Self managing a distant property without the agents

Landlord Discussion
1

I need your help guys.

I have a property that is quite far away. I’ve got an agent who seams to be overcharging me.

From repairs to unwarranted checks. I seam to be paying in excess of 15 percent of the rent to them. To add insult to injury they aren’t really looking after the property and have a habit of “patching” things up.

I was hoping you guys can help me. Is it at all possible to remotely manage my property with open rent and do away with the agents.

If anybody can respond and let me know if this is a possibility and what I need to do that would be great!

2

@euayyelo

OR don’t provide management so not really possible to use them to manage the property (their ‘management plus’ is basically an emergency repairs service just like you get from a landlord insurance co). They don’t manage contractors and the comments here often suggest problems with the suppliers they do use /offer for the routine stuff (gas safety/boiler servicing, eicr )

Find a better agent, now you know what you do and don’t want you can specify it when agreeing a contract. Eg what inspection regime. Whether multiple competitive quotes needed for jobs over £x and whether they should seek your approval, what regular maintenance needed, what commission they will charge.

Tbh 15% including repairs may be quite reasonable tho - many agents cost 8% just for the mgt.

Good luck

1 Like
3

If you have a good gas engineer and a good electrician and you do your inspections through open rent, why would you need an agent?

The money left over isn’t that much so just wondering. It’s not like we can afford to pay a kickback for every repair and we certainly struggle to pay the commission fee they change.

It’s just a thought I had. Open rent allows you to book inspections and checks as well as various other things.

4

@euayyelo you are right that the regular epc (needed every 10 y) eicr (every 5) gas boiler service/ safety and inspections can all be booked and done remotely if you have tenants who will let them in. OR will collect rent and chase if late

(Personally I like to do inspections myself because you get to deal with the tenants and pick up on any ongoing issues and you know about your property best but appreciate harder from a distance.)

What OR won’t do is property maintenance ie either regular stuff like gutter clearing (if you need to do that) or repairs. Or replacing eg appliances or furniture if I t breaks. Sometimes you want to visit and decide whether to replace or repair stuff. If you decide always to replace with new and /or you have a set of tradesmen (gas/plumber, electrician, roofer etc) you trust to decide for you and you are willing to pay any callout costs for them to assess issues then you don’t need yourself or a property manager to visit

It could be if you have a good condition property which needs minimal maintenance then and nothing goes wrong, then in any given year repairs is zero. But if you have an old property or are just unlucky with what repairs are needed it may not work as well

Good luck

Ps there are rules of thumb for how much to allocate for repairs eg

The 1% Rule: A common guide is to save 1% of the property’s market value yearly (e.g., £2,500 for a £250k property).

5

It depends on how far. I have 1 that is 120 mile round trip which i wouldnt want to do regularly but I have good long term tenants (11 years) who are happy to organise maintenance and i just pop in once or twice a year to check up when i’m in the area. The rent is below market rates so i’m effectively paying tenants but has worked well.

If it is to far for you to check at least once a year and/or you dont have confidence in tenants to look after properly then you need an agent and if the numbers dont work which i doubtvtgey would then sell.

1 Like
6

You need to find suitable people to do any work that needs doing to the property. This means spending time in the area of the property to source various tradespeople, meet with them, see if you think they will be reliable and competent and not screw you over.

This aspect of being a landlord is one that is not talked about much. Letting agents have established relationship with tradespeople, but their professionalism and competence varies. And when you are remote and the letting agent knows this, you run the risk of being screwed over by them.

I worked in property management and saw first hand how this happens.

This is why you have to source and vet tradespeople yourself. You need the following excellent people;

Plumbers (3-4 different ones), plus 1-2 emergency ones

Gas engineers (2-3)

Electrician (3-4 different ones)

An appliances repair and supply company

Locksmith (3-4 different ones, plus 1-2 24-hour ones)

Decorators and plasterers (3-4 different ones)

Roofer (3-4 different ones)

For all other areas, you can find someone at the time you need them, like carpet suppliers and fitters, cleaning and carpet cleaning people.

You may find a guy who can do multiple trades and do them well. This is not common and good ones are worth everything.

I manage my home from the other side of the world since 2010. I already had a list of tradespeople before leaving the UK, but one day, it was a Sunday, I had a leak at my property and all the tradespeople I had were not available. I then found someone online who answered the phone and then came immediately and fixed the leak. I have used this person ever since, for everything.

I also have someone who does all my viewings. I have not used a letting or management agent in over 15 years.

I manage everything else myself.

I would say I have been lucky to find a decent multi-trades competent professional, whose work never needs to be re-done or fails. He does not overcharge and is prompt and reliable.

You need to find people to do all that might need doing at your home while you are there and before going back to your area. You really can’t do this remotely. You need to meet who is going to be working in your home and see how they behave in front of you and see how you feel about them.

Also, find a local agent who is willing to hold your property keys for you (if they are happy to do this they will charge you a small admin fee). Maybe find an agent who can function as a viewing agent only, for a fixed fee.

Like all other business areas, property relies on relationships and you need to find people with whom you can have good relationships with, especially since you are remote.

If you cannot or do not find reliable decent people to do work for you and when you need them, you are going to have a terrible time doing it alone from far away.

7

and you’ve had no tenant changeovers in 15 years?

Finding and vetting tenants as well as arranging check ins/outs and viewings was one aspect of the process that I couldn’t do while living overseas with property for 21 years. That’s why I had a management company. To avoid being scammedn, they were instructed to only use trades that I had already found through experience were reliable. Unless the job was routine, I spoke to the trades over the phone to verify what work was needed and they billed me directly, not the agent.

9

I’ve had many tenants over that time.

I advertise my rooms, my local friend does the viewings and I have an inventory clerk that carries out the check outs and check ins.

I forgot to also mention that you also need a good inventory clerk and you need to vet them in person.

It’s not hard at all. What is hard is finding decent and reliable tradespeople. I am in London, which is chock full of crooks & time wasters. I went through many cowboys and crooks and incompetent tradespeople before I found the man i have used since 2010. Not had a moment’s anxiety since then.

The friend who does my viewings has been a letting agent for about 30 year and has a great nose, to sniff out possible troublesome people.

You have to keep trying because so-called management companies aren’t really worth the money and they are jumped up admin/paper pushers. I tried so many and they are all total w****ers but they behave as if they are some high brow professionals.

Been a landlord for almost 40 years. Seen it all and can smell people who are trouble, as they come up the garden path.

10

oh… er… right. Well, not likely anyone following your advice will have a friend like that they can rely on. Sounds like you’ve got a nice little system that’s pretty much impossible for the typical expat to set up.