When investing in a buy-to-let, there are countless considerations to make, but one that often gets overlooked in discussions is whether looking at leasehold properties is a good use of an investor’s time. When you buy a freehold building, you own the building and the land it’s on until the time comes to sell it, but leasehold means you only own the building for a set period. So, what does this mean for landlords, and are leasehold properties a good investment?
What is a leasehold property?
A leasehold property means you own the property in question for a specific length of time, which is the term of the lease. When the lease expires, the ownership transfers to the person or entity that owns the land. For a landlord, the idea of the investment simply being lost can be a frightening prospect and can put people off wanting to invest in a leasehold home.
Leases can range from 99 or 125 years all the way to 999 years, the latter of which is as good as a freehold. Theoretically, the closer the lease expiry date is, the less valuable it becomes and it can be harder to recoup your investment if you’re looking to sell. If the remaining term falls to 80 years or less, it can be hard to obtain a mortgage on the property, which is something potential investors need to bear in mind when looking for buy-to-lets.
The key differences with a leasehold property
Most leasehold properties are flats, though a leasehold can apply to any property. Properties purchased through the shared ownership scheme may also be leasehold. Because a leasehold means you don’t own the land the property sits on, you don’t have any ownership of communal areas in the case of a flat, meaning stairs, hallways and gardens are not your sole responsibility.
However, while leaseholders usually pay a set fee to the freeholder which goes towards the maintenance of these areas, from June 2022, new legislation on ground rent charges means these rents will be banned on new residential leases to avoid future rent increases, which makes leasehold properties more affordable.
What to consider before investing
The first question an interested landlord needs to ask is ‘does the lease permit letting?’. Not all leases will allow you to sublet the property, so if your intention is to purchase the home as a buy-to-let, this is a critical question to ask. If you go ahead with your buy-to-let without checking this first, you could find yourself in breach of your lease and that can come with fines and complications later on, so it’s important to check first.
Landlords also need to ensure they take into account the cost of maintenance and repairs for the property, as with any buy-to-let, which some leases enforce via a sinking fund to cover any unexpected repairs. Investing in a property as a buy-to-let means landlords need to think about the saleability of the property for the future, as it’s not their primary residence. Problems can occur, as previously stated, if the lease is less than 80 years, so extending a lease may be beneficial when purchasing the property but this can be a costly endeavour.
The benefits of leasehold buy-to-lets
It’s not all bad news when it comes to a leasehold property, especially when it comes to finances. Because of the challenges that you need to face when you buy a leasehold property, you can often find great bargains on the property market as they’re less appealing for many investors. If you’re willing to overcome these hurdles, you could find yourself getting a great deal upfront compared to a freehold.
There are some restrictions with this type of property, because you’re effectively renting space from another landlord who is the freeholder, so you’re at their mercy in terms of what you can do to the property. However, from a landlord’s point of view, the likelihood is you only want to make the property presentable and won’t be investing in any large-scale renovations, so this may not be an issue at all.
It may be possible to extend your lease if you’ve owned the property for at least two years, or if it only has 80 years or less left. Extending sooner rather than later is the best option, as the shorter the remaining lease is, the more expensive it will be to extend. Lease extensions are usually for 90 years, and the cost is typically 50% of the ‘marriage value’ of the property, or the extra value the property would gain from the longer lease, as well as legal fees, Land Registry updates and property valuations.
Is investing in a leasehold the right decision?
The process of investing in any property is complex and time-consuming, and it requires in-depth research to ensure you’re making the right choice. A leasehold may seem more complicated than buying a freehold to rent out, but it can still be a highly valuable investment depending on the buyer’s circumstances. Of course, this might not be the case if it is sat on the market with a short lease and you need to sell it fast.
The trick to investing in a leasehold is finding an agreement that suits the needs of the investor. If it’s an affordable property with agreeable lease terms and you aren’t in any rush to sell the property on, it can be a great way to save money upfront and grab a bargain. There’s certainly nothing wrong with investing in a leasehold property, if it meets the criteria you need from it – you simply need to be aware of the differences that a leasehold property has to a freehold.
There are also some unique perks, such as not needing to worry about the upkeep of communal areas, which frees up your time when you’re managing your buy-to-let portfolio. The best advice for landlords looking to buy a leasehold to rent out is to seek professional advice and speak to local buy-to-let agents who can offer advice based on the potential yields for the surrounding area. This will ensure the best returns, whatever the type of property bought.
Most of us are in an extraordinary situation right now, as we try suppress the COVID-19 coronavirus. As we distance ourselves from others, we’re all mindful that we still need to look after our clients, and that still means issuing and tracking keys.
We’ve already helped a number of you adapt to ensure your key processes still operate safely and securely when the office is unattended or on a skeleton staff.
I hope the below list is a helpful reminder of the ways you can use Keyzapp to manage keys and access to buildings/rooms whilst maintaining social distance.
1. Call us if you need anything!
All of us at Keyzapp are here for you as usual, so please do reach out if we can be of any assistance. We’re working mostly from home (so if you call us, please forgive any background child or pet noises!). Do call us anytime if you need help, on +44 (0)3300 88 55 01. Don’t forget the support portal is there if you need it.
The below tips utilise some features that are only available on our professional subscription and above. During the period of the Coronavirus, we are offering these features free to everybody, so if you can’t see the feature you need, please give us a call.
2. Make sure everyone can log in from home or mobile phone
You can make Keyzapp accessible to anyone from anywhere by giving them a username and password. It will work just as it does in the office.
Existing users just need to go to https://www.keyzapp.com/login and enter their username and password to gain access.
This works just as well from a mobile as from a laptop or tablet
Once logged in it’s a good idea save a shortcut to your phone’s home screen or desktop, so you can get back quickly.
4. Use reservations when you know a key is going to be needed
Keyzapp allows you to add a reservation note against a key if you know someone is going to need it. This not only helps stop others taking the key when someone is on their way to get it, but the reservations are recorded, so you can see who was supposed to get a key at a certain time, and check if they did.
5. Give your trusted contractors an account to look up keys themselves
You might want your more trusted contractors to have a degree of self-sufficiency during these difficult times, so that they are not directly reliant on you. You can choose to give them some limited access to Keyzapp to find and sign out their own keys. Here are two options:
Option 1: Key Holder
The Key Holder account is very limited, giving people access only to the keys that they are currently holding. They can sign the keys out by scanning the tag on their mobile phone, but cannot sign them back in again – this needs confirmation from you. They also cannot search for keys, so they’ll need to be told exactly which key number to collect.
Option 2: Key Holder Plus (Recommended)
This type of user account is great for trusted contractors, as they can search for properties to find the keys they need, then sign them in and out themselves. It doesn’t provide any personal data beyond the name of the person who holds a key (so is GDPR compliant), nor will let let them see the activity history or download reports of your properties.
6. Set up any computer in the office as a self-service kiosk
With more people working outside of the office, you may have a free computer you can use as a dedicated terminal for looking up keys. It’s secure, and is as easy to use as a Supermarket Self-Service checkout. Here’s how it works:
Give everyone an ID fob (if you don’t have any to hand, give us a call and we’ll sort you out!)
When a user scans their ID on the designated computer, they are instantly logged in (no need for a password as the physical tag provides the security)
They can search and sign out keys according to their permissions
When finished, the Kiosk goes back to a blank screen, ready for the next user.
Check out Phillip’s introduction here:
To set up a kiosk, you’ll need to create a special “Kiosk” user and log it in, on the computer you choose. There are a few other things we can do to really optimise the experience for you, so give us a call and we’ll gladly talk you through it
If you’ve already got a module in your existing software that manages keys, do you really need another?
This is a really valid question that I hear a lot, so here’s my comprehensive answer. If you’re a letting agent, the existing software that manages keys is usually your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System, where you do most of your property management.
The short answer:
If you have a key book system in your CRM and it works fine (i.e. you never hear “Who has the keys” in your office, never spend time looking for keys that aren’t where they were expected to be, and you have 100% confidence that you can prove who had a key at any given time) then of course there’s no need to invest in a dedicated tool to help you.
But if this isn’t always the case, or you’re not sure, then read on….
Many people areusing dedicated Key software, in spite of their CRM’s keybook
About 75%-85% of our lettings clients come to us despite having tried their CRM’s key book function. Many have even gone back to pen and paper for some or all of their key processes, because they couldn’t get on with the way the CRM works.
Most CRMs have some sort of key management functionality, ranging from a simple input box where you can store a key number, through to more advanced functionality, that matches or even improves what you might find in a paper log book. All CRMs are different, and some are of course better than others, so please forgive some generalisations in what follows, but here are my top 10 reasons why you still might need a dedicated system:
1. Ease of use
Keyzapp is often described as “Google for Keys”. Can you see the resemblance?
This one is a bit of a “catch-all”, but it’s probably the most important. It’s that overall feel of getting what you want, when you need it. Almost everyone coming to Keyzapp from a CRM comments on how easy to use it feels.
If it isn’t simple and immediately obvious what to do, then people won’t use it. An early client described Keyzapp as “Google for keys”, which we’re pretty proud of – It’s always clear what you need to do next, and you get the right information at the right time.
Here are a just 3 things that make a dedicated Key Management system easier to use:
Guided processes that are tailored to you – Everyone manages keys slightly differently, but a good dedicated system will fit to the way you want to work in your office, asking only for information that you need, and making it clear what to do next.
Physical Scanning – More on this later, but in the context of ease of use, scanning a key tag makes signing keys in and out faster and more accurate.
Consider this scenario: You come back to your desk and find someone has dropped back a set of keys. With your CRM system, you have to first open your CRM app, move away from what you were doing, look at the keys to identify them in some way, by looking up the number or figuring out the address and searching, often then clicking through to the key module, before signing the key back in. With Keyzapp, by contrast, you just take the key and scan it (in most cases you don’t even need to open the app), and check it back in.
Clarity of experience – With a dedicated system, you’re there for one job only, to look up keys and your whole experience is tailored to that task. An example of this might be colour coding key statuses, or flagging reservations so you can see at a glance if there are any issues you need to take care of.
Because CRM systems have to do hundreds of different tasks, they generally can’t provide same clarity and ease of use as a dedicated system.
2. Scanning keys for quick identification and proof of presence
Adding scanning to key tags means that you can interact with them much easier. As I’ve shown above, it makes processes like issuing and returning keys much faster and simpler. But there’s more than just this…
It also adds a high degree of accuracy – I’ve seen many occasions where people mistakenly hand out the wrong key to a team member or contractor, only for them to visit the property and return because they can’t get in. This round trip wastes everybody’s time (45-60 minutes or more isn’t uncommon) and can also make you look pretty silly if you’ve turned up to a viewing with the wrong keys. If you scan the keys as you hand them out, you get a visual confirmation that those are the right keys for the right job. You can even have a confirmation sent to the person receiving the key to validate that they have indeed been given the right key.
A third, very powerful advantage of modern smart fobs, is that they work on mobile phones, meaning that you can track keys outside of the office. If Jenny meets Sanjay at the property and gives him the keys, a simple scan will log that the keys have changed ownership and Sanjay is now responsible. These are the sorts of things that are very hard to track using a traditional CRM, and they are exactly the sort of scenarios that lead to arguments back at base about who did what and when.
3. Clear auditing of who’s done what
This is a big one. Being able to know, with a high degree of accuracy, who did what and when will make everyone more accountable in your business. CRMs really struggle with this when it comes to key management.
The classic scenario is that someone looks up a property in your CRM to find the key number. They then go to your key cabinet to get the key and rush out of the door, forgetting to sign the key out. Now you have no record of who has that key and you’re out of compliance with just about every property code of conduct out there.
A properly set-up dedicated key system will help you avoid this. The very fact that someone searches for a key is logged, so you can see immediately if a key was looked up but not signed out, and who did it. You can then train that specific team member. If a key is missing, you know who the last person to look for it was. Our clients are often amazed by the difference this makes to the way their staff take care of keys.
When you factor in that the dedicated system is generally much easier to use, those looking up the key are far more likely to sign out the key correctly, because it is so trivial to do.
This can be enhanced further if you choose to add a dedicated key computer or “kiosk” right next to the cabinet, so people can lookup and sign out keys, at the same place, at the same time.
4. Tracking the right information
This one’s a bit of a bugbear of mine, as I’m actually surprised by how many CRMs don’t even track the right information to let you manage your keys effectively. In my mind there are 3 key pieces of information you need to track, besides the key itself:
Who has it (Some CRMs only track “In” or “Out” – Useless!)
Who gave it to them, and when (Always good for understanding context, and a second person to call on if something goes wrong)
When it is due back – An absolute must, but for reasons that escape me, a large number CRMs ignore it. If you know when a key is overdue, you can take action. If you don’t, you probably won’t.
Going beyond the basics, there are other things many CRMs ignore – for example, does it ensure that you can properly contact the actual person who has your keys? It’s all very well to check out keys to “British Gas”, but British Gas is a big company- how do you hope to chase it if you don’t know who you gave it to?
5. Chasing Keys Back
Many CRMs have some basic Text/Email/Alerting capability, but few, if any, extend this to their key system. A good dedicated key system will handle the chasing of keys automatically. Most people think it’s much nicer to have an apologetic contractor turning up with their late keys, than to have to remember to chase them. Evidence suggests that a good chasing system will work on around 80% of your contractors, leaving you with only the handful of “usual suspects” to chase. Knowing who isn’t following your process, is also pretty handy when making decisions about which contractors to use….
6. Organising your keys: Key codes and key storage
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last 5-or-so years focusing on nothing but key management, it’s that almost everyone has a slightly different way of organising their keys. Sometimes, this is borne out of necessity (e.g. If you manage a lot of HMOs you’ll have different needs than if you focus on let-only single lets). Other times, it’s just because different people think and work in different ways (we’re all different after all!).
Every CRM I’ve seen will do one of two things:
EITHER it will enforce its own draconian numbering system on you, which is totally inflexible and forces people to “work around” its foibles
OR it’s way too permissive, giving you just a simple box to fill out for “Key Reference”, leading to every member of staff filling it in slightly differently, and resulting in long-term inconsistency and confusion. Customers using this type of CRM regularly find themselves with 2 properties having been given the exact same key code
A good dedicated key system understands both how you store and how you code your keys, making it extremely easy to add new keys without introducing problems. Not only does this mean that you get the labelling system that makes most sense for your business, and that everything is done consistently, it comes with added benefits, for example:
Suggesting which hooks on your key wall are free, when you add a new property
Noticing that when you add a second set of keys for the same property, that they should probably hang on the same hook as the first (if this is indeed what you want)
Some CRM systems don’t even allow for you having 2 sets of keys for the same property and that these sets might be slightly different. How many of us have a basic set for a tenant, and then a management set which has extra shed keys, window keys and such like? Shouldn’t we be able to track when each type of set is given out, and to whom?
7. Managing all the nuances of real-life key management
Most people look at managing keys and think, “How hard can it be”? “It’s either in, or it’s out, right?”. As agents we know that it’s never quite that simple! However, your poor CRM provider needs to give you the tools to manage all aspects of your business, and they rarely have time to delve right into the nitty gritty.
With keys, the devil is in the detail – it’s in the nitty gritty where things most often go wrong. Most CRMs understandably can’t go down to this level. Here are a couple of examples:
• Tenant Keys need to be managed completely differently to the keys that are in the office. We need to record what the tenant has, and when we gave them out, but we don’t keep track of them day to day. While keys are with tenants, we don’t want them leaving an unused empty hook in our cabinet, but we do want to know that they are out. At the end of the tenancy those keys come back into our position, and we might need to give them out temporarily to a whole host of people; staff for viewings, cleaners, inspectors etc.
• Transfers between people Not all situations are as simple as a key being signed out or in, sometimes it moves between people, and as I’ve already mentioned, this is a prime opportunity for us to lose track, if our system can’t cope with it
• Master, Suited and Communal Keys. Sometimes one set opens multiple doors in a building. Other times, you can’t enter the property unless have the communal gate key AND the property. This sort of thing is particularly common when managing large blocks or HMOs.
• Reserving Keys There is nothing more frustrating when someone turns up for a pre-arranged visit (e.g. Gas inspection) only to find that you gave out the key 5 minutes ago, to someone who has just gone across town. A good dedicated system will allow you to reserve keys and stop them going out.
8. Moving keys between offices or departments
If you have more than one office in your agency, then you may well see the scenario where people pick up the keys from office A, only to return them to office B. This is you offering great customer service, but what a nightmare to keep track of! Your staff might mark the key as signed-in in the CRM, but actually it’s in a completely different place. Your dedicated Key Management system will ensure that it’s very clear exactly where that key is now stored, even if it’s only on a temporary basis.
It’s also not uncommon for keys to move around during the lifecycle of a property. When you first take on the property, your front office team need all the keys. Once let, your management office takes over. This sort of thing is second nature in the dedicated system, but how many hoops do you need to jump through to make sure your CRM knows what’s happened?
9. A key log that’s really usable
So you’re capturing all that data about your keys, but how easy is it to properly put that data to use? CRMs can traditionally only provide you with fairly limited reporting on your keys (and of course some are better than others). Others provide you the information, but you’ve got to delve in report builders to get it. Worse, they might export a static PDF document, that runs to many pages and is hopeless for finding information quickly.
A dedicated system should provide you everything you need when you need it, organised in the most logical way. Consider these questions and think about how well your CRM can answer them:
What keys are out of the office right now?
What keys should have been returned by now?
What keys do I have right now?
Who’s had the keys to 25 London Road in the last 3 weeks?
How long did the cleaner spent with the keys on 14th August?
We’ve seen examples where contractors have been caught over-charging, because they actually held keys for fewer hours than were billed. We also had a client who sold a property, only for it to be broken into with no sign of forced entry, just days after the sale. In one click, that client could provide the authorities with a full list of everyone who had had access to any set of keys for that property over the previous month.
10. Enhance your overall client experience
We all know that poorly managed keys can lead to embarrassing mistakes that impact on your brand’s hard-won credibility. We’ve also seen that few CRMs give you everything you need to stay fully in control. A last thing that a dedicated system can do for you is help recover lost keys a lot more easily. This type of service is especially popular for those who deal in student and professional lets.
If your dedicated system provides you with a fob that can be uniquely identified, it is trivial for an exact key to be traced, if someone finds it in the street. Some, like Keyzapp, provide a self-service option, where all someone needs to do is scan the tag on their own phone (no app required) to report a lost key.
Others still like using the phone to call us or the agency direct. In a matter of seconds, you’ll know what key has been lost, who lost it, and can provide instructions for getting it back. This saves your tenants the risk of high admin fees for replacement keys.
Some agents will hand out custom-branded fobs to clients following a sale or let-only completion. The recoverability of the key incentivises the person to carry your brand around with them wherever they go, and ensure that you stay front of mind. All food for thought in this competitive market….
Conclusion: CRM vs Dedicated System, or both together?
My main purpose in writing this article is not to slate your CRM’s key management capabilities, though hopefully I’ve shown how difficult it is for CRMs to cover all the bases that make Key Management truly successful. That said, surely the answer is to combine the best of both worlds?
This is best achieved when all the nitty-gritty of key management is handled by the dedicated system, but the right information is visible in the CRM. The very best CRMs offer a superb management experience, particularly for property managers, branch managers and directors who need to see everything that’s going on with a property in one place. By contrast the overall strength of the dedicated key system is the simplicity it provides to the frontline worker, making many of the complexities I’ve described above feel natural and seamless.
Bringing everything together in an intelligent way means that you work in the right place at the right time, without the need to input data separately into each system. At Keyzapp we wholeheartedly believe in a wide eco system, where the agent can pick the best tools to suit them. As such, we’re committed to integration with other systems and can already report events like overdue keys to any system that can receive them, as well as bring in shared property data from systems like Rezi and SME Professional.
How does your CRM measure up for managing keys? What have I missed about dedicated systems? Get in touch and let me know your thoughts.
If you feel like you’ll never get your staff to toe the line, try these suggestions
“I just can’t get my staff to do things properly” has to be just about the biggest complaint I hear from estate agency owners and lettings managers as I travel the country.
For many, getting people to sign out keys every time is a constant battle. At the same time, most people realise that getting this right is the single most important way to prevent keys going missing.
Though it’s easy to say “I’ll never get my negs to do it right” and accept it as a “fact of life”, in reality, signing out keys is just a simple organisational habit that you can embed without a great deal of effort. Here are the top things successful agents do to ensure that keys are issued correctly every time.
Locking keys to the board is the wrong place to start!
Some assume that the best way to ensure people always sign out keys is to lock them into the cabinet, and that nothing short of this will work. The good news is that there are many (much cheaper) things you can do first.
In fact, physically locking keys down can have its own problems, such as the impracticality of the space needed for a chunky board and the cost. You not only have to pay for the board (the most popular brand costs £280 for just 25 keys on Amazon), but you also need the special key rings and pegs to make it work.
Even peg locking mechanisms are often worked around when the staff are in a hurry.
Whilst a physical locking system can and does make sense for some, I only suggest coming back to it once you’ve tried all the other things below.
Stop ‘locking’ and start with ‘looking’ for the key
You probably know the many obvious security reasons for not writing your property addresses on keys, did you know that this (still alarmingly common) practice could also make your staff less likely to sign them out?
If it’s too easy identify that they’ve got the right key, people will get into a bad habit of grabbing it and running, certain in the knowledge that they have the right one. Though it might save them a few seconds of time, it will leave you both out of compliance and exposed to all the risks of losing keys. If they have to do a little work to find the key, but it’s then super easy to sign it out whilst they’re at it, then why wouldn’t they?
By contrast, if they have to look up the key in one place, only to need to go somewhere else to actually sign it out, then that all-important second step will almost always be skipped.
If you’re still using a paper list to find keys, keeping the list right next to your sign-out log is a must (but please remember to keep this list secure and lock it away at night!).
If your CRM offers you a basic sign-out log, then you might be able to use that. However…
Beware of too many clicks (or keep a pen handy)
Taking the path of least resistance is not just human nature, it’s a fundamental law of nature in general (think rivers, electricity, even evolution). Anything that slows people down, even a little, is less likely to get done. It’s absolutely critical that the process of finding a key, signing it out and getting out the door for that viewing can be accomplished with the absolute minimum of effort.
If you have an electronic tool for key tracking (e.g. the CRM system we talked about earlier) make sure that it is as rapid as humanly possible to get from knowing which key you need, to getting it signed out. This can be measured in the number of clicks or key strokes to get the job done. More than 3 of either and it’s time to find a faster option!
If you’re stuck with pen and paper, there are still ways to cut down the friction. Just keeping a working pen tied to your logbook can make a surprisingly big difference. You might also think about the amount of information someone needs to fill in. Name, date and signature are about all you can ask for, or the friction is too high (yes, you’ll be sacrificing other important and useful information, but that’s better than keys not being signed out at all!).
Visual cues trigger the right habits
We’re all driven by our habits, and all good habits start with a trigger. Most of us don’t have to think to brush our teeth in the morning, we just do it out of habit. We want to make it a habit for the team to always sign keys out, so we need to trigger them to do it (there are many books on this subject- my favourite is Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit”).
If you’ve already changed the computer system, or re-positioned the key book, then those changes themselves might be enough to trigger people to a new way of doing things. Often it’s a good idea to add a visual stimulus, here are some common examples:
If you have a key room, (or a back room where keys are stored) a prominent poster asking “Have you signed the keys out?” should trigger the right response in the short term
Changing the keys themselves can also be helpful, for example add a brightly coloured tag
Reward good behaviours…
Once you’ve done all the physical things to get the right behaviour in place, don’t forget to show your appreciation as things start to improve. The way you do that will probably depend on each individual within your team. Rewards can be monetary, or you could try out a service like PerkBox, but don’t forget good old fashioned praise and sugary treats!
…And follow up the mistakes
The final important way to get people to toe the line (once you’ve made it as easy as possible to do so) is that you quickly pick up on the occasions when the process isn’t being followed. Nobody likes to be seen to be getting it wrong, so you must take advantage of this to keep the right process front of mind in the early days.
Having someone with authority to actively monitor how well the keys are being managed is crucial, and often overlooked. If people think nobody is watching, they’ll be inclined to cut corners. On the other hand, if they know it will be noticed when they don’t do things properly, they are far more likely to put in the extra effort to get it right.
If you see people not following the process well, then you can follow up with them either individually or collectively.
In some circumstances (particularly with sales staff) negative incentives have been shown to work quite well. These often take the form of fines for not being signed out. Turning the process into a game can also work, providing a special bonus for those people who handle keys well, and “naming and shaming” the worst performers. Whether this is right for you will depend on your business culture.
“What gets measured gets managed” – Peter Drucker
You might have been wondering about how you know when things are going right or wrong. Getting hold of the right information quickly is probably the biggest reason to use a dedicated key management system, as it is built to provide the right information to you. However, it isn’t impossible to do it using paper and spreadsheets (it just might take a bit longer). Depending on your CRM system, you might also be able to print useful property reports out (though many are sadly lacking good features for this).
Here are some thoughts on what to track:
How many keys are being signed out each day – is that what you expect?
Do you have more viewings, inspections and other visits scheduled in a day than you have keys signed out in the log?
Check at the end of the day which keys are outstanding – is this what you expect?
Are there any keys who have been signed out for a really long time? Who is responsible for following them up?
How long does it take to get key management right?
Most people find that after implementing the above steps, the effect on the way people sign out keys is pretty instant. If you start monitoring how people take and return keys, you could find the problem solved in under 2 weeks. The challenge is to keep it going.
It’s worth investing the time to check on keys every single day in the first few weeks. Following that, once you’re confident everything is working well, you’ll find you don’t need to check as frequently (and the process of checking is much easier). It’s super important that someone in your company is responsible for checking on the process regularly – check out this article for more on why, who and how to get someone in charge of keys.
Need any help with getting keys right? Why not get in touch?
We’re working on a few free tools to help you and we’d also be happy to put you in touch with customers who’ve been through the process already.
What does Keyzapp bring over and above the traditional barcode system?
Barcodes were all the rage in the late ‘90s. Some enterprising agents and software makers began using barcodes to track keys and some of those systems are still around today. Barcodes were just the first step- they make some things easier, but key-based headaches have continued in many places that use them.
Keyzapp represents a major step forward. Here’s why:
You’re not tied to a single computer
Most barcode systems require special equipment & software, meaning you can only use it one or two computers. Keyzapp works on all computers, (scanners are optional) and almost every phone or tablet on the market today*
This is far more convenient- staff can look up keys at their desk and sign them out when they get to the cabinet.
Track every key movement
Most of us transfer keys in more than one way Sometimes, they are passed between people when outside of the office. Because Keyzapp works anywhere, these events can be audited and captured as well.
Absolute scanning simplicity
With barcodes you often have to open up your software click inside a particular box for a key scan – this is fiddly and hard to learn. With Keyzapp, simply tap the fob on the reader or phone and you’ll be taken to the right place without even touching the keyboard!**
Lower administration
Many barcode systems require you to print your own barcodes. This passes the cost and a time-consuming process to your team; they have to open the software, manage a stock of labels, print the barcode (then unload the labels) and then attach it to keys. Keyzapp’s fobs and stickers come pre printed and coded, you simply attach them to your keys and start scanning.
Lower cost hardware
Our NFC readers for PCs and Mac, are typically half the cost of the cheapest barcode scanner. With Keyzapp, your smart phone can scan fobs at no extra cost.
In summary…
Upgrading from barcodes to Keyzapp gives you:
Far greater convenience and flexibility
No admin headaches
Ability to track more activities
A faster, more user friendly experience
Bang for your buck
What really makes Keyzapp work is the way it enables your people to follow your key process consistently every single time, so you have complete peace of mind. Book a demo today to see how it can help you.
It’s mid-July and that means the busy summer season is already underway for folks in the Northern Hemisphere. Keys will be going in and out of the office with ever increasing frequency, and staying on top of them can be hard work! As we all know, a key in the wrong place can cause no end of woe for you and your team. It usually leads to bad guest experiences, delays in servicing, frustrated staff and angry landlords.
Working with short stay companies around the world, I often get asked about “best practice”. I thought I’d write a quick guide, based on what we’ve seen and the experience of our clients- I hope it’s helpful!
1. Make sure you have enough copies
When you’ve got keys going in and out to staff, contractors and guests, have enough sets available all the times. It will really make life easier! It may be that another person needs access to a property before the last person has returned the keys. Most short stay and holiday rental companies we work with keep at least 4 sets of keys – 2 for guests, 1 for cleaning and maintenance and one for management.
Having two sets of guest keys can reduce the number of times you’re asked to provide a spare when guests lose them or lock themselves out. It also buys you time to get other sets ready or re-cut. A side effect can be that the guests feel more loved!
It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have another “emergency” set that can be used as a template for getting keys re-cut (see below).
2. Separate your guest sets and management sets
Not every set of keys we hold is the same. We often need keys to access parts of a property that guests should not access, such as utilities cupboards and water meters. Over the course of a busy season, some guests will inevitably lose keys, so it’s important to keep those sets down to as few as possible. This will reduce cost and hassle of getting keys re-cut or locks changed.
The other reason for separating the sets is because the way you handle guest keys is often very different to the way you manage keys for staff, cleaning and maintenance. Having a different set for different purposes often makes sense. It helps everyone if you can make the sets visibly different, so people looking at them can instantly see what type of set they are. The most common way to do this is either using a different coloured tag or a different label. Some people do both!
If the key rings you are giving out contain high-value items that are likely to go missing (e.g. parking fobs, or high security keys) you might also consider adding tamper-proof keyrings to certain sets. Tamper Proof Keyrings can become very expensive, so this might only be worth doing for the high-risk sets.
3. Ensure strict accountability for everyone who takes keys
This is the big one – and it’s also the hardest. Without strong accountability, it’s almost impossible to stay on top of your keys.
What do we mean by accountability? It means that any person who takes keys knows, understands and accepts what it means to have keys in their possession. You need to have rules and processes that everyone understands and follows. There must be also be significant consequences for not following the right process.
The main thing to ensure is that anyone taking keys is responsible for ensuring that they are returned in the same condition they were taken, within the time frame you set.
If a person does not follow your process correctly or loses a set of keys in their possession, then there are consequences. Usually that means being liable to pay the replacement costs (including the relevant administration costs) if keys are lost, but it can also mean missing KPIs for staff and contractors, and even remuneration if keys come back late.
How you manage accountability will likely differ between staff, contractors and guests. For guests it will probably form part of your Terms and Conditions, and most people will expect to pay a charge for lost keys. For staff and contractors it’s important to have a key management policy in place, which may for part of their general contract, which outlines their responsibility.
The golden rule for accountability should be that whoever the key log says has the keys is the person responsible for them. This brings us neatly to the next point….
4. Track everything
If making sure everyone knows their responsibilities when they take keys is the most important thing, then the only way to enforce that accountability is through effective tracking. It is critical that you can reliably track who has a key at any given point. With reliable tracking, you will always know who is responsible. Having observed our clients over many years, there is an astonishing improvement in the way people look after keys, as soon as they know they are being tracked and monitored.
Tracking keys effectively is easier said than done. Below are the main things you’ll need to track:
Key Issue / Signing keys out
The big danger is that if people take a key without signing it out, it’s impossible to track. You need to make sure that the right person is accountable for a key when it is taken. Here are a couple of ways you can do that:
1. Ensure that keys are only issued by dedicated staff.
These are people whose job it is to hand over keys and ensure things are accurately recorded. These people are incentivised to do things properly, since if something goes wrong and a key is missing, then they are ultimately accountable. What’s important here is that only these trusted individuals have access to the key cabinet and the list/database of which key goes with which property (never, ever, write the property address on the key tag)
2. Use a software system or key database to audit who looks up keys.
This is the most flexible approach. If people have to rely on a database to find the key they are looking for, then a sophisticated system such as Keyzapp will be able to tell you the last person who looked for a key, even if they fail to sign it out properly. If people are using the same system to look up keys and sign them out, then in practice this rarely happens, since it’s so easy to sign it out at the same time as you look it up. Any mistakes that are made become very easy to pick up and correct.
3. Physically lock keys in place until they can be signed out.
There are a number of hardware options on the market that prevent people taking keys unless they are fully signed out, ranging from mechanical “peg boards” to highly sophisticated cabinets that use fingerprint or facial recognition. These options can be used together with software systems if you want the best of both worlds. The only thing to bear in mind is that even basic mechanical systems can be quite expensive to buy and maintain. They also take up quite a bit of physical space, which many people don’t have.
Key return / Signing keys in
Once you’ve got people accountable when keys go out of the office- it’s in their own best interests to sign them in properly. All you need to do is enforce a rule that says “If the key is not signed in, then whoever is in the log as having taken it is the person responsible. No arguments.”
Old fashioned pen and paper can still work here, provided you regularly check the keys still signed out. In our experience it’s much better to have a system that makes it clear when keys are not back after a period of time, as this helps prevent key loss and eliminates the need to comb through pages and pages of logs when something goes wrong.
Tracking key handovers
This one is particularly relevant to the Short Stay sector, where keys often pass between people outside of the office. If this regularly happens in your business then you need a good way to audit when keys change hands- if not, the person who takes the keys from the office ends up unfairly “on the hook” (pardon the pun) for keys that go missing. You want to avoid those awkward “he-said, she-said” arguments, which are bad for morale, and lead people to lose faith in the system.
Tracking key handovers outside of the office has traditionally been one of the most difficult things to do. You really have 3 options:
1. Enforce a rule to report every key handover back to base.
Ideally, whenever people exchange keys outside of the office, they must inform the office who can update the records, and send a confirmation to each party that the responsibility for the keys has changed hands. This is quite time consuming for all concerned, and if not done properly can lead to errors or disputes. Many fast-paced companies find it impractical, but it can work on a small scale especially if key exchanges are rare.
2. Simply don’t allow key handovers between people.
This is probably the best option if you don’t have a system that supports it. It will probably mean keeping and tracking more sets of keys for each property, but this is a price worth paying for better accountability.
3. Use an app or system that supports transfer of keys between people.
Here you can make use of mobile devices to electronically record key handovers quickly and easily. We’re not aware of anything other than Keyzapp that makes the process this easy.
5. Put someone in charge
Putting someone in charge of your key process is the critical factor to ensuring that all keys are accounted for. Even if you allow people to take keys for themselves, you still need someone to oversee the process and regularly check it’s working properly. The person best suited for this role is a senior detail-orientated person, who isn’t the office manager. In our experience, the boss isn’t well suited to this role, because they are usually too busy. Equally don’t give the job to the most
Whichever system you choose to track and manage your keys, you still need to check how things are going. Once people know that the key log is regularly reviewed, I guarantee you’ll see an immediate improvement in behaviour. The review should usually be done by the person in charge of the key process, reporting to the office manager. We recommend that you review the log at least once a week, but you may like to do it more often, especially in the early days. With the right tools and process it’s a very quick check. There are 4 main things to review:
1. What keys are overdue?
Any electronic system that allows you to record key sign-outs should also allow you to track a due back date, making this information easy to find. If keys are overdue, then you should chase them up as soon as possible. Overdue keys that aren’t returned quickly tend to go missing. If you’ve followed the advice above, at least you’ll know who is responsible should the worst happen.
2. Which are my at-risk properties?
These are properties where you have no current keys in the office. If you have an emergency and all keys are signed out, then you may be in a difficult situation. See if you can get at least one set back, even if not yet overdue.
3. Does the number of key sign-outs look right?
This helps you be sure that your keys are being signed-out properly. If properties are cleaned on every checkout, does the number of sign-outs from cleaners correlate to the number of checkouts you’ve had this week? If not, dig a little deeper and see who in your team needs more training.
4. Spot check the cabinet.
Pick a couple of random key hooks to go and check. Use your records to work out how many sets of keys you should have right now for a few properties. It’s good to pick a couple at random and some where you know there has been recent activity. This helps you see if people have been following the process properly. If you’ve just added a lot of keys or you’ve changed your process, you should do this more frequently.
7. What to do when guests lose keys
You’ll almost certainly have a process in place for guests losing their keys, but here are a few pointers.
If you charge guests a fee for key/lock replacement, factor in the admin time as well as the direct costs. Getting a locksmith out or sending a member of the team to get new keys cut can be very time consuming and the invoices/receipts can generate a lot of admin. Make sure you communicate clearly any charges that you have to your guests.
A guest losing keys can often give you two problems. Firstly you need to give guests access to the property again by giving them a spare set of keys. Secondly, you may also need to get new keys cut. Ensure you have enough spares so you can do both these things in parallel. We’ve already covered how having two sets of guest keys can make this easier.
Did this help? Any questions?
Well done for making it to the end of what turned out to be quite a long post. I hope you found it useful. Do you have any questions? Have I missed something that’s important to you? Please get in touch by leaving a comment below. Here’s a quick summary:
Make sure you have enough keys to cover all the coming and going and still have one spare in the office for emergencies
Separate your guest sets and management sets, and make it obvious which is which
Make sure everyone knows the rules with keys and the consequences of not following them
Keep a detailed key log
Put someone in charge and review the log regularly for issues
We’re delighted to announce that Keyzapp has been approved for purchase by UK Public Sector organisations using the Government’s Digital Marketplace, or G Cloud. If you work in the public sector and need a low cost solution for tracking keys and other small assets, you can now purchase Keyzapp more quickly and easily than ever before at a standard low rate, using a pre-agreed contract framework. This should make your procurement team very happy.
We’re delighted to have been accepted into the marketplace, and hope that this puts Keyzapp within reach of more of our country’s institutions, such as schools. local authorities, healthcare providers and their contractors.
Keys. We still can’t live without them yet staying in control of them is time consuming and frustrating for facilities and building managers the world over. Having solved this problem for hundreds of letting agents and property managers, Keyzapp is now bringing its knowledge and tools to the facilities sector.
Founded in 2014, Keyzapp takes advantage of the low-cost contactless technology now found in most credit cards and mobile phones, completely removing the need for spreadsheets and logbooks. As with all innovations that improve business practices, the idea is simple. Just tap a key fob on your phone or reader to see instantly what a key is for, and issue it to the person who needs it without fuss. The app then takes over, giving you an instant view of who has your keys, sending automatic reminders to people whose keys are due back
Keyzapp’s three co-founders were certain they could find a better way to keep track of small, hard-to-track assets like keys, after seeing at first hand the sheer nuisance that misplaced keys can cause in the lettings industry. “Our mission is to completely eliminate paper-based logbooks and spreadsheets for tracking keys in business. We had to come up with something different that’s accessible to everyone” says director Tim Hill. “Managing keys is a people-process, so the answer was to make the whole thing extremely easy to pick up and use. At the same time, it had to be flexible enough to respect the different ways companies tag and record their keys. We also had to make it low cost so that it was a viable option for people managing 20 key sets or 20,000.”
Until now, facilities managers trying to improve their key controls have had limited options, with most solutions focusing on expensive hardware that physically lock keys into cabinets. Keyzapp takes a completely different approach because it focuses on capturing the responsibility for keys as they pass from the storage locations, to different people. When scanning keys, staff see simple guided processes that tell them what information needs to be captured at each step. Front-line staff have described Keyzapp as “childsplay” to use, whilst managers quickly observe improvements in operational efficiency and improved KPIs. Savings often depend on the processes required, but range from cutting a 30-minute daily process to just 5 minutes, right through to one housing association saving £10,000 in 6 months of use.
“Moving to facilities seemed like the natural next step for us, not least because of the demand coming through our website from facilities teams across the world” continues Tim. To date, Keyzapp has been implemented in 14 different countries, with clients ranging from Shopping Centres to Airbnb hosts. “Our attendance at the Facilities Show marks the beginning of our focus on this sector and we’re excited to solve this everyday problem in commercial locations around the world”.
Keyzapp have recently completed a video case study with Amthal Fire and Security, who chose Keyzapp because of the way they could set it up to meet the needs of their 24-hour engineering workforce. You can see the resulting video from their website https://www.keyzapp.com/amthal
Keyzapp will be exhibiting at the Facilities Show at London’s Excel Centre on 18th-20th June. For more information, visit www.keyzapp.com.
Over the past year, I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with an incredible bunch of inspiring people from all over the country who are proving how independent letting agents can not only survive, but thrive, despite today’s difficult climate. Continue reading “What makes an Agent Rainmaker?”
Imagine the scenario. Your client arrives to collect their keys. You go to the cabinet, and they aren’t there. Who has them? Where are they? Who had them last? At best you look disorganised – at worst you look unprofessional and a risk to your client’s security.
All of us at Keyzapp are here for you as usual, so please do reach out if we can be of any assistance. We’re working mostly from home (so if you call us, please forgive any background child or pet noises!). Do call us anytime if you need help, on +44 (0)3300 88 55 01. Don’t forget the 
Keyzapp allows you to add a reservation note against a key if you know someone is going to need it. This not only helps stop others taking the key when someone is on their way to get it, but the reservations are recorded, so you can see who was supposed to get a key at a certain time, and check if they did.
Some assume that the best way to ensure people always sign out keys is to lock them into the cabinet, and that nothing short of this will work. The good news is that there are many (much cheaper) things you can do first.
Absolute scanning simplicity
Keyzapp have recently completed a video case study with Amthal Fire and Security, who chose Keyzapp because of the way they could set it up to meet the needs of their 24-hour engineering workforce. You can see the resulting video from their website