Management Matters (From Daily Echo)

Management Matters

11:00pm Thursday 15th November 2012

The business of lettings need not cause a headache for landlords, as long as they take certain measures to ensure a total stress free letting. For a first time landlord, the business of lettings can appear somewhat daunting, but first time or an old hand the first most valuable piece of advice is, use an agent! Using an agent is a definite yes and opening your ears and your mind to your agent’s valuable advice is a must to ensure the highest calibre of tenant is found for your property and the most realistic rent for the current market conditions is achieved. Penyards Property Management market properties on all major property portals as well as on their own website, to reach a broad market audience, however even though the internet is a valuable tool, Penyards to not solely rely on it to achieve lets. Penyards have dedicated applicant managers whose sole job is to match applicants to properties and highly skilled and experienced negotiators who are able to assess the current market value of any property.
This proactive nature is great for landlords who desire reliable tenants to set up home in their property, but what happens when the tenants have moved in? If you are an inexperienced landlord the prospect of taking over where the agent left off can prove a difficult feat.
For some landlords, those who are based overseas for example with no locally based contacts, choosing to ask their agent to fully manage their property  is somewhat of a no brainer – for ease they can carry on their everyday life and leave the day to day management of the property to their agent. But for some Landlords, those who are locally based, they would prefer to handle the day to day management themselves.
But is it really that easy to pick up the reigns to your rental property where your agent left off? The day to day management of a property can, on the surface, appear to be quite an easy task to some landlords. In reality the likelihood of some drastic maintenance disaster befalling your tenants is very slim and for those minor maintenance issues everyone knows someone who knows someone that knows how to fix a dripping tap, bleed a radiator or re-pressurise a boiler. But the concept of ‘managing’ a property while you have tenants in situ runs far deeper than those minor maintenance issues.
Managing a rental property once a tenancy has commenced is more complex than meeting your tenants on the day they move in, presenting them with a bottler of Cava and handing over your mobile number in case of any ‘problems’. The fact is that there is far more to consider when running an active rental than any issues that may arise with the property itself.
Choosing to ask your agent to manage your property on your behalf can alleviate a whole array of unavoidable inconveniences. For example before your tenants have even moved into the property there are certain precautions that need to be executed such as ensuring that your property is compliant by carrying out relevant gas safety and electrical checks as well as taking into consideration any other potential health and safety hazards that will need to be tended too prior to a tenant moving into a property, if you have already asked your agent to manage your property then all of these things can be handled by them, as most agents will have a catalogue of trusted and professional contractors at their fingertips to get such jobs done without you needing to even pick up the telephone.
Penyards do indeed have such contacts ready and lined up to sort out these somewhat mundane necessary areas of preparing a rental property, but they can offer you so much more if you ask them to manage your property.
An obvious precaution, but one sometimes overlooked or ignored by some landlords, is to ensure that an Inventory and Schedule of Condition is carried out by an independent and industry approved Inventory Clerk, prior to tenancy commencement. It may seem obvious, but any agent will have horror stories about non savvy landlords neglecting to ensure that this is done and losing thousands of pounds as a result. For peace of mind that your property and any possessions in the property left for the use of the tenant are safe and covered ensure that one is carried out, again you can instruct your agent to arrange this valuable safeguard.
Certain situations can arise during a tenancy that can be difficult to handle without the correct level of experience and know how. For example, from time to time it can be the case that a tenant will fall into rent arrears for various reasons, leaving you as the landlord not only out of pocket but probably also slightly bewildered at the prospect of chasing in the outstanding funds. In some circumstances this can be a time consuming and frustrating task, made worse if you have never before found yourself in such a situation and lack the experience to deal with it effectively. Penyards have been letting property for nearly 24 years and have a highly experienced client account manager and negotiators who have a wealth of lettings and legal knowledge and have dealt with such situations time and time again meaning that if rent arrears should ever arise, they are dealt with quickly and effectively ensuring that the landlord is not out of pocket for long.
At the end of a tenancy the prospect of negotiating a deposit return can be a daunting one. If you’re a lucky landlord, your tenant will have looked after your property well and return it to you in pretty much the same state in which you handed it over to them, however, unfortunately all too often this is not the case and so the process of negotiating back a portion of the deposit as compensation begins. Again, without the experience and knowledge of an agent this process can be lengthy stressful with the dispute making its way to TDS (The Dispute Service) for an independent adjudicator to decide how the deposit will be allocated. If you ask your agent to manage your property, you can leave all of this negotiation to them. The property managers at Penyards deal with deposit returns every day, and therefore have the experience to negotiate in these situations and more often than not without the case going to TDS. This again reiterates the importance of asking your agent to arrange the ingoing Inventory and Schedule of Condition at the beginning of the tenancy and then to arrange the Check Out at the end of the tenancy, these two procedures are paramount when deciding whether or not the tenant should receive all of their deposit at it is the only way to accurately document any damages caused by the tenant.
In addition to this, other circumstances that may arise during a tenancy such as tenants serving notice or even the unfortunate situation of a tenant surrendering tenancy mid-term can be made a whole lot easier for the landlord if they have handed over management to the agent.
Penyards are also proud members of ARLA (Associate of Residential Letting Agents). Agents who have ARLA membership status are required to pass a set of stringent examinations and are subjected to heavy scrutiny to guarantee that they are conducting their business in accordance with ARLA standards. In addition to this all staff at Penyards Property Management are privvied to extensive training opportunities meaning that they are up to date with all legalities and lettings news and are able to provide current and relevant information and advice to their landlords and are best placed to deal with any property management issue.However, one of the most attractive aspects of instructing an ARLA agent for a landlord is that it offers Client Money Protection. This means that all money associated with the let of a property is held in a secure bonded account, giving the landlord peace of mind that their money is in a safe place. For more information about ARLA please visit www.arla.com . 
Penyards Property Management cover the whole of Hampshire managing properties of all types from their one central office in the heart of Winchester. With a strong team boasting a wealth of experience within the lettings industry, the Penyards Property Management Team are in a good position to offer outstanding property management. Don’t just take our word for it, we won The Winchester Business Excellence Awards, Business of the Year! Can you afford to not have Penyards Manage your let for you?  For more information about Penyards Full Management service, contact today 01962 860303.