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As with every profession once you are doing it for a long time, you start noticing things that are not necessarily obvious but create efficiency, optimize the business and generate better returns. Professionals like to call these Tips and Tricks. Though for them these may not be big secrets, for beginners and those with less experience, such tips can create major learning shortcuts and great efficiencies if implemented correctly.
In this post, I would like to give you some tips that may be or not obvious to you, but to me they created great efficiencies in the process of letting out my rental properties.
1. Never get emotional in business. Easier said that done, but with
some practice and time it becomes natural. Understand this, accept this
and work towards success while giving yourself time to practice. Of
course, you will get emotional about your properties, but when you do,
go back and have a look at your balance sheet, income statement and
cash flow. It will bring you back into focus, quickly – this is a
business.
2. Set timely routines with tenants. If you send out invoices to
tenants or SMS-based reminders on X date – do it consistently and all
the time without fail. It helps you in your business processes and will
train the tenant as to the processes you follow. After all, we humans
are creatures of habit and learn by repetition. In this respect
repetition is as good for us as business owners as it is good for our
clients to follow them.
3. Be clear in your communications at all times. Try to keep
written communications, but above all, make them simple and clear. From
experience I know that sometimes you talk on the phone and written
communications do not take place, but even if you convey something via
the telephone to the tenant, put that in writing. Does this sound like
a lot of work? It is not. It will save you a fortune later in arguments
– proven fact in all businesses. Tell the tenant that they can do X or
Y and make clear what that is. If you said they may not install a
cupboard on the wall, be clear about it. Let me give you some real life
examples that I have seen happen:
A tenant asks, “Can I bring an additional bin to the property?”
I said: “Yes”…. and most people would assume this is enough. Wrong,
it is not if you are in the letting business. I had to add the
following to be clear about what this means.
”Yes, you can. However, please understand that you still have to pay
the bin rental to the property of the bin that is already on the
property as written in your contract. If you understand this, and this
is ok with you, then you can bring an additional bin, but the municipal
services to the bin rental are still charged”.
How much do you want to bet that this bin would land up an argument
with the tenant that he does not have to pay for the bin already on the
property because he brought his own bin?
Being clear at all times, with all requests and inquiries by
tenants. It will avoid you many arguments, emotional engagements, hours
of phone call explanations and so much frustration.
Do just this step alone from today, and you will see how much easier your letting career is all of the sudden.
In the letting workshop we also go over some legal stuff that must be
in writing at all times otherwise your agreements are nullified and
voided by the law. Stuff to basically avoid at all costs. Small things
like the rubbish bin can make a big difference.
Unfortunately, there are a few investors that have landed bad
tenants and because such cases do exist, we will face this point in my
next post where I will speak about tenants that are already problematic in: Bad Tenants Can Run but They Can’t Hide.
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