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Interview of Adam Joseph
Written by the Property Investor Today team
Adam Joseph, The Happy Tenant Company

What does it say on your business card?

Adam Joseph, CEO of The Happy Tenant Company. 

What is the Happy Tenant Company?

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We are a Residential Asset Management Company providing landlords with a professional and totally transparent alternative to self-management and a more cost-effective option than management offered by traditional letting agents. 

How do you help property investors and landlords?

We use group buying power to negotiate discounts with our panel of approved letting agents, maintenance services and inventory clerks, which are then passed on to investors and landlords.

Our members are charged a reduced finder’s fee of between 5-8% in the first year and we guarantee no renewal fees thereafter. Landlords pay an annual fee to us in return for having their property professionally managed. 

What services do you provide?

We have a team of Property Managers, a finance department and a marketing department who oversee the entire letting process for our member investors and landlords.

We help with the marketing of their properties, deal with the tenancy in terms of documentation and maintenance, and we collect monthly rent. We also take care of all their legal obligations and responsibilities. 

In what ways is your offering different to traditional property management?

We only earn our fees through the annual membership fee. We do not earn from the letting or selling of their properties so we focus 100% on the management.

There are no mark ups on any third-party costs and we do everything we can to save our landlords money – we try and get them the very best return on their investment. 

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What is your greatest achievement in your current role and what made it so special?

I joined The Happy Tenant Company (established in 2012) as the new CEO in February this year so it is hard to say. However, I do have a demonstrated history of working in the real estate industry having previously owned a successful independent agency for 13 years in Finchley.

From my experience as an agent, I appreciate and understand the dynamic between management agent and landlord, which made the opportunity of joining a company like The Happy Tenant Company more interesting.

I am really excited to be working with a unique alternative to property management and the feedback I have received so far from existing members has been extremely positive.

What is the most satisfying part of your job?

Engaging with current and prospective landlords at events such as the National Landlord and Investment Show, to talk to them face to face about what The Happy Tenant Company are doing. I also get to work with a team that is passionate about our unique model and ethos, and who take their work seriously.

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing investors at the moment?

There is no denying that the changes to stamp duty last April, an extra three percent when buying a second property, hit investors hard and literally killed the buy-to-let market overnight.

More recently however, the removal of mortgage interest tax relief has undoubtedly piled on the pressure. It does seem to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind, but there are still landlords who do not fully understand what the changes are, how it works and how it will affect them.

Investors, particularly first-time investors, need to know and comprehend the legislation that surrounds the industry, including the new tax changes. 

In your view, has the Brexit vote affected the property market?

There was already a level of uncertainty but I think most people are still unclear on what the repercussion of Brexit will be. Unfortunately for the property market, it may be a few years before we are any clearer. 

What is your property prediction for the remainder of 2017? I think most people thought that after the general election we would have some sort of calm, but it hasn’t ended up that way. The result delivered a hung parliament, which created even more uncertainty and this won’t change any time soon. The remainder of 2017 is going to be pretty much the same in my view. 

In terms of investment, the London property market will remain desirable for investors and if there is a deal to be had then they will go for it. 

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