Time to Get Organised

It’s a new year and this means that landlords should get organised.

This is not as difficult as it might seem.

We have spent the last part of 2008 working on the new Property Manager 2.0 letting software with the aim of providing landlords with a letting software package that will enable landlords to do just that.

So what can a landlord do using the NEW Property Manager 2.0 software?

1. Managing your rent

Landlords can keep tabs on their tenant’s rental payments using their own digital rent book.

Once a landlord has created their tenancy then the digital rent book will automatically generate a rent request when the rent payment is due. For those landlords that want to add in buy-to-let properties that they have had for a number years then the new Property Manager 2 automatically updates the rent payments to the current date. To do this simply:

1. Add the property
2. Add a tenancy to this property
3. Go to Rent under the Management tab
4. Click on the current tenancy details such as flat or room
5. This will give you an overview of the tenancy
6. It will show the number of rent payments at the bottom of the screen as a text link
7. Click on this text link and you will be taken to the Tenancy Screen with all the rent ticked
8. Click save and all the rent payments will be automatically added. If you as the landlord want to add in further details about the payments just go to each of the payments to edit the details.

How can we make the Property Manager 2.0 better? Let us know – we guarantee we will respond.

2. Calculating your tax

The deadline for a landlord submitting their tax return online is 31.01.09, worryingly close! The Property Manager has been designed to assist landlords compile their figures relating to their investment property and then present them in a format that allows them just to transfer the data straight into the relevant section of the online form. What could be easier?

Property Manager 2.0 – TAX SOLUTION

The Property Manager 2.0
makes compiling a landlord’s tax return simple.

All a landlord needs to do is:

• Remember that their tax return relates to last year 07/08, so make sure you are putting the figures into the RIGHT tax year.
• Make sure you have added in all the rents received from your tenants
• Add in expenses such as: EPC, maintenance costs, letting costs. Remember capital costs such as putting in a new kitchen are not deductible but can still be recorded. The rule on revenue is that an expense must be a repair or renewal . If you are letting on a fully furnished basis the Revenue will allow you to claim for a 10% wear & tear allowance. The property manager does not currently automatically calculate this but just in a single figure relating to 10% of the net rent.
• BTL Mortgage interest payments. Most landlords will have a mortgage and any interest paid on this is deductible. Go to the mortgage interest section and add in the interest paid for each month. Remember if you have a repayment mortgage you will have to separate out the interest from the capital repayments.
• Finally, if you have any furnished holiday letting profits, tax taken off, chargeable premiums, reverse premiums then just add those in as separate items. The figures you need to fill out your tax return will be automatically shown in the corresponding boxes within the Property Manager 2.0 ready to be input straight into a landlord’s tax return. VOILA – land and property part of the tax return done!

We will be running a series of articles on how landlords can use the Property Manager 2.0 letting software to manage their residential investment portfolio over the next few months. Look out for the forthcoming upgrades in its function.

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