It's 4:47pm on a Friday. You just signed a tenancy agreement. Property on Market Street is officially let. You update the status in your system to "Let" and close your laptop for the weekend.
Monday morning, your phone rings. Landlord: "Why is my property still advertised on Rightmove? I'm getting calls from tenants asking to view it, but it's already let!"
You check Rightmove. The listing is still live, still showing "Available to Let," still receiving enquiries.
You forgot to stop advertising. One step you had to remember, during the rush of Friday paperwork, and it slipped through. Now you're dealing with an angry landlord and confused tenants.
This week, we made this impossible in LetAdmin. When you change a property status to "Let," the system automatically asks: "Should I stop advertising this property on all portals?" One click, done. You can't forget—the software reminds you and handles it automatically.
The Problem: Status Changes Have Implications You Must Remember
Changing a property's marketing status isn't just updating a database field. It has real-world consequences:
When You Mark a Property "Let"
What should happen:
- Stop advertising on Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket
- Remove from your website's available properties
- Update property listings to show "Let"
- Stop accepting new enquiries
- Notify integrated systems (CRM, accounting)
What actually happens (most systems):
- Status changes to "Let"
- Everything else is manual: you must remember to stop advertising, update portals, remove listings
Result: Forgotten steps cause continued advertising, wasted landlord money (portal fees for properties that shouldn't be listed), confused tenants, and frustrated agents fixing preventable mistakes.
When You Mark a Property "Available to Let"
What should happen:
- Check if property is ready to advertise (photos? EPC? description? price?)
- Warn about compliance issues (expired EPC? F/G rating?)
- Offer to start advertising automatically
- Sync to all configured portals
What actually happens (most systems):
- Status changes to "Available to Let"
- You must remember to check compliance
- You must manually start advertising
- You must manually upload to each portal
Result: Properties sit "Available to Let" but not actually advertised because someone forgot the manual steps. Landlords lose days or weeks of potential enquiries.
How LetAdmin Solves This: Context-Aware Smart Workflows
Status changes in LetAdmin understand their implications and guide you through the correct process automatically.
Example 1: Marking a Property "Let"
You change status from "Available to Let" to "Let"
LetAdmin immediately shows a confirmation modal:
This will stop advertising this property
The property is currently advertised on:
- Rightmove
- Zoopla
- Your website
[Stop Advertising and Mark as Let] [Cancel]
One click confirms both actions. The property status changes and advertising stops across all portals. You can't forget—the system makes it explicit and automatic.
Example 2: Marking a Property "Available to Let"
You change status from "Let" to "Available to Let" (tenancy ended, property is available again)
LetAdmin immediately shows an advertising readiness checklist:
Ready to advertise this property?
✅ Photos uploaded (12 photos) ✅ Property description complete ✅ Rent price set (£1,200 pcm) ✅ EPC certificate valid (Rating C, expires 2032) ✅ Bedrooms, bathrooms, property type configured
[Start Advertising Now] [Not Yet, I'll Advertise Later]
Everything's ready? One click starts advertising across all portals. Something's missing? The checklist shows exactly what needs fixing, with links to complete each item.
Example 3: Compliance Warnings Before Advertising
You try to mark a property "Available to Let" but the EPC expired 3 months ago
LetAdmin shows a warning before allowing the status change:
⚠️ Compliance Issue: Expired EPC
This property's EPC certificate expired on 15 May 2025.
You cannot legally advertise or let this property without a valid EPC.
[Upload New EPC Certificate] [Mark Available Anyway (Not Recommended)]
The system doesn't block you (you might have legitimate reasons to change status), but it makes the compliance issue impossible to miss.
Example 4: F/G Rated Properties Can't Be Advertised
You try to start advertising a property rated F
LetAdmin blocks the action entirely:
❌ Cannot Advertise: Illegal EPC Rating
This property has an EPC rating of F (energy efficiency score: 42).
UK law prohibits letting properties rated F or G. You cannot advertise this property until energy efficiency improvements are made and a new EPC obtained showing rating E or above.
Penalty for letting F/G properties: Up to £5,000 fine
[View EPC Details] [Understood]
You literally cannot accidentally advertise an illegally-lettable property. The software enforces compliance.
Real-World Time Savings: Preventing Mistakes
Let's calculate the cost of common forgotten steps:
Scenario 1: Forgot to Stop Advertising After Property Let
What happens:
- Property advertised for 2 extra weeks (landlord paying portal fees)
- 15 enquiries from confused tenants
- 30 minutes dealing with enquiries, explaining property is let
- 15 minutes updating landlord and apologizing
- Potential damage to agency reputation
Time wasted: 45-60 minutes Portal fees wasted: £20-40 (depending on portals) Landlord frustration: Priceless
With LetAdmin: Literally impossible to forget. Status change automatically prompts to stop advertising.
Scenario 2: Property "Available" But Not Actually Advertised
What happens:
- Property marked "Available to Let" in your system
- Nobody remembers to actually start advertising on portals
- Property sits un-advertised for 1-2 weeks
- Landlord calls: "Why haven't I had any enquiries?"
- You check portals: property isn't listed
- Scramble to upload listing, apologize to landlord
Letting opportunity lost: 1-2 weeks of potential enquiries Time wasted: 20-30 minutes fixing the mistake Landlord trust: Damaged
With LetAdmin: Status change offers to start advertising immediately. Checklist shows if you're ready. Can't forget.
Scenario 3: Advertised Property With Expired EPC
What happens:
- Property advertised on Rightmove with expired EPC
- Tenant applies, references pass, ready to sign tenancy
- During final checks, you discover EPC expired
- Cannot legally complete tenancy without valid EPC
- Delay signing while arranging EPC assessment (1-2 weeks)
- Tenant finds alternative property, pulls out
- Start advertising from scratch
Letting opportunity lost: Entire tenancy (potentially £15,000+ annual rent) Time wasted: 2-4 hours dealing with failed let Landlord impact: 2+ weeks void period
With LetAdmin: Compliance check before advertising. Impossible to list with expired EPC.
How Smart Workflows Prevent These Mistakes
The software understands relationships:
- "Let" status means stop advertising
- "Available" status requires compliance checks
- F/G EPC ratings mean cannot advertise
- Missing photos/description means not ready for portals
The software guides you through correct processes:
- Advertising readiness checklist (don't forget required fields)
- Compliance warnings (expired EPCs, illegal ratings)
- Automatic actions (stop advertising when marked Let)
- One-click workflows (start advertising with one button)
The software prevents dangerous actions:
- Cannot advertise F/G rated properties (illegal)
- Warns about expired EPCs (compliance risk)
- Confirms before stopping advertising (prevent accidents)
What This Means for Letting Agents
Fewer mistakes. The software catches forgotten steps before they cause problems.
Faster workflows. Status changes automatically trigger related actions—no manual checklist to remember.
Better compliance. Can't accidentally advertise illegal properties or list without valid EPCs.
Happier landlords. Properties don't sit un-advertised due to forgotten steps. Portal fees aren't wasted on properties that are already let.
Saved time. Less time fixing mistakes, dealing with confused tenants, apologizing to landlords, manually updating portals.
The Philosophy: Software Should Prevent Mistakes, Not Enable Them
Bad software: Lets you do anything, catches nothing, causes chaos when you make inevitable human errors.
Good software: Understands your workflow, guides you through correct processes, prevents dangerous actions, catches mistakes before they cause problems.
Example from other industries:
- Email clients: "You mentioned 'attachment' but didn't attach anything—send anyway?"
- Code editors: "This file has unsaved changes—save before closing?"
- E-commerce checkout: "Shipping address doesn't match billing address—is this correct?"
LetAdmin for letting agents:
- "You marked this property Let—stop advertising?"
- "This property has no photos—are you sure you want to advertise?"
- "This EPC expired 3 months ago—you cannot legally advertise this property"
The software actively helps you avoid mistakes.
We'd Love to Hear from You
How many times per month does your agency accidentally leave properties advertised after they're let? Be honest—it happens to everyone when you're busy.
Have you ever discovered a property was marked "Available" in your system but never actually listed on portals? This is more common than agents like to admit.
Would compliance checking before advertising save you from potential legal issues? We think preventing £5,000 fines for F/G properties is worth the minor friction of a warning message.
Get in touch: paul@letadmin.com
LetAdmin is in active development, built by letting agents for letting agents. These smart workflow features are being used at Phillip James (370+ properties) and refined based on real-world usage. If you're interested in seeing how they prevent mistakes or want to join the priority list, we'd love to hear from you.