The lettings industry moves so fast and when you don’t know the basics and they are changing already in a matter of weeks. already new Acts and Laws have been put into place, which I am continually being informed about and having to learn, as well as do the day to day stuff.
The Marketing plan has had a hammering this week as adverts, leaflets, landlord and tenant conversations have been many, I am now ready to take things a step further to proceed into the networking world, more classified specific adverts being placed. Talking to the oher franchisees and almost working with them through their first few weeks has been enjoyable. We all have our own individual skills and it always helps if you can share you ways with other people, which we do on a weekly group Skype where we all share what works well and not.

I like to think we give each other the confidence to go and give new stuff a go.

It;’s all very exciting, working on building a new business, I really don’t think either Dawn or my feet have touched the ground the last week or two as we have both been out and about doing valuations and viewings, but the results have been rewarding. I am now in the process of learning the next steps admin, paperwork, referencing liaising with tenants and landlords and doing all the negotiations that are required of me, to agree a let or get a new instruction.

This is where a small thing called time management plays a big part of your day and unfortunately landlords and tenants sometimes don’t understand this, but Concentric understands that landlords and tenants come first. So reality has hit, and I am now in the process of coming up with the best way to structure my day! If this is at all possible!!  but I will certainly give it ago.

In our weekly meeting I was pleasantly surprised to be nominated to receive The Customer Service award of the month for contribution to the team, this was great, its always nice to know that your hard work pays off and to feel apreciated.

So I’m on to the next concentric Marketing level now, onwards and upwards!
Thanks Concentric for a Fabulous week.

Rebecca Crowther.

Rebecca Crowther is a serial blogger, former PA and avid social media user, Joining the Concentric Wolverhampton Branch in 2012 as a Lettings Co-ordinator, Rebecca is loving bringing all of her skills together to enable the growth of this already vibrant and buzzing new branch. Rebecca is blogging here on her experiences, in her new job, the highs and the lows, the surprises and some of the stories too. Rebecca lives in Penn with her husband and 2 children. you can find more information on concentric opportunities on www.ukfranchiseopportunities.info

Well what a whirl wind first month in my new job has been. Mind blowing and information overload all in a very positive way. Lettings, landlords, tenants, agreements and the law of the land, just a snip- it of things I have learnt on my 2 weeks initial training.

Coming from a non property/Lettings background has not been a disadvantage for me at all, in fact it’s made me even more determined to take the bull by the horns and throw my self into the world of lettings with a great amount of passion. I had the benefit of 2 weeks training with other franchisees which was a great experience, I gained new friendships, learnt lots and was fed so much information it was exciting and a bit scary!

Once the training had ceased I was rearing to go and get started which I must say the team at Concentric and the franchised network as a whole made it very easy for me. The group is welcoming and helpful, but most of all friendly and always willing to answer my questions and offer support.

I am now on week 3 of my marketing plan which I have been following to see what sort of impact I can have on the business. So far in my eyes a real big one!

I’ve been calling landlords and tenants, to contacting large organisations about their employee accommodation, to marketing days out and about. The phones have been hot lines with all these touch points for the business as well as the group Skype Calls with all the other Franchisees, Emails flying around the group as to best practice and what’s working best, Gum Tree ads and replies, Spare Room entries for the HMO’s and Right Move enquiries to deal with being some of the things that enter my day.

The offices are thriving with activity, noise, fun and laughter, (not to mention bells ringing!) but most of all the tenants and landlords of concentric are very happy. I also hope I am right in saying that this makes happy employees and I’m very glad I have joined such a motivational company!

Thanks Concentric.
R Crowther.

Rebecca Crowther is a serial blogger, former PA and avid social media user, Joining the Concentric Wolverhampton Branch in 2012 as a Lettings Co-ordinator, Rebecca is loving bringing all of her skills together to enable the growth of this already vibrant and buzzing new branch. Rebecca is blogging here on her experiences, in her new job, the highs and the lows, the surprises and some of the stories too. Rebecca lives in Penn with her husband and 2 children. you can find more information on concentric opportunities on www.ukfranchiseopportunities.info

The first two weeks  was all about calling landlords and applicant matching tenants. As I had the time to do this, and to be honest originally I thought the quality of the tenants and landlords was not great from this marketing method, but I have had some rubbish ones and some really good leads and properties from the calls. I just think its all about luck and if you don’t pick up the phone in the first place you will never know, what the next property is out their which will become your next target.

When speaking to landlords I have found that as soon as you say “I can help you find your perfect tenant or I have tenants waiting to move into a property just like yours in this area,” every one wants to chat. Even if I don’t get the instruction I can guarantee, that person will tell someone else about my conversation and the word is being spread about concentric lettings. It’s the touch points for the business and it does not matter how you do them, some way or another that one person may spread the word or eventually come back to you.

I work on the concept that everyone knows 1000 people and you may not be able to believe this but if you start thinking the numbers sure add up!

Weeks 3 and 4 were all about the leaflets and adverts that I have put out, in the local towns and villages. I have had about a dozen calls from these and again some of them are not interested as soon as you mention the word agent but I have had 3 instructions from these calls.

At this point I must mention social media and at this present time I’m using Face book, many people will take a lot of convincing that social media works, but again its another form of touch point, a comment: a like: a friend request. People will become to remember Concentric if they start to see us every where they go. Subconsciously at first but people are more likely to use us if they have seen us in adverts, adverts and on Facebook rather than just seeing one of those touch points, clients, and landlords like referrals, and introductions which face book gives a great opportunity to do this. Wolverhampton Concentric is now on about 180 friends, still not a lot but it’s a start and the more you add the bigger you become.

As well as the marketing plan I have been focusing on tenant, landlord enquiries, still learning the systems and procedures, viewing s and valuations.

But the high light of last week after our usual Tuesday Morning madness of a meeting where it was discussed that we would develop the 6 stage process.

1. Find Landlords.
2. Let Properties. – Tenants.
3. Process Lets.
4. Do all together.
5. Optimise Income.
6. Delegate and Build Team.

At this point I was on point I was on point 2 and 3, until the random Tuesday lunch time situation.

A lady was bought into the office and I was asked to help her, so I sat her down and asked her details thinking I was registering a new tenant and doing a tenant search. I asked the question what was her situation and how soon she could move? Her reply was now today!

Then the story unravelled: she had been unlawfully evicted the previous day and had been threatened by her land lady with a dog and a knife and was told to get out. She had time only to grab a few belongings and then left. She spent the night in the police station as she had no where else to go and after a meeting with the council in the morning, ended up sitting at my desk frantically looking for a room for her to rent. With everyone’s help we placed this lady in a lovely house share and moved her in on the same day.It just goes to show the unexpected does happen and when a team of people pull together anything can happen. My tenant was very grateful to us all and loves the tranquillity of her new room. Now I can say that the 6 point process works and I achieved all 6 with the help of the office in two hours.

Thanks Concentric for a fabulous few weeks.

R Crowther.

Rebecca Crowther is a serial blogger, former PA and avid social media user, Joining the Concentric Wolverhampton Branch in 2012 as a Lettings Co-ordinator, Rebecca is loving bringing all of her skills together to enable the growth of this already vibrant and buzzing new branch. Rebecca is blogging here on her experiences, in her new job, the highs and the lows, the surprises and some of the stories too. Rebecca lives in Penn with her husband and 2 children. you can find more information on concentric opportunities on www.ukfranchiseopportunities.info

On a weekly basis, I inform tenants and landlords of due dates for safety checks, arrange contractor appointments, collect updates, confirm appointment bookings, collect certificates and check for any remedial works which may be required.

Eight weeks prior to the expiry of safety checks Landlords are informed of the expiry dates and reminded of their obligation to have the property checked.

I most cases Landlords give instruction to us at the beginning of a tenancy to have these checks carried out by our approved contractors. In these instances, Landlords are reminded of the upcoming checks and informed that we will arrange appointments.

A Landlord choosing to use his/her own approved contractor is reminded of their obligations and asked to inform us immediately of a booked appointment.  We then contact the Landlord on a weekly basis until we have confirmation of a booked date.

Tenants are informed of the expiry date of the safety checks, notified of who will be arranging the appointment and advised to confirm booked appointments are kept to ensure safety.

When it comes to the electric safety checks, we are sometime asked how often these are required and why they are required when there is no clear demand for electric testing.  We educate our landlords to the ARLA recommendations of having visual electric inspections on an annual basis, or to have a Full Periodic Report done no less than every 3 years.  A Landlord choosing to have a Periodic Report is reminded to have a test conducted before a new tenant moves into the property (no more than once a year) to confirm any damages by the previous tenant.

Now, as well as educating Landlords, we are required to educate tenants also and stress the importance of their cooperation when arranging appointments.  It is my duty to safeguard tenants and landlords and ensure our contractors gain access and complete the checks on or before the expiry date, therefore we have staged letters which confirm appointments.  On some occasions the lack of access can hinder the timely manner of completed checks.  Therefore, we contact all parties on a weekly basis by telelphone, e-mail and letter for confirmation of booked dates and can be rest assured all are arranged and carried out in time.  If access still can’t be gained we then seek Court proceedings to be granted access to carry out the checks

It can’t be assumed that when a certificate is received that all is in good order.  All paperwork must be checked for confirmation of pass/safe to use; any issued warning labels, summary of observations and any found defects.

Gas certificates show confirmation of ‘Safe To Use’, pass/fail details and lists of faults found and remedial actions taken.  Any faults found will usually be reported by the contractor while on site.  Therefore, we can arrange remedial works to be carried out there and then when possible.

The Gas Safety Certificate must be kept by a landlord/Agent for a minimum of two years from the date of the Gas Safety check.

Electric certificates show a summary of the inspection and observations and will list separately any defects found.  These are listed as follows:

Code 1: DANGEROUS – REQUIRES URGENT ATTENTION

Code 2: REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT WITHIN 30 DAYS

Code 3: REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Code 4: DOES NOT MEET RELEVENT REGULATION BUT IT NOT NECESSARLY DANGEROUS

Codes 1 & 2 cannot be ignored for a ‘later in the day’ job.  These MUST be dealt with upon immediate receipt and the landlord and tenant informed of arrangements!  As agents, it is our duty to have all required works carried out in the relevant time frame.

Code 3 will require the contractor to delve further into the possible problem and Code 4 is more of an advisory item.

When all repair works are completed, a new ‘clean’ certificate will be issued to keep in the tenancy file.  All certificates relating to the property should be kept.

When all is in order with clean certificates, a new action is then created for the next renewal of the checks to start the procedure again the following year.

With this procedure in place, Concentric Lettings landlords are safe in the knowledge that their proeprties, tenants and themselves are safe and compliant.

Helen Deeley has worked in the property and property maintenance capacity for over 8 years, joining the Concentric/Lawson’s team in 2009.

From a history of being responsible for organisation of contractors, projects and works on factories and commercial buildings for a large corporate maintenance holding company, and then working in partnership with local council, housing department in the regenerations of housing. Here she personally handled the refurbishment of run down vacant properties in the local borough.

Since joining the Lawson’s/Concentric team, Helen has worked her way through the ranks and now enjoys managing the HUB, a collection of property management experts, property inspectors and contractors to manage all the properties throughout the UK for both companies.

Helens organisational and teaching/management skills have allowed her to excel in this role, and is now moving into the capacity of Trainer for the group.

Her wealth of experience is a great benefit to the team and our landlords and shines through in the numerous videos, blogs and articles that she writes.

Helen Deeley

Property Management Manager-Concentric Lettings

www.concentriclettings.co.uk

A further case has recently been submitted to the appeal court from a PRIVATE TENANT against an eviction, claiming it is against their human rights too.

The Private Landlord and agent community waits with bated breath for the results and the outcome of this case, as the consequences would be catastrophic.

It will be like going back to the old days when as a landlord if you rented out your property to a tenant, you had no means of ever getting it back, with statutory and protected tenancies, a tenant could pass the tenancy down 2 rights of succession and therefore two generations!

Previously this completely decimated the Private rented sector (PRS), can we really afford to go back to that? In 1900 over 90% of the properties in this country were privately rented; however because of the overzealous regulation put in place to “protect tenants” this resulted in the PRS falling to a shockingly low 7% by 1987 and a huge shortage in rented accommodation. It was only the introduction of the Housing Act 1988, and the fairer Assured Shorthold Tenancy on the 15^th January 1989 that turned the PRS around and enabled the growth we see today allowing the PRS to grow to the 17% it is today, with huge growth further predicted, as more and more people find home ownership beyond their reach.

At a time when we need rented properties to meet the shortage of housing, to meet the need of immigrants, low income families, young people and those moving jobs around the country, this is an extremely dangerous move to be making for the government and the judicial system. A lack of PRS availability could also lead to higher unemployment as people are forced back into home ownership, removing the flexibility to up sticks and go, to where new employment can be found.

What would happen if due to the arrears, the landlord can’t pay his mortgage, would it also mean that the mortgage company cannot evict? Would having your house repossessed be the only way to get out of a commitment to a tenant? What about the landlord’s human rights to be paid?

It seems that the world is going crazy; criminals can’t be departed because they are entitled to a life with their cat, prisoners are allowed to have children as their human right, and now we could be faced, with people that take on a financial commitment, don’t have to pay…

Where will it end? We need to talk about this/blog /tweet/ and lobby to get it out in the open, government and the like need to be aware of the consequences to their long term housing goals if this action succeeds.

On a daily basis I get enquiries from landlords asking ‘what should I buy?’ and ‘where should I buy it?’ ‘What is going to give me the best return/ appreciation?’  There is no simple answer to this question.

There are many factors to be considered before advising any client, but before this can be done it is extremely important to talk to them to find out from them what their resources and experience is, and what involvement they can or want to have in this investment, most of my landlord investors are completely hands off, as they are successful in their careers, and generally are just looking to invest their hard earned cash somewhere where it will grow.

For example, I would not normally recommend a ‘HMO’ to a first time investor? HMO’s or (houses in multiple occupations) are amazingly high returns, but remember you are instantly taking on 6 tenancy’s not one and are certainly much more demanding than a single unit, not to mention the refurbishment costs, the need for stringent compliance and licensing, all of which can be very stressful during that first purchase, and can be just too much for many first time investors.

When working with a new investor the various points that we like to work through with them are things such as, how much money do they have to invest? What are their expectations and attitudes to risk? Are they suited to a refurbishment project or not even so much as a coat of paint? How much time do they want to invest in the project and on going management? How important is the income, for example would they be in trouble if the tenant fell into arrears?

All these factors need to be considered. There is no point advising a nervous young lady, who works in an office all day,  who is very tight on money and no handy skills to buy a rambling old terraced house, with major refurbishment works required, to let to local housing allowance tenants, when it would quite clearly scare her to death!

Once we have established their attitude to investing in property and their skills and character type, we look at their goals…

Are they looking for cash flow or capital appreciation?

What is the long term goal?

This is an important part of the process with any new client, many have read articles making claims about what is possible in property and they are quite often confused by all the various media. Most will initially say they want cash flow and capital appreciation, which of course we all do, but when we describe the reality of that, normally most investors, will decide to edge more towards one or the other direction slightly.

Capital and Cash flow can be demonstrated on a chart, in any area, with the property types and areas, placed on the chart, which will highlight visually to any investor, whether the property types they are looking at are cash flow or capital returners in the main (of course most properties are a bit of both but in varying degrees).

An investor with a high salary, for example that does not want to give up his job, would not normally be seeking cash flow, he could more than likely achieve much higher yields, by seeking smaller cash flow and investing in higher capital appreciating areas, which will also give him less tenants for every pound invested, therefore less voids, management costs (hassle) and better quality properties in better areas, attracting higher capital appreciation.

An investor looking to attain high cash flow, will more likely be looking to invest in LHA or HMO units as these attract the highest yield, but the downsides to these need to be explained, higher management fees, time and costs, as well as the “hassle factor” that many of these types of properties bring. But for the right mindset, these can be great investments.

To find the answers to these questions and more, we work through a series of questions together which help the investor to make his decision on how what and where to purchase, which is then followed up by market re-search to ensure the demand is out there for the chosen property and type by test marketing prior to any commitment to purchase.

Doing your ‘due diligence’ is key prior to considering any purchase, look on the portals and check out sold prices such as Rightmove, net house prices and the land registry to check out sold price history to confirm a rental assessment figure and of course if possible speak to a few reputable lettings agents in the area. Any agent should be happy to give general advice as they will want your business. Also placing some dummy adverts to measure the response is useful to and if we are working for a client then we will of course be doing all of this for them.

To Summarise:

In order to identify what sort of property you should be investing in, these are the key points you need to consider

• Do you need cash flow, or would capital appreciation be more useful to you (do you need the money now)
• What level of cash do you “really” want to invest, remember that refurbishments can sometimes get expensive and run over and older properties/multi tenants can lead to higher repair bills
• How practical are you? I know it looks easy on the telly, but refurbishments are complex and can cost thousands, mistakes will cost you dearly.
• Consider how hands on you do or do not want to be, are you going to use a letting agent or not if this is the case then are you prepared for the time it may take to handle an issues that may arise, and how up to speed are you on the legislation of the lettings industry?
• What time do you want to invest in your portfolio?  If you have a good job and you enjoy it, then you will not enjoy the burden of 5 HMO properties with 35 tenants in calling you day and night. Consider your family and lifestyle, what are you REALLY trying to achieve?

Most of my investor landlords end up somewhere in the middle, looking to achieve a bit of Capital appreciation and cash flow, decide to use a letting agent as they are high earning individuals with a good salary and cherish their time and enjoy passive investment and management through a good lettings and management service.

You can contact Karen on

01902 421 405

www.karenmills.co.uk

Client Testimonials:

I would like to thank you & all your team for the excellent work you did to help me acquire my last rental property. Your advice about which properties to look at was invaluable and saved me a lot of time.  The solicitors and surveyors you recommended were also very quick and professional. The property you recommended that I purchase was, I feel, a very good buy & has rented easily with the help of your company. Thank you very much, I will definitely call you again when I want to buy my next property to rent.

- D Hesbrook , Worcester

As a passive investor I was looking to enter into a partnership with a reputable company, that combined a proven track record with a comprehensive range of But-To-Let services. After broken promises elsewhere, I was fortunate to meet Karen, who’s property knowledge, negotiating acumen and contacts have saved me £1000′s in acquisition cost alone & produced a portfolio of properties that had significant equity from day 1, are fully tenanted & deliver excellent returns. Anyone looking to invest in property should first talk to Karen and Concentric, especially if like me you are looking to reduce risks and have a fully managed portfolio for maximum returns, but without the hassle normally associated with BTL.

You may be right to assume that as you have bought a property which rents out very quickly and easily that it makes sense to duplicate this type of unit/area and model. When this gets let just as quickly, many feel they have the winning formula and so do it again and again thinking they are on to a good thing.

This may well be the case short term, and you could continue on with these investments for a few years, whilst they remain trouble free, but you cannot see what the future holds, so caution is necessary.

All sorts of changes can occur that can effect a rental property, for example new roads can be built, areas can become flood plains, ruining an area, major employers could shut down, the family from hell could move in, a certain category of housing could be regulated against or become victim to oversupply or suddenly the lease holders employ the service of a new management company to oversee the apartment block in which your investment units are located and decide to enforce a clause that forbids you from renting out all of your units in that one block.

This happened to a landlord I know, she had created an investment strategy of her own that for several years had worked very well, buying all of her 2 bedroomed flats in one block, but suddenly she faced having 6 vacant un-saleable units all in one block due to the restriction to let being enforced, which meant no means of getting income from them.

In additions to the management company issue, the flats were in a 1970’s block with metal windows which had traditionally always rented well. However, the market was now flooded with modern trendy ‘City living’ luxury apartment blocks with en-suites and canal side views, which meant that theses flats were now not renting well at the previous rents, meaning plummeting returns and difficult to sell or rent.

Unfortunately this meant that when she did finally resolved the consent to let issue, at great costs, her entire portfolio was a lot less attractive and achieving much lower rents than before, thus affecting her returns and due to the oversupplied flat market her future capital appreciation went through the floor, if she had balanced out her portfolio with a few houses, different flats in different blocks etc, she would have been saved from this situation.

Spreading your risk does not just extend to buying all your properties in one block. Avoid buying into any one particular “market”. Across your portfolio you should have a spread of areas (even if all within your local area), property types, i.e.: flats/houses/HMO’s etc and markets for example don’t invest all your money in HMO’s or student lets or LHA. The government has a great habit of introducing “regulation” into particular sectors, and if all your portfolio is wrapped up into one sector, then this could leave you with major problems in the future

Above all you have less “risk” exposure, by spreading your portfolio across different rental types and markets/areas. Some landlords want to buy properties cash, without mortgage. This can be one of the riskiest strategies of all. If that property is empty, it is now costing you money, or if any of the above issues affect that property, like it becomes a flood plain area, then you may lose everything. You would in most cases benefit from splitting your money, utilising mortgages and buying 3 or 4 properties instead. Therefore if one is empty, the remainder are still covering your costs and appreciating in value.

If you want to enjoy your investment career, please make sure you get the best advice and speak to someone who understands property investment and your local area, your letting agent should be able to help you.  Do check out different area’s for future planning, check out online about local crime rates and ensure you employ the services of a qualified charted surveyor to ensure the property you are about to purchase is of sound construction.

If you look at your property purchases as an IFA would a balanced financial portfolio, taking into consideration, your desired outcomes, financial returns expected and your attitude to risk and the time you want to be involved in property, then your property investing be will be something you enjoy, and remain a pain free ‘safe and secure property portfolio’, but remember to review it every few years as things change.

Karen Mills has worked in the property industry for the last 20 years, selling in total over xxxx pounds worth of property in her time. Starting as a receptionist, she worked her way up through the Estate agency ranks, to negotiator, senior negotiator, branch manager and eventually area Branch Manager for one of the country’s leading national chains of Estate agency.

Karen joined Sally Lawson as a co director of Concentric Lettings to head up the Property Acquisitions team in 2007 and hasn’t looked back since. Working with Investors (from the other side of the fence) Karen has been able to put all those years of being an estate agent to source great deals for her clients and with the experience of working with Sally Lawson and the team, to put great substantial investment portfolios together to stand the test of time.

Her testimonials from clients speak for themselves. Here Karen gives us the benefit of her knowledge and years of experience in what to look for and why do people “Invest in the Residential Lettings Market”.

Karen Mills

Property Acquisition Specialist

The challenges of starting a small business and keeping it going cannot be underestimated and many do fail, even in the very good times. The hurdles can be substantial and the ability to get a business up to speed, making profit and supporting you is not achieved by many.

Franchising has attracted the attention of many over past years and the tough economic climate has highlighted its strengths and shown that there is a more secure way to start your own business. Its formula of a locally owned and run enterprise, driven by a small business owner, with branding, economies of scale and support from the wider network, gives the business a far better chance of success. However, this is only the case if it is done well.

A good franchise will offer you a proven business format with the initial and continuing support that you will need.

Your business will work under the brand established by your franchisor using the business system they have developed and proven in the marketplace. You will pay an initial fee known as the Franchise Agreement fee to set up using the brand and the proven business format, but you would have costs to set up by yourself anyway. With Franchising you will get further ongoing support that will help you to operate and allow you to build the business and, eventually, a capital asset that you can sell or pass on.

The ongoing support is one of the key reasons for the success of franchising. The franchisor has already gone through the pain of finding out what works and what doesn’t – they have invested in the systems and are now willing to teach you how to replicate it. However, don’t think you can pick and choose which parts of the systems you want to use. It is very much all or nothing. However, if you are paying for a proven system, why wouldn’t you follow it?

What are the advantages of franchising?

• About 90% of all franchisees reported profitability over the last 12 months.
• The business format is proven.
• You have the opportunity to build your capital as well as your earnings.
• It is your business and you are the owner manager, providing you follow the system, you decide what goes.
• The major banks are very supportive of good franchising models.

What are the disadvantages of franchising?

• Running any business is hard work, demanding the highest level of personal and family commitment.
• You make a financial investment, however, no investment is guaranteed, especially when it depends on the efforts of both you and your franchisor as well as the vagaries of the market place.
• You buy into a proven business system for its benefits but you also take on the responsibility for following it – not doing so may result in you loosing the business.

Mark Rozier, Franchisee Development Manager for Concentric Lettings, has a wealth of experience in running businesses, starting out his career working in the family business of transport and then branching out on his own, following his passion for coffee by running a coffee shop, experienced in all aspects of setting up and running a business as well as the front end sales of any enterprise, Mark uses to his advantage all that experience in working with the Franchisees who have joined Concentric as their Franchisee Development Manager and now shares his valuable experience with regular Blogs, articles and social media

Once you are 100% that you have found the franchise for you, then it is time to look at your finances. We have a considerable period of due diligence and the first step in planning your franchise finance is to establish how much money you can afford to invest and whether it is enough to purchase and run “your” franchise.

Banks like franchising, due to the higher success rates! They have learnt that it can be safer to lend to franchisees of well-structured ethical franchise systems, than to those starting up their own business from scratch.

Hopefully this section will give you some guidelines to work to in order to be able to approach a bank for franchise finance in a confident way, with an awareness of the type of questions likely to be asked.  If you approach the BFA (British Franchise Association), they have a small list of franchise friendly banks, I suggest you look to speaking to them first, they will give you a criteria that is considered acceptable and an application process to follow.

Here are a couple of sites I found some useful information that are available on the net:
http://www.whichfranchise.com/finance/

www.thebfa.org/

Before you approach the Banks you will need a well thought out and structured business plan, to present to them, your chosen Franchisor should be able to offer you some assistance and guidance in creating this, it is also good practice to back up your application with a written business plan to go alongside the financial plan too, to show that you have thoroughly worked through your goals and ideas.

If you only need a smaller amount of money to start your venture, then you may be able to source funding in many other ways, just a small personal loan, family or friends or even a re-mortgage on your property if you have sufficient equity.

Franchise funding generally offers between 505 and 75% funding of your total amount required to set you up and get you to a stage where you will be cash flow positive.

Mark Rozier, Franchisee Development Manager for Concentric Lettings, has a wealth of experience in running businesses, starting out his career working in the family business of transport and then branching out on his own, following his passion for coffee by running a coffee shop, experienced in all aspects of setting up and running a business as well as the front end sales of any enterprise, Mark uses to his advantage all that experience in working with the Franchisees who have joined Concentric as their Franchisee Development Manager and now shares his valuable experience with regular Blogs, articles and social media

The main focus of my job as a Property Manager is communication and Customer Service.  On a daily basis I am in contact with tenants, landlords and contractors.

Now, every Property Manager will know it can take several conversations with all parties to confirm and arrange the likes of maintenance issues i.e.:

A tenant calls with information of an issue

The landlord is then contacted to inform and request instruction to repair.  The landlord prefers a quotation first and foremost

The contractor is contacted to confirm availability to quote

The tenant is called back to confirm arrangements

The landlord is informed of the quotation and gives the go ahead

The contractor is called to confirm, the tenant is called to inform

We all lead busy lives and are not always able to answer calls, read and reply to e-mails or reply to SMS immediately.  This is where social media comes into its own!  With its popularity and the progression of technology we are able to log onto our social media sites anywhere, anytime, and come on…admit it, we all log on several times a day or we’re logged on continuously!

This is why the Management Department here at Concentric Lettings has taken the lead in property management using social media.  Our Landlords, tenants and contractors are all sent a ‘Friend Request’ on Facebook and ‘Follower Requests’ on Twitter.

The majority of my ‘Friends’ are all of the above! This is so unbelievably beneficial to all parties; our tenants can contact me at any time to report a maintenance issue, confirm availability for a visit or ask for a call to discuss their tenancy.  Landlords have availability to very useful material such as our day to day running, blogs, articles by our MD and generally information they would only get (in the olden days) by calling up and requesting or by a mass generated E-mail.  I can and do contact tenants via social media knowing I am going to contact with ease and will receive a reply in the same way i.e. when a rent payment is overdue I know I can contact a tenant knowing they are online and will receive contact.

Social media is also a fantastic way to discover new contractors, landlords and tenants.   We now have several contractors on our preferred supplier list who were initially sourced on Facebook!!

In my opinion, the best aspect of Social Media is the personal touch!  Everyone can match a face to a name, learn a little about each other and build good relationships!

Helen Deeley has worked in the property and property maintenance capacity for over 8 years, joining the Concentric/Lawson’s team in 2009.

From a history of being responsible for organisation of contractors, projects and works on factories and commercial buildings for a large corporate maintenance holding company, and then working in partnership with local council, housing department in the regenerations of housing. Here she personally handled the refurbishment of run down vacant properties in the local borough.

Since joining the Lawson’s/Concentric team, Helen has worked her way through the ranks and now enjoys managing the HUB, a collection of property management experts, property inspectors and contractors to manage all the properties throughout the UK for both companies.

Helens organisational and teaching/management skills have allowed her to excel in this role, and is now moving into the capacity of Trainer for the group.

Her wealth of experience is a great benefit to the team and our landlords and shines through in the numerous videos, blogs and articles that she writes.

Helen Deeley

Property Management Manager-Concentric Lettings