SMF - Just Installed!

Advice before venturing into managing the property myself

Started by Anatok, December 15, 2016, 04:03:14 PM

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Anatok

Hi all

I have been letting out my house as I have been travelling / doing other things for the past 4 years. Therefore I have always used  a high street agent to fully manage the property for me (it hasn't been about the money as long as the mortgage was paid - I just wanted it to be hassle free).

We are now looking to purchase a property with the view of this one being a true business so with that , and the fact that estate agents a pain in the backside, unhelpful and waaay overpriced, I am now looking t my other options in terms of maximising profits.

So my questions are around the management side and ways I can make this side easier
What do you guys get professionals to do for you ? Contracts ? Checkouts etc?
I was under the impression that in terms of a tenancy dispute over a deposit it is considered in your favour if you use an external company for the checkout report but is that true?
My experience with my last tenant is that the company missed a bunch of stuff which effectively cost me money...

Is the process for Tenancy deposit protection easy or a minefield?

What areas would you suggest are a minefield for new landlords in terms of management?
Do you guys ultimately think one can manage a property (just the one) whilst potentially not in the country for the majority of the year (but assuming I will be here for check in & outs) ?

I hope that's not too vague for some pointers? I guess I've been quite scarred by the lack of help from lettings managers despite the high monthly price tag would like to be more on top of it all for the next go...

Thanks
A

Riptide

Join NLA or similar and complete some of their courses on how to landlord.  You won't be managing a property going forward though, the bricks and mortar sort of manage themselves, it's more people management.

Hippogriff

For me, an Agent (professional?) does Tenant Find only.

What that means in my case is that they get the property listed on the main portals and then handle the very initial enquiries before handing over to me after arranging a viewing. From then on I do it myself.

They may take photos or I may. They may write up a description or I may. We play that by ear. My fee doesn't change however it works. I write up all documentation. The Agent also confirms that they do the Right To Rent checks as part of their application process.

Of course you will struggle to successfully 'manage' the property while you are out of the country - what you are proposing I would describe as irresponsible. The property / tenancy will effectively be unmanaged. Great if you get a Tenant who can look after themselves... not so great if you end up with one who needs a bit of minding (child-minding?). You say you want to be "more on top of it"... but how can that be?

Maybe just change Agent? Find a new one and spend time talking to them, explaining what you didn't like about your current one until you get a good vibe about them...

theangrylandlord

#3
Here's a view (admittedly slightly (ok more than slightly)) jaded.

1. 99.999% of agents are lower than whale shit on the bottom of the ocean floor.  There are some good ones but they are so much rarer than unicorns.
2. Legally for almost everything the Landlord is liable and the agent is not.  Some landlords think that the agent will take out the hassle of landlord ship but all that happens is that landlords end up chasing the agent for rent, information, notices.
2.a. Many agents have no clue at all about the changes in regulations and are therefore more of a liability than a help.  This isn't limited to only small agents even the bigger ones send incomplete guidance to their offices.
3. Agents don't give a damn about damage to property and sometime side with the tenants.
3.a. In fact damage to property is a chance for the agent to make more money by creaming off a fee for picking up the phone and asking one of their regular tradesmen to visit.

I don't use agents anymore (other than case set out below).... This is not anecdotal but I will give you direct examples of sh!t that I have to sort out myself (mostly before it cost me anything) which meant I was paying them so I could do their job for them....each time I ended up with a direct relationship to the tenant.

A. Multiple mistakes and typos on rental agreements
B. incorrectly completed section 21 notices
C. NO understanding of latest regulations and requirement e.g. Smoke alarm, serving how to rent guide etc etc
D. Failure to pass on rent -timely; Failure to chase rent when not paid
E. Failure to report water leaks
F. Requests for electrical certificate when not required
G. Letting tenant not pay rent due to claim of (incorrect) disrepair
H. Claimed tenant would not agree to rent increases (one visit over a cup of tea (they served) sorted out small increase)
I. Lack of property checks
J. poor credit checking (one chap surrendered the lease 2 months after getting in)
K. piss poor inventory - wrong date
L. Agent requesting tenant to renew lease (new fixed term) so they can scalp a fee from the landlord..

The agent cannot even represent the landlord in court anymore.

Basically if you can write down all the services the agent is supposed to provide then perhaps bar one I have seen first hand fail.
The one thing agents can do is get tenants in quickly but that means they compromise quality of tenant for speed.  Think how are they incentivised by a fee for the entire fixed period up front, they don't care about the quality of tenant....

Agents in my experience don't at all talk to the landlord and this applies at times when they should.  Sometimes the first a landlord finds out a tenant has left is when the rent stops coming in.



Apart from advertising and getting people in for you to do the viewings to the one area where an agent might be of use...and this applies to only to unicorn agents....
Guaranteed rent service.  This is where you lease the property to an agent for 2-3 years that you would literally entrust with £900K of your money (I live in Surrey, other areas more or less than this).   They rent the property to who ever they want (subject to limitations you agree up front) in that three years but even if the property is empty you still get rent.  Of course they take a cut from the rent but you can cut this to less than what other agents charge for a managed non guarantee rent.  This does take out a lot of the hassle of  landlordship but you still get involved with the tenants over inspections, maintenance and repairs (unless you want to also pass that on but risk the fee on top charges).  This is more for those with limited time (or maybe like you out of the country) and even then I don't do this with all my properties nor do I give any agent more than 4 properties - yes I have trust issues.

No matter how you use an agent you as the landlord can never be absolved of either blame or work so you need to be sure you want to slice your cake with someone else.


Best of luck

Lesstatt

Hi,

We have 3 properties thwart we let out via an agent at 8% fully managed as like you we spend quite sometime a year out the country. For ease we use agents, yes we could do it ourselves but just find it easier for us. No hassle, the rent turns up on time, any issues are sorted and the agent just informs us after any event.