My advice is and I did this myself as I live away…
Use an agent to get the tenant and secure the contract, doing an inventory often included, vetting and right to rent checks, deposit protection etc.
After that then have your contact number on whatsapp so being abroad makes no difference, and time differences don’t matter.
Its essential to get good tenants thats the number one requirement and someone needs to show the house. I did this using a friend initially and although the tenants were paying the rent the house was getting wrecked as the husband would get drunk and smash stuff, ie. a door a wall kitchen cupboards. The second time I used an Agent.
Also once the tenant is settled do an inspection, after that you might arrange professional inspections. Its important to meet them.
Everything else is good but build up good contacts with builders and contractors you can trust. Having a friend with spare keys is important and that the tenant knows that as you don’t want someone breaking a patio door to get in due to forgot keys, yes it happened to me. The keysafe won’t work because the key will be used as a regular key and not put back.
Using an agent to find the tenant and show them round and perform all the mandatory checks will be worth it. As if these checks are not done it reduces your ability to evict the tenant when things go wrong. As a landlord it is normal to check how will I manage when/if it all goes south.
Thanks David for the comment.
I think there are professional inspection service offered now; maybe even OpenRent does it.
My question is then how would using an agent help me on those 150 legal rules? They may know more than I do but I doubt they will help me in this regard. Maybe I am just being cynical but agents to me are just to make profit by doing as little as possible; they are not doing anything in my interest unless they can charge me a fee.
I think having a maintenance is important to get things fixed relatively quickly at a reasonable price; again using an agent won’t help inexperienced tenant.
A good agent will stay on top of all the legal responsibilities, but ultimately if there’s an issue the buck stops with LL.
Now finding a good one, there’s a problem.
They certainly won’t train the landlord, however they can be useful for first time landlord as you would naturally see how the core things are done.
Landlords regularly self manage properties the other end of country, being out of country isn’t that different.
Isn’t this all businesses? They certainly serve a purpose for those willing to spend and want less hassle. I wished it wasn’t mandatory that they all wear skinny trousers and tan shoes though ! 
To some extent yes; but I have been dealing with a lot of agents as a tenant before for a very long time. I never ever met a good agent! They lied to me; to the landlord. They never cared about tenant or landlord or landlord’s property. I also worked with a lot of headhunters during my career and none of them was decent either. Maybe I am just unlucky! Who knows. Agent business in general is really broken in my opinion which is probably why OpenRent is getting popular.
No one cares about a property as much as the owner…agents are expensive yes, I self manage but will at some point switch back to them I think. Their contracts can be unreasonable, in past I’ve insisted on changes.
I agree there’s more bad than good for certain…
There is a lot of truth in what you say. Agents are not experts in my experience, but they will know more than you. If theyre national, theyll also have the back-up of solicitors who do know and they will have created the processes, documents and checklists that the local agent follows.
In pure economic terms you may be right. The odd loss or extra cost may still not add up to the 10-15% you’d have to pay an agent. The real issue is the big losses. An admin error that leads to a deposit penalty claim of 3x the deposit; an oversight that leads to a £30k fine from the local authority; a tenant who stops paying rent and takes 8 months to get to court, only to find theres been a mistake with the forms and you have to start again… These things can happen to even the experts, but having someone who knows what theyre doing managing the tenancy reduces the chances and gives you someone to sue if it does go wrong. I guess it all comes down to your apetite for risk.
I see. So you’re using a full management from an agent?
Even if I am using an agent with full management, they wouldn’t help with rent arrear. At the least that’s the case for the agent I am dealing with. I will always get rent insurance with legal add-on in my landlord insurance to cover the rent arrear, which is probably one of the worst nightmares to a landlord. And a friend of my went through this last year; it took nearly a year to get the tenant out of the property but she didn’t have a rent insurance or legal add-on.
I am very interested in an example of an oversight that might lead to a 30k fine from the local authority if you have one as this is totally new to me.
Thanks for your continuous comment David.
No, Im not using an agent. The reason is that I live about 5-10 mins from all my properties and I spent months, (years actually) learning the business, including the legislation. I also have the back-up of a landlords assiciation. For me, thats the only sensible basis for self management.
Landlord association? You mean NRLA?
By living close to all your properties, do you go to the property in person for all maintenance issues?
I would really appreciate if you can tell an example of how a legislation affects your property management.
In my case it is the NRLA, but there are others. If the tenant complains of a problem then I tend to visit in the first instance. For example, the washing machine in one property wasnt pumping out and on inspection it turned out the filter was blocked. Easy to sort out and they were new tenants, so hadnt caused it.
Legislation covers every aspect of property management. For example at quarterly inspections you’re checking for compliance with/covering yourself from breaches of:
- Smoke and carbon monoxide regulations
- Section 11, Housing Act 1985 repairing obligations
- Defective Premises Act
- Housing Health & Safety Rating System
- Homes Fitness for Human Habitation Act
- Housing Act 2004 HMO legislation
- Breaches of any local licensing conditions
- Electrical & Gas safety regulations
And probably others.
I use a agent and have done for over 15 years , they are better at selecting tenants , most are professional and they do get more rent than private.
Also the tenants don’t tend to mess them around so much .
I’ve had both managed and non and non managed is a pain in the ass
I would love to rent your property i am a 60 year old lady looking for a property in rochdale
No of course you don’t need to live close. Just reliable tradespeople and associates who can take care of issues. And backup people.
Ensure you protect yourself from risk of being taken advantage of by opportunistic tenants. You don’t need to know all legislation. You never will. Learn the essentials. You can dig deeper as problems arise.
You can learn from an agent.
Agents mess up, service levels are down to individuals, some are far more conscientious than others.
If it were me I would still use an agent until you have a better understanding.
If there is any work to be done then the landlord
should just request the tenant to authorise the let
the workman if there are not going to be at home or
ask the tenant to be at home if they have any concern.
I would suggest all communication should be get in writing.
Never take risk as it’s not worth it. I would say most tenants are good but there would be one in 100s will cause a
such problem. Even given verbal consent and they change thier stories.
In all honesty, I think you are on the right track. I have dealt with agents and they are everything you say.
2x mark up not doing inspections on a fully manged agreement, flouting selective licensing and just rushing to get someone in so you are tied upwith them.
Also bear in mind ultimatley in their agreement with you they will limit their liability to zero and if disputes arise ie not served the correct paper or malicious damage, or not protected the depoait properly or any form of discrimination whether direct or indirect. You as the landlord will be responsible and coughing up.
I would suggest to get the burden of a deposit requirement off your shoulders consider reposit openrent also offers that the tenat pays 1 weeks worth of rent and your covered for 8 weeks should tenants do anything wrong.
Reposit will chase them and you dont have the whole serving of deposit documents etc…
As for insurance, get all the comprehensive products. I find directline is the best and they have been voted the best too. They have emergency cover, terrorisim, malicious damage, rent guarantee (subject to reference.) You can also get landlord emergency cover.
Creating a contract through open rent is the safest option as they serve all documents etc. Ots also free to renew and the tenantsbare yours so win win. But I will personally email the documents again from my personal emal address just to double play it.
British gas do an emergency cover best thing about that is if you do the conprehensive package it also includes CP12, and service which you will need once a year and you dont even need to pick up the phone you can arrange repairs online.
The things to think about is most insurance companies and local selective licensing in your boroughs require you to visit the property atleast once in every 3-6 months so your friend can do that and just take pics etc.
Other than that I dont see any issues with what you propose really. Just make sure you reference tenats and do the right to rent check too.
All the best man.
Thanks but my property is in Surrey not Manchester/Rochdale.
Do hope you find something in Rochdale.
Hi stt106,
I’ve never used a Guarantor in 15 yrs. And, luckily, I’ve never had late payments or rent arrears. I wouldn’t agree to a viewing without first speaking to potential tenants. I do carry out my own (selective) viewings and have a good chat (which, in effect, is an informal ‘interview’) with each set of potential tenants to help me judge/gauge how well we’re likely to get on/how compliant they might be - before making my decision. I do stress to tenants that they report any issues a.s.a.p, and I do quarterly inspections during the first year - by the end of that, tenant is familiar with what to expect - then I reduce it to 6 mthly. I also (personal choice) attend with any tradespeople, as my property is nearby. The tenants’ neighbours have my Tel. No in case they feel the need to report anything. No matter how well any L/L prepares, taking references, etc. there is never a foolproof guarantee with any tenants (their circumstances. could change, they could be brilliant actors, etc. etc.). You seem to have taken this seriously with the lengths you’ve gone to - and are at pains to do all you can for it to work well! Make sure your friends acting on your behalf will make themselves available when required - and that they make you aware of any problems/unacceptable tenant behaviours, if any? As David 122 pointed out, there’s a wealth of related knowledge re: being L/L - we don’t all know it all - most L/L’s are constantly learning, as certain matters crop up, often “one offs”. Being in a L/L Association, e.g. the NRLA is definitely worthwhile - for all the docs/resources/helpline/campaigns, etc., as well as the value in subscribing to multiple emails, etc. from e.g. NRLA, your Tenancy Deposit provider, your local council Landlord team, and many more, - Nearly Legal, Landlord vision, forums, etc… Good Luck with it all!
Can you really rely on friends? The novelty may soon wear off if the tenants are demanding especially.
I’m really surprised that you current agent can’t find a tenant in this market. There could be a better agent out there. Agents I’ve used have always been really clear about their fees etc and not charged double. I’ve done it all different ways over the years. For me it really depends on the property- some need little action and other are hard work.