Press Releases

Common mistakes in letting - March 2010

Lettings can be a very busy business and with good systems and processes in place, errors are rare. However, it's apparent that common mistakes occur, errors that in most cases can be avoided.

Many companies see letting a property and thus reducing void periods as a fundamental key to success and occasionally, finding a tenant quickly excludes proper due diligence. Good quality tenant referencing is crucial to mitigating risks such as rent arrears and wilful damage. Using a competent and able referencing agency has to be part of the process, as well as requesting guarantors where appropriate, checking bank statements and following a belt-and-braces approach.

Some businesses, especially in the start-up phase, are focused on taking on numbers of properties and thus attempt to sign up all landlords they can find. Unfortunately, there are still landlords who seem uninterested in maintaining their properties to a good and legal standard and taking on such properties can create major headaches for agents. Such landlords tend to be those who fail to return calls or emails, ignore their repairing responsibilities and often create much time-consuming work for agents. When quantified, the time spent on such poor properties is rarely worth the hassle and is often costly. Setting a standard for landlords and sticking with it is often the only way to an efficient and sustainable business.

An area where quality and diligence is a pre-requisite, but is often ignored, is that of accurate and legible accounts. With a consistent and exponential increase in legislation being produced by Parliament, keeping good accounts is a major priority and businesses need to place focus on accuracy. Regular bank reconciliation of client and business accounts is fundamental to running a clean, efficient business and the use of a compliant and intuitive system to perform such vital accounts tasks eases the burden.

Some businesses overlook their obligations when it comes to supplying up-to-date and legally compliant documentation. Much time and money can be wasted going to court only to find the wrong notice has been served, a clause in a tenancy agreement is unfair or out-of-date, or records presented as evidence are inaccurate. A simple means of avoiding such pain is the use of systems and processes that provide regularly audited and suitable documents.

Other areas where costly mistakes are made include failing to vet contractors and ensure appropriate insurances are in place, following up repairs effectively, being pro-active and tenacious with rent arrears and ineffective marketing.

All mistakes can be mitigated, if not totally avoided by using an appropriate and market-driven management system.

Designed to make a difference within the residential lettings sector, C.A.R.L. Communications offers lettings and management software for agents and landlords. C.A.R.L. (Computer Aided Residential Lettings) enables agents and landlords to benefit from a streamlined working process through one simple to use application, designed not only to save agents time and money, but to remove unnecessary stress caused by disorganisation.

The software was designed in conjunction with I.T. specialists and lettings professionals with vast working knowledge of the market. The result is a superior residential lettings and property management system that saves agents time and money, crucial in such a demanding and competitive market.

The C.A.R.L system encompasses four key areas; management, accounting, administration and marketing and a wealth of functions, allowing agents to manage the entire lettings process from the initial instruction to the end of a tenancy, with everything in between.

For further information on C.A.R.L software, please contact the administration department on 0845 004 2070 or alternatively email admin@carlcomms.co.uk.