Pulling in a decent living as a buy-to-let landlord these days isn’t what you’d call easy. Just as soon as you think you’re up to speed with all the rules and regulations in the book, along comes a fresh shipment to further intensify the pressure. With competition having never been more ferocious, landlords up and down the United Kingdom are finding themselves forced to consider increasingly creative measure by which to both increase income and minimise outgoings.
Realistically though, it isn’t necessary to resort to extreme tactics to bring real savings home to the business, day in and day out. In fact, regardless of whether you’re just getting started or have an impressive property portfolio spanning the nation, the following six tips can combine to make a real difference:
1 – Invest in Quality Software
First of all, there’s absolutely no sense in spending time doing any of the essential administrative jobs that property management software could be doing on your behalf. This is especially in the case for those who may already be employing others to take care of basic administrative duties on their part – why not make the switch to a software suite and eliminate all such costs? There are some genuinely fantastic software packages available on the market these days, which can be meticulously tailored in accordance with the needs of the business in question. It makes life easier, it improves accuracy and it saves money – all at the same time.
2 – Consider Outsourcing
That being said, however, there are certain essential duties that should prompt consideration of outsourcing, for the benefit of the business in general. For example, there will always be plenty of landlords who decide to take control of everything themselves when it comes to maintenance, repairs, external upkeep and so on. The thing is though, when factoring in the time it takes to address such duties and how much it costs to invest in the necessary equipment, it can often work out considerably more effective to bring in the professionals. And of course, the job done to a professional quality level breeds results you can rely on long-term.
3 – Work With An Agency
When it comes to letting out your property in the first place and ensuring you get the right tenants, the importance of working with an agency cannot be overstated. There’s really no such thing as investing too much time or effort in the process of ensuring you end up with the very best tenants for your property. Even if such services come with a fee of their own, they will almost always breed significant savings and improved income long-term.
4 – Get Serious with Taxation
Research suggests that a huge proportion of UK landlords may be paying considerably more tax than they are required to. The problem with landlord property taxation in that it differs considerably from standard property taxation and is a relatively complicated subject. As such, many landlords simply skim over the details, or pay as little attention as possible to the subject and ultimately end up overpaying. The simple fact of the matter is that the government isn’t going to knock on your door and offer its assistance in ensuring you are not paying too much tax. Instead, it comes down to you to be proactive and get things sorted for yourself and your business.
5 – Focus on Tenant Retention
There is very little more expensive in the world of the contemporary landlord that the process of seeking new tenants. With such enormous competition, it can take quite some time to solve the problem of vacant inventory and even then, making sure you end up with the very best tenants is tricky to say the least. This is why it is of critical importance to invest as heavily as necessary in efforts to retain quality tenants for as long as possible. Genuinely fantastic tenants are an extraordinarily rare asset – one that should not be allowed to disappear without a fight!
6 – Never Stop Comparing the Market
Last but not least, when it comes to everything from provision of utilities to property insurance and more, it is of critical importance to continually compare the market and be on the lookout for better deals. At any one time, there are literally dozens of providers who absolutely and comprehensively guarantee that they will beat your current deal. As such, it simply makes sense to consider switching on a periodic basis, in order to make the most of these deals as and when they are available. And what’s more, doing so generally takes no more than a few minutes online – potentially enormous savings with just a few clicks.
