Avoid Poor Property Management
It definitely pays to have a strong property management team behind you to help prevent the unsightly costs of having to pay for repairs if your tenant damages your property.
I was reading an article recently about a property investor who had to pay cleaning costs of up to £1,900 after their tenant left their carpets, walls and gardens in poor repair.
And the worst thing for her was, instead of having her tenants deposit to rely on to help cover the costs of these bills, her rental agent had already given the deposit back to the tenant – all without inspecting the property first – meaning she couldn’t prove they had damaged her rental property in the first place!
It is stories like these that make you really appreciate landlord resource websites which enable you to manage and control your own properties without the assistance of a third party i.e. a rental agent.
From structuring your assured short hold tenancy agreement to utilising an inventory form – which allows you to monitor the condition of your buy-to-let property and its contents during their entire tenancy – to arranging for a tenant guarantor to protect your rental income if your tenant can pay.
With the right forms, you can prevent such mishaps as the one mentioned above from ever occurring, and more importantly save yourself from ever having to foot the bill for your property manager’s mistakes.
Now this isn’t to say that all property management companies are bad. Over the years I have come across a lot of good quality providers who have done a decent job for my friends, but myself – I still prefer to manage my property portfolio myself.
Not only can I make sure – before they move in – that my tenants have got a good reputation, a strong credit rating and will treat my properties with respect. But I can more effectively enforce mine and my tenant’s rights when it comes to maintenance.
After all, the last thing you want is to be paying cleaning costs of over £1,900 on top of your other responsibilities.
If you are genuinely interested in getting a property manager, I recommend searching around and thoroughly researching them first. A general estate agent is simply not enough…
Wendy xx
I once had a tenant that left damages of over £1,000 to one of my properties. Luckily, I had used a property inventory form like you mentioned above and had kept their deposit. I still had to chase them up loads, but the forms really helped to make a difference to my annual returns. Scott
I’m now glad that I manage my own properties and didn’t use my letting agent. The last thing you want is an additional £1,900 on top of your normal maintenance bills. It is schocking to think that rental agents are able to get away with behaving like that. It is ridiculous! Rachel