The heating season has started, and if you let out a flat or two, you know what that usually means. Over the next few months, most contact with your tenants will be about something that has stopped working or about a payment, and it rarely happens while you're sitting at a computer.

In recent posts we kept coming back to one piece of advice: keep messages and records in one place. That's easier when the one place is also on your phone. LeasingTrack has an Android app alongside the web application, and it isn't a cut-down version: you get the same properties, leases, tenants, income and expenses, documents and messages.

Here's what that looks like in three ordinary autumn and winter situations.

1. A tenant reports a heating or damp problem while you're out

It's a Saturday afternoon and you're at the shops. Your tenant writes that the radiator in the bedroom is cold, or that a dark patch has appeared in the corner by the window.

If the message comes in by text, a phone call or a social media app, it's easy to answer in the moment and then lose track of it. Three weeks later nobody remembers exactly when it was reported or what you agreed.

In LeasingTrack, tenants report maintenance issues and message you within their lease. On your phone you can open the report, see which property and lease it belongs to, and reply right away: when you or a tradesperson can come, or what the tenant can check in the meantime (is the radiator valve open, is the room being aired). The conversation stays attached to that property, so it's there later when you need it, whether that's for a follow-up visit, an argument about who caused the damp, or simply your own memory.

If damp is the issue, our earlier guide on damp and mould explains what to look for and who usually does what.

2. Has this month's rent arrived, and what's the balance?

Early in the month you want a quick answer to a simple question: has the rent come in?

With a hand-kept spreadsheet, the honest answer is often "I'll check when I'm home." And the balance is only as reliable as the last time you updated it.

In LeasingTrack, the lease balance follows from the records: the income and expenses you have entered for that property and lease. Nobody has to maintain the balance separately, so there's no second number that can drift out of sync. Open the lease in the app and you can see what has been recorded and where the balance stands.

If a payment is late, you can message the tenant from the same place. A short, calm note with the facts in front of you works better than a vague reminder from memory, and it's the first step in the late-rent plan we described in an earlier post.

3. You're at the flat and need the lease or a document

You're at the property: a handover, a meter reading, a visit to look at that cold radiator. Someone asks about the notice period, or what the lease says about minor repairs, or where the boiler's service record is.

Because documents are kept with the property, you can open the lease or the relevant document on your phone there and then, instead of promising to send it later. That's useful for both sides: the tenant sees the same document you're quoting, not your recollection of it.

For tenants: your side of the lease

If you rent from a landlord who uses LeasingTrack, here's what to expect:

  • You're invited by email. Your landlord sends the invitation; you accept it and get access.
  • You see only your own lease. Not the landlord's other properties, not other tenants.
  • You can follow your payments, so you can check what has been recorded rather than asking.
  • You can report maintenance issues – a cold radiator, a leak, damp on a wall – so the report is on record with a date.
  • You can message your landlord in the same place, so the conversation doesn't get scattered across different apps.

Our 8 October post on tenant invitations covers the invitation step in more detail.

Good to know

  • Free for up to two properties. If you have one or two rentals, you can use LeasingTrack without paying.
  • Larger portfolios will need a subscription. Its price hasn't been published yet; we'll say so here when it is.
  • 13 interface languages: English, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak and Ukrainian. You and your tenant can each use the language you're comfortable with.

This winter, the cold radiator will still need fixing and the rent will still need checking. Having the records and the conversation in your pocket means you can deal with both without first having to get to a computer.