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I have been asked by the nice men at Property Hawk to introduce myself with my first post.
Well hello landlords and property investors here I go.
I have been investing in property for over 10 years.
Initially I was a sleeves rolled up decorator / dogs-body / refurbishing nut who went on to build up a self-managed portfolio of rental property. Over the years I became weary of the day to day drudge of property management, the blocked toilet phone calls, the re-letting, re-painting, re-furbing grind of property management.
I had a landlord melt-down, moved to the country and handed my keys to a letting agent to fully manage.
Bliss............'You lucky b********* " I hear you shout.
Well yes, in the sense that property management is a lot less hassle if you don't have to do any ( I never see a tenant from moving in - to moving out - all they mean to me are number on a bank statement).
Far from bliss in terms of my bank balance and how much rental profit I make after the letting agent has failed to rent it, charged me the management fees and got an over priced electrician in to change a light bulb.
I will be reflecting on property management from both sides of the fence - with my pink marigolds on and off in as honest a way as possible.
Darling Margo
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4 comments:
'Darling Margo'
I agree with you regarding letting agents' careless attitude with landlords' money.
I recently had a problem with a small leak in the roof of one of my properties. The agent did not even bother to inspect but commissioned a report and quotation which came in at a little over £4K for partial roof replacement (the agent responsible for repairs was sunning himself in some exotice location at the time). Feeling miffed I got my own quote - which came in at £430!
This experience is not unusual - I have friends and relatives who pay through the nose but have ended up managing repairs themselves due to various problems.
A letting agent has no share in a landlords rental profit on a property.
Therefore there is no incentive to fight to bring any expenditure/maintenance costs down.
Maybe there should be a way of linking all these figures together under their commission rates as a way of incentivising letting agents.
I have considered this my self but in a different way.
I know from my books how much I earn from my property's. I wonder if for larger portfolio's say 5 years proof of profitability was put on the table for agents to bid on the right to manage it on a set percentage based return on self managed figures. Or producing a figure for which you are happy to receive a guaranteed sum each month with the remainder going to the agent as their cut. The latter way you would at least know they were working for their money just as one would themselves.
Obviously these figures would need to be adjusted on an annual basis
I don't know of any such offers from letting agents, but as you say for larger portfolio landlords it might be an idea worth proposing to a letting agent.
If any one knows of such offers please let us know.
Thanks for your post
Your darling Margo
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