C
Clarus
New Member
Amanda and I have spent the bank holiday weekend sprucing up one of our properties following the end of a 12 year tenancy. We have needed to put new carpets down, paint and carry out a deep clean. Pretty good when you consider we last carried out work at the start of the tenancy in 2002.
Over the years I've often wondered whether or not to keep employing the letting agent for this particular property. Month after month they would take their 10% for doing no more than swapping cheques and organising an annual gas check. As time has gone by I have dismissed the services of other letting agents and managed the other properties in the portfolio ourselves, only keeping the overseas properties with agents.
But then I guess I have been lucky in many respects. On the whole I have had good tenants and have enjoyed many good landlord / tenant relationships. But what if I would have suffered from a couple of problem tenants? The 10% would have been money worth spending. Clarus keeps us very busy and time sorting a blocked drain or a cooker on the blink would soon become an issue to us.
Considering the time spent managing our own inventory I ask myself is it false economy for Amanda and I to spend three days travelling and dealing with a property when personal time is so precious as Clarus keeps us extremely busy? To be on call for tenants with problems that can crop up and then find tenants to replace existing ones really doesn't make the best use of our time.
I look at the hands off investment arrangements that we sell through Clarus. Investors can enjoy being a hassle free, hands off landlord, making money from other revenue streams. It makes sense really to look for high yielding properties and let someone else deal with day to day hassles of tenancies.
Just a few thoughts on the options open to us landlords. Has anyone else got preferences?
Over the years I've often wondered whether or not to keep employing the letting agent for this particular property. Month after month they would take their 10% for doing no more than swapping cheques and organising an annual gas check. As time has gone by I have dismissed the services of other letting agents and managed the other properties in the portfolio ourselves, only keeping the overseas properties with agents.
But then I guess I have been lucky in many respects. On the whole I have had good tenants and have enjoyed many good landlord / tenant relationships. But what if I would have suffered from a couple of problem tenants? The 10% would have been money worth spending. Clarus keeps us very busy and time sorting a blocked drain or a cooker on the blink would soon become an issue to us.
Considering the time spent managing our own inventory I ask myself is it false economy for Amanda and I to spend three days travelling and dealing with a property when personal time is so precious as Clarus keeps us extremely busy? To be on call for tenants with problems that can crop up and then find tenants to replace existing ones really doesn't make the best use of our time.
I look at the hands off investment arrangements that we sell through Clarus. Investors can enjoy being a hassle free, hands off landlord, making money from other revenue streams. It makes sense really to look for high yielding properties and let someone else deal with day to day hassles of tenancies.
Just a few thoughts on the options open to us landlords. Has anyone else got preferences?
