Richlist

If you're going to employ a lettings agent to fully manage a property (as opposed to a lettings agents that provides a find service only) you are well advised to find an agent through recommendation. There are so many poor agents around who will promise everything & deliver very little, have little knowledge or experience and will disappoint you. Why do you think online agents are any better ?

The short answer is that if you are out of the country for a month you aren't gonna be around to do anything worthwhile and you should probably let your agents deal with it. When we receive a months notice we do the following: * Issue a moving out letter that details everything a tenant should do when they vacate. * Arrange a preliminary viewing and discuss what the tenant needs to do when they vacate. Then on moving day.... * take meter readings. * Contact utilities. * Carry out final inspection for deposit return. * Get forwarding address. * Obtain details of energy supplier(s) * Ensure we get all keys and instruction books returned. * Refund deposit based on final inspection. *Ensure they have removed all rubbish, personal be!ongings, locked doors and windows and turned everything off.

My ultimate goal is to move to North Wales permanently. Then spend most of the winter in Spain & the summer in the UK. I enjoyed my few days holiday on Anglesey last year. Welsh property is attractively priced compared to my part of Essex, it's about in the centre of the UK which makes visiting anywhere relatively easy and it's got all the sports facilities anyone might want. I'm hoping to pick up a small castle with the sale proceeds of my house in Essex. Have a great time CoR.

CoR's post about his tenants calling out a locksmith in an emergency got me thinking about emergencies in general. Here is what I do to minimise the chances of an emergency becoming a complete disaster. What 'Emergencies' is a landlord likely to face....... Broken Locks & Lost Keys......Apart from my tenants and myself I always make sure there is at least one other person available who holds a key and is local to the property. That way access can be gained in an emergency or if tenant locks themselves out/ looses key/ I'm on holiday etc. Providing contact details to the other key holders of a reliable handyman who can repair/ replace broken locks is a good idea. Fire......It's mandatory to provide a smoke alarms on every floor. It's also worth providing a fire blanket and a small fire extinguisher neither of which are expensive. Water Leaks.......I always make sure that the hot & cold stop taps are clearly labelled and that the tenants know exactly where they are. Heating Failure in winter......I provide the contact details of a reliable repair guy to all other key holders. Hot Water failure......If it's an electric immersion heater with dual elements it's not really an emergency as there is a second heating element that can be used until a repair can be arranged. Then there are the really rare items like broken windows & storm damage......which are normally covered by insurance. Having a second and if possible a third person who holds keys and can effect or arrange repairs in your absence is always useful. Other than those I can't think of anything else that could be described as an emergency i.e. something that needs immediate action.

Any landlord will have sympathy with your situation and many will have experienced similar themselves in varying degrees. It doesn't change the fact that you are very likely, almost guaranteed, to be considerably out of pocket as a result.

This highlights the urgent almost mandatory need.......when self managing property......to provide a 24/7 facility for emergencies. * I provide not only my x2 phone numbers and email address I also provide the same for a second and third person who the tenants can contact IN AN EMERGENCY. * I ensure that if I am not able to take immediate action to address any emergency i have contact details of reliable people who can handle the matter for me in my absence.......e.g. whilst I'm on holiday, sick, out sailing etc. Failure to put a similar plan in place may result in your tenants presenting you with a repair bill for £260 or more ! My advice.....pay up against a formal receipt, claim it as a legitimate expense, put a plan in place to ensure it NEVER happens again.

If the tenant has been there for 10 years there is likely to be plenty of wear and tear. The tenancy deposit adjudicator will therefore, very likely, not show much sympathy for any claims on the deposit by the landlord. Even with detailed check in/ check out inventories and photographic evidence a successful claim might be difficult to achieve. Good luck.

I doubt the contract requirement for the tenant to pay for accidental contents damage would stand up in court. If damage did occour and could be proven then a deposit deduction would be appropriate. However, there is nothing to stop you including the clause. Many of us have clauses in our contracts which we know wouldn't stand a chance if challenged in court. The hope is that the tenant wouldn't know that and would comply with the requirement.

Are you sure that's not an unfair contract clause ?

Has the tenant actually agreed to leave on August 31st ? Or are you hoping that they will move out ?

There has been a lot of media coverage concerning proposed changes to the S21 process. At the moment those changes are only proposals that are currently under consultation and any introduction is some way off. Therefore current S21 rules still apply. If you meet the criteria, serve the notice and go ahead as planned. Just make sure :- * You comply with HMO rules. * You meet the tax reporting rules for Rent a Room relief or normal lettings.

I have no experience of what you have posted. These are just my thoughts...... * 2021/22 doesn't seem that far off, just 2/3 years so if you can be fairly sure the infrastructure around the house will improve it may pay to wait. * If the flat is attractive to tenants it may be attractive to investors. You might consider putting it to auction......I don't know if you can place a reserve on it.....you would need to talk to local auctioneers. * I'm always receiving leaflets posted through the doors of my properties advertising companies that want to buy. Ok, they aren't going to pay you top price but a few £000's less in exchange for a quick sale might be worth considering. * You have already identified some of the major issues currently facing most of us who want to sell. Stamp Duty or SDLT as it is now known can also be a major stumbling block. For example, I'm currently selling a very modest 1 bed flat for around £160K. The buyers are having to find around £5400 in SDLT.......which is ridiculous. You could consider offering to pay the buyers SDLT & or legal fees as an incentive. Good luck.

Ok thanks. I can see now that there are situations where changing locks are a good idea. I live in a world where I am ultra picky about tenants. Most of mine work in professions.....teaching, engineering, health, IT etc or have impeccable references and tick all the boxes. In this scenario it's extremely unlikely that I'm going to let to a problem tenant or encounter any of the examples you provided. Only once about 15 years ago did I have a fairly minor problem with a tenant .......and I think I now recall that i did change the locks on the front door.

I don't understand what you guys are frightened about. I 've never changed a lock on tenant change over in my life......I've got better things to do and plenty else to concern myself with. Are you suggesting that an ex tenant of mine would keep a key, return at a later date and let themselves back in ? Why ? The property would be unfurnished, empty, probably unusable.......there would be no water or electric as that would be turned off and they would need another key to access it. If I'd already relet he property wouldn't they be refused entry by the new tenant ? Don't understand......can some one explain please ? !ain

Firstly..........some questions........ * England & Wales or Scotland ? * AST ? * Is the tenancy in it's fixed term or periodic ? * Do you have a guarantor or rent guarantee insurance ? * Did you take a deposit ? * Have you complied with all the legal requirements for landlords e.g. deposits, smoke alarms, EPC, gas safety cert. etc, etc ?

1. The new prime minister has suggested that changes to the stamp duty land tax rules are needed to free up the housing market. So, she could wait and see what changes are made.......unlikely changes will be introduced until 2020. 2. She could form a Limited Company, make herself (& partner) directors. Sell the flat to the limited company. The company will then own the flat, she will own the company. I believe she would then not be liable for the additional 3% of SDLT on her new house purchase. Suggest talking to an accountant for advice. Otherwise, I don't see any other ways of legitimately avoiding it.

1. Surely we are all aware how of easy it would be to forget there were a few items in the loft when moving out. It would also be quite convenient to leave a pile of unwanted items for the landlord. 2. Whilst I agree with Grampa on most things......on this we have to disagree. Its hardly difficult to carry a lightweight folding ladder to access lofts. Full management means just that.....including the loft.

I self manage my properties and those with lofts are always checked when tenants leave. I know from your previous posts that you've been out of the country until recently so I assume you've had an agent dealing with you lettings whilst you've been away. I see no reason why an agent can't be expected to check the loft space is empty on check out......unless it's specifically identified as not to be checked in your contract with them. Normally the loft is part of the property so should always be checked. If I was in your shoes, if the tenant has recently moved out i would contact them directly or thru the agent to see if the stuff is theirs. If it's not, bin it and move on. Then bollock agent for doing a second rate management job.

I've had similar issues but not with Comptons. My situation was resolved very satisfactorily by my selling the property at a massive profit. I've been moving my portfolio out of leasehold and into freeholds over the last few years.

I think I'd rather choose to offset it against income tax at 40% rather than CGT at 18% or 28%.

It's valid for 10 years subject to major works. My list is only the legal requirements it doesn't include the long additional list of items recommended by many on this forum. That's why using an agent won't necessarily mean you'll get a proper job done.

Yes I do the same BUT, you are obviously not dealing with the energy supplier ....iSupply Energy......they seem to go out of their way to ensure you will not be in control of events.

In that case you are unlikely to get any meaningful advice on this forum as it's UK based .......different rules & regulations.

Am I right in thinking you are not in the UK ?

Are Direct Line the best ? The best at what ? Their priority, as with any listed company, is to their shareholders not their customers. Their customers represent an opportunity to make, capture and increase their profitability. Your question needs to be more specific.