Welcome to the April edition of the “Landlords Barometer” – where there is only one trending topic for landlords – Covid19!
In response to the deluge of questions and landlords needing support, Property Tribes set up a “CoronaVirus Advice” category in partnership with the NRLA to curate all discussion, guidance, and advice in one place.
Here are the most viewed topics of recent times:
1. Why I am not applying for mortgage deferment
I explain why I will not be asking for mortgage deferment … yet. You never play your Ace card first, especially when you don’t even know the game that is being played.
2. Template letter & advice – non-paying tenants
Solicitor David Smith helped us produce a template letter for landlords to send to tenants requesting a rent payment. This thread also itemises all the support out there for tenants to ensure that landlords can keep the rent flowing in.
3. 8 things for landlords to do during lockdown
In this thread, I outline some positive actions landlord can take to audit their business and use the lock down to positive effect.
4. NUS Open Letter to NRLA – rent amnesty & more
Great to see the CEO of the NRLA, Ben Beadle, commenting on this thread about the NUS seeking rent amnesty for students.
5. Landlord numbers may require life support
Landlords were already struggling with multiple issues before the Covid19 outbreak. Is this the last straw for them?
Despite so much doom and gloom in the media, Property Tribes landlords are mostly reporting that rent is being paid on time and in full.
7. Tough times – Covid-19 landlord survival plan
A major portfolio landlord outlines his Covid19 survival plan.
Just some general thoughts now from me.
Now is the time when landlords need your support more than ever. Rather than disappearing from the social web, now is the time to provide resources and support and maintain and build your lists, so that you have prospects for when this ends.
Landlords will remember those brands that offered solutions and guidance.
The brands that don’t remain in the conversations will quickly become irrelevant.
We are all struggling at one level or another.
Remember – “a real problem can always be solved, it is only imagined problems that seem insurmountable”.
Stay calm, deal with real problems, not worrying about something that may never happen. Plan as much as you can. Take each day as it comes.
Be mindful of your own health and mental well-being as worrying and stress can reduce your own immune system. Reach out if you need support or help.
There will always be an answer to any problem within your network – that is why networks are so important. They deliver the right answer/person/connection just at the time when you need it most. They ignite serendipity.
I will end on this quote by the internet psychologist, Graham Jones, which was actually written in 2010 but still holds true to this day:
“Even if the financial world collapsed around our ears and all economic activity ceased, you’d still have your friends, colleagues and contacts.
“And in times of crisis, friends rally together.
“There is no such thing as the “Dunkirk Spirit”; instead human beings naturally want to help each other when times are tough.
“It’s all about the survival of the species and it is a basic human instinct.
“However, it’s not going to be that bad.
“It will be tough in the coming few years, that’s true.
“But if you have friends; if you have trusted contacts; if you have people who like you, then you will survive thanks to their support.
“The people who will find it toughest in the coming few years – as the words “cuts”, “difficulties” and “mess” ring in their ears – will be the ones who have shunned networking, social networks and cultivating friendships within their business circles.
“The people who want to remain “business-like”, who are rather aloof and distant, will be the ones hardest hit in the next few years, simply because their behaviour patterns do not generate the level of support they will need.
“But the coming “cuts”, “difficulties” and “mess” we now have to face could well prove that it’s never what you know that matters – it’s who you know.”
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