What tasks can be outsourced to a Property VA?
Here at Libra VA Services, we are currently working with several property landlords and investors across varying portfolios. Over the last twelve months, we have supported on renovation projects, both onsite and remotely across South London as well as providing entirely virtual support in terms of managing expenses and handling tenant conflict and insurance claim submissions.
Why choose Libra VA over a property management service? Having invested in a buy-to-let property previously, we know the advantages and disadvantages of paying for a full property management service. We understand most landlords or investors don’t need a full management service all of the time. Inevitably, when disaster strikes, it is critical you have in-person support to facilitate the situation and ease communications with tenants and also for exchanging keys. However, these emergencies can often be few and far between so you are often left resenting the fact that you are paying an average monthly management retainer of anywhere between 10-14% for a mediocre service!
How can Libra VA Services help me? Here are five areas where we are currently saving our clients time and money in managing the day-to-day administration of their property!
Light touch bookkeeping. We liaise with property managers and accountants to compile tracking income and expenditure spreadsheets to monitor monthly profit and losses on individual and HMO property accounts through Limited Companies. We have experience with accounting cloud software such as Freshbooks, Quickbooks and Xero and conduct ad hoc reconciliation checks and receipt matching as well as providing detailed line by line summaries to accurately code to the correct account. We chase outstanding invoices and manage supplier relationships on behalf of our clients and any other third parties. We run monthly profit and loss reports and update our clients on the data analysis and any areas of concern. We also provide an intermediary service for collating key financial documents that feed into annual business filing and self-assessment processes.
Providing onsite property renovations (Central and South London only) and remote project management. Over the last six months, we have worked with two clients supporting their renovation projects. Earlier this year, we were based partially onsite in South London to oversee a full kitchen renovation for a client. The task involved liaising with the supplier to arrange delivery and troubleshooting on broken or missing items, liaising with waste disposal and recycling companies as well as contractors who were tasked with rewiring electrics and disconnecting their water supply via a dedicated plumbing team. A substantial part of the job required high levels of trust from our client who allowed us to work remotely in their property unsupervised and also provide a valuable service in ensuring timelines were met and any key issues were reported and actioned.
Managing tenant communications and property maintenance issues. We have managed a property project which entailed severe dispute issues between landlord and tenant and legal third party involvement throughout 2022. We organised quotations for repair work with two building companies, and had to chase for progress updates so we eased our busy clients workload. The property had a variety of ongoing maintenance issues which had taken a considerable amount of time to resolve and we had to intervene to liaise with building teams, neighbours and insurance companies. A big part of our job was to manage tenant communications and provide timely updates from the client and other third parties. If you are a landlord who feels uncomfortable having direct and difficult conversations with your tenants to relay bad news, we can help!
Sourcing the best deals for your buy-to-let property. We know how expensive it can be to run a buy-to-let property and we all do things in a rush when we are busy with other life priorities. Let us take the sting out of the tail by sourcing a recommended supplier list with the best deals on the market. We can’t promise utility bills will be dirt cheap, but we will find you the best on offer!
Sending you reminders when it is time to renew your services/contracts! We will ensure that you stay compliant and within the law at all times when servicing your property. It is vital that you have up-to-date gas safety and electrical compliance certificates so that you know you have met minimum insurance requirements. We are currently supporting HMO properties so understand the individual legalities of multiple occupancy properties and the additional bureaucracy!
If you would like to see our full range of specialist property services, check out our website here: https://www.librava.co.uk/specialist-services