I live abroad for 6 months a year flying back and forth not in one block . Over the years ive filled my phonebook with all the different tradesmen so when i get a call ( usually a whatsapp text ) i just send one of my regular guys over. I do have homeserve plumbing and drains cover plus boiler cover so the tenants dont even ring me about things that are covered . The only time ive been glad i was in the UK and not abroad was a roof leak .
It also helps that when abroad im 30 mins from Malaga airport which has many daily flights to the UK so i could be back home door to door within 6 hours if i needed to be .
Itās sort of what I plan to do but I need to build up my connection with local tradesmen.
Never heard of homeserve plumbing cover; will look into that.
We lived abroad for several years and managed our 5 properties remotely without issues. We did, however, interview all tenants in person and we were lucky with our choices. You need to register with the HMRC NRL scheme to avoid tenants having to pay your tax- a stupid idea if ever there was one. We had local tradesmen we used if and when tenants contacted us with issues. Luckily these were rare as we renovated all the properties before moving abroad.
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Iāve been doing it for 25 years.
You need a reliable plumber who will do your gas certs and service the heating.
You need either a very responsible friend to vet tenants do inventory right to rent etc and visit them. ORent can do alot but the personal touch is essential to maintain good relationships with tenants
Or be able to make quick visits yourself.
Problem tenants require more visiting time.
Good luck
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25 years! Thatās a bit assuring to know:)
I live quite far so canāt visit easily but agree that a good relationship is essential.
I think I will choose someone who doesnāt mind doing it via zoom nowadays.
Will hire some professional to do quarterly inspection.
Thanks for sharing.
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All the best wished for you, Iāve never had an agent in the 6 years that Iāve been renting 2 properties, though I am selling one now. You sound wise enough to set this all up properly which is the key. Watch out for the emergency plumbing services, the one I used was awful. Charged high rate and then extra for visiting and so many exclusions. Wouldnāt come out to a toilet as there were two other toilets in the property so not an emergency. Charged for two visits to boiler and then said canāt fix because over 10 years old. Tried to sell me a refurb on the boiler which was 33% more expensive than going direct to the manufacturer and only guaranteed for 1 year etc etc. Supposed to do annual gas check but guy couldnāt even get front off boiler so was charged for a return visit and then he only āservicedā the boiler didnāt do a gas check. When I tried to get the certificate found out eventually it hadnāt been done but they were hard to contact and never returned calls. When the renewal for the other house came up they were then hard selling with constant phone calls. Have never had emergency plumbing service since then.
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Which firm was this?
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I should add that Iāve learnt a lot over the years.
Itās easy to be ātoosoftā. If tenants are helpful and many are, organising new appliances etc. thatās great but donāt let them forget who makes the decisions
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Hi @Tony regarding registering NRLS with HMRC, I guess I can only register once there is a tenant and moving date confirmed? Canāt really register without a tenant or an agent, can I?
Thanks.
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Thanks for sharing your experience. If you donāt mind asking, which emergency plumbing service did you use that you had such a bad experience?
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A plumber was actually our only bad experience. We used a firm we had used previously to try to fix a leaking shower screen. They billed me about Ā£250 āto refit and seal the screenā. The tenant advised me they were onsite for 15 minutes and put 5cm of mastic over the leak. I didnāt pay, but the guy clearly thought it was a job where the agent would just pass the costs through, which is what would have happened had we been using one.
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Just on the issue of having neighbours/friends with a spare key to do inspections etc would this need to be out in the contract that the inspections will be carried out by Mr or Mrs whoever and what if the tennent was to refuse access as they are NOT the landlord?
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AST will specify landlord or agent. Friends are technically an appointed agent for the purpose of inspections etc. Names do not need specifying.
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Hi, It was in 2017 and it was a company called 24/7 home rescue.
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Thanks for sharing Jennifer. Just googled the name and itās still in businessā¦
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Also make sure you employ someone to carry out regular inspections (after first month then every 6 months from then onwards. If you set up a WhatsApp Group for you the tenants you can capture all the issues and deal with them as they come in. I think you plan looks sensible.
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I donāt believe so, but we had been landlords for 15 years before moving abroad. If you search for HMRC NRL1 you should get the details. Hereās the link to the form:
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Hi,
I left UK in 2017 and rented out my property directly ever since.
Itās gone relatively smoothly and Iām happy with my decision to not use agents.
The two things I would advise are critical are : 1) How much free time you have / willingness to focus on details + 2) Tenant vetting.
I have a whatsapp video call with prospective tenants before agreement (in addition to background checks) ā when going direct, the vetting process is key.
I make it clear in advance how things will be handled, given no agent involved.
I buy landlord insurance, but donāt buy repair cover. In my experience, these products are more expensive than just sorting out on case by case basis (but
it will be one less worry and frees up time, so may be best for you).
I sort tradesman via email/whatsapp. New tenants / new contracts arranged and signed electronically.
I also have a friend who lives nearby but Iāve never had to call on her for anything so far.
One tip - use part of the money youāre saving on an agent to reduce the rent required : this will give you a larger selection of tenants to choose from (getting a good tenant paying slightly less rent is a good outcome, imo).
Doing things direct allows for more control and reduced costs, I believe.
My tenants are single professionals sharing the house, so when there is a problem with an individual tenant, or one person loses keys, that dynamic helps a lot (as opposed to having
a family or people who knew eachother before moving in).
It also helps for advertising for a new tenants, as tenants still living at the property put up the ad and host the viewings.
I am retired so have the time to deal with issues when they come up - it may not be the same for you.
On the issues highlighted/ negative responses:
- Knowing various laws etc-> do the estate agents know all of these laws? Do they apply them properly?
I suspect a lot of agents donāt add much value and youāre getting a false feeling of security from them. And the laws are easy to find and read, often summarised well on forums and wesbites like Openrent.
Iāve read through the official guides etc - if you have the time, itās something worth doing once (no need to actually read legislation, just the official guides), then after that, you just keep an eye out for changes over time.
(e.g. : https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property)
Practically speaking, there are just not that many things you really need to know : annual boiler inspection / EPC / installation of smoke or CO alarms / necessary steps when getting a tenant in / contract wording issues / Deposit to 3rd party, and maybe a couple of others. - attending for emergencies :If thereās ever a serious issue/emergency I would guess that the agent often gets out of the way and puts it on you to sort out anyway. Depending on what the
nature of the emergency, you may not need to actually attend (having decent tenants really helps here - again, vetting is very important). The country Iām in isnāt that far away, so Iāve always
got the option of getting over with a days notice if I absolutely have to (I havenāt had to do that yet though, after 6 yearsā¦) - Guarantor : I donāt do this unless background check shows financial issues (rental reform bill is not passed yet).
- āif you are overseas the hmrc will require the letting agent or tenant to deduct tax at source .ā ā there is a form (NRL) which you can fill in and if HMRC approve, you donāt have to have
tax deducted at source (worked for me). Youāll have to use 3rd party software instead of the HMRC self assessment form, but it is a similar process, and cheap (~Ā£20). - Ā£10,000 for not doing an inspection correctlyā¦Iād be interested in knowing details on this
- Landlords association. I used one the first year, but other than providing a contract template, it offered no value, so I discontinued. But Iād suggest you do it for the
first year and then make your own decision at renewal.
Right to rent you can do in an official online process, no person-to-person is needed as far as I know : Prove your right to rent in England: Get a share code online - GOV.UK.
Only weak point Iāve noticed is on inventories and inspection. I allow individual tenants to leave during the contract if they can find a replacement, so getting consistent
photos of rooms etc is a weak point of mine (as opposed to having a once a year inventory review/photos/inspection).
Cheers
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Thanks so much for such a detailed sharing, really appreciated!
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No reason why you canāt manage without a agent - you jus need to
a) have a local representative /keyholder who can vist the property on your behalf
b) do a bit f extra work
c) keep in touch wit legislation - you canāt really trust agents to do this for you and should do this if you have an agent anyway
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