Maximising rental yield
February 2009 –
Our landlord let his property from one year to the next using the same local agent because it was straightforward and it worked.
His property was yielding £850pcm on average, year on year.
We took over the management and the lettings process in January 2009 and prepared the property to be marketed with several agents and lending some innovative tips to encourage success.
Marketing the property through one company is easier and more straightforward, it limits the property from achieving the maximum rental price the market will yield.
We secured a let for £1050pcm and reduced his current running costs by more than half, for the duration of the time we managed the property, until we helped him to sell his property four years later.
Taking away the pain from a portfolio
July 2011 – Our client has a successful career working for an International Bank in Italy. He had several properties, located in different parts of London, managed and let through a variety of agents.
He spent every Friday of his working week, organising and trying to understand how his properties were being managed and let, what maintenance was needed on which properties and when the properties were due to be re-let.
He transferred his portfolio to us, on a recommendation, which we still manage. For the next six months set up a process and a system where the landlord could follow the day-to-day running of his portfolio clearly and easily.
1. We put plans in place for short term and long term maintenance projections.
2. He no longer sees any further ‘administration or miscellaneous’ items appearing on his statement of accounts.
3. His fee structure is now clear and fair with no additional costs.
4. We organised the lettings process best price and the best tenants, in good time when his tenants gave notice, thus minimising void periods. He could also follow along, to understand the process and why.
5. Negotiated the best third party prices, focussing on value, rather than cheapest.
6. We know which trusted contractor to send.
7. If there is a dispute about a bill or any tenancy issue, we act on his behalf and he doesn’t need to get involved.
8. We organise the check in and check-out process, references and inspections of the property, so his interests were protected and he has all the information and solutions he needed in order to make calculated decisions quickly and easily.
9. His accountant receives and information pack, which provides all the information they require in order to complete his tax return.
10. Once a month he receives a statement of account, any original bills and updates on any matters of interest.
Warranty company dispute
2011 – The landlord wanted to cap his costs to guard against any leaks or boiler problems. A leak was detected in the property, which affected the water meter. The leak wasn’t obvious and the house and grounds needed to be investigated to evaluate why the water usage was higher than normal.
The warranty company was called to the property a total of 6 times and some missed appointments and still did not detect the leak. Finally we instructed a plumber to search and trace the leak and they found it within 30 minutes and fixed it within 24 hours.
On behalf of the landlord DeMachin gathered all the information to present to the warranty to claim compensation for damage, the extra water usage for a sizeable sum.
It took more than a year of perseverance but DeMachin finally got the company to agree, close to the compensation amount expected.
Evictions
2012 –While we are good at dealing with inherited evictions, we have only ever dealt with one eviction relating to a tenant we have found through our system. This tenant ran his own business and we advised the landlord, at the time, to take out rental insurance to guard against any unforeseeable change in circumstances.
After 18 months the tenant stopped paying rent. Five months later the tenant was evicted and the property re-marketed. The landlord didn’t pay any legal fees and was compensated for all the rent lost.
We always vet tenants to limit this possibility of rental loss as much as we can. Consequently our eviction rate is one of the lowest in London.
