Using Legal Services To Gain More Landlords

When an unknown landlord approaches your letting agency to discuss the letting of their property, it’s usually because of issues with their present agent regarding service levels or an unhappy ending to a tenant issue. When you present your agency and explain how you operate, the landlord may well ask how you would have coped with the tenant situation, and what resources you have to hand to have helped resolve things, so what is your answer? 

 Question; When do the majority of private landlords require help and advice when letting out their property? When the rent stops being paid? When the tenant becomes a nuisance to other people? When they move someone who is not on the AST into the property? The tenant does not move out after the correct notice has been served?

 I have found over the years that by helping a landlord for free when they need help and advice it creates trust and respect, so that person knows who to turn to when things go wrong or need to escalate the actions taken. Now someone out there will have the information at their fingertips, but my guestimate is that letting agents look after about 60% of the let property in the UK, so how can a letting agent make contact with the remainder? Could it be by helping them when they need help?

 Most agents I know are too busy with their everyday work to take the time to listen to a landlord, not on their books, go on about the situation they have found themselves in and asking for advice! That landlord wants to speak to someone and find out what they can do, indeed I have first-hand experience of this when I undertake speaking engagements at landlord forums when during the tea break, I have a queue of people waiting to speak to me. So the final question is; How can the letting agent find time to help private landlords and benefit from the result?

 Firstly you need the landlord to call you. Do this by putting something along the lines of “Private landlords, have you any tenant issues, please call John today for free no obligation advice”

 When the landlord calls, say that you will take a few notes and that your legal team will call them to go over the issues. Next, bullet point the issue, ask for their name, contact number, the property address and when the tenancy expires and end the call. Email the information to me and we will do the rest. Nine out of ten cases go nowhere but you have a happy landlord who has been helped and had a friendly arm put around them and not spoken to a competitor and you have their contact details ready for a call near the tenancy expiry date.

 Use legal services to gain new landlords and think of us at TenantSERVE, your Legal Team, sitting at a virtual desk in your office, helping your landlords whilst you get on with front end business.

Contact us to hear more 01455 444 414 or 07730 094974 www.tenantserve.co.uk