In chapter seven of my book, Your Financial Freedom in Sight, I discuss managing and maintaining things in order to build on them. I talk about the need to educate yourself about your property and your tenants before leveraging work out to others. You read about my ideas on property maintenance – how it’s good to have a plan for long-term repairs to communicate that plan with your team. When it comes to protecting yourself and others, you discover that it is good to insure your property as a landlord and how you can provide the right cover whilst keeping the costs down. I cover the relationship between landlords and their tenants and recommend that you consider learning some basic relationship and communications skills to enable you to build the ideal relationship with your tenants. I advise that when there are no tenants, you should have in place: a cleaning company, your maintenance team, and be ready to take pictures. The close of this chapter and this book is the subject closest to my heart – goal setting. I compare setting goals with playing bowls. I explain that even though things can change, by keeping focused on your goals, you can change and adapt to stay on target.
STEVE’S TOP TIPS
1. Be aware that the fabric of the property needs managing as well as the tenants.
2. When setting up regular systems for management, think leverage.
3. Get educated in the field of tenant management so that you know if your agent is doing their job correctly.
4. Keep good records of all costs so that you know if a property is not performing.
5. Make sure you/your agent carry out regular visual inspections.
6. When you take on a new property, contact the utility provider as soon as you can to avoid taking on the debt of others.
7. Have a system in place to cope with voids.
8. Whenever a tenant leaves, put the price up for the next.
9. Be approachable for tenants but maintain an air of authority.
10. Review your goals at least yearly
11. Be an achiever who learns from your mistakes as well as other people’s.
12. Keep up to date with property values in your area
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