Chasing yields miles away? – Send a Viewber in first

Early in 2023, The Telegraph ran an article on the concept of ‘remote landlording’. Its title – how to run a buy-to-let empire from hundreds of miles away – alluded to the fact that many property investors now purchase, and manage, buy-to-lets outside their local area.

Landlords are increasingly casting their geographical net wider in search of the very best net rental yields – the income generated by an investment, calculated using the price of the property, the rent collected, and the associated costs and fees of running a tenancy.

If you lived in London and the Southeast, you would naturally invest in London and the Southeast as they traditionally provided the best yields – but that is no longer the case, as illustrated by Hamptons. The estate agent found almost 75% of London-based investors bought rental properties in regional locations in 2022 – up from 26% in 2012.

The best yields? They’re at the other end of the country

Achieving profitable yields is more crucial – and harder – than ever before, with landlords squeezed by higher mortgage repayments, little to no house price appreciation in some areas, pressure to spend money on energy efficiency improvements and more expensive running costs.

This quest is making ‘remote landlording’ even more appealing, especially in light of new investment research from Redmayne Smith. When analysing data from Hometrack and Zoopla, it found the top five areas for buy-to-let prospects were Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Edinburgh, with rental yields ranging from 5% to 8%.

View a potential investment without leaving home

Great news if you live in Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol and Edinburgh – but what if you don’t? Repeatedly travelling to see potential buy-to-let properties is a lengthy, expensive process, especially if investing is a side hustle and you need to take time off work to undertake viewings. Frustratingly, even a carefully curated shortlist compiled from online research can end in a host of disappointments and wasted time – compounded by the need to travel miles back home with nothing to show for the journey.

Our Viewber network is trained to view properties on behalf of landlords, documenting the interior and exterior condition, including the garden, so investors can make informed decisions before committing to an in-person visit or a purchase. Although they are not chartered surveyors, a property’s true aesthetic condition will be captured by the Viewber in the form of a comprehensive, digital report.

Each Viewber endeavours to file their report back to the landlord on the same day, so they can progress with their property plans without having to visit the property in person.

What will a Viewber do at a property?

A Viewber will use all their senses to appraise a property. For instance, they may see a patch of mould in a bathroom, feel an area of condensation on a wall or smell the tell-tale sign of damp as they walk into a bedroom. All of this will be noted down and photographed, where visible.

Other common problems that are recorded include misty or blown double glazing units, missing or damaged fence panels, overgrown gardens, limescale, and the general condition of fixtures and fittings.

Spotting small niggles that may indicate bigger problems

No landlord wants to invest in a property that’s full of detrimental surprises, and the reports filed by Viewbers are invaluable when assessing the viability of a buy-to-let. Sometimes it’s the small details that can result in the biggest repair bills, and the information provided by a Viewber can be very telling.

Watermarks and stains, cracks in ceilings and plasterwork, doors and windows that stick – these can all be signs of deep-rooted issues such as leaks and subsidence. For investors who are starting out or adding to their portfolio, the presence of such issues will determine what level of survey they should consider. For some landlords, seeing such faults may put them off the property altogether.

A Viewber will also flag up issues that are seen during a mid-term inspection, which helps landlords plan for pre-emptive maintenance and head off emergency situations. That watermark on the ceiling photographed by a Viewber? A landlord can view the image, recognise that a shower tray sits directly above the stain and send in a plumber to look for a leak, before a slow drip turns into a constant trickle and the entire ceiling falls through.

A mid-term inspection also gives a Viewber the chance to spot signs of over occupation, detect whether any unauthorised pets are present and notice whether there are any breaches of the tenancy agreement, such as smoking.

What level of viewing is right for you?

Viewber offers landlord five different levels of property viewing – simply order the package that best suits your objective:

• Looking for an entry level viewing report, illustrated with photos and with visible damage documented? Book a basic property information report.
• Need a video recording of each floor and photos of the exterior, together with details of any damage and an opinion on the neighbourhood?  Book an advanced property information report.
• Want to explore the surrounding area as well as the property, complete with honest commentary? Book a property video & spoken opinion report.
• Require everything in the property video & spoken opinion report, with the addition of the property’s layout and room dimensions? Book a video & opinion extended report with floorplan.
• Want the closest thing to actually being there in person? Book a real-time viewing via a livestream video call, with the ability to direct the Viewber around the property, as required.

Meet Roland: a landlord’s ‘eyes and ears’

Roland is a typical Viewber who is booked to view a property on behalf of a landlord. Based on the South Coast, he describes himself as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a property investor. Roland’s latest vlog details his last visit to a buy-to-let, during which he used a combination of notes taken on his iPad and photographs to document the condition of the property. It’s a 2-minute watch, so head over to our YouTube channel for a flavour of a ‘view on my behalf’ visit.

If you are a landlord looking at properties miles away from where you’re based – or you simply don’t have the time to undertake multiple property visits – book a Viewber to view on your behalf.