Over recent years, it has become increasingly popular for business professionals to invest in property and become landlords.

Letting properties can have excellent returns given that the market currently favours the landlord with demand for properties being higher than supply.

Nick Wenger, operations director of Getmypropertyonline, which has offices in Newport, takes a look at how the rental market has developed with the advancement of technology.

The internet plays a vital role in letting properties, so much so that it has given birth to an entirely new concept of estate agency – the online agent.

Traditionally, when you were looking to let, rent, buy or sell, you would visit the local high street firm and select the best deal and service. However, for many business professionals, frequent meetings and visits to estate agents can eat up valuable business time.

As a result, online estate agents have developed and are fast becoming popular with landlords.

An online letting agent combines the services of a traditional estate agent with all of the modern day advantages of technology.

There are many benefits to using an online letting agent but the main positive for any business professional is that it is cheaper than an estate agent. Costs are also more transparent as most online agents will have different packages which detail upfront costs.

Another benefit is the fact you can tailor the service – not only through the different packages you can select but also because you can decide on how much involvement you want the agent to have.

As with all property companies, online agents will normally offer two kinds of service to landlords – let-only and fully managed.

Let-only involves everything from marketing the property, arranging viewings to providing an inventory and carrying out the ‘check in’ with the tenant. The landlord is then responsible for the property for the remainder of the tenancy.

Fully managed involves all of the above, plus managing the property for the duration of the tenancy.

While the fully managed option is popular with many professionals who simply do not have the time to manage the property, technology has now improved the way people can self-manage their portfolios.

The rise in popularity of independent property sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla has meant that landlords no longer have to worry about marketing properties in the traditional way.

Previously, a property search used to involve looking at all estate agents display boards. Now, with the advancement in technology the majority of people now look for properties online. Viewing requests can also be submitted online now meaning there is no longer a vital need to have someone in an office answering calls.

Developments in video technology has meant that potential tenants can view a property without even stepping foot into the building. SellMyHome.co.uk made the press in March 2015 due to the fact it had launched the first open house event on Facebook via Virtual Walkthrough technology.

While technology has enabled landlords to manage properties more easily themselves, it is vital to remember that there are specific legal requirements to meet.

For example, a new legislation for landlords in Wales was introduced in November 2015. Private landlords in Wales now have to register with the new Rent Smart Wales scheme, in which a licence will need to be obtained through completion of the appropriate training.

An extra consideration for landlords is the fact that tenant’s deposits must be protected in one of the three government approved, tenancy deposit protection (TDP) schemes within 30 days of receipt, and returned within 10 days of the end of the tenancy (subject to mutual agreement of amount to be returned).

With the advancements in technology, it has led to developments in the traditional estate agency model which has created a more competitive marketplace which favours the vendor. Still, even with technology now enabling you to market your own property, it’s important to still seek professional advice to ensure you are meeting all of the correct legal requirements as a landlord and avoid any fines.

Getmypropertyonline.com is an online estate agent for residential sales and lettings. The company offers many different packages with fixed fees that are industry competitive.

Packages include traditional services, such as tenancy agreements and credit checks, professional photography and floorplans and energy performance certificate.

The company is the only estate agent in Wales to have built a system which allows users to track the progress of their sale or rental online, book viewings, arrange and track your conveyancing.