Twelve emails to get to marketing
A landlord agrees to use your management service. The negotiator sends terms of business. Then the property manager asks for ID. Then proof of ownership. Then the gas safety certificate, which the landlord thinks the last agent has. Then the EICR, which turns out to be out of date. Then bank details, which arrive in an email body, and then consent to let from their lender, which they had not heard of.
Each request is reasonable. Together they feel like a paper chase, and the property sits empty while it runs.
Why onboarding drags
Onboarding is a list, but it is requested item by item as each person in the office remembers their part. Landlords, especially first-time or accidental landlords, do not know what is coming and some items take time to get, such as consent from a lender or a new certificate. Asking late means waiting late.
What you need from a landlord is set by your own policies and the advice your business follows; the list varies with the type of service and property. That variety is another reason it lives in people's heads rather than in a process.
| Onboarding item | Common delay |
|---|---|
| Terms of business signed | Attachment to print and return |
| Identity and ownership checks | Requested separately, late |
| Consent from lender or freeholder | Landlord unaware it may be needed |
| Safety certificates and EPC | Missing or out of date, found late |
| Bank details | Sent insecurely, typed in by hand |
| Property details and appliances | Collected piecemeal at inventory |
What slow onboarding costs
Every week spent collecting paperwork is a week the property is not earning, which is the landlord's loss and a poor start to your relationship. Documents found missing at the last minute delay the tenancy or, worse, get overlooked. Bank details sent by email are a fraud risk that your business should want to remove.
Staff time goes on chasing, and landlords judge your professionalism by how organised the first week feels.
Incomplete onboarding also creates work later. A property that went live without a full appliance list, meter locations or the landlord's preferred contractors will generate questions at every maintenance request. Collecting those details once, at the start, saves the property manager from asking the landlord piecemeal for years.
The onboarding we build
- One link: the landlord receives a single onboarding link with a checklist tailored to their service level and property type, so they can see everything needed at the start.
- Pre-filled facts: what can be looked up, such as the EPC from the public register, is filled in for the landlord to confirm.
- Checks and signatures: identity checks go through the provider you use, and terms are signed electronically.
- Documents: certificates and consents are uploaded against each item, with expiry dates read and confirmed so they feed your compliance tracking.
- Bank details: entered securely in the form rather than by email, with the confirmation step your fraud controls require.
- Missing items: anything outstanding is shown to the landlord and property manager, with reminders, and items that will take time are flagged early.
- Hand-off: the complete landlord and property record is created in your lettings software through its API, ready for marketing.
What the landlord and your team see
The landlord sees the whole list on day one and works through it at their own pace, with explanations of what each item is. The property manager sees what is done and what is not, without keeping a private list. Expired certificates are spotted at onboarding rather than the week before move-in. The record in your lettings software starts complete.
Does this sound familiar?
- New landlords receive a series of separate document requests.
- Bank details arrive by email.
- Missing or expired certificates are found close to move-in.
- Properties wait to be marketed while paperwork is chased.
- Each property manager has their own onboarding checklist.