Using tenant features in COHO

It is something we have always known, but it is becoming increasingly accepted that any software that you adopt as a property business has to be useable and sympathetic to the needs of property managers AND tenants. Enhancing tenant experience is a key factor when property professionals now choose management software, so much so that ‘tenant management software’ has become one of the highest ranking search terms on Google.

In this series we will show you the depths that COHO goes to to ensure that tenants have all the tools that they need to make the very most of their tenancy. It will hopefully demonstrate the importance of getting your tenants to sign up to a COHO account, which will make your and their job far simpler and smoother.

The beauty of tenant onboarding is that the process is linear. It is more or less impossible to do things in the incorrect order or have any question mark over what is outstanding at any stage of the process. This series looks at onboarding from a tenants perspective. For an overview of onboarding for you as a manager, please refer to our knowledgebase article for Onboarding new tenants.

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

You are in: COHO | Academy | Tenant Experience

Focusing on tenant experience

No longer is shared-living a necessity. It is increasingly becoming a choice. A choice driven by the desire for community, for flexibility, for the ‘all in one’ lifestyle. HMO's, often situated in the heart of towns and cities, house micro-communities, and when done correctly can empower them leading to a growth in productivity, a deeper contribution to society and the economy and a head on addressing of the loneliness epidemic that is becoming so apparent.

Tenancy Vibe Check & Tenancy Feedback

One of the irrefutable facts of life is that you “can't improve what you can't measure”. As someone who's business success is hinged on the experience of your tenants, it is vital that you understand where you're excelling but also where you're falling short.

The tenancy vibe check and direct feedback options that we have introduced will give you insight into how you're performing across your portfolio as well as direct feedback on how you're doing as a Manager. This information is key, so it was only a matter of time before it became an integral part of COHO.

We've recorded a quick video below to show exactly what we're talking about, as well as a step-by-step guide that you are welcome to share with your tenants.

  1. When a tenant logs into their account then will be shown the ‘Tenancy Vibe Check’ box at the very top of their account.
  2. They will be presented with three faces representing their vibe. The option they select has a score rating between 1 and 5 and this will determine your overall score across your portfolio each month. The three choices they have are;
    • 🙁 Not good
    • 🙂 OK
    • 😃 Great
  3. On the 18th of each month the tenant will get an notification prompting them to set their score if they have not done so already, although it can be done at any stage of the month.
  4. If the tenant wants to leave direct feedback for you as a manager, then they need to scroll down to the ‘My Room’ area of the account.
  5. From here, they can set a star rating from 1 and 5 that is specific to their tenancy and specific to you as a manager. 1-4 stars will ask for feedback, whereas 5 stars will encourage them to leave a testimonial for you.
  6. To access these as a manager, click the new ‘Tenant Feedback’ button in the quick access panel.

Onboarding a new tenant and their tenant profile

Part 1

Part 2

Onboarding tenants with COHO is integral to your management of tenants and their early experience of your business. It allows you to introduce structure from an early stage and avoid having to run a multitude of systems, which will, in turn, require your tenants to do the same.

The videos and step-by-step guide will show you how to start the onboarding process for a new tenant.

The first video shows how a manager can create an onboarding and the second video shows how a tenant can accept this invitation and create their account.

  1. From the main home page of the app click the Onboarding button in quick access.
  2. Select the Onboard new applicant button
  3. Complete the following steps, including which room, planned start date, whether or not you require a holding fee or application form etc and click submit.
  4. The tenant will then receive a text message and email asking them to commence their onboarding including paying their holding fee, if appropriate. Once paid, you as a manager will get an action asking you to confirm receipt.
  5. Mark as having been received and then move through to the second stage which is the application form.

Completing the application form as a tenant

Once a tenant has joined COHO and optionally paid their holding fee, they will (if you have marked this as being a requirement) be asked to provide the relevant documentation and responses as outlined in the application form that you have provided.

The video below shows you how they do this and how they can progress through to the next stage of onboarding.

  1. The tenant will receive a notification prompting them to log into their account where they will see an action.
  2. Click View which will open up the application form for them to complete.
  3. Depending on what you have added into the form they will be asked for information such as their full details, their current employers details, employment contract etc.
  4. Once the tenant has added all of the relevant information and clicked save you as a manager will receive an action letting you know to review the form.

eSigning a tenancy agreement as a tenant

The referencing check is the step between the application form and the creation and signing of the tenancy agreement. This is all done through COHO, but as there's nothing required of the tenant in this part of the process, we are moving straight to how the tenant can eSign their tenancy agreement.

The video above shows you how they do this and how they can progress through to the next stage of onboarding.

  1. A tenant is unable to e-sign their AST through COHO until they have acknowledged all of the compliance documents that have been uploaded into their account.
  2. The tenant will click the action that they have been alerted to in their account. This will take them down to ‘sign tenancy agreement’.
  3. The tenant can view the draft tenancy agreement but then must scroll down and manually view and acknowledge each of the documents that were uploaded as part of onboarding before they can sign the AST. These documents form the prescribed information.
  4. Once acknowledged, the tenant will be given the option to eSign the agreement. To verify their identity, we ask that they enter their mobile number to which we send a one time pass code.
  5. On entering the code, they will be presented with the signing box. Using either their trackpad, mouse or finger the tenant can write their signature.
  6. As a final, mandatory two-factor authentication step they will be asked to confirm their account password before submitting their signed tenancy agreement.

eSigning a tenancy agreement as a guarantor

COHO eSignature also extends to guarantors, and the video and step-by-step guide below will show you how the nominated guarantor can eSign the tenancy agreement.

It's worth noting that you don't have to require a guarantor, and if you choose not to, then this stage will be automaticallyskipped.

It is also worth noting that there are several opportunities within an onboarding you have already started without a guarantor to add one in if it becomes necessary.

  1. Once you as the manager have selected and set an action for the tenant to review and sign their tenancy agreement, the nominated guarantor will also receive a text message and email asking them to visit CHOH and eSign.
  2. Rather than creating an account they will be asked to verify their identity by entering their mobile number, which must match with the one provided previously.
  3. By clicking next, the guarantor is given the option to view the agreement as well as see the top level overview of the tenancy, such as the address, rent and rental period.
  4. The guarantor then clicks continue and has to verify their identity by both text message an email (one time passcodes will be sent to each). NB. Two seperate authentication steps are taken to ensure the integrity of the eSignature process.
  5. Once verified, they will be presented with a signing box where they will enter their signature and click confirm.

Paying move-in monies

Upon a tenant (and guarantor) eSigning their tenancy agreement, you, as a manager, will be presented with an action to finalise the document with your own signature. Once all signatures are in place, the contract is formalised and the onboarding will be moved through to the stage of requiring the tenant to pay their move-in monies.

The video and step-by-step guide run you through what a tenant is required to do to complete this step in the onboarding.

  1. The tenant will receive a notification that there is a new action in their account to pay the move-in monies.
  2. In their account they need to click view on the pay move-in monies action.
  3. The tenant will be presented with a form that shows them the details of the account to pay, which reference to use and the option to mark that this has now been paid. These details will all have been provided by you when creating the onboarding at an earlier stage.
  4. Once paid, you as the manager will get an action asking you to confirm receipt.

Completing onboarding as a tenant

The tenant is now at the final stage of onboarding. They have paid their holding fee, reviewed and signed their tenancy agreement and paid their move-in monies so they're now all set!

You will have provided any move-in instructions that you'd like and on reading these all the tenant needs to do is click the finish onboarding button and they're done.

Using COHO as a tenant: Messaging

Once a tenant has been onboarded they will be able to use their COHO account as their ‘hub’ for managing their tenancy. All key compliance documents, their tenancy agreement and rent schedule can all be readily accessed. They can also access their welcome pack, which you can load with as much information as you feel is needed.

Like with onboarding, anything required of them throughout the tenancy will appear as an action in their account which they will be alerted to via email and push notification (and in some cases SMS).

One of the two key ‘uses’ of the tenants COHO account will be the messaging centre. The video and step-by-step-guide below show you how tenants can best utilise this feature.

  1. From their account (accessed either on a desktop or via the mobile app) the tenant will need to click the message centre at the top of their account.
  2. Click create a message and then select the intended recipient. This can be either the manager, the manager + housemates, or individual housemates.
  3. They then need to type their message, attach any files they may need to and then click send.
  4. Once sent, the message appears in the messaging centre as a conversation and can be actioned and archived at any time.

Using COHO as a tenant: Maintenance

Once a tenant has been onboarded they will be able to use their COHO account as their ‘hub’ for managing their tenancy. All key compliance documents, their tenancy agreement and rent schedule can all be readily accessed. They can also access their welcome pack, which you can load with as much information as you feel is needed.

Like with onboarding, anything required of them throughout the tenancy will appear as an action in their account which they will be alerted to via email and push notification (and in some cases SMS).

One of the two key ‘uses’ of the tenants COHO account will be raising maintenance issues. The video and step-by-step-guide below show you how tenants can best utilise this feature.

  1. From their account (accessed either on a desktop or via the mobile app) the tenant will need to scroll down to the My Room area of the account where they have the option to report a maintenance issue. Please note that maintenance issues can also be raised directly from the messaging centre.
  2. On clicking to report an issue the tenant will be presented with pre-categorised items which then have sub-categories. For example, if they select Bathroom then they will be given the option to choose a pre-made common issue. They can then add further and more specific information to it, indicating its severity as well as marking whether it's a private (i.e their own room) or shared (a common issue such as an oven) ahead of clicking report.
  3. Once reported the issue is created as a thread in the messaging centre where the tenant can at any stage see the progress of the issue, add further information and follow up.

Want to discover more?

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