Rental Property Back Home

[Saltire]

26 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

 

4 3 bed houses 2 with swimming pools, I cannot self manage that from abroad.

Agree, it would also not be easy to find a new tenant while abroad.

 

Also not easy to ensure all annual electrical and gas inspections are carried out on time.

 

My agent is worth every penny of his commission, which also includes landlord insurance.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Saltire

[Lacessit]

If I ever go back to Australia, my son has a room reserved for me in his house. Not that I would want to, except for a brief visit.

I sold my house in Australia, too much work in maintenance and if I get a problem tenant, they can cost thousands of dollars in a month. Most of the time, agents are acting in their own interest, not yours.

The proceeds are invested in blue-chip shares and peer-to-peer lending, which keeps me capital-stable while I use the income to supplement my pension. I live here as well as I want to.

Property is great if one has a 20 to 30 year time window. It's not worth the hassle when someone is in their seventies.

[madmen]

9 hours ago, mike787 said:

Sell man.  Leave the stress of hell, take the cash and enjoy Thailand in peace and low stress, or keep repeating the insanity.  

Absolutely. The smart guys sold up years ago when their currency was reasonable. I keep hearing the same old nonsense.. Never burn bridges.. Keep money back home where it safe, Errr Yeah where it's been smashed by the baht over the last 6 years. By the time you guys add tax to your investments it turns out being very poor investments. 

 

[CorpusChristie]

18 minutes ago, madmen said:

Absolutely. The smart guys sold up years ago when their currency was reasonable. I keep hearing the same old nonsense.. Never burn bridges.. Keep money back home where it safe, Errr Yeah where it's been smashed by the baht over the last 6 years. By the time you guys add tax to your investments it turns out being very poor investments. 

 

 

   My "poor" investment is now worth  six times what I paid for it and has paid for itself 3 times over and the tax payments are minimal  

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

Why even have a property manager ?

Deal directly with your tenants .

I was informed that my cooker needed replacing in my UK rental property .

   I was in the mountains in Thailand at the time , I just went online and ordered a new cooker , made arrangements for someone to install it , and it was installed by the week-end .

  In this day and age , there is no need for property managers 

And when they move out then what do you do?

 

My acquaintance has several rentals in the US and manages them himself from Thailand.

He is a cheap charlie.

He has occasionally over the years had renters move out and he goes back to the US himself to find new renters.

This happened earlier this year in February. Duh. Tough luck dude, now he is hating life has been in the US in a Covid cesspool with several lockdowns for almost 10 months too cheap to return with the requirements.

Hiring a manager for properties is not always a bad thing.

 

[1FinickyOne]

property managers are in business for themselves... not for you... you are just the vehicle they drive. 

 

Being a landlord is not easy, but there is not much tougher than being an absentee landlord. 

[Techno Viking]

37 minutes ago, madmen said:

Absolutely. The smart guys sold up years ago when their currency was reasonable. I keep hearing the same old nonsense.. Never burn bridges.. Keep money back home where it safe, Errr Yeah where it's been smashed by the baht over the last 6 years. By the time you guys add tax to your investments it turns out being very poor investments. 

 

 

Yeah I feel sorry for those that have to sell an asset to  survive in Thailand.

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

The proceeds are invested in blue-chip shares and peer-to-peer lending,

the first is good, the 2nd is looking for trouble... 

[CorpusChristie]

I also prefer to have a personal relationship with my tenants , rather than talking to them through a third party (Property manager)

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

I also prefer to have a personal relationship with my tenants , rather than talking to them through a third party (Property manager)

I have a property agent but I get the comms going with the tenant straight away, they come to me first if any issues, best to not leave it solely to an agent, staff aren't great

[CorpusChristie]

28 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

I have a property agent but I get the comms going with the tenant straight away, they come to me first if any issues, best to not leave it solely to an agent, staff aren't great

 

  What does the agent do, that you cannot do and which makes his 10-15% agents  fees worthwhile ?

[Techno Viking]

6 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  What does the agent do, that you cannot do and which makes his 10-15% agents  fees worthwhile ?

 

Not speaking for Scubasteve but my tenants have my email address, ive instructed the to send me an email if there is issues and the property manager is not sorting them in a timely manner.

 

Ive only had 2 emails in the past 15 years which I sorted same day.... property managers act swiftly when the owner is in the loop.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Techno Viking

[scubascuba3]

3 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  What does the agent do, that you cannot do and which makes his 10-15% agents  fees worthwhile ?

9%, they do the adverts, legal docs, show potential tenants around and can get involved with maintenance and eviction issues if need be, being in Thailand that gets tricky. I can organise repairs if the tenant is helpful which so far have been. 

 

On the negative side they slow the payment of rent down and their maintenance charges and repair are always on the high side

[CorpusChristie]

3 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

 

Not speaking for Scubasteve but my tenants have my email address, ive instructed the to send me an email if there is issues and the property manager is not sorting them in a timely manner.

 

Ive only had 2 emails in the past 15 years which I sorted same day.... property managers act swiftly when the owner is in the loop.

 

  My tenants have my E-mail address , I have told them that if anything breaks or needs repairing , to sort it out themselves and deduct the costs from the next rental payments .

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

9%, they do the adverts, legal docs, show potential tenants around and can get involved with maintenance and eviction issues if need be, being in Thailand that gets tricky. I can organise repairs if the tenant is helpful which so far have been. 

 

On the negative side they slow the payment of rent down and their maintenance charges and repair are always on the high side

 

   Probably about £1500/2000 a year they are charging , I would rather use that money to fly back to the UK and sort everything else out myself , especially if you have an empty property you can stay in .

  You can advertise for free on websites , also download all the necessary documents for free , show the tenants around the property for free and it also gives you a chance to see the tenants yourself .

  You can carry out an eviction yourself , the agent would just inflate the costs involved . 

[Techno Viking]

2 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  My tenants have my E-mail address , I have told them that if anything breaks or needs repairing , to sort it out themselves and deduct the costs from the next rental payments .

 

Thats great, I prefer not to bother myself with such trivial matters.

 

managers are also useful for items mentioned by ScubaSteve.... things I would find impossible to do from abroad.

 

Amusingly my landlord here in Thailand tells me stories of others who rent one her other houses, they have called her at 10pm on a sunday night because the light globe in the toilet has blown and she should send someone to replace it.

 

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

 

Thats great, I prefer not to bother myself with such trivial matters.

 

managers are also useful for items mentioned by ScubaSteve.... things I would find impossible to do from abroad.

 

Amusingly my landlord here in Thailand tells me stories of others who rent one her other houses, they have called her at 10pm on a sunday night because the light globe in the toilet has blown and she should send someone to replace it.

 

 

  I would prefer not to do it myself as well  , although I have saved myself about £ 25 000 over the years not paying an agent to do it and doing it all myself

[Techno Viking]

5 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  I would prefer not to do it myself as well  , although I have saved myself about £ 25 000 over the years not paying an agent to do it and doing it all myself

 

Ive made bank by having an agent keeping my houses in order and rented, something that I would find extremely difficult from 9000km away.

 

Two way street, works for some and not for others.

Edited December 5, 2020 by Techno Viking

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

   Probably about £1500/2000 a year they are charging , I would rather use that money to fly back to the UK and sort everything else out myself , especially if you have an empty property you can stay in .

  You can advertise for free on websites , also download all the necessary documents for free , show the tenants around the property for free and it also gives you a chance to see the tenants yourself .

  You can carry out an eviction yourself , the agent would just inflate the costs involved . 

You don't know when tenants will leave, they could stay 6 months or less which means you'd have to fly back each time, book flights with 1 month notice max, then try and rent the place out, not easy in winter may take months who knows especially with COVID. In Scotland where my property is you can't even agree a fixed term contract where they sign up to 6 months or a year. I don't like agents but a necessary evil, a kind of insurance 

[quake]

3 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  I would prefer not to do it myself as well  , although I have saved myself about £ 25 000 over the years not paying an agent to do it and doing it all myself

Cost of hire cars, cost of what i have still going on in Thailand and the living expenses of being in the uk on top, all mounts up. when i used to go back to fix stuff, 

But,  yes you are right in the long run, but not sure by how much, 

The total aggro factor of it all become,  a no for me.

so I leave it all to the agent now days, but does cost more. 

but if it's a trip to see family and fix stuff at the same time,

its a go for me. done that, and still do, if it all fits. ( not very often )

this year is a bit more heavy due to the new electrical reg's that come in back in July. still got one property to sort out. total so far 1400 GBP, ouch !!!!

 

Ps totally forgot covid 19 stopped any trips to uk this year.

but that would have been family only visit

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by quake

[sharksy]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:24 AM, CorpusChristie said:

 

Why even have a property manager ?

Deal directly with your tenants .

I was informed that my cooker needed replacing in my UK rental property .

   I was in the mountains in Thailand at the time , I just went online and ordered a new cooker , made arrangements for someone to install it , and it was installed by the week-end .

  In this day and age , there is no need for property managers 

I have 9 properties I rent out in the UK.  It's no fun having to sort problems out when you are not around.

I remember a few years ago, just landed in Manila, got to hotel - an email from a tenants saying I have a leak coming through the ceiling.  Last thing I wanted to do is spend hours trying to sort that out.  Or another time, tenants lock broke when they got back from holiday and couldn't get in the house at 6am.  Or the usual boiler issues.

A good property manager can take the stress away.

[CorpusChristie]

6 hours ago, sharksy said:

I have 9 properties I rent out in the UK.  It's no fun having to sort problems out when you are not around.

I remember a few years ago, just landed in Manila, got to hotel - an email from a tenants saying I have a leak coming through the ceiling.  Last thing I wanted to do is spend hours trying to sort that out.  Or another time, tenants lock broke when they got back from holiday and couldn't get in the house at 6am.  Or the usual boiler issues.

A good property manager can take the stress away.

 

   Just get your plumber to go around the property and fix the leak , E-mail your plumber and get him to go around there .

   Get a locksmith to visit the property and replace the lock 

[sharksy]

Not so easy when out of hours.  When the numbers on phone for plumbers don't answer or can't visit for a few days.

A good agent should have a reliable plumber on-call.

 

Same thing with a locksmith.  Last time was Easter day.  The only locksmith I could contact was a national chain.  Chap eventually came up from Wales.  I want a better service for my tenants than this.

[kingdong]

On 12/4/2020 at 6:48 PM, soi3eddie said:

Whenever tenants vacated my rental properties there was always work needed. I saw it as necessary and an opportunity to improve and attract new tenants more easily. 

 

I'm glad now not to have the hassles but do miss the relatively passive income. At least sale allowed me to buy my Bangkok condo outright for cash. 

 

On a more serious note; anyone with properties on rental in the UK is at high risk right now of tenants not paying rent. It will take 6 months to even initiate eviction proceedings under current pandemic rules. Some landlords are only accepting new tenants if they pay 6 months rental in advance. 

Good post,with the coming mass unemployment theres going to be a glut of unlet properties,i would take the money and run if i was a landlord just now.the unlet properties will be put on the market causing the housing market to crash,the banks won,t be giving out mortgages,the future dosen,t look rosy,and believe me i hope i,m 100% wrong on this.

[grin]

Las Vegas is the home of my rental properties, all houses or condos. Two of my tenants work part time for me. One works full time as head custodian at a casino and handles most handy-work including HVAC and plumbing. The other works at a construction company and shows my properties when they are empty. She also farms out any repairs that my handyman can't do and she also paints. Between the two of them they can turn any rental around in a week. I supply both of them with my Home Depot commercial revolving credit card to buy supplies.

 

I handle all money matters and paperwork directly with my tenants. I communicate with them using Skype and email. I advertise using cozy.co, zillow.com, and craigslist.com. I get rental applications, tenant screening, credit reports, and collect all rent online using cozy.co. My two part timers only handle showing the properties and doing repairs. My tenants know to call them directly. All contractor payments are made by credit card or Zelle Pay.

 

We always do some upgrades on turnarounds. Continually improving the properties makes it easy to get tenants. I never raise the rent on a tenant but always raise it between tenants. I am almost charging double my original rent on all of my properties and the one thing that I have noticed is that I get much more reliable tenants with nicer houses and higher rents. I've only had one tenant fall behind due to COVID-19 and they are getting assistance.

[kingdong]

21 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

   Just get your plumber to go around the property and fix the leak , E-mail your plumber and get him to go around there .

   Get a locksmith to visit the property and replace the lock 

How extremely easy you,ve made it sound,and it is......in theory.

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, kingdong said:

How extremely easy you,ve made it sound,and it is......in theory.

 

  To make things even easier , tell your tenants your plumbers contact details (When they move in) and tell them to contact him directly if anything is required and also tell the tenants to pay him and to deduct the costs from the next rental payment 

[Techno Viking]

4 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  To make things even easier , tell your tenants your plumbers contact details (When they move in) and tell them to contact him directly if anything is required and also tell the tenants to pay him and to deduct the costs from the next rental payment 

 

Has potential to be a nice little earner for both the tenant and plumber !!

[kingdong]

7 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  To make things even easier , tell your tenants your plumbers contact details (When they move in) and tell them to contact him directly if anything is required and also tell the tenants to pay him and to deduct the costs from the next rental payment 

Sorry i forgot how extremely reliable tradesmen are,and how their good name is your guarantee.

[kingdong]

11 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  To make things even easier , tell your tenants your plumbers contact details (When they move in) and tell them to contact him directly if anything is required and also tell the tenants to pay him and to deduct the costs from the next rental payment 

Sorry i forgot how extremely reliable tradesmen are,and how their good name is your guarantee.