Rent from Private Landlords Not Agents

Introduction

The number of people who are turning away from traditional rental companies and instead prefer to work directly with private landlords and not with agents rises every day.

The advantages of self-managing landlords are significant. This includes being able to search online for available apartments without having to leave your home or workplace, and once you find a place that appeals to you, you can contact the landlord directly through email or text message.

When it comes to signing the lease, no third party can take a cut of your rental payment; instead, all payments go directly into your landlord’s bank account.

The best part about working with private landlords and forgetting your agent is that usually private landlords ask for fewer references from potential tenants than an agency does. 

Since they are renting their property landlords primarily look for someone reliable who is willing to pay their rent on time every month. On the other hand, an agency that is managing someone else’s property will conduct complete tenant referencing processes in order to assure vetted tenants to their clients i.e the property owner.

What is Property Management

Property management is the process of managing and maintaining a property. It can be done by a self-managing landlord taking care of his/her property or by a letting agent managing several properties, usually in the same geographic area, for different landlords.

Property management involves the following activities:

• Ensuring that the property is well-maintained over time
• Managing any repairs or maintenance issues that occur
• Making sure that the rent payments are made on time

Landlords can decide to completely outsource the managerial side of their real estate assets to property managers who will take care of everything from finding a tenant, to rent collections, repairs and maintenance issues by paying a fee equivalent to the percentage of the monthly rent. This percentage can vary from 6-8% to even 18-20% of their monthly rent.

Other Landlords prefer to self-manage their property portfolios using property management platforms such as Lofti.

Prime property management is a sub-category of property management and identifies those property managers, typically agencies, that mostly manage high-end properties with high-end tenants. 

Why Should You Take Property Management Courses

If you’re looking to start a career in property management, it’s important to have knowledge about the different property management systems available on the market and the relative skills needed to succeed.

The good news is that there are a number of property management courses you can take online. These courses will help you get started on the right foot by teaching you about the various aspects of property management in a short amount of time. 

The lessons will include:

• How to find the right tenant – how to do tenant referencing, and what companies to use
• Documents to rent a house
• Documents of the property and relative renewals
• Keeping up with maintenance issues – online tools to use and how to find a plumber, an electrician, a handyman, a housekeeper
• How to manage tenant complaints
• Notice periods – what is it, how to use it to your advantage
• Financial planning – knowledge about plumber hourly rates, average rental yields, annual rent increase
• Block management basic knowledge
• How to use property management app for communication
• How to deal with frequently asked questions like:
  • Can landlords refuse pets?
  • As a landlord, how much rent should I charge?
  • Do tenants have to pay for professional cleaning of the property when the tenancy end or is that the landlord’s job?
  • What classifies as landlord allowable expenses?

Property Management Companies or Private Landlords – what’s the better option?

Property management companies and private landlords can be both excellent or poor options for renting a property. It really depends on the situation. The best way to assure the quality of the service is to ask for references from people that rent the same property before you.

Click here to find out more about available rental properties on the market.

Property management companies are more likely to have experience handling rental properties, and they generally have a larger staff to help them take care of all the details. They can also help you avoid lawsuits from tenants who are unhappy with something in the house. Common issues like landlords entering property without permission or landlords changing locks without prior notice can thus be avoided. 

So why use a private landlord without an agent?

Private landlords have more freedom than property managers to make decisions about what happens with their own homes, and they may be able to offer lower rents or other perks as a result. Therefore, with a good landlord reference, a tenant can enjoy his/her right to quiet enjoyment. 

However, as per the landlord association, they may not be as experienced as letting agents in dealing with issues regarding tenants or maintenance. So, when it comes to shared housing, problems like tv license for a shared house can become a huge challenge. 

What is PPM

What is PPM? It stands for planned preventative maintenance. PPM is a strategy designed to ensure that the maintenance of the property takes place regularly, and is recorded or registered simultaneously.

This upkeep uses a set of previously scheduled dates to ensure regular maintenance. Planned preventative maintenance, thus, due to its regularity helps identify any issues that could be a potential threat, or lead to bigger consequences. Hence, the costs associated with it are automatically cut down.

If required, property management software can also help property owners in the latter. They can record and register their maintenance and upkeeps on the software regularly to prevent any occurrence of mismanagement.

Click here to find out more details about the latest property management software.

Planned preventative maintenance, also called PPM, not only regards health and safety compliance but also meets the warranty requirements and prevents the monetary value of a property from degrading.

Conclusion

If you want to buy a property fastly and easily, then a private landlord might be the best option for you. Surely, you might have to set some boundaries like landlord access to the property, but avoiding the expense of an agent must save you some money, right?