The Diary of a Landlady

Your properties deserve your attention .... and you can save yourself a few quid!

I'v just come back from visiting one of my properties that had became vacant..  I've had the property a few years and it wasn’t too far from my home, so I took the opportunity to visit it to see if any repainting needing doing, etc.

I noticed the hallway walls needed repainting 'magnolia' again and then went into one of the bedrooms ….. I immediately noticed the position the bed was placed in and that it didn’t tally with the carpet indentations that had been made by the bed, so naturally I moved the bed. What I found was that there was a foot square piece of carpet missing under the bed! On closer examination of the carpet in the room, I saw where the missing piece of carpet had been fitted, which was really obvious once you were in the room.

Fortunately, I had my digital camera with me and was able to take some photos.  Thankfully the tenant had only been gone a week and I needed this evidence to show the letting agent so that I could get the monies to replace the carpet from the tenant's deposit before it was handed back to them. I also noticed in the bathroom that the lino was stained, with a lovely pair of feet outlined  – it was obvious that one of the girls was a fake tan user – one of the orange crowd! Upon checking the second bedroom I noticed that there were some really bad burn marks on the carpet there – on closer inspection they were cigarette burns – and I had had a no  smoking clause in the AST. What a cheek!

What I was annoyed about more than anything was that none of this had been reported to me by the letting agents who had reported that everything was in order at the property. I am just glad that I visited the place and had my camera with me – another lesson learned:  visit your properties whenever you have the opportunity and take your camera!  Result – I was able to obtain all the deposit money and get new carpets  and a contribution towards the repainting of the place.

As I keep re-iterating, you properties are YOUR responsibilty.  Look after them well and they will serve you for many years to come.  Keep them clean and well-maintained and you have a better chance of achieving the highest possible rental income.  I have all my properties professionally cleaned between tenants, and I also send my handyman round to do any small rememdial works, change lightbulbs that have blown, etc.  It really does pay to be a concientious and responsible Landlord.

TV Licences ... and the advent of digital TV ...

Good morning, fellow Landladies ...

Well, I've just taken five minutes to sit down for a cuppa and a Krispy Creme doughnut, so I thought I would take a few moments to share some more valuable information with you .... well, us ladies have to

stick together and support one another, don't we .... ?!

I thought I would share a sad little tale that I heard the other evening at a local landlord’s meeting …. one of the landlord’s there had just been fined £1000 for not having a TV licence.  "So what?"  you might well say.   Well the story is that he had not ensured that in the AST that had been drawn up by a new letting agent, that it was the tenant’s responsibility to have a TV licence – thereby alleviating all legal responsibility of the TV licence on the landlord.

Just the simple checking of a new AST cost this man a grand – it’s an easy mistake that any of us can make, but an expensive one. 

I am all for sharing this kind of intellgience because, as I keep re-iterating, your investment property is YOUR responsiblity.  If something goes wrong, YOU are the only person to blame.  SO BE RESPONSIBLE.  A quick call to the TV licencing authority will let them know that it is a buy-to-let property, and you can give them the tenant's name for future reference.  Then it becomes the tenant's legal obligation to pay for the TV licence.

And staying with the subject of TV ... did you know that landlord's with properties in blocks of flats tht have a communal TV system must ensure that their flat has access to digital TV before the analogue signal is switched off in 2012?

According to the National Landlord's Association, a third of its members are unaware that it is their

responsibility to take care of this.  "We are concerned how few landlords appear to be aware of their responsibilities relating to digital TV switchover," commented David Salusbury, NLA chairman.

"Any landlord who rents out a property which relies on a communal television system must ensure that the necessary steps are taken to make the switch to digital.

Letting properties professionally is a serious responsibility. With so many legal obligations to the tenant, the business of letting can be a minefield of regulation," he concluded.

On November 14th of this year, Whitehaven became the first UK town to have its analogue TV signal switched off.

If you own an apartment in a block with a management company in place, it will be worth checking with them what provision will be made for digital TV in that building.

Remember, education and knowledge is key to being a successful Landlady, so always keep yourself up to date with the latest government legislation.  That way, you won't be caught out in the future ....

Until next time, toodle pip.

Gas Safety Certificates - and the dangers of making assumptions ...

Just got back from a few days away and switched on my laptop to find two messages from my property management software system reminding me that 2 gas safety certificates were due on a couple of my properties. It’s a good job I got those reminders, as I hadn’t realised that nearly another year had gone by !  (Time does fly when you're having fun and making money!).

The software is worth its weight in gold, as it sends me early alert warning for tasks like the safety certificates, insurance, fixed rate mortgages ending etc. Having quite a number of properties it ensures that there are no oversights made with these issues – very, very important with the things that are a legal requirement..  Try to explain  to a judge that you ‘forgot’ to renew the gas safety certificate and an accident occurred at your property – gas related.  Trust me, it won’t get you very far.

Whether you only have one or many properties, it is vital that you professionally manage your portfolio and keep electronic control over it. It is important to be responsible, professional, and disciplined in managing your properties - after all the buck stops with you, and in a court of law, ignorance does not get you off the hook.

 

Oh, and another thing, don’t assume that because you have a fully managed service by a letting agent, that they will remember to get it done for you – after all administration errors DO occur.

I learned a very valuable lesson the other day that I think is worth passing on to you, fellow landladies.  When you "assume" something, statistically, 60% of the time, you are WRONG!  Assume = ass / u / me!.  In property, it is dangerous to "assume" anything.  Always do your homework, research, due dilligence etc to ensure you KNOW exactly what a situation, state of affairs, etc is.

After all, your property portfolio is and always will be YOUR responsibility, and if something goes wrong (even if you buy through a property club), you are the only person to blame.

Service Charges – the importance of checking your statement!

Service Charges – the importance of checking your statement!

Having a significant number of apartments in my portfolio, I am used to paying services charges and usually just write a cheque out when the statement arrives.  It is so important that these service charges and ground rent are paid as it is vital that maintenance of your investment property in developments is maintained to a high standard through these funds. After all, what tenant would want to stay in a development that looks dirty and unkempt?  But more important than that is the fact that the up-to-date state of your account is checked by solicitors when re-mortgaging – this could have a major impact on you if you were relying on funds from a re-mortgage as the lender will not allow you to complete the re-mortgage if your service charge account is in arrears.

Another point to consider, is that more and more landlords who are inexperienced and  struggling with high mortgage payments, low rents etc end up not paying their service charges and ground rent ….. big mistake!!  The reason?  Well, the management companies are being forced more and more to take action to recover the monies owed by instructing debt collection agencies and taking legal action.  Result to the non- paying Landlord: CCJs and a slippery slope on your credit rating.   So think twice when the next service charge bill lands on your doormat and putting it on one side!  (These debt chasing costs are also added into the following year’s service charges, therefore increasing them for all owners).

Anyway, back to what started this ranting …. Like I said, I usually just write a cheque out and pop it in the post but something made me look more closely at the statement – there was a charge of £246 for a water pump for the period 01 July – 30 Sept 07 and the same amount was mentioned again for the period 01 Oct – 31 Dec 07.  What is odd about this, I hear you say?  Well,  the property in question is a second floor flat which I have owned for 3 years and it is nowhere near any rivers etc. I got the property file and looked at past service charge statement and could find no previous mention of this water pump or request for payments. I also noticed that the service charge bill was from  the new management company who took  over earlier on in the year.

So a phone call soon resolved it all.  It was simply an administration error and it was not even for my development at all!!  To think that I nearly wrote a cheque out for nearly £500 more than necessary!  The moral of this story is to always check your service charge statements and ensure that the costs listed are relevant to your building.