4walls Blog

1. Arrogance/not sharing information: Thinking you know it all. The day that happens is the day you will fail! When getting involved in property, you should acknowledge that you are committing to life-long learning. As Nick and I like to say, you can never learn less and you can never know it all! Be generous with sharing your knowledge with others. A measure of a person is what he will do for someone who can do absolutely nothing for him! It's costs nothing to light someone else's candle from your flame of knowledge.

2. Treating tenants like a rent payment instead of a person: Tenants are our "clients". By paying their rent on time, and treating our properties with respect, they are allowing us to have a business and create wealth over the long term. As a landlord, you are a "service provider", and to be successful you must provide a high standard of service and accommodation. Tenants increasingly have a choice and they know it, so treat them with respect. You will only be a successful LL if your properties are fully occupied with happy tenants. Sounds obvious, but too many amateur LL just focus on rent payments, not the fact that they have to provide a service to the person paying the rent.

3. Not keeping up to date with government legislation. As a LL, you are bound to comply with certain legislation to ensure the health and safety of your tenants. These include Gas Sure certificates, EPC's, HMO licencing (where appropriate), operational smoke alarms, correct insurances, etc. By not keeping up to date with these, you are not only putting your tenant at risk, you are putting your business at risk.

4. Ostrich syndrome. Not changing with the times. Business is changing at a faster pace than ever before in history. We are in the era now of the linked economy. This has huge implications on your property business. To bury your head in the sand, and not recognise these changes, and try and change with them, may lead to the demise of your property business. Networking events and forums like this are great places to keep your knowledge up to speed and help you move with the times.

5. Not having systems in place to manage your business. LL's should have systems in place to keep track of each individual property in terms of mortgage product, cash flow, keeping tax records, etc. Failure to do this, will lead to problems down the line.

6. Absolving all responsibility to a third party. Whether it be to pay for a portfolio building service, hand over your properties to a letting agent, or pay for property deals, you MUST take responsibility overall for your decisions. Third parties generally do not care about your business or your money as much as you do. If you cannot be bothered to take responsibility, then don't expect others to. There is no such thing as an "armchair investor". It's your business, so take care of it, or face the consequences. "Get rich quick" mentality is one of the deadiest sins in property!

7. Not taking consistent and massive action. The only way to be successful in any business, is to take consistent and massive action. Many people pay to go on seminars and courses, and then never put the knowledge into practice. Other people start out with the intentions to build a portfolio or property business, and then give up at the first hurdle. The only way to success is by setting big, fat, hairy goals, keeping them in sight, and taking steps towards them every day.

Any more deadly sins to add?  Have YOUR say!  Join the debate here on the Property Tribes forum.