Six easy steps to start managing your property portfolio with COHO

It can feel overwhelming to know where to start with new property software, and often there's a fear of introducing something to your wider team. To help with this, we've launched our ‘Getting Started In 6 Easy Steps’ walkthrough that you and your team can use to get productive with COHO straight away.

COHO works for all property business models like Rent2Rent, Self-Managed Landlords, Managing Agents, Agency etc. All of the steps below, plus more, are covered as part of our FastTrack set up, so do let us know if you'd like the team to do this for you.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, COHO has a comprehensive Help Centre and support team to help guide you through the process.

Last updated: 16th March 2023

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Step1️⃣ – Add your properties

Adding a property will allow you to manage the marketing, compliance, ownership and communication aspects of your portfolio.

Before you begin, you may wish to add users from your team to the account. We recommend that you don't have multiple users logging in with the same credentials. Go to ‘Users’ in the Quick Access panel to Invite users.
  1. From the main home page of the app, click the Add a new property button.
  2. Search for or Enter the address.
  3. Select the rental type and any preferences.
  4. For now, skip past the ‘Add a room’ section.
  5. Add the terms of renting.
  6. To the right of the address, click Edit property to add further details

Step2️⃣ – Add your room

Often referred to as a unit, by adding your room you are creating a unique space within your property that will have its own rent schedule, communication and maintenance linked to it. You can add and deactivate rooms to match where you are in your business.

  1. From the main home page of the app, click the property that you want to add a room to.
  2. Give the room a name. This can be anything (appropriate!).
  3. Set the rent amount and the rent frequency (i.e. monthly, weekly).
  4. Set the deposit type (i.e. DPS).
  5. Select whether a guarantor is ‘always required’ or ‘sometimes required’.
  6. Mark whether the room is ‘available’, ‘available soon’, or ‘occupied’.

Step3️⃣ – Add your property-specific documents

As an owner or manager of a rental property, you are legally required to have certain documents in place (such as an HMO license) ahead of the room being rented. We have made this as easy for you as possible.

  1. From the main home page of the app, click a property that you have previously added.
  2. Under the property name, you'll see ‘overview’. Click this and then scroll down to the blue View all button to see the list of things that need your attention.
  3. Click into each one, in turn, upload the key document and the dates and then press the Add button.
  4. Once a document has been added, you can access it at any time by selectiong the appropriate panel in the quick-access area.

Step4️⃣ – Add a detailed property derscription and room photographs

By adding a property and a room you are adding a ‘shell’. By adding a detailed description, great photos and highlighting key amenities, you are putting yourself in the very best position to attract the best tenants at the best price.

  1. From the main home page of the app, click a property that you have previously added.
  2. To the right of the property address click the Edit property button
  3. The property details panel will now be opened up. Complete each section with the information required, such as photos, key amenities and the age range.
  4. We automatically populate the property description with a detail-rich blurb, but you can always edit this if you want to.
  5. Once you've added general property details, you can now add all the key room details
  6. Scroll down to ‘Room information’, and at the bottom of this section, you'll see the Edit details button in blue.

Step5️⃣ – Add a welcome pack and property ownership information

Adding a welcome pack is a great way to show off your personality and humanity to your tenants, so be creative (and informative) when putting this together. By adding property ownership information at the outset you'll give yourself a far easier job when putting together your financial statements and keeping tabs on any split in your portfolio.

  1. You can create information for the welcome pack at either portfolio level (all properties), for selected properties or at a room level, depending on how generic or specific the informatuion is. For more information see How to create a tenant welcome pack
  2. Whichever you choose to do, you can access the Welcome Pack via the quick access panel.
  3. Add items under Quick Info such as useful telephone numbers and codes, available for tenants to see. Under Info Cards, create and store cards with more information, rich text, files, images, and videos like a digital information pack, available for tenants to see.
  4. To add Property Ownership, you will need to click into each property, and on the quick access panel, select Property Ownership
  5. Click the Add Property Ownership Information button and select whether the property is owned, managed or under a master lease before filling in the relevant details. You can add notes and files at this stage.

Step6️⃣ – Add your tenants, key documents and create rent schedules

Part 1

Part 2

Once you have added your properties and rooms, you now need to add your tenants. This will either be adding an existing tenant or onboarding a new one - both of which can be handled at this stage.

  1. From the main home page of the app, click a property and then into a room that you have previously added
  2. Under tenant, summary click either the Onboard new applicant button or Add tenancy if you're adding a tenant who's already mid-tenancy.
  3. If you are onboarding a new applicant then please refer to the full Onboarding Series that we host on YouTube.
  4. If you are adding a current tenancy, then once click Add tenancy and complete the required fields. At this stage, be sure to invite them to COHO.
  5. At the next stage, scroll down to ‘Tenancy Agreement’ and add the document. Repeat the same step for the Right to Rent document(s).
  6. The final step is to create a Rent Schedule. In the rent schedule area, click Create and enter the details relevant to this tenant.

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