How Letting Agents Can Save Money in the Cost of Living Crisis

All businesses are facing a cost of living crisis at the moment and many will need to cut back to survive. With inflation out of control, energy bills rocketing and other costs spiralling too, now is the time for letting agents to save money. But how do you manage to cut your outgoings? This guide will help you.

Work From Home When You Can

Do you really need to open your office every day? Yes, it provides a central point for prospective tenants to make contact with you as they pass by, but so much of the property hunting process is carried out online now. Even if you shut the office on your quietest days and all worked from home, it would help you save on electricity and heating or air conditioning.

Maybe designate a couple of days a week as working from home days, when you can still get out and about to viewings, but you can complete all the work that does not need you to be placed physically in the office.

Remind Everyone of the Basics

You can make real savings if you remember the basic principles of energy efficiency. For example, on those days that you are in the office, people should switch off lights in uninhabited rooms. Turn off your computers at night, rather than leaving them on standby, make sure all light bulbs are energy efficient models, use blinds to keep the warm air in during the winter and keep the front door closed to prevent you wasting energy on heating.

If your employees charge their petrol usage to the company, encourage them to drive more efficiently. Simple tricks like slowing down, not using the aircon, not driving with unnecessary weight in the car from items that you don’t need to carry around with you, can all make the petrol you use last longer. Planning journeys between viewings and meetings can also help you reduce the amount of fuel that they use.

Go Paperless

Paper and printer ink are expensive and costs can really wrack up if you use them a lot. When you include the amount of electricity used to power printers and photocopiers, it makes sense to go paperless in a cost of living crisis.

Now that verified electronic signatures hold the same weight as pen and ink versions, it is easier to carry out much of the relevant paperwork for lettings digitally. This saves printing multiple copies of documents and allows you to save on those costs.

Outsource Property Management to Reduce the Cost of Living

Although you obviously have to pay to outsource your property management services, it can actually save you money. Professional property management companies like Executive Property Management Solutions can access services at a keen price because this is what we do all day. In addition, we save your valuable time, completing admin, maintenance and more, so you can go out and bring in more business.

All the tasks that we take on are completed to strict legal requirements, helping you avoid the risk of suffering fines or penalties later on, and our professional service keeps your tenants and landlords happy, meaning they stay with you for longer and you keep taking management fees with fewer voids.