Top time-saving tips for landlords in Portsmouth and Southampton

It can be difficult being a landlord. Some claim it’s a sure-fire way to gain a few extra pounds, but it’s not always as easy, or as simple as it sounds.  There can be multiple problems that you can be up against, but we’re here to provide you with a selection of top tips to help you save time, and de-stress in the process.

Don’t settle for less

We get it, when looking to let your property, you want to find a tenant in the quickest time possible to avoid any void periods. However, although finding tenants quickly will save you time in the short-term, it may end in chaos if you don’t check them out before letting your property. 

Ensuring you search for the right tenant to match your property will save you time in the long term. As a landlord you must ensure that you carry out all the correct checks. Tenant referencing is vital, and can tell you more about a tenant’s credit history, their background and their employment status. If you fail to carry this out correctly it can lead to a landlord’s worst nightmare, a long-winded eviction process. Here at Chimneypots we can help save you time as we can carry out tenant referencing for you, and can get a response back to the landlord within just 48 hours!

Nip it in the bud

Landlords are busy people, and are often dealing with multiple properties at any one time. However, a sure-fire way to save time is to act on any maintenance issues that occur in the property as they happen. Letting a problem fester to save money is a big mistake. The job is not only likely to cost more, but it’s also likely to be a longer job too!

Don’t let them go

One of the key ways to save time if you’re a landlord is to keep hold of any tenants and ensure they renew their tenancy. If you have managed to build up a solid relationship with your tenant and have kept on top of any outstanding maintenance issues then this shouldn’t be a problem.

Keeping hold of your tenants will not only minimise void periods, ensuring you maintain a steady income, but will also save you time. Finding new tenants, arranging property viewings and completing tenant referencing can be a long and arduous task.

Leave the marketing to the professionals

One of the simplest time-saving solutions for landlords is to hand over part, or all of the work to your local letting agents. That way, you’ll know your property is in the safest of hands and it will ensure that you’re left stress-free!

Here at Chimneypots, we manage a range of landlord’s properties in Southampton, Portsmouth and Hampshire on a daily basis, and there’s nothing we don’t know about finding and managing tenants. We also understand that every landlords needs are different, and we endeavour to tailor a property management package to suit your needs, so it’s you who remains in control.

If you would like further information or advice in letting your property across the south of England, get in touch with the team today. Alternatively, why not find out how much rent you could obtain from your property with our free instant, online valuation tool.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/top-time-saving-tips-for-landlords-in-portsmouth-and-southampton/ 

Why your spare room could increase the value of your home

It’s often overlooked and neglected, but the much unloved spare room can actually be a key part of your property sales pitch.

The majority of households have one but it is regularly seen as a room that is just there, an unnecessary add-on, a room with no proper function. This needn’t be the case. Granted, the spare room is often the smallest room in most properties, but by being creative and clever with space it can be converted into anything you want.

Below, using our experience as estate agents working across the South of England, we highlight a few possible options…

Extra bedroom

The most obvious choice but also the one that makes the most sense, even more so since George Osborne announced in his most recent Budget that the tax-free Rent-a-Room limit has been raised from £4,250 to £7,500. It doesn’t take much time, effort or money to turn the spare room into a bedroom – a quick lick of paint, a bed, a chest of drawers, a desk and office chair, etc. These can be sourced second hand, through up-cycling or by asking friends and families if they have any of these items that they don’t need anymore.

When the buyer views your home, be sure to mention to them that letting out the spare room as a bedroom could bring them in a useful second income.

Home office

Probably the most popular use for many spare rooms, transforming it into an office space is a cost-effective and shrewd idea. Office chairs and desks can be purchased for reasonable prices if you shop around a bit, while a shelf for books and files won’t take too much time or money to put up. If you are selling to buyers who are planning to work from home – an increasingly popular choice in this day and age – then a home office will have significant appeal. As well as that, it’s a place for kids to do their homework and students to complete their studies.

Creating a relaxed and comfortable working environment won’t cost the earth and it will definitely add to the strength of your sales pitch.

Home gym

Fitness is big business these days and home gyms are becoming more and more popular. Young professionals, more than any other demographic, are eager to keep trim and might find the prospect of a home gymnasium the most appealing. That’s not to say that you have to fit your spare room out with expensive, state-of-the-art equipment –a bit of research and clever spending can help you to give the room identity without crushing your bank balance. An exercise mat and dumbbells are cheap and easy to get hold of, while second hand exercise bikes and other pieces of gym equipment can be sourced for reasonable price.

You don’t even necessarily have to have these things in place; you just have to show would-be buyers how your spare room could quite easily be turned into a home gym. Help them to visualise by giving the room a stripped-back, minimalist vibe.

There are other ways to utilise your spare room – a kids playroom, for example – but the key thing is to utilise it. Don’t ignore it, don’t be ashamed of it, don’t hide it away. It might not be your property’s main selling point, but it’s still a selling point. Making the most of every room in your property won’t do your sales pitch any harm.

For more information about selling and letting property in Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester, contact ChimneyPots on 08448 099931. We also provide an instant online valuation tool to give you an accurate idea of how much your property is worth in the current marketplace.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/why-your-spare-room-could-increase-the-value-of-your-home/ 

Make your online property advert stand out from the crowd

It is common knowledge that most property searches now start online via major portals like Rightmove and Zoopla. So it’s more important than ever that people have a considerable online presence when it comes to selling their home. This means you need to know how to market your property effectively so it stands out from the crowd in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Here at ChimneyPots, we appreciate the importance of excellent online visibility and we do all we can to help you with this. In particular, your property advert is the first thing that would-be buyers will see. If you don’t catch their attention immediately, chances are they’ll look elsewhere.

There are a few things you can do to make your online property advert the crème de la crème. As we said before, the sellers’ market is a dog-eat-dog world these days – second-rate ads just won’t do the business anymore.

More than anything, your online advert needs to be visually appealing. The saying ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ is never truer where property is involved. Whet the buyer’s appetite with high-quality, professionally taken photographs that effortlessly highlight your home’s best attributes. This is something we can help you with at ChimneyPots, as well as coloured floorplans to give prospective buyers a clear idea of the property you are trying to sell.

Photographs should be chosen carefully and kept to a maximum of six – too many might be off-putting or give would-be buyers the impression they don’t need to view the house in the flesh because they’ve already seen it all. You want to entice and tease them, but you don’t want to give away everything.

The front shot is absolutely crucial. This should be a photo of the room you are most proud of, because it’ll be sitting front and centre of your online ad. The kitchen is often referred to as the most important room in the house, but a stylish master bedroom or a recently refurbished dining room could also encourage admiring glances.

In addition, tailor your photos on a seasonal basis. There is no point having a lush, spacious garden as your main picture if you’re looking to sell in winter. By the same token, a photograph of a cosy living room with a roaring fire is not appropriate if you’re selling in the height of summer.

Aside from the visual elements of your online property advert, the next most important thing is content. A punchy, engaging description will help your house stand out from the crowd. Keep it short, keep it light-hearted, try and make it witty if you can, but don’t be too effusive when it comes to praising your house as buyers are likely to see straight through this.

It doesn’t need to be a literary masterpiece; it just needs to convey your property’s best features in as concise a way as possible. It’s your first chance to put across your sales pitch so it’s an important step to get right.

All this, of course, is of no use if your advert isn’t placed on the right portals or seen by the widest range of people. We’ll advertise your property on Rightmove, Zoopla, Find a Property, Need a Property, PrimeLocation and many more platforms. The reach of the major portals is phenomenal and unrivalled, making it the perfect location for ultimate exposure.

Essentially, your online ad is there to sell your home. If it’s not up to scratch, the likelihood of that happening diminishes quite considerably. If you get it right, the number of viewings you secure will increase and the chances of an offer being placed are dramatically raised.

For more advice on selling property in Southampton, Portsmouth and the surrounding areas, please contact us on 08448 099931. Additionally, our instant online valuation tool gives you an accurate idea of what your property is worth in the current market.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/make-your-online-property-advert-stand-out-from-the-crowd/ 

ChimneyPots ready to expand its business

At ChimneyPots we are delighted to say we are expanding our team after a successful year helping those across the South of England sell, buy and let property.

As we know, the majority of property searches are now started online, and we have sought to capitalise on that by giving our clients a considerable internet presence. At the same time, we always retain our personal touch and high levels of customer service that are the foundations of the company we’ve built.

The market being as buoyant as it has been in recent years has helped contribute to our success, but none of it would have been possible without the diligence, commitment and passion of our team. If you have a fantastic team on board, it stands to reason that your chances of being successful greatly increase.

We take particular pride in the marketing side of our business. Through our integrated marketing package with Angels Media, we provide an instant online valuation tool which allows sellers/landlords to assess the current market value of their properties. We have also enhanced our Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) to improve the user journey on our website. In addition, we have rolled out various ad campaigns to get the name of ChimneyPots out to as many people as possible.

Social media, too, has enabled us to improve our online visibility by giving us a presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Blogger.com. The immediacy, interactivity and engagement opportunities offered by these platforms helps to build relationships and acts as a great way for us to update existing/would-be clients about our recent activity.


Being a family-run business, we place great importance on building strong relationships with the people who use our services. We provide the same service as a high street agent but without the costly overheads, which means we can pass these savings onto you – the customer. We have three different pricing options to suit your personal requirements – Option 1 is a complete marketing package, with £375 paid upfront and £375 payable on completion; Option 2 is a comprehensive agency service, with £500 paid upfront and £500 payable on completion; and Option 3 also provides a comprehensive agency service but with 0.7% commission payable upon completion (much cheaper than many high street-agents).

We believe in flexibility and adaptability, so we aim to facilitate the demands of our clients as much as possible. As we said before, we recognise the huge importance of customer service when it comes to gaining and retaining clients.

A criticism often made about hybrid agents is that we are faceless, anonymous machines, holed up in some poky little room doing very little for the money we charge. This is not something we recognise. We don’t merely get your property exposure on all the main portals, we also devise a marketing strategy (including high-quality photographs, For Sale boards, coloured floor plans and virtual tours), we conduct a home visit with one of our trained valuers, and we take a dynamic and pro-active approach to make sure unnecessary delays and stumbling blocks aren’t put in your way.

Plus, of course, we don’t operate on a standard Monday to Friday/9-5 basis. We’re much more flexible than that. We’re open 7 days a week for added convenience, something many traditional agents don’t provide.

More than anything, the determination, hard work and skill of our staff have helped put us in the position where expansion of the business is both possible and credible.

For more information about selling and letting in Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester and many other areas in the South of England, contact us on 08448 099931.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/chimneypots-ready-to-expand-its-business/ 

ChimneyPots’ to-do list for new landlords

Letting your property out for the first time can seem like an intimidating prospect. But as any landlord who’s been doing it for a while will tell you, the rewards can be great.

Using our experience as letting agents in Southampton, Portsmouth and other areas in the South of England, we have come up with a list of the top considerations new landlords should be making.

Swot up beforehand

You’ll want to know what you’re getting into before you become a landlord, so it seems sensible to read around the subject a bit. The Private Rented Sector (PRS) and buy-to-let are terms you’ll hear lots, and there is plenty of good information out there to help you think like a landlord. There are a number of excellent books, online resources and blogs (including ours!) to help you on your way.

Start searching for tenants

Once you have decided that a landlord’s life is the one for you, it’s time to get some tenants into your property so you can start earning some regular rental income. You will need to advertise your property in the right places to ensure it is being seen by as many would-be tenants as possible.
Nowadays, major portals like Rightmove and Zoopla rule the roost, so your ad needs to be web-friendly. Local newspapers and magazines are still great ways of getting extra exposure, too, so this avenue should also be explored thoroughly.

Make your property clean and attractive

Arguably the most important step – prospective tenants won’t be impressed by homes that are dirty and ramshackle. If you don’t fancy cleaning the property from head to toe yourself, you could employ the services of a cleaning company to do a thorough job for you. It might cost a little bit more, but a gleaming house is bound to be more attractive, so it’s worth it in the long-term.

You also need to decide early on what possessions you will be leaving behind for the duration of the tenancy. Take out anything of personal value or anything that won’t be of any use to your tenants. Clutter, too, is always a big turn-off – tenants want to put their own stamp on the place they will call home, they don’t want this job done for them.

Put safety first

Tenant safety is of paramount importance and shouldn’t be jeopardised under any circumstances. A smoke detector will need to be installed and maintained; and it’s recommended that the same is done for a carbon monoxide detector as well.

In addition, all white goods, electrical equipment and plug points must adhere to safety guidelines.

Keep on top of maintenance

When you have tenants in place, that doesn’t mean you should just leave them to their own devices – quite the opposite. While tenants will appreciate privacy and a good degree of trust from their landlord, they won’t appreciate you leaving the property to fall into disrepair. They will want those little DIY jobs and repairs to be carried out as quickly as they can be, they will want to know that their landlord will be on the other end of the phone should emergencies (for example a broken fridge or a faulty boiler) arise.

Maintaining your rental property won’t only give you peace of mind, it will also ensure your tenants’ standard of living is of a high quality. Also, if tenants leave and need to be replaced, you’ll be much less likely to encounter void periods if your property is in good condition.

Provide an EPC

Before they move in tenants should be given an Energy Performance Certificate, giving them a clear idea of how energy-efficient your rental property is.

So, the main question after all that is: do you need a letting agent? As you can see, there is a lot to consider when it comes to being a landlord, so enlisting the help of a professional letting agent can take away much of the stress and hassle from renting out and then running a property. You might not want to relinquish total control to an agent – that’s fine; we’ll work with you to tailor our services accordingly.

For more information about becoming a landlord and the services we offer, contact ChimneyPots on 0844 809 993. We are also able to provide an instant online valuation of your rental property.

http://chimneypotsestateagent.co.uk/chimneypots-to-do-list-for-new-landlords/

Why Hampshire is the perfect location for selling property

We’ve previously written about why Southampton is the best location for buy-to-let investors. Now we take a look at why the county of Hampshire as a whole is the perfect selling location.

When it comes to selling your property, location is likely to be a major factor in your success. Nine times out of ten buyers will be after a house in a safe and welcoming area. Good transport links and local amenities are also vital, while quality of life and green space will probably be other key considerations.

On these measures, Hampshire scores highly. It offers both urban and rural living, both busy seaside cities and isolated villages. In other words, there’s something for everyone. And even in the cities, life tends to be slightly less hectic than in truly massive metropolises like London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Residents of Southampton and Portsmouth can enjoy a good mixture of history, culture and leisure opportunities, as well as a raft of high-quality restaurants and bars – plus, of course, the added bonus of a beach on your doorstep during the summer.

As we’ve written about before, young professionals and families are deserting the capital in their droves, driven out by impossibly high prices and a lack of hope that they’ll ever be able to afford to buy. Hampshire, which is close enough to London for commuters but far away enough to offer a more relaxed, laid-back pace of life, is an obvious destination for would-be buyers to escape to.

Hampshire is very well-connected, with major cities like Southampton and Portsmouth and smaller cities like Winchester all providing relatively fast services to London. You can be at London Waterloo in 1hr 17m from Southampton Central, while Winchester to Waterloo takes just over an hour.

With Southampton being crowned as the ultimate buy-to-let destination by HSBC recently (Portsmouth was also in the top 10), sellers in Hampshire have a large pool of investors to target their property towards. Naturally, when it comes to selling your home, the more people you have to sell to, the better your chances of achieving your asking price (or above).

The county is also a hotbed for universities – meaning, in turn, a significant student population. That means plenty of young people looking for accommodation. As a result, landlords are attracted to stock near to campuses or city centres. If you own a property in these areas, there’s a good chance landlords will be knocking at your door to expand their portfolio.

When carrying out viewings, don’t be afraid to use location as one of your main selling points. Wax lyrical about the area you live in, whether that’s the stunning landscape of the New Forest or the South Downs, the architectural and historic interest of Winchester and Portsmouth, or the various cultural activities on offer in Southampton.

Furthermore, the average property value in Hampshire’s two biggest cities make for good reading for sellers – in Southampton the typical asking price currently stands at around the £250,000 mark, while in Portsmouth it is closer to £235,000. This means that buyers are unlikely to be put off, but it also ensures that you are more likely to be achieving a fair and reasonable price for your property.

For further advice on selling property in Hampshire, please contact ChimneyPots on 08448 099931. We also provide an instant online valuation tool to give you an accurate idea of how much your property is worth.

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Landlords: are you protecting your deposits?

As a a landlord, it’s important that you’re aware of the new deposit protection rules that are coming into play shortly. Despite the majority already adhering to these rules, landlords officially have until June 23rd to register with one of the Government’s three deposit schemes or risk paying unlimited fines.

Fines will be calculated at three times the initial deposit taken – usually £3,600 – and will hit landlords who neglect to put tenants’ deposits into an official scheme before the deadline. All tenancy deposits paid by an assured shorthold tenant are required by law to be protected by a landlord in a government-supported scheme. 

Assured shorthold tenancy agreements apply to most buy-to-let investments, with the exception of student halls of residence or in the case of a lodger renting a room in the same house as the landlord.

The three government-backed schemes are the Deposit Protection Service, My|Deposits and theTenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), with costs ranging between £0 and £24 per deposit. The paid for schemes (TDS and My|Deposits) allow you to keep the money during the tenancy – in order to enable you to earn interest on it. The Deposit Protection Service, which costs nothing, will hold the money until it is returned to the tenant, minus any deductions.

In 2007 deposit protection was implemented as a compulsory scheme to make it easier to resolve landlord/tenant disagreements at the end of tenancies. Originally, when it was first introduced, it wasn’t obvious if landlords with existing tenants would also need to register. However, a court has since decided that all tenants (including those who moved in before 6 April 2007) should have their deposits protected.

This is where landlords who have had the same tenants for several years get caught out. They think they are exempt from the rules, or are unaware that they even exist, when in fact the opposite is true.

Landlords should also be aware that they must still use a tenancy deposit protection scheme even if a tenants’ deposit has come from a third party e.g. parents paying for their children’s accommodation while at university.

At ChimneyPots we provide a comprehensive property management service to take the stress and pressure away from being a landlord. So, whether you have one property or a large, countrywide portfolio, we’ll offer a management service that is both personalised and highly professional.

We have also compiled a FAQ’s for Landlords section, which answers questions on everything from Assured Shorthold Tenancy to what a good inventory/schedule of condition looks like.

We operate in bigger cities such as Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth, as well as smaller areas like Sholing, Woolston, Itchen, Weston, Thornhill, Harefield and Townhill Park.

If you would like more advice and guidance on renting your property please contact us on: 0844 809 993. We also provide an instant online valuation to give you an accurate reflection of your property’s rental value in the current market.

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