Most landlords start out with a fairly optimistic view of how a tenancy will go.
You find a good tenant, the rent arrives each month, and everything ticks along nicely.
And to be fair, that’s often exactly how it plays out.
But experienced landlords and the better letting agents tend to look at things slightly differently.
Before anything begins, they pause and ask a more useful question.
What could go wrong here?
The idea of a pre-mortem
It’s known as a pre-mortem.
Instead of waiting until something goes wrong and then trying to work out why, you imagine at the outset that the tenancy hasn’t gone to plan.
Then you work backwards and identify the most likely causes.
It’s a simple idea, but a powerful one.
Because in lettings, problems are rarely random.
Why this approach works
The same issues tend to come up time and time again.
A tenant who looked fine on paper but turns out to be unreliable.
A rental figure that felt ambitious but quietly limits demand.
Paperwork that seems in order until you actually need it.
When you think about these risks early, you give yourself the chance to deal with them before they become expensive problems.
It’s not about expecting the worst.
It’s about being prepared for it.
Where things usually go wrong
If a tenancy does go off track, it’s often down to a handful of familiar factors.
Tenant selection is one of the biggest. Referencing can be rushed, or small warning signs overlooked in the hope everything will be fine.
Pricing is another. Set the rent too high and you risk longer void periods or attracting the wrong type of interest. Too low, and you reduce your return from day one.
Compliance is where many landlords get caught out. Missing or incorrect documentation might not cause an issue immediately, but when you need to act, it can quickly become a serious legal and financial problem.
Maintenance tends to build slowly. What starts as a minor issue can become far more significant if left unresolved, and it often affects how tenants treat the property in return.
And then there’s communication. When that slips, even small misunderstandings can turn into bigger, avoidable issues.
Turning risk into a plan
The benefit of this approach is that it puts you back in control.
You can take time to get tenant selection right rather than rushing it.
You can base your rental figure on evidence, not instinct.
You can ensure compliance is in place from the beginning, not when it’s too late.
It also encourages a more proactive style of management, where issues are dealt with early and communication stays clear.
This is where the right support makes a real difference.
As founding members of the Ethical Agent Network, and part of its advisory panel, we’ve always believed that good letting is built on structure, clarity and doing things properly from the outset. Not reacting when problems arise, but reducing the chances of them happening in the first place.
A more considered way to let
Letting a property successfully isn’t about luck.
It’s about making a series of good decisions early on, understanding where things can go wrong, and putting the right foundations in place.
A simple pre-mortem won’t guarantee a perfect tenancy.
But it will stack the odds firmly in your favour.
And in today’s market, that can make all the difference.
Article by Andrew Overman | Partner | Location Location East
