My comment may not be relevant to you, but if you are newly living abroad, check the terms of your visa, as to whether you are permitted to manage your property and collect the rent yourself.
For example …… the Non Lucrative Visa to live in Spain, does not allow you to do any form of paid work at all, and that includes managing your own rental property.
I agree with the general consensus here Gemma, you’re a first time landlord and overseas; mixing business with friendship also a risk! Are you able to get insurance for emergency repairs / tenant damage or non-payment of rent? If it all goes wrong and you have no backup, you will kick yourself. If you can arrange insurance that will cover you from abroad, and allows 3rd party inspections and be covered then maybe it’s worth the risk….. but know that it IS a risk.
Do you have a uk bank account for them to be able to pay you? Or will you ask them to make an overseas transfer monthly? International standing orders are possible but there are fees to factor in then….
Will you be paying the neighbour for his help?
Thank everyone. We’ve managed to find a UK management agent to help and isn’t costing the entire profit. Onwards to oversees landlord insurance battles…
Thanks. This isn’t relevant for us but good flag
Looks like there are a number of companies offering expat landlord insurance- glad you’re on this step! Finger x’d for you it is smooth sailing 
Another thing you might want to look into is making sure your tax affairs are in order. You only qualify to be non-resident for tax purposes under certain circumstances.
And er… seeing as I’m an English teacher and seeing as you’re going to be using the word a fair bit from now on, it’s … ahem… overseas.
I was waiting for someone to pick me up on that!
Overseeing from overseas
Hi Gemma we’re are you renting and what area are you
@Gemma11
On the thread below at the moment, there’s a good example of the kind of issue that is tricky to handle when you’re not at the property in person
As you say, you’ve appointed an agent so these kind of hassles aren’t going to as frustrating to deal with.
Hi Gemma, I feel for you, you are getting the usual run around by the usual suspects. Whilst in theory it’s true that being overseas you cant pop in and deal with emergencies but that would of course mean you would need to have the skills of - a locksmith, an Electrician, A plumber - need I go on?. There is a tax issue but it does not apply to everyone renting from offshore - we’ve tested it and won it. The assumption is you can handle these problems and the second assumption is if you were in country you would live a short driving distance from your property. If you lived in London and the property was far up North it’s no real difference from being overseas.
I’ve rented from overseas and in multiple jurisdictions at times - I used Agents for a long time but have dumped them all. I rely on OpenRent for all the legal tick box things, and whilst they say they do inventories, have contractors that is not accurate. So here is what you need, a trusted Electrician who actually knows what he is doing, a trusted Plumber Gas Engineer, A Locksmith with good reviews - you have a neighbour but also a cleaner can be your eyes and ears. If you have a good relationship with the tenant, the tenant themselves may have all these trades contacts which will save you money then what are you paying the agent for? To take the rent from the tenant and put it into your bank account less their commission. An Agent will have all these relationships but typically they will ad 10-15% to pick up the phone an arrange someone to come in. If you’ve contracted an Agent its a bit late, if not you may want to start all over again with Openrent and keep it more simple as. I suggest you get on some of the Facebook landlord groups for better advice
Steer clear of Facebook Gemma11 …This is a very big run around from a suspect source
Open Rent DONT manage.
YOU Manage.
DIY
Hi @Gemma11 can you please let me know which UK management agent you found and is you founf a good oversees landlord insurance ? Im in the same situation, renting for the first time and moving overseas.. thanks
Cowens and Alan Boswell have both given competitive quotes for overseas landlord insurance. Where are you based? The managing agent I’ve got is local to my area in South London.