To think checking appliances work before renting out a property would make sense?

[tangerineclouds]

I decided to rent out my house via an agent and things ended up moving very quickly as there was someone in the pipeline.

Last weekend I painted the downstairs rooms ready for the new tenant moving in. I left a tin of paint out in the kitchen (new tin, unopened.) Also the trapdoor to the loft was open.

Every day i get calls from the estate agent and I feel like it's beyond a joke. They wanted me to go there on Sunday to move the paint and close the loft and then yesterday's drama was a leaking tap and a washing machine not working properly.

Now here is my gripe: surely before doing an inventory you would check everything works? Or AIBU? :)

But if they have noted the leaking tap and broken washing machine, they HAVE been checking the condition of the items in the house which belong to you.

What have you paid the agent for? Finding a Tennant, or managing the property? We live a long way away from our old family home. We pay a heafty % of each months rent so issues are sorted locally rather than me making international calls to find eg a plumber. If something breaks, Tennant calls agent, agent asks permission to spend our money sorting our house, and when we agree, they arrange a tradesman.

I think you need to look carefully into being a landlord, especially a remote one. It is not easy, and requires time or money (and usually both!).

Well then I will agree that what they actually do to earn their money is beyond me :)

You're the landlord and it is your responsibility to ensure the property is ready for tenants. The letting agent's job is to let out your property. If i've had a problem with something in a property i've rented, i've contacted the letting agents and in turn they contact the landlord to ask them to resolve it. For example, a house I moved into had a lot of junk in the garden. It was still there when I moved in so I complained to the letting agent who contacted the landlord who came round to shift it.
My ex rented out a flat in London and had to travel up there in between tenants or when there was a problem with appliances or furniture.
It's part and parcel of being a landlord.

So, last weekend it worked, and the tap wasn't leaking, and now it is leaking and the machine isn't working?

And they called you on Monday after you'd been there on Saturday?

That's hardly them taking ages to inform you of something, is it? I'd say even if you meant the weekend before last (so, eight days to inform you something stopped working) is hardly a lengthy period, especially if it stopped working/started leaking at some point in those eight days, and not directly after you left the building.

What's the problem, exactly? And when would you have liked them to check up on these things, between Monday and when you last checked them yourself?

I appreciate that dessert and I am not saying they shouldn't have the things fixed. I suppose my stress (and it has had me very stressed and upset, to the point where I suggested the tenant find alternative accommodation yesterday and the property stand empty) is that suddenly it feels as if a long long list of things need doing urgently when in fact the property was empty for a period of time prior to the tenant moving in and these things could have been sorted then.

To me, it is common sense that if you tell a tenant 'the property comes with a washing machine' that you check the washing machine works first.

I think I've explained a few times now that the problem is that they let the tenant move in then concluded numerous things were broken / needed moving / closing.

Yab a bit u. The agents aren't going to go round with a load of laundry, are they? If it isn't working and isn't under guarantee just replace it and get an extended warrantee so it's covered for 5 years. The agents can't just authorise repairs without checking so yes, even a leaking tap needs to be asked about. Ask how much it will cost because some agents and property maintenance companies are firmly in one another's pockets and charge stupid prices for small repairs. Knowing a local person is often cheaper.

Once the property is let, assuming all this is sorted and you've had the boiler serviced, you should settle down to a quiet period. Why not ask them to contact you by email so you can reply when it is convenient?

Yes it is. So why didn't you check OP?

Because I am not local, minty, and because I believed (naively, evidently) that the electric and gas checks I had to have done and the inventory, all of which amounted to several hundred pounds, would throw up any problems such as this.

Yep, but OP, when did the tenant move in?

If I am reading you correctly, you were there 'last weekend'. They called on Monday to say the tap was leaking and the machine was broken. And, presumably, the tenant had just moved in.

Now you obviously checked things before you left on, what, Saturday? Sunday morning?

What did you expect them to do more? They can't magically sense the instant the machine will break or the tap will start to leak, and if the timings are as close as you're saying, I don't see what they did wrong.

You can't just suggest that the tenant fucks off now! You've signed a contract.

Our last LL/LA had an agreement where the LA had about £500 stashed away and permission to do any repairs they felt necessary without having to seek permission, they just emailed him. Could you do something like that. I hate it when Landlords leave there shit in the property, like paint, I want to decide what goes in my cupboards thanks.

Why all the drama over a leaky tap and a broken washing machine? Just ask them to organise repairs.

As well as being a landlord, I'm renting myself overseas and every house we move into there are some little jobs that need resolving in the first few weeks. Not everything is noticeable until someone is actually living in the property. I don't hold it against the landlord provided they get stuff sorted quickly.

I didn't check, no.

I genuinely believed that having given several hundred pounds over to various people to perform checks, they would have, well, checked.

I'm surprised this evidently isn't the case but fair enough, live and learn. :)

ppreciate that dessert and I am not saying they shouldn't have the things fixed. I suppose my stress (and it has had me very stressed and upset, to the point where I suggested the tenant find alternative accommodation yesterday and the property stand empty) is that suddenly it feels as if a long long list of things need doing urgently when in fact the property was empty for a period of time prior to the tenant moving in and these things could have been sorted then.

Yes, and that was your responsibility to sort. You had the time before the tenant moved in, and you didn't check it because you thought they would. A simple mistake on your part, but still your mistake.

To me, it is common sense that if you tell a tenant 'the property comes with a washing machine' that you check the washing machine works first.

Yes, it is common sense, and as the LL you are the one saying that the property comes with a washing machine- the agents are just the ones publishing the information you provide them with. The responsibility lies with you to check these things. You said you had no opportunity to do so, but you did when you went round with the paint etc. You just didn't because you didn't realise. Again, an understandable mistake, but still your responsibility.

It's not drama really Apple, as I've said, it's just all proving very stressful and expensive

I think this is the problem, that I didn't. They went in, saw what was there - anyway, no matter.

So when did you last check, before that?

It seems perfectly possible to me you've just had bad luck, and these things broke on first sustained use when the tenant moved in. That's not to do with your agent being careless (or your tenant), but to do with the obvious fact that if you leave a property standing empty, things may degrade in quality and break the first time they're fully used.

I moved into a new place and the heating immediately started leaking. It's not my fault or anyone else's - just that, once the system got going, it showed up problems that didn't show up for a quick five minute check.

I haven't routinely driven hundreds of miles with my washing :) I don't know what the money was for then; I'm a bit baffled!

Our current property has a really extensive inventory, but it doesn't cover whether appliances work. As a tenant, I'd expect the LL to check those herself, or for her to be prepared for additional queries and notifications in the first few weeks/days of tenancy, as we settle in and find any issues that have gone unnoticed after an empty spell. It's also important that tenants flag existing problems as soon as possible, otherwise we risk getting blamed for them ourselves.

YABU. Especially for saying it's 'beyond a joke', when they're barely a week into their tenancy. It's never a good sign when a LL seems surprised or irritated by basic duties of letting out a property. (And if it's not a big deal, why didn't you close the loft trapdoor before you left, and put the paint under the kitchen sink or something? Why is it the tenants' or agents' job to clear up after you, even on a minor scale?)

You are running a business so you must treat it as one.

I don't think it's their responsibility at all, it was a mistake (I find being there a bit overwhelming) but just the same not one that is so heinous that they absolutely can't move the paint / close the loft.

So if I am interpreting this correctly, I pay hundreds of pounds to a letting agents but I still have to check everything myself? That's fine but a surprise.

I personally think it's up to you to make sure everything works, unless it is in your contract with them.

I am a tenant, and we recently had to get a new washing machine. The managing agent has authorisation to do this, as the building is owned by a big property company and they don't get involved in small things like that. However, in previous properties I've been in, the lettings agent would have had to speak to the landlord about fixing or replacing appliances.

At the end of the day, it's your property and the lettings agency will only do so much. Also, many of them really aren't that good in my opinion, so I wouldn't leave it up to them anyway.

Being a ll is stressful though op - though probably not as stressful as being a tenant in some cases! I wouldn't expect an agent to check the washing machine is working before letting out the property - that would be ll's responsibility, unless the agreement with the agent included taking that on as well (i expect some do, but that would cost more). As another pp said, is your agreement with them to find tenants and collect rent, do inventory and deposit protection, or are they also providing other services? If you can't take calls at work and it's too disruptive maybe a fuller service would suit better - even if more expensive?

You can't seriously expect the agent to do an actual full wash either, though?

I agree they might have moved the paint and closed the loft door.

But ... do you usually pay for a service without checking first what's included? Surely you saw some paperwork or looked at some expectations before giving them your money?

I am a tenant. A lot of LL go with bad agents, or have unreasonable expectations of what renting entails. Agents can be awful - and maybe these are - but surely, either they agreed to check all appliances the day before tenants moved in, or they didn't. What does your paperwork say?

Btw - for my current place, I actually have a copy of the LL/agent's divisions of responsibility, which I'm meant to refer to. So I know what I call the LL for and what I call the agent for. And this isn't, in my experience, very unusual.

Surely if I can get hold of that list as a tenant, you must have had some kind of agreement with the agent that was more detailed than 'here's my cash'?