought. Inevitably the big buyers are the corporate mob (we're probably a bit large for a privateer to take on), if you went that way did you find their due diligence process ok?
Would fully understand if you had no comment!
We started the sale prep 7 years ago and then in the last 3 ramped it up massively to be very focused towards a sale. The pre sale work is vital and little tweaks can make big impacts.
Just before and then during the sale process (even before the real DD) It was exhausting and very time consuming, Both our selling agent and Solicitors confirmed we went through one of the hardest and longest DD process they had seen even compared to other business worth many time the value of our. Our buyers also commented about how well we did (they couldn't knock the price down a penny) Wife loved the process/DD side of things and forms I love the legal side hence why we can add real value to others just about to start that process.
We are finalising our new business/website/proposal model over the next week. We already have a possible very large business in the pipeline we have been asked to prepare a proposal for to assist them in the DD and sale. We also are meeting up with our buyers for lunch on them about a proposal they want to discuss now the sale is completed. - we think its to engage us to help them for other purchases they are making and other aspect of their business which we do better then they do.
How are you finding things at present? What sort of numbers do you look after?
Plenty to ponder and good luck with the new venture!
Raj28 said:
Thank you for taking the time to start this thread. Do you have any recommendations or advice about cloud lettings management software which a landlord could maybe use? It would be to look after about 30 units, and mainly want to keep track/reminders of Right to Rent checks, expiring certs, rent payments etc.
There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
If its just for you and your own portfolio, have a look at Apex27 its free to use for one user and covers all aspects of agency work..There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
LooneyTunes said:
I am aware of this and if I don't sell (auction next week) I'm going to fully explore this.Do you just submit your exemption or do the council validate in some way? I'm not after doing anything underhand I just don't want further delays from the council.
Countdown said:
superlightr said:
GiantCardboardPlato said:
What’s the profit margin on tenant background checks and admin fees
its a minus figure since the Tenant fee Act 2019. £0 allowed to be charged to tenants for referencing/admin. Unless you misled/lie to us on the referencing and then we can keep the holding fee of 1 week again as per the TF Act 2019. The thing that would lose your holding fee are lying about IVA/Bankruptcy/CCJ's ability to pay the rent. Something serious and material. We dont want you to fail the referencing as its just wasting our time and LL rental income.
Edited by superlightr on Saturday 18th March 23:33
Yes a charge would be made to the LL but not a simple references fee of X and it costs us Y as we would do other things as well.
On each new let - We would charge most LLs £475+vat set up fee plus management fee of say 10% plus inventory. which the setup fee would cover referencing, tenancy agreement. A letting agent charging £40 for referencing is as you mentioned "basic" checks. We would do a full investigative type of referencing and apply our experience and brains to each prospective tenants which is why we have an extremely (compared to industry levels) low rate of rent arrears or problems with tenants.
for £40 its a case they will throw as many tenants as possible and someone will stick and then never mind if they are no good as you as a LL should have taken out a rent insurance etc. I have little faith in basic checks as they are very limited and easy to fool. They are fine as a basic first step but the LA really should be doing way more checks. before and after the basic ref.
Our angle was we want the very best tenants right from the start so you then dont have issues or problems later (which includes rent arrears but not limited to) get the foundations right and the rest generally can go smoothly.
We would make a margin on every aspect of the work/time we did. LL's did not have to use us if they didnt want to. All fees were disclosed before hand. We were very good in the work we did and our LL successful which in turn made us successful.
Edited by superlightr on Monday 20th March 15:06
Edited by superlightr on Monday 20th March 15:09
Edited by superlightr on Monday 20th March 15:11
Edited by superlightr on Monday 20th March 15:12
Raj28 said:
Thank you for taking the time to start this thread. Do you have any recommendations or advice about cloud lettings management software which a landlord could maybe use? It would be to look after about 30 units, and mainly want to keep track/reminders of Right to Rent checks, expiring certs, rent payments etc.
There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
I cant help with that - it was a commercial specialist letting software we used. The issue you need to be careful of if these are not your own properties is the tax side of reporting/compliance and NRL regs and quarterly reporting for these NRL landlords.There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
Make sure the software will do live reporting/monthly for HMRC as the regulations will be changing for all landlords under making tax digital regulations. This will catch many DIY landlords out and they hopefully will switch to a Letting Agent.
Edited by superlightr on Monday 20th March 15:13
Raj28 said:
Thank you for taking the time to start this thread. Do you have any recommendations or advice about cloud lettings management software which a landlord could maybe use? It would be to look after about 30 units, and mainly want to keep track/reminders of Right to Rent checks, expiring certs, rent payments etc.
There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
Fwiw, I looked for something similar and couldn’t find anything that looked robust or sophisticated enough to sign up for. I think the problem is that there aren’t a vast number of people with large enough portfolios to merit such things, yet not large enough to justify the cost of a well developed/well supported corporate scale offering.There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
When I couldn’t see anything I liked, I started thinking about building something and decided that if I add more units I’ll probably get something done using simple database approaches but I just don’t see a market to develop/sell/support anything more sophisticated for the expected user base/price they’d be willing to pay. The design and core tech are easy but, as far as I can see, the cost/complexity of infosec, open banking/accounting package integration, and user support kills it if you want a couple of bells and whistles along with cloud hosting/app access/etc.
33q said:
LooneyTunes said:
I am aware of this and if I don't sell (auction next week) I'm going to fully explore this.Do you just submit your exemption or do the council validate in some way? I'm not after doing anything underhand I just don't want further delays from the council.
rambo19 said:
What powers do you have to get emergency repairs done?
IE, boilers has packed up, you send a plumber round and he says boiler is toast, can you get boiler replaced straight away?
What if landlord says they don't have the money for a new boiler?
Magic powers.IE, boilers has packed up, you send a plumber round and he says boiler is toast, can you get boiler replaced straight away?
What if landlord says they don't have the money for a new boiler?
replaced straight away - yes - of course we have lots of boilers ready to install in 15 mins.
We force it from them. 1x Kidney is about right.
rambo19 said:
What powers do you have to get emergency repairs done?
IE, boilers has packed up, you send a plumber round and he says boiler is toast, can you get boiler replaced straight away?
What if landlord says they don't have the money for a new boiler?
No magic powers. What is reasonable is the test.IE, boilers has packed up, you send a plumber round and he says boiler is toast, can you get boiler replaced straight away?
What if landlord says they don't have the money for a new boiler?
Straight away? like in 15 mins? a day? two days ? no. How quickly could you as a home owner order a new boiler, get it delivered, (perhaps have brickwork adjusted to fit) and then have it installed? What is reasonable? may take a few weeks may take a few days depends on things.
Same as you would if you owned a home - get a loan? borrow? Most likely take from the next rent that comes in if it covers it. See the issue if a tenant then doesn't pay the rent.? catch 22. Unless the LL put us in funds to cover it we cant order a new boiler.
Temp heating should be arranged ie fan heaters to help. Hopefully the tenant will have an immersion tank for hot water but again the test would be what would you do if you weren't renting that property but owned it? Reasonable time frame is needed thats all.
Raj28 said:
Thank you for taking the time to start this thread. Do you have any recommendations or advice about cloud lettings management software which a landlord could maybe use? It would be to look after about 30 units, and mainly want to keep track/reminders of Right to Rent checks, expiring certs, rent payments etc.
There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
The NRLA are about to launch their new system which promises to be a complete property management system including their own version of what open rent offer for advertising etc. Of course you will have to be a member though but the software is included in membership price.There's landlord oriented products, but they all seem to have various issues which I would assume a more commercial product wouldn't have?
NextSlidePlease said:
The NRLA are about to launch their new system which promises to be a complete property management system including their own version of what open rent offer for advertising etc. Of course you will have to be a member though but the software is included in membership price.
They’ve got the subscriber base so if they’re devoting enough resource to it, that might actually be worth a look. We very rarely need to advertise anything, but the pms might be handy. Thanks for posting about it. ]NextSlidePlease said:
The NRLA are about to launch their new system which promises to be a complete property management system including their own version of what open rent offer for advertising etc. Of course you will have to be a member though but the software is included in membership price.
Again another nail for small agents - the market is changing soon on many levels.Stevemr said:
Very interesting thread, thank you OP.
Assuming a labour government gets in with a large majority, what new rules/ legislation do you think they will impose on us?
If (when) Labour gets in whats going to change? good question. - Its the Conservatives are messing it up as it is !! Labour will be the harder faster cluster fk. Assuming a labour government gets in with a large majority, what new rules/ legislation do you think they will impose on us?
S21 ban will scare a lot of landlords, It shouldnt as most landlords do want long term tenants and most dont give tenant notice its tenants that want the flexibility.
No S21 will lead to tenant not having to be fixed in a contract - they will only have to give 1 mths notice;
and thus
Tenants will be able to move out when they like with no penalty ie a fixed term contract wont exisit. - it is defaco doesn't exist now. Trading Standards will get involved and even if there is a 12 mth TA and the tenant wants to leave after 3 months (no fault with property) the LL and Agent are required to give an early release but the problem is that the TS were saying or capping the cost what you as an agent or the landlord could charge to a T for ending the contract early despite the contract saying a different figure. Ie an early release would involve - indeterminate time of advertising cost, visiting and showing the property, associated telephone and time in offices, travel, a checkout of the inventory, new referencing of new tenants, new TA and associated paperwork, a new inventory, time dealing with new tenants. Our local TS said that he though £366 (inc vat) was reasonable amount the tenant should pay. absolute joke, holy cow batman they have no idea and we could not even cover costs on that let alone make a profit. It is as if contract law for tenants no longer apply.
The we have the Rent controls or Rent caps which Labour and even the current Govt may well impose will scare many landlords away. Why have the hassle/risk of a rented property if you can get 4% in a fixed interest account?
Labour are also likely to go harder faster on the EPC issues
Labour are also likely to charge higher tax to Landlords cos vote winner or do this harder faster the a conservative govt.
Bank account issues with client accounts and the threat of those being closed arbitrarily by the bank as their rules on AML regs get tighter.
The constant peddling of hate towards LL and agents ramps up the risk of Govt pandering to the shouty as we approach a general election.
Constant paperwork changes and major legislation changes all which carries hugh fines for Agents and DIY landlords. Most DIY landlords dont recognise this risk as they are in the dark and have little clue untill they get fined. But LA are easy targets.
etc.
Time for us as a small player to jump and secure what we have build over the years then see it decline rapidly and lose money as we approach a Gen election and whatever flavour of party gets in. I think it will be a blood bath.
Edited by superlightr on Wednesday 22 March 07:37
Edited by superlightr on Wednesday 22 March 07:41
superlightr said:
GiantCardboardPlato said:
Isn’t it a lovely bright space?
you can ask an easy or hard or pointed question if you wish? I dont understand you comments as they are. The thread is very interesting and it's clear you've worked hard to achieve a very professional approach to being a letting agent. It's actually, I would say, going some way to rehabilitating my opinion of that industry. At least now I know there are at least some who have placed thought and care behind what they do, and whose goal is to do a good job. My experiences (long ago now) of letting agents as a renter in the UK were not good, except for one that sticks in the mind (I had been for run in the morning, left my keys at home, arrived home an my partner had gone to work, locked the house. It was 8:45am. I had a telephone job interview at 9:30... I ran to the letting agent, waited for them to open, they were able to confirm who I was to their satisfaction and they gave me some spare keys!). I've also rented in Germany and I much preferred the whole process there, actually.
anyway sorry, carry on.
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