Nice People Thread Part 9 - and so it continues

lostinrates

bugslet wrote: »

The two houses I used to have that I rented out had reasonably OK tenants, though one did ask if they could re-paint the living room. They chose baby pink for the walls and baby blue for the woodwork - each to their own and all that, at least it could be painted over. What really got me was that they painted round furniture and the windowsill behind the curtains when they were drawn, was still white.

I am not terribly laid back. It frustrates me not when furniture gets moved in day to day shuffling, that's life, but when its not put back when people clean or perhaps at the end of the day. Painting where my DH and resident parent should be leaving furniture slightly appeals. Shhhhhh. It blows my laid back cover. . I like houses that look lived in, don't get me wrong, I like the scuffs and patina of wear, but I also like things to be in places that look right when they are cleaned and tidied or moved then put back.


That said, I should maybe do more of it then would have no cause to quibble. I also dread being one of those people (I am but I fight it) who walks into a job people have worked hard at and starts moving twiddly bits. Its offensive.

michaels

misskool wrote: »

Home alone for 2 weeks now. Oh and dss's are off on half term holiday

Sounds like bliss.

mystic_trev

michaels wrote: »

And finally the plan (dangerous one I know) is to give the tenant the impression that we are going to be really helpful landlords

Don't do it, it'll end up in tears! I've always used an Agent. OK, so I have to pay 10%, but it's worth more than that to me to avoid the hassle. I've never met any of my Tenants in the 20 years I've been involved in this lark. Any problems, and the Agent deals with them and if a Tenant has had a problem, they've usually been resolved to their benefit. In all that time I've never had any problem Tenants, and for that matter no voids.But it's Business pure and simple.

Wait until they have problems with the Electrics, they'll be expecting you to sort them out a takeaway!

You're a brave man Michaels!

lostinrates

Michaels, let your tenant switch providers.

Your attempts there would piddle me off despite your other attempts to bend over backwards. £130 quid in the scheme of things is penny pinching to the point of jeopardising peace, which surely this week you are valuing highly?

I actually think you need to set better boundaries. I have always wanted good service from landlords. Its fair to be expected to do things like sort out heating at this time of year I agree....but other things at such short notice?

michaels

If I lose the cash back and have to pay for 1 year line rental then it costs 250 quid - worth it to spend 15 minutes setting the tenant up with the existing provider to me.

Similarly with an agent to manage - it would cost £1728 for the year up front plus all contractor call outs would cost twice as much as the agent seems to have cosy arrangements with all the suppliers they use so rather than me spending an hour sorting the radiators no doubt a plumber would have been called and cost at least 100 quid. DW is not working (beyond looking after the DKs when not at school) so I don't see why we can't manage to look after a house that is just round the corner. We are not doing it to make a living as a landlord with a portfolio of properties, the main aim is to make a profit by developing the site. It is not unexpected that there is a fair bit of work when getting the property ready to rent for the first time it is just unfortunate that it is happening when I am busy with stuff at work and also have a fair few financial bits and pieces to sort out because of all the changes to financial affairs needed to buy the property. If it hasnt settled down in a weeks time then we may need to reconsider but at this point the money saved from doing things ourselves definitely more than pays for the time.

bugslet

I never used an agent, I used to reckon I was a reasonable judge of character and knew a good plumber, sparky, tiler and decorator, so figured it was relatively easy to do it myself.

LydiaJ

michaels wrote: »

If I lose the cash back and have to pay for 1 year line rental then it costs 250 quid - worth it to spend 15 minutes settign the tenant up with the existing providor to me.

Similarly with an agent to manage - it would cost £1728 for the year up front plus all contractor call outs would cost twice as much as the agent seems to have cosy arrangemnts with all the suppliers they use sorather than me spending an hour sorting the radiators no doubt a plumber would have been called and cost at least 100 quid. DW is not working (beyond looking after the DKs when not at school) so I don't see why we can't manage to look after a house that is just round the corner. We are not dong it to make a living as a landlord with a protfolio of properties, the main aim is to make a profit by developing the site. It is not unexpected that there is a fair bit of work when getting the property ready to rent for the first time it is just unfortunate that it is happening when I am busy with stuff at work and also have a fair few financial bits and pieces to sort out because of all the changes to financial affairs needed to buy the property. If it hasnt settled down in a weeks time then we may need to reconsider but at this point the money saved from doing things ourselves definitely more than pays for the time.

So this is another example of michaels having an attitude towards the trade off between hassle and saving money that is different from most people's. He'll probably make it work for him financially, even if it costs him more time than most of us would be prepared to spend.

Michaels, I am still a bit confused about how you plan to develop the site with a tenant in situ. Would you care to explain? Sorry if I am being dim for not having picked that up from what you've posted already.

misskool

lostinrates wrote: »

Is your coldy buggy thing better? Are you ok?

Enjoy some girly time!

got a rubbish chesty cough. fingers crossed that is on the way out

lots of work to keep me busy!

lostinrates

michaels wrote: »

If I lose the cash back and have to pay for 1 year line rental then it costs 250 quid - worth it to spend 15 minutes settign the tenant up with the existing providor to me.

Similarly with an agent to manage - it would cost £1728 for the year up front plus all contractor call outs would cost twice as much as the agent seems to have cosy arrangemnts with all the suppliers they use sorather than me spending an hour sorting the radiators no doubt a plumber would have been called and cost at least 100 quid. DW is not working (beyond looking after the DKs when not at school) so I don't see why we can't manage to look after a house that is just round the corner. We are not dong it to make a living as a landlord with a protfolio of properties, the main aim is to make a profit by developing the site. It is not unexpected that there is a fair bit of work when getting the property ready to rent for the first time it is just unfortunate that it is happening when I am busy with stuff at work and also have a fair few financial bits and pieces to sort out because of all the changes to financial affairs needed to buy the property. If it hasnt settled down in a weeks time then we may need to reconsider but at this point the money saved from doing things ourselves definitely more than pays for the time.

I have no issue with the no agent. I've had great relationships with some of my landlords.

The provider thing is mixed. I've stayed with provider to suit landlord and......would not do it again.

michaels

LydiaJ wrote: »

Michaels, I am still a bit confused about how you plan to develop the site with a tenant in situ. Would you care to explain? Sorry if I am being dim for not having picked that up from what you've posted already.

The tenant is in for at least 6 months but that more than pays the morgage while we hopefully get planning permission. The ideal next step is that with PP obtained we sell the plot and use some of the proceeds to redevelop the house to make a profit. WE might also see about renting the house for a bit whilst the plot is being developed but I'm not sure if anyone would want to rent next to a building site even if the rent was sharply reduced. We would also sell the whole site if we could make a decent return once it has PP just to avoid any hassle.

The final fall back option if no PP for another house is possible is to extend the current house. In this case we might live in in while it is extended (:eek:) while renting out our house - this has big advantages money and tax wise. To do it this way we would also need to find 70-100k to cover the build costs which would be 'fun', perhaps we could do it on 0% credit cards....