How much do you need to do for tenants?

Don_08

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We are landlords only because we had to move abroad due to the recession. The rent just about covers the mortgage and we have an agent who looks after it.

New tenants have moved in and they have produced a massive list of things needing fixing or replaced. Some of them are things that were broken by last tenants and only just finding out now ( like chests of drawers). I genuinely don't know what to do. We cannot afford this at all, it would literally be taking food from our children's mouths if we had to try.

How much obligations do we have?
 
Can you list the items they are demanding that you fix or replace? Would give people a better chance at advising you what's reasonable/unreasonable.
 
Was the property let and managed by the agent prior to this tenancy?

If so, I would request a copy of the out-going inventory check the agency did when the previous tenant left, did they refund the full deposit and, if there really are so many items to be replaced / repaired, why did they not make deductions from the previous tenant's deposit.

If you can at all avoid having an agent manage your property, then get a family member to do it. Agents don't care about your property and most of them do lax checks when tenants are leaving.
 
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This is the list of items, some are small I know. And we will replace the cooker and extractor. We did pick up on other damage by the previous tenant and had held back some deposit to cover that, but the chest of drawers and shower mixer were not noted by the agent. Nearest family is over 3 hours from the house. From this list it sounds like a complete dive of a house, but its not at all , far from it. Has lovely furntiture and decor and is well kept generally. Was all painted before they came in.
The agent has been around to look and says the lino thing is totally exaggerated, it comes away a little at the side, but its just a concrete floor underneath, not filthy as stated above. Do we really need to replace cracked tiles ( this would just be a small crack on a tile nothing harmful), scratched toilets, etc etc.
 
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That's some list, but a lot of it is reasonable IMO. I'd be very concerned about the bathroom stuff and the wet stain on the ceiling and I'd prioritise those first. I probably wouldn't replace the toilet or the floor tiles unless they were causing water leakages. Sounds like the fridge needs to be replaced and you definitely need to sort out the access to the back garden.
 
There is another door to the back garden and a side entrance, this is a third way. We have contacted the old tenant to see where the key is and hoopefully that will sort that out.

The stain is an old stain from a previous leak.

But when you genuinely cannot afford to do all that is requested, what options do you have as a landlord. That really is my issue.
 
I'd imagine it's a case of certain items that need to fixed/replaced, certain items that need to be noted - with no action taken - but also, noted for the peace of mind of your current tenant that you won't be taking from her deposit in that regard when the time comes.

With the shower seal issue, she's done you a favour by highlighting that now. I'd make that the first priority.

With regard to not being able to afford, I guess there's no easy way to answer that. Are you charging enough? Is your rental in line with comparable rentals locally?


Also what exactly is "fake" ventilation??
 
You should make yourself familiar with your obligations as a landlord under The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and also the legal minimal standards for private rented accommodation which are in place. Have you the tenancy registered with the PRTB in the event of any problems arising with your tenants.
 
We are landlords only because we had to move abroad due to the recession. The rent just about covers the mortgage and we have an agent who looks after it.


This sounds to me that, in addition to not having thought through the money needed to ensure house is maintained to an adequate standard, you may not have thought through the fact that you are liable for tax on rental income ... You can write off 75% of the mortgage interest paid against your tax liability buy, depending on the type of mortgage you have, that is not very much (i.e. if you have a tracker linked to the ECB rate taken out during the boom, you might be paying less than 1% interest). You can also write off agents costs, PRTB costs and a certain amount of wear and tear but you are still obliged to pay tax on the remaining income. Plus, you need to take into account that you now need to pay 2014 tax in advance along with your 2013 tax (i.e. if you rented your house out this year and last year, you will need to pay your 2013 liability in full in November 2014 plus your estimated 2014 liability). Check out the Revenue site to clarify what rate of tax you are liable to (not sure how it works if you are earning income abroad, if you are earning in Ireland I think it is your higher rate of tax that applies).
 
First problem is your agent. They are not doing their job. You might consider changing them or telling them you'll be reducing their fee to cover the things they missed when inspecting the property etc.

You might consider a different agent. Some agents have handy man type people they use to get jobs done. There's often an something in the contract you have with them where the agent will resolve all issues under a certain cost without contacting you.

I would make a list of items which need fixing and others which are nice to have. The nice to have the tenants saw and thought were ok before they moved it. So I wouldn't fix those. The things that need fixing you have to do.

You NEED to have a float of money to be able to cover emergencies. I can appreciate you're in difficult circumstance. But renting a place out is running a business, and you have obligations. One of which is to have a fund to cover emergencies. You might need to consider if its sustainable. You might be putting a lot of stress on yourself keeping it.
 
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