Treat tenants like customers and stop thinking about profit if you want to make a success of property investing – that’s the advice of lettings and landlord professional Tom Soane, who boasts that it’s made him the ‘best landlord in the UK’.
“Your property is a product, tenants are your customers, and property management is customer service,” he explains in his latest YouTube video.
“Any business tries to keep customers happy, so think ‘what can I do to make them comfortable and happy and with the best quality product?’ This makes them a better, long-term tenant and keeps your asset valuable as they look after it.”
Soane believes that if landlords stop focusing on profit, they will ultimately make more money because they can then charge the top end of the ‘fair market value’.
He also advises investors not to challenge every expense in order to create a more stress-free life for both themselves and tenants.
“What’s the point? If a boiler needs repairing, I could argue with the lettings team and get comparison quotes, but there’s a cost to time as well as the trust and confidence of the lettings team. You start getting contractors to do comparison quotes, you’ll lose working with them.”
Every decision
He also reckons that delegating jobs to agents is more sensible than getting involved in every decision. “If it’s something that needs to be done and it can be covered by the rent, just get it done,” suggests Soane.
Appreciating that earnings will fluctuate each month means he focuses on the long term. “Investing in property isn’t a guarantee and there are risks,” he adds. “You didn’t invest in property for the short term, you’re building financial security, not so you could just sell it at the end of the year.”
Watch the video in full.
Pic: YouTube
