Advancing technology has revolutionized the way a number of industries conduct business. This is true of landlords, who have been able to utilise the internet to market their properties, buy landlord insurance and investigate their competition. Some have even used websites to create Shorthold Tenancy Agreements after a tenant has agreed to rent a property.
The internet has also enabled landlords to take responsibilities away from letting agents, such as arranging viewings and answering queries.
Saving
Improvement in technology has led to landlords being able to save more money by cutting out costs for tasks normally undertaken by letting agents. Arranging to meet tenants themselves for example is one task that will save money. Furthermore, a survey conducted by online letting agents Tenants4U shows that over 80% of tenants actually prefer to meet the landlord when viewing a potential home.
A London landlord said: “I much prefer to use an online letting agent such as UPAD or Tenants4U for the simple reason that it saves me over £500 for each property that I rent out. The process is exactly the same and I actually find that online agents are faster and more efficient.”[1]
The landlord also said that he “got to meet the potential tenants and could make my own decision as to who I felt most comfortable renting the property to.”[1]
Growth
Managing Director of Tenants4U Shereena Lingiah, said that there is a growing trend of landlords that manage their own portfolios online. Lingiah said “As a landlord myself, we provide the service that I would want for my own properties. The lowest possible costs for the landlord, access to major portals such as Rightmove, the possibility of letting a property within a week and someone to help along the way.”[1]
Lingiah went on to say that online services “aren’t here to replace the high street letting agent,” but “are here to provide a high quality alternative for those landlords that are seeking to boost their profits in return for putting in a little extra time.”[1]
[1] http://www.justlandlords.co.uk/news/Landlords-using-online-Services-to-help-manage-their-Portfolios-1612.html