In article , Tim Watts
writes
On 05/09/16 17:11, Bill wrote:
A relation is thinking of renting out his house for a year or so while
he works away. He has had a very tentative contact with a local estate
agent who has quoted the possible rent and offered to manage the whole
arrangement. The agent hasn't seen the property.

My immediate thoughts were about the state of the property. It was
originally bought with a plan to refurbish it to a high standard, but he
hasn't had time to start. It has been fine as-is as a home, but, for
example, many of the interior doors don't close and are visibly out of
true. 2 surveys 10 years apart said that this was due to historical
settlement which has now stabilised and is no longer a problem. There
are other problems with things like garage doors that scrape on the
path, soakaways that need investigation and so on.

It is his main home and he needs to be able to return to it after the
current job.

We can get the garden tidied for him and do small jobs so it looks OK,
and I might be asked to get involved in meeting one or more estate
agents on site.
Is it likely that he would have to get all the doors right before it was
rentable?
What do these inclusive estate agent deals involve? If a tenant is
installed and a light bulb needs replacing, is the agent likely to call
in a contractor at great expense?

Any comments from anyone who has experience of this would be very welcome.

It will need to meet certain minimum standards - smoke alarms, and gas
certification being the first 2 I can think of.
Electrical certificate also.

Agents generally do not handle light bulbs, but more serious electrical
problems will be farmed out to a contractor.
Don't accept DSS tenants at any price.
Ask the agent what vetting of tenants they carry out.
Be aware of the Disputes Agency when it comes to handing back the
tenants deposit.
Make sure the agent does a through inventory with photos before and
after the tenancy.
Read the tenancy agreement also. Then you will understand what the
tenant is expected to do with regards to day-to-day maintenance.
Supply the tenants with copies of user instructions for all appliances,
Ch, alarms etc. but don't give them the bit on how to change the code on
the alarm (and make sure you know how to get engineers access to reset
it!! Make it a condition in the tenancy that the code be left as found
-then nay cost can be reclaimed under the Dispute Service.
Be a reasonable landlord and if you are lucky you may get a reasonable
tenant. It has worked for me so far :-)
--
bert