The pre-tenancy process can come with an array of problems for property managers to deal with. Many are stretched for time, and experience issues such as void periods, troublesome tenants, and waiting on prospective tenants to sign documents. Thanks to its integrations, automated capabilities and cutting-edge functionality, Arthur can make the pre-tenancy process significantly smoother. Regardless of your portfolio type, be it student, private, social, commercial or agency, Arthur can make your life easier.
Identifying the obstacles
Void periods are an inevitable headache for property managers, an unavoidable part of running a buy-to-let business. However, reducing these void periods should be a priority, as they could prove very costly should it become a long-term issue, with associated costs such as utility bills, council tax and maintenance work adding to the woes of lost rental income.
Selecting a suitable tenant can also be quite the challenge, but must be done well in order to ease the stress that can come during the pre-tenancy process. Choosing the wrong tenants can lead to issues such as costly repairs, time-consuming evictions and rent arrears.
Property managers can also experience several issues when asking prospective tenants to sign documents before moving in. The process can be very time-consuming, particularly when you’re having to chase individuals with email after email, or waiting for someone to sign that one last document. Some property managers have even had to go to court over documents, with tenants falsely denying ever putting pen to paper.
Finding tenants
It’s hard to get your properties in front of people, let alone the right people. With Arthur’s integrations, you can get your properties in front of the right people to help cut void periods short.
Rightmove and Zoopla are two invaluable portals integrated into Arthur. The integrations provide users with an easy and efficient way to market properties when they become available with the click of a button. Everything is synchronised, meaning you don’t have to manually update your details in Arthur. The integrations allow you to easily advertise your properties to millions of searchers across each portal, discover useful information on the vacancy and its area, and minimise void periods.
Music to the ears of property managers with a student-oriented portfolio, Arthur is also integrated with StuRents, the UK’s most popular student housing portal. The portal boasts over half a million properties on its books, and can connect tenants with other tenants, facilitating the organisation of house shares.
Tenant referencing
Choosing the wrong tenants can lead to issues such as costly repairs and time-consuming evictions. Arthur allows property managers to conduct applicant reference checks with just a few clicks. The end-to-end process boosts efficiency by removing the need to call previous landlords, includes 6 years of credit history and is fully compliant, with all results approved by DAS.
Organising viewings
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the automation of the viewings process an essential change for everyone involved in the property sector. Arthur can provide great convenience via its automated reminders for viewings. Tell Arthur how long in advance you want the reminders to be sent out, along with the date of the viewing. You can then choose whether you want the reminders to be sent out via email or SMS. Effective communication with tenants is crucial when running a rental business, as it allows both tenants and property managers to prepare for what’s to come.
Digital signatures
Much like viewings, signing contracts in person has become significantly harder due to the current pandemic, leading to increased void periods. A highly useful aspect of Arthur is its integration with Signable. This integration makes the pre-tenancy process much smoother by making documents available to sign online, allowing tenants to sign from anywhere, on any device. Signable stores all documents in one place, and allows you to track progress and send reminders when needed, meaning you don’t have to waste time bombarding individual tenants with email after email. The records are stored securely in Arthur, which has already helped many property managers with disputes.
If you’re a property manager that wants to save time and reduce issues like void periods and problematic tenants, Arthur’s integrations, automated capabilities and cutting-edge functionality will allow you to make the pre-tenancy process much, much smoother.
