BalkanBrothers Property Management Sheffield

What’s the objective or business goal of the project?
What’s the project deadline? Are there any key milestones, important dates, or time constraints?
What criteria will you and your client use to determine project success?
Are there any obstacles or barriers that would prevent the project from being successful?

ver the past five years I have learnt that one of the keys to happiness is loving what you do and being passionate about it. For me, loving property management isn’t hard. It isn’t something that just pays the bills; it is a career I absolutely love and continue to enjoy every day.

For me, one of the joys I get out of it is that no day is the same. Things can change at any second, which often requires you to think quickly on your feet and complete three tasks at the one time. The variety of tasks I do on a daily basis is very broad. I can go from meeting a plumber at a property and looking at a burst pipe to listing a new landlord and then carrying out routine inspections. Also, the different types of people I meet every day varies and it always challenges me to develop my communication and people skills.

One of the main satisfactions I get out of my job is growing the agency’s portfolio and knowing that a landlord places their complete trust in me to manage their investment property. I take the role of managing someone’s property very seriously - and when someone trusts you, it gives you great satisfaction, especially when you are a young agent.

There are many career opportunities in property management. I started out as a junior property officer/property management assistant for a small company in the city. I then progressed into a property manager role at that same company. Two years ago I started working as a property manager for a local Wollongong agency, where I still work. However, I know that my career doesn’t stop here. Having a career in property management will allow me to step into managerial roles in the future and pass my skills and knowledge onto other staff members. It is also a career you can come back to. I am currently in my mid 20s and starting a family is something on the cards in the next few years. Knowing I have a background in property management gives me peace of mind. I can either work part-time or take time off and come back to working in the field. It is a career that can open up many doors for you.

If you want a career that pushes you to develop your people, communication and problem solving skills and ability to adapt to different situations, then this is for you. I enjoy every day of my career and a big part of that is working for an agency that supports you and is behind every decision you make. It is important that you have this support, as it gives you confidence in carrying out your daily tasks and handling any complex situations.

If you are considering taking a role in property management then I urge you to; you won’t regret it. It is something that you will always look back on and be thankful for.

When starting in property development, it helps to have a plan of action based on your short term or long-term goals. Short-term goals may involve renovating the property for a quick sale, while long-term goals cover rental income and capital growth.

Buy to let offers a long-term strategy. Over time you can build up a portfolio of rental properties that can provide an income. Buy-to-let mortgages are relatively easy to get as long as you have a deposit of at least 25 per cent. It’s worth knowing that HMRC views income from rented properties as a salary which is therefore subject to income tax. If you’re a higher rate tax payer, you’ll be taxed 40% of any earnings.

Buy to sell offer a quicker return on your investment. The sooner you can turn around a property, the more profit you’ll make. However, you’re more dependent on market conditions – a falling market can wipe out your profit or even leave you in negative equity. Properties sold incur capital gains tax – currently 18% to 28% with annual exemption of £10,900.

1. There are over 180 Government statutes and regulations in order to provide a safe and compliant home. If you are not aware of these, you could open yourself up to significant fines and even worse, be putting your tenant’s life at risk.

2. When you go on holiday, you are still obliged to deal with tenant’s requests for repairs and maintenance. Employing a property manager means that you can actually take a holiday with peace of mind, know that your tenants are being looked after and you will not be disturbed on your break.

3. You may work in a job where you are not allowed to take or make personal phone calls, but you are legally obliged to be available to your tenants during working hours to assist with repair and maintenance communications. A property manager can be on call 24/7 to respond to your tenants, meaning you don’t have to.

4. If you do not set up a tenancy correctly from the start, it may come back to bite later down the line. Working with an experienced property manager mitigates your risk of getting it wrong and opening yourself up to legal threats and fines.

5. When it comes to repairs and maintenance, you may struggle to find reliable and reputable tradespersons. A reputable property management company will have long-standing relationships with reliable contractors who they trust and they will also know now much things should roughly cost, meaning that you will not be over-charged by an unscrupulous tradesperson.

6. If you live a long way from the property, your property manager can be your eyes and ears at a local level, and can visit your property (giving the tenant the correct notice) to make mid-term property inspections and check how the tenant is treating the property. This can nip problems in the bud, thereby saving you money. If the tenant stops paying the rent and/or stop communicating, they can also visit the tenant in person to see what is going wrong, and see if they are even still living at the property.

7. If you have a busy life, a property manager can deal with all the time-consuming areas of property management, such as getting quotes for work, checking that work has been done properly, dealing with rental arrears, changing over utilities to a new tenant, and the other small things which can often take up so much time.

8. A professional property manager will have systems in place to work efficiently. That means they will immediately spot if a rental payment is late, and then they can start to chase the tenant on your behalf – taking away the emotional stress of this task at the same time. They will also diarise such compliance issues as a gas safety certificate and smoke alarm testing, thereby again mitigating your risk, as mentioned above.

9. A property manager will act as an interface between you and your tenant, meaning that you do not have to speak to your tenants directly. Some people prefer to keep one step removed from dealing directly with tenants as they struggle with making hard decisions that create stress. A property manager is a professional entity and therefore takes the emotion out of tenant communication, while at the same time of course being empathetic and fair.

10. A property manager will assist you in not only maintaining your prize asset, but also optimising it through mitigating risk and keeping it well maintained. Happy tenants tend to stay longer, therefore a property manager can actually be a big part of keeping tenants longer and also reducing voids.