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If you’re considering self-managing your property business, a good place to start is to understand exactly what might be expected from you on a day to day basis. In this post, we’re going to look at the typical step by step management of a property from what to do before you find a tenant right up to what to do when you’ve got a tenant in place.
The steps we cover here are typical for landlords, but they won’t be the same for all landlords. You may need to deal with some of these non-sequentially and you may find yourself prioritising some of these tasks over others. This post is meant to give you an introduction and basic guide. Here are the common steps that most self-managed landlords go through…
Step 1 – Things to do before you let out your property
Before you let out a property you will need to make sure everything is legal. Get Gas Safety certificates if appropriate, make sure electrics are safe and get an EICR. Get landlord insurance. Make sure the property is safe, and that doors and windows are sound and lock properly. Get an EPC certificate. Make sure there are no structural issues and no damp or mould issues. There are a lot of things you should do before you even think of finding a tenant and for the most part these are easier to do while the property is empty. Property Investment Project have a great list of landlord obligations you should check as part of this step.
Step 2 – Define the target audience for your rental property
When the property is ready to rent out, define your target tenant. Decide now if you will accept smokers and/ or pets, and consider any other preferences that may come up. Tenants will look for this kind of information in your property advert. It is ultimately up to you what you will allow in your property. Remember, each time you rule something out, you narrow your pool of tenants. At this stage it is important to remember that it is illegal to discriminate against tenants for age, race, gender and religion, so you can’t refuse to let to tenants on these grounds.
Step 3 – Make sure your property is suitable for your target tenant
Even though you decided on tenant preferences in the previous step, you aren’t ready to put up a property advert just yet. Next you need to make sure that your property is as appealing as possible for your target tenant.
If your property is close to schools, you might have chosen families as your target tenant. Take the time during this step to figure out what your target tenant wants and make sure you have chosen a target tenant who will be attracted to your property.
Once you’ve done this you should learn how best or where best to advertise in order to reach the right target audience.
Step 4 – Carry out an inventory on the condition of your property
If you’ve followed the previous steps you’ve now done most of the leg-work, but you still aren’t ready to rent out your property. Next, you’ll want to get an inventory done or to do one yourself. You’ll want to do this while the property is empty and before a tenant moves in.
The inventory needs to be as thorough as possible. Document each room and the condition of walls, floors and any furniture, take detailed photographs to add to the inventory. The idea here is that you can use the inventory as a reference if there has been any property damage during the tenancy.
If this is not done or not thoroughly enough, you may struggle to claim money back from the deposit to cover property damage. If you do not want to carry out the inventory, you can hire a company to do it on your behalf. This is not something you want to skimp on.
Step 5 – Decide on a realistic rent price
You’re getting closer to being able to find tenants for your property, before you do though, you should spend time defining a realistic rent. This is the step that a lot of landlords get wrong. You can, of course, charge however much rent you like, but if the rent is too high you’ll struggle to get tenants as there will be cheaper properties in the area and tenants are more likely to choose them over yours.
On the flip side, if you under-charge for your property, you’ll be losing out on money. Take the time to research this carefully to find the right rent for your property that’s within market rents. Look at the averages in the area, use Rightmove and Zoopla to see what other landlords in the area are asking for and call letting agents to see what they suggest – you don’t have to use a letting agent to get this kind of information from them.
Step 6 – Gather relevant property information for prospective tenants
There are some final things to prepare for before you market your property. First make sure you have an email address and phone number that you’re happy to share, so tenants can get in touch with you about your properties.
Secondly make sure you know the important details about your property or store them somewhere for easy reference. Things like council tax band and costs, bin collection day, type of recycling scheme applicable to the property, where the stop cock is, alarm codes, utility providers including who does internet in that area. Is there a water meter and where is it, where the gas and electric meters are, how hot water and heating controls work – these are all things tenants will want to know either before or right after they move in. Even if your tenant doesn’t ask you for this information, you’ll want to make sure they have it.
Step 7 – Advertise your rental property
Now it’s finally time to market your property. The most common platforms to advertise on are Rightmove and Zoopla as there are thousands of tenants visiting these sites looking for properties every day.
There are other options and a lot of these are free, but if you want to get maximum exposure, you’re probably going to have to pay for it. To advertise on Rightmove and Zoopla you will need to go through a letting agent as only letting agents are able to advertise there. If you’re self-managing though, the cheapest option is to go via an online letting agent like Open Rent where you’ll just pay a nominal fee for them to list the property on Rightmove or Zoopla for you.
It’s easy to think that Rightmove and Zoopla are the only relevant options, but don’t dismiss some of the other free platforms. Often advertising is a volume game. The more places you list your property the more chances you have of finding a tenant. We’re not going to list all the sites you can use here, but one worthy mention is Facebook marketplace, which is free and it’s a platform that gets a lot of visits. We did a post in February 2020 that lists 12 websites to advertise your rental property on, so check this out if you want more ideas.
Step 8 – Adjust your property advert accordingly
Once you’ve listed your properties you should get plenty of enquiries from tenants. If you find that you’re not getting any interest you need to assess your listing to find out why. A few questions you should answer to troubleshoot your listing are:
- Do the property photos do the property justice?
- Is the rent too high for the area?
- Are you targeting the right tenant?
- Is there demand for rental properties in the area?
Once you know what the issue is you should update your property advert accordingly.
Step 9 – Pre-screen tenants before booking viewings
If you’ve done everything right up to this point you will usually find that you have a few requests for viewings. Before booking viewings in speak to the tenant. Treat this as a kind of pre-interview. At this point you don’t want it to be 20 questions, just get an idea of whether this tenant is right for you. Find out if they are your target tenant, make sure they meet your requirements, and if everything sounds good to you, book a viewing.
Step 10 – Arrange property viewings for prospective tenants
If you’re self-managing you’ll be taking your own viewings. You will need to work with prospective tenants to book these in at times that are convenient. If you have a few different people who are interested, try to arrange a group viewing which has many benefits. A group viewing will save you time as you’ll just need to do the one viewing and it will show prospective tenants that there is interest in the property which will help you get it let faster.
The viewing is a good opportunity to discuss property specific information. Consider covering the following in your viewings:
- How and when you’ll collect the rent
- Show tenants the EPC certificate
- Tell tenants who is responsible for council tax and utilities
- Discuss when the property is available to move into
- The deposit type and amount
- Length of tenancy and any terms and conditions
- If you have plans to sell
- If a guarantor is needed
Discussing these during a viewing will help the prospective tenant to make a decision. It also means you can get all that important stuff done up front and the tenant is as informed as possible. If you already have tenants in your property who are about to move out, absolutely do not rely on them to do the viewing for you – firstly it isn’t their job, secondly they won’t sell the property as much as you do.
Step 11 – Screen prospective tenants to check their suitability
Once a tenant has made an offer, you should conduct screenings. This isn’t really a legal obligation, but you shouldn’t skip this step. Screening a tenant is one of the most important things you will do as a landlord.
A good screening process makes sure that the tenant can afford the rent, that they have the right to rent, and that they’ve treated previous properties well. You will want to check:
- Employment status by asking for a letter from their employer and bank statements to show their wage going into their bank over the last 6 months.
- Rental history – so the addresses they’ve lived at for the last 5 years.
- Previous landlord references – contact details for their previous 2 landlords at least. If they’ve moved around a lot you might want to request more details, if they’ve lived in the same place for many years you might be happy with just one reference. Don’t just collect the landlord’s details, actually follow up on the reference and chat to the previous landlord to find out if they had any issues with the tenant. Check out this post that gives you 17 questions to ask former landlords during referencing which is a great start if you’re doing your own referencing.
- Credit checks. You’ll need the tenant’s bank details and you will also need to use a third party to conduct a credit check.
There are a few ways you can collect this information and many companies offer free form templates that you can use. If you do use a free form make sure it contains all the information you actually need.
If you want to create your own form, Google forms is free and one of the easiest to use. Google forms allow you to send the form and get it filled out online so there’s no need for physical paperwork. Google also has an autosave function, so you’re less likely to lose forms etc. There are a lot of features with this including the ability to store all info collected from the form in a spreadsheet. You can use the same form for each tenant and have the data recorded all in that same spreadsheet.
Step 12 – Choose your tenant
Once you’ve conducted reference checks you can choose the most suitable tenant based on the information you have. Let the tenant know that you’re going to accept their offer and re-iterate:
- The cost of rent
- The deposit amount
- Whether you’ll be expecting a month’s rent up front
- Guarantor details
If you aren’t requesting a guarantor, move to step 14.
Step 13 – Verify the guarantor and collect relevant signatures
Next meet the guarantor and get them to sign the relevant documents. You don’t have to meet them in person, but it is a good idea to at least have a video call with them so you can verify that they exist.
Step 14 – Make an extra set of keys for your rental property
Make sure you have at least two copies of the keys before the tenant moves in.
In the next step you will be handing over a set of keys to the tenant. You need to make sure that you keep a copy of the keys as well in case you need to access the property in an emergency or in case the tenant loses their copy.
Step 15 – Arrange a date for your tenants to move in
Make arrangements for the tenant to move in and collect the rent and the deposit ahead of this date.
Step 16 – Let the neighbours know new tenants will be moving in
Notify the neighbours that a new tenant is moving in and let them know that they can contact you if there are any issues. It pays to be nice to neighbours as they can and often will keep you in the loop on what’s going on in the property, especially if there’s anything unusual or unsavoury going on.
Step 17 – Confirm the move in date with your tenants
Call the tenant before moving in day and check everything is OK and still going ahead give them a chance to raise any burning questions with you.
Step 18 – Consider leaving a welcome gift
It is nice but not necessary to leave a small ‘welcome gift’ for the tenant. This can set the tone for your relationship with them. Whether you do this depends on what kind of landlord you want to be.
A small gift can be something as simple as leaving a pint of milk, some teabags and a packet of biscuits for the tenant so they can have a cup of tea while they’re unpacking.
You could also leave some basic cleaning products in case they want to wipe things down before putting their belongings away. It seems like a small thing and it won’t cost you a lot, but the tenant will be grateful.
Step 19 – It’s move in day!
On move in day arrange to meet the tenant at the property to:
- Sign their tenancy agreement
- Hand over the keys
- Give them the how to rent booklet
- Provide the EPC
- Give them the gas safety certificate
- Provide an EICR certificates
- Give them a copy of the guarantor form if applicable
- Get them to agree to and sign the inventory
Some landlords will go through the inventory with the tenant there and then and in some ways that’s best. Once the tenant gets into moving their stuff in and unpacking it will be easier for paperwork to fall off their radar. If you go through the inventory with them, they can identify anything they disagree with and you can sort it out then. Once you’re done you can both sign the inventory and you can keep this document safe for the future.
If you can’t meet for whatever reason make sure you get all the paperwork done and maybe do a video call with the tenant to go through the inventory and tell or show them anything they need to know – such as how to use the heating, burglar alarm, where the stopcock is and to explain how to use any electrical items you’ve left in the property.
Step 20 – Confirm your tenant’s contact details
Before you leave the tenant at the property to get settled in make sure you have all their contact details and they have yours. Explain to them how they can contact you and what they should do if an emergency arises. If you know that there are certain times you aren’t available – for instance if you’ve got a holiday booked – give them some alternate contact details.
Step 21 – Remind tenants that you have not insured their contents
Remind the tenant to get contents insurance if they haven’t already shown you that they have this. It isn’t a legal requirement, but it gives you an extra level of protection. You should remind tenants that their contents will not be covered by your insurance.
Step 22 – Inform tenants of the deposit scheme you’re using
Give your tenants details of the deposit protection scheme you have used to protect their deposit. You must do this within 30 days of receiving the deposit. There are three approved deposit schemes, which one you use is totally down to you, but it makes sense to use the same one for all your tenancies.
Step 24 – Inform the council and utility companies of new tenants
Tell the council tax and utilities that a new tenant has moved in if your tenants are responsible for these bills. Informing utilities of new tenants usually results in these companies writing to the tenant to set up payment accounts.
The day to day running of your property business
Now your tenant is all moved in, but your work here is not done! There are the day to day landlord tasks now that you have tenants in your property.
What you need to do on a day to day basis will depend on the type of property you have and the kind of tenants you have as well. If you’re not going through any of the stages of letting a property out or filling a void or investing in new property here are some of the day to day tasks you will encounter. You may not do these every day, but they’re the ones you will find yourself doing most often even if you have settled tenants:
- Dealing with tenant questions/ issues – tenants may raise repair or maintenance issues throughout the month, you’ll need to deal with these as they arise.
- Finance management – Some landlords will do this annually, but if you can get into the habit of logging your income regularly (especially your expenses), you’ll find life a lot easier when it comes to your tax return.
- Learning – On a daily basis you should be keeping on top of the industry and learning what’s going on in the property market and in any local areas where your properties are.
- Inspections – you’ll usually only do these every 6 to 12 months depending on your tenants. If you have a number of properties you’ll want to schedule these in so that they’re not all due in the same month if you can help it. It’s generally better to get a few done in one day if you can, especially if your properties are close together or you have flats or an HMO or something along those lines.
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