Letting Agents: Staying Safe During COVID-19

Working in real estate has always demanded a physical presence. It’s a very hands-on process and involves meeting lots of new people on a daily basis.

From the first meeting, to showing potential residents around a property and then meeting again to be present for a physical check-in and inventory to be done. 

Before social distancing came about, I regularly came across letting agents, BtR providers and property managers that would insist upon carrying out these checks with tenants and residents in person. 

Often, the rationale for doing so was to get the inventory report signed-off after a quick walk around, as well as service delivery and confirming safety features, such as checking smoke alarms were in working order.

I have never agreed with the logic behind this process for a few key reasons.

Let’s face it. When the removal van is waiting outside, blocking the road, loaded with the tenant’s possessions - the last thing they’re wanting to do is walk around the property looking at skirting boards and the like. As a result, they’re more likely to sign-off the report just to get rid of you. In the long-run this can lead to unnecessary disputes.

Inventories often have a cross-over between condition/cleanliness and maintenance. Issues relating to the latter often only come to light after a few days of living in the property. For example, the kitchen drawer detaches from the hinge when opened. These issues then get missed from the inventory, as they already had sign-off during the attended check-in. It’s a waste of money visiting the property or apartment for a second time to simply get the inventory signed-off.

When Social Distancing is Relaxed

Our daily lives and the way we work has of course changed significantly and whilst social distancing has been relaxed - it’s certainly not going away altogether anytime soon.

So much so, the Government has already implemented measures for allowing the rental process to take place remotely with changes to Right to Rent as an example. Whereby document checks can happen electronically and via video call, rather than in-person. Similarly, with the general public now allowed to move home, this once again opens up properties for viewings. The Government advice actually encourages that initial viewings should be done virtually in the first instance. 

Moreover, the use of technology and new ideas is going to be fundamental to keeping renting flowing - safely. Again, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) acknowledges this in their recent guidance for Landlords and Tenants (page 18):

“We are encouraging tenants to inform landlords early and engage constructively in the event that they encounter any issues with the condition of the property. Technological solutions such as smartphones can be used to reduce the need for in-person inspections of property issues.”

Remote Paperless Check-ins

In utilising remote paperless check-ins you’re not only creating a safer environment for all parties involved, you’re also saving yourself a lot of paperwork in the future. In attending an empty property to create the digital inventory, it creates social distancing by its nature - as you don't come into contact with anyone.

Once report contents have been captured the next stage is to start an electronic two-step process remotely via text message and email. This is a process we’ve pioneered here at Inventory Hive in just 2 easy steps:

Step 1 - Capture the tenant’s/resident’s ‘Confirm Receipt’ e-signature remotely. This signature doesn’t approve the report, as of course they haven’t moved-in yet, but you shouldn’t handover the keys until it’s received. This means that you will always have a completed signed report, as there are 3 scenarios that can occur from here.

Step 2 - After the tenants/residents have moved-in they either: (1) View and approve their report; (2) Ignore it and don’t do anything or; (3) View their report and add comments/photos. 

In any scenario, you’re covered with a completed report. For example, if they ignore the report as per (2) it gets auto-approved under the terms in ‘Step 1’ e-signature capturing.

The key benefits of this process are that tenants/residents don’t have to be met in person on the day of check-in. This saves time, money and creates social distancing, whilst also giving them a window in which to interact with their report conveniently via a webpage on their phone, tablet or desktop/laptop.

In doing so, you get less disputes at check-out, because comments like “it was like that when I moved-in” are no longer plausible if they had the opportunity for all comments and photos to be automatically audit-trailed at check-in. The result of this process is of course happier tenants and landlords/investors.

You can try our remote paperless check-in for yourself now - simply add your details onto this form and we’ll ping you an example, as though you’re a tenant/resident. It’s a great way to have a demo without the demo. 

If you’d like any more info, my messages are always open and myself and the rest of the team can be contacted at the details below. 

0333 358 3638 |   www.inventoryhive.co.uk/#contact