This family business started in 2021, buying its first property, a six-bed HMO, in 2022. Without the confidence to handle compliance themselves or a network of trades people in place, they initially used a local letting agent to manage the property.
“We were using an agent in Merseyside as we didn’t feel confident with the compliance or having a network of trades people.”
But the agent relationship became increasingly hard to rely on. Managing the agent was time-consuming in itself, chasing them on compliance and correcting mistakes in invoicing, and tenants reported that issues they’d raised had been ignored on multiple occasions. Matters came to a head when a serious mould problem escalated: two property managers later, nothing had been done, and it had never even been reported back to the landlords.
“This caused potential health risk to the tenant, non-compliance to us, and confirmed our lack of confidence of how our property was being looked after. We were obviously paying a fee for a substandard service.”
Since then, the family has built up its knowledge of the legal, compliance, and maintenance sides of the business, along with its property portfolio, and made the move away from using an agent entirely.
“We have developed our confidence and knowledge and property portfolio. We moved away from using an agent and have never looked back, only wishing we had done it sooner.”
Landlord Vision stood out on price and features, particularly for a business wanting to bring its accounting in-house alongside compliance.
“We especially wanted to streamline our accounting. The documents held on tenants and health and safety support our compliance system.”
Live Bank Feeds and Real-Time Reporting
Accounting no longer means hours of manual entry. The system links to live banking and can be tailored to the needs of the business, giving a real-time view of its financial position.
“Accounting now doesn’t involve a lot of Excel entry. The system links to live banking and you can tailor the system to the needs of your business, giving real time situation snapshots.”
AI-Assisted Setup, Backed by Human Support
Getting set up was made easier with Landlord Vision’s built-in AI tool, with the support team on hand for anything it couldn’t resolve.
“In set up I have been able to use the AI tool, and when I have had issues that have not been solved I have had excellent help from the support team.”
Centralised Tenant and Compliance Documents
Keeping tenant records and health and safety documents in one place, with tenants able to access what they need directly, supports the business’s compliance and makes communication easier.
Since moving to self-management with Landlord Vision, the family has seen:
- Time savings as the business scales up
- Easier sharing of financial information with their accountant
- The ability to manage tenant billing themselves, without relying on a third party
- Tenant access to key documents, easing day-to-day communication
- Better organisation of safety and maintenance issues, supporting ongoing compliance
“Sharing information with our accountant will be easier, which will save us time, especially as we have upscaled the business. We can also manage our tenant billing ourselves and give tenants access to the documents we want, to ease communication but also organise safety and maintenance issues and stay compliant.”
Inspired to simplify your property management?
Book a demo or start your free trial with Landlord Vision today.