Welcome to “Landlords’ Barometer #2” – an insight into trending topics on Property Tribes, the UK’s leading landlord and investor community.

This week’s report has something of a digital flavour. I am writing it from our motorhome, parked in a campsite in North Piddle in deepest, darkest Worcestershire!

I and my husband Nick are currently crossing the UK filming video testimonials for clients of Jupix and Alto software.

One of the common themes we are hearing throughout the testimonials tour is how much agents enjoy and value working with cloud-based software, because it means you can log in to your business from anywhere in the world. A bit like I can run my property portfolio and Property Tribes from our motorhome on the move.

Here are this week’s trending topics:

1. Creating a personal Property Business Plan with Steve Bolton of Platinum Property Partners

Steve Bolton is a successful HMO landlord and founder of PPP, a property franchise business. Who better to advise us on how to create not just a business plan, but a life plan?

We filmed a Skype interview with Steve about how to formulate a business plan.

Steve has a “holy grail” of how to create a successful and profitable business, including the belief that “you should be able to run the business from anywhere in the world”. Of course, digital tools, the web and utilising cloud-based software assist you in doing in exactly this.

Know your customer:

i. Understanding the objectives and goals of landlords can help you tailor your service to suit them, such as offering a free consultation to help them find properties that will help them achieve their property goals.

ii. Why not use Steve’s business plan advice to create your own because EVERY business should have a plan and a roadmap.

Steve Bolton will be speaking on this very topic at the NALS Conference in London on November 13 and helping delegates create their own personal business plan.
http://nalsconference.co.uk/

2. Interview with Jax Kneppers, founder of digital inventory app, Imfuna

Nick and I have always encouraged property professionals to adopt digital tools and products to increase efficiency, de-fragment information, create transparency, and streamline processes.

At the Property Investor Show, we caught up with the founder of Imfuna, the digital inventory app, Jax Kneppers, to hear of the latest developments of the Imfuna platform.

These include:

> Side by side comparison report.

> Creation of an adjudication report.

> Being able to annotate on photographs to point out such items as carpet stains, wall scuffs, damage etc.

Know your customer:

i. Digital tools allow you to better serve your customer and improve efficiency, therefore increasing your bottom line.

ii. Being able to offer your customer transparency and efficiency through digital tools should give you a market advantage and a marketing differentiator.

3. Landlord Repair Obligations with Giles Peaker, Solicitor

In this interview and discussion, Giles Peaker explains about landlord obligations and Section 11.

Know your customer:

i. Novice landlords often start out unsure of whether to self-manage or use a lettings agent.

Many of them simply think that they find a tenant, sit back, and collect the rent each month. If only it was that easy!

Lettings agents can take away the hassle from busy landlords with a fully managed service that includes repairing and maintaining the property. This in turn ensures that the property retains its value.

Bonus:

To finish off my “digital” theme, I would like to draw attention to a long-running thread on Property Tribes, Are you going digital in your property business?

It discusses the importance of adopting digital tools and the many business advantages of doing so.

The business success stories of the future will have digital tools at the heart of their business to better serve the customer, create transparency and efficiency, de-fragment information, and, through seamless integration, improve your business output.

Thank you for reading the Landlords’ Barometer and I will leave you with a quote about the importance of adopting digital technology:

“To me, this is not an information age. It’s an age of networked intelligence, it’s an age of vast promise.” – Don Tapscott