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? :)

Have you read your contract properly?
The property we rent is through a letting agent but they don't manage it as it costs the LL more money. If you want them to manage it (which generally means using their tradespeople) then it costs more money.
Do you know what you are paying them for?
You need to read your contract.

I imagine paying someone to close a loft hatch, finish a wash and remove some paint would cost about £60 or something silly

We rent out a house (previously been LL too but generally rent 1 house at a time) and moved out to our family home. We spent weeks going through the house with a fine tooth combe finishing all those little jobs that never bothered us - replacing dairy shelf in the fridge, broken shower head over mixer taps ( Sep shower), replacing runner on tricky sliding door.

Honestly by the time we had repainted and fixed all the niggles the house was mixer than when we lived there.

Just had a problem with the boiler and it cost £400 to fix. We make naff all money doing this by the time the mortgage and expenses are paid.

I am a sahm (although just going back to work) and have the time to sort things and do my tax return.

We have amazing tenants but in a year I have had a problem with the loo, fixed the decking and had a problem with the boiler. Next year I will have to repaint the outside of the house and replace the decking - this will run to a few thousand. I am lucky I know tradesmen and am handy.

If our tenant defaults we are screwed financially but have a reserve to cover 9 months missed rent ( demanded by mortgage company). When you have nice tenants in a nice house It is relatively easy job but when things go wrong it's challenging. Its people's homes so a big responsibility.

It cost us aprox £1000 to set up. We don't use an agent - have done in the past and they didn't inform us of tenants grievances, do what they were supposed to and kept coming up with reasons why they needed to charge is and the tenants more - this was on top of 8% fee.

Just to check your mortgage lender does know? You understand the tax implications and you have all necessary insurances in place? We needed life cover/mortgage cover at £80 a month!

Things go wrong very frequently in houses, i think people don't notice as much if they're owner occupying because they live with the leaking tap and bit of damp seeping in, shower not working as well as it should etc. Tenants rightly expect it to be sorted out for their money, so it can come as a surprise to accidental lls when they get seemingly constant calls.

Have to admit i would be annoyed if i were renting and the loft door was left open (tender flower, don't like going up ladders). And i'd ask for the pot of paint to be removed, because i wouldn't want it taking up cupboard space (fussy flower as well).

Ll ing is more work than people expect - maybe you could look at a fuller management service?

Did you expect the agents to do a load of their washing to check that the machine works?

Oh and I also sold the tenant the dishwasher for a £5 as I had one in my new house and didn't want the cost of replacing it should it go wrong - if it comes with the house you need to fix it if it breaks.

DH lets his parents old house, hundreds of miles away so I do understand... being a LL is a bit of a learning curve. It should settle down once this teething stage is over, though you will get things going wrong periodically. I would second the suggestion that the agents should contact you by email; apart from being easier for you to handle during the day, it provides a clearer record of exactly what was said (eg if when their plumber says a job will be £100 is that a quote or an estimate and is that parts and labour....)

DH just relet his, he was there (supervising an emergency boiler repair ... unheated empty house in cold weather invalidates insurance, bit of a nightmare!) during the inventory. It took quite a long time, very detailed note taking, I think he said lots of photos too. Don't know how much it cost but it wasn't trivial.

Interesting about life cover princess - why did you need life cover specifically to rent?

Op have you also checked legionella risk assessment, and whether your council requires licensing (some have introduced selective licensing schemes). There is quite a lot to keep on top of as an ll, and things change quite frequently - see recent changes about smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, for instance.

Princess - yes, Dh was advised not to provide more appliances than strictly necessary - might have just been the cooker, def not a washing machine. He added a tumbledyer because the tenants were causing damaging condensation with drying stuff on radiators - his parents had always put stuff on the line.

If it's your house then surely these things are your problem? They have other things to be doing rather than coming to move a pot of paint that you left there.

If you want the money then you need to make the effort to make sure everything is working properly and to expect phone calls when it isn't convenient. You can't have the rental income and take no responsibility.

The life cover was to clear the mortgage should my hubby die. As I am a sahm the mortgage is in his name. We owned now rental property outright and had an ok deposit for next place but we have half mortgage on one house (residential repayment) and a btl in the rental up to max they would lend for tax efficiency purposes. The insurance is not tax deductible. As I am about to start work (rental income all set against my tax allowance) our tax bill is about to increase.

There is a lot to consider and it changes all the time.

Thanks princess, i see about the life cover. I Didn't know you could allocate all the rental income to one person - i thought if the property is jointly owned it had to be allocated 50/50. I agree with you about things changing constantly - unless you have a full managenent service there is, as you say, a lot to consider!

If you are paying them to MANAGE the property (which @ 10% I assume you are) then yes, they should be handling these things (in consultation with you), especially if you're not local. £300 Does sound a lot for an inventory though. How big is the property?

I think the point was that it wouldn't have taken any effort to move a spare pot of paint, but in any case, I suppose the question has arisen over expectations - mine being that really the agents should have checked everything was in working order (given that they have been paid to do this) - but evidently that isn't the case.

Yes i think you're right tangerine - it's about what the agent's agreed to do.

I'm not sure though about it being no effort to move a pot of paint - on the face of it might sound so, but in fact it's more complicated. The agent wouldn't have wanted to throw it away without permission as you might have objected; obviously wouldn't have wanted to store it themselves; and it had to be taken off the premises as the tenant wouldn't want it there! Still, did you ask if they would mind just putting it in the dustbin for you?
Loft door is different - as a pp upthread has pointed out there may be health and safety rules about going up ladders unaccompanied and so on.

We knew someone who had her neck broken when a loft door swung down onto her.

What service did you sign up for with the agency? If it was full management then yes they should be addressing this stuff but be prepared for an extortionate call out charge every time they do!

Well, no, I don't see why the tenant wouldn't want it there because it is the same colour as the lounge, so it was there for top ups. It was literally one tin of unopened paint, that was on a table in the lounge.

We have a deed of trust - we checked all this with a solicitor and that means all the rental income goes against my tax allowance. We might do something different when I go back to work full time it depends on the tax implications. Its expensive to get good advice but important. There are a lot of unexpected costs esp for people new to being a LL.

It could only break someone's neck if they were eight foot tall, Errol - but again safety checks should have taken place, surely?

If as a landlord you let a property that includes white goods, you must accept that these can break and need repair or replacement any time. It's better to leave nothing.

An inventory is just a signed list of items and their external appearance. You haven't paid anyone to check that the white goods are in working order.

It seems as if you're under a barrage of demands because the tenant has only just moved in. It's better to flag things up at the start of the tenancy.

Yes, I think you're probably right. I feel a bit less stressed out by it now, anyway :)

The agents and the tenants wouldn't have known that the paint was for their use ... I guess a post-it or write on it with a sharpie would make things clear.

You live and learn!

Is it impossible for the tenant to close the hatch without them buying or borrowing a ladder? If so I'd be annoyed if I was them.

Re tin of paint - I wouldn't know what to do with it - am I meant to store it somewhere and keep it safe? Am I allowed to use it?

It's annoying to face these sorts of things when moving into your new home.

Why should any of their cupboard space be taken up by your things?

I left paint for the tenant so they could do touch ups - all clearly labelled in the loft.
I have a very very thorough condition report and this will allow them to cover any marks when they leave. They are the cleanest tidiest people ever however. But I would have taken it had they not wanted it. I always meet my tenants and do the move in handover with them.

It does seem a bit petty of the agent to not just chuck it in a cupboard esp when they know you are miles away - this is the reason I don't use an agent. Agents will tend to put the first person who wants the property in - I am very choosy and have been very lucky with tenants. My houses are also always immaculate and priced competitively so I have lots of people to choose from.

I am not in it to make a profit in the short term, I intend to keep this house for the next 25 yrs.

mine being that really the agents should have checked everything was in working order (given that they have been paid to do this)

But HOW do you expect them to check a washing machine works, other than wash some clothes? It's not like flicking on a light switch or turning on the hob.