Despite the growth in the buy to let market over the years, the number of full-time professional landlords is still surprisingly low. In our recent survey, over 65% of respondents said they only own 1 property despite being a landlord for over 10 years. This means that many of them are likely to be “part time” or “accidental” landlords.
While finding good tenants and ensuring rent is collected on time and in full is step 101, as the speed and scale of legislative change increases, more and more landlords worry about their ability to keep up, and stay compliant, with all lettings legislation.
No longer is an agent a negotiator or rent collection agent – now, your landlords expect you to be a consultant as well keeping up to date and informed with industry changes… and ensuring they are too! Is this too much to ask? If you consider that you already have all of the knowledge and expertise at your fingertips, then probably not. But are you communicating it?
Communications really are key to developing strong relationships and demonstrating your years of expertise to your landlords. Your finger is on the pulse of all legislative changes – you know what is going on in the local property market, how rents are changing and what the demand is like. If you were to use all that knowledge to inform and educate landlords, they would see so much extra value in the service you are providing them.
You may even be coaching them to up their portfolio – a recent survey by Knight Knox shows that 27% of buy-to-let landlords are currently planning to add to their portfolios in the near term.
Of those looking to invest in property at the moment, 35% say that the stamp duty holiday extension has influenced their decision. With this in mind, you could be all the difference in encouraging landlords to increase their portfolio knowing they have you as their market expert to support and advise them. A win:win as you will likely increase your property management base at the same time.
At the end of the day, landlords are looking for agents who will add value to their relationships and maintain clear, frequent communications. When this is happening, you have a match made in business heaven.
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If you would like to read more about the results of our landlord survey, why not download our full report – From The Horses’s Mouth: What Landlords Really Want.