Landlord Life: The Horrific Reality Of Maintenance Costs

[ChumpusRex]

Are you talking deposits or actual moving costs? It should cost less than £50 to move (certainly has the last few times I did). Pack yourself, man with van paid by the hour, all done in under an hour.

Actual costs of getting a man and van, is minimal and is only a small part of the cost of moving.

I've moved house for work on almost an annual basis for the last few years. There are loads of costs.

Cost of moving, cost of change of no-longer suitable furniture, cost of changing utilities (e.g. early termination fees on utility contracts), mail redirection, car and home insurance address changes (never less than £50 each in my experience), tenancy related costs (e.g. admin fees, credit check fees, checkout fees), etc.

Once all this is taken into account, you're usually looking at £750 and up.

[bogbrush]

Always remember "There is no such thing as a good landlord. They are modern day slave owners and they own you". This witty landlord is laughing his ass off at his heroic attempts at coming across like he gave a toss.

I didn't know you knew him.

I knew a landlord who bought duffed up houses for cash, renovated and redecorated them himself, then rented them out to long term tenants. His problems only began when he got older and found the rent collection too much of a hassle at his age so rented to local authority supported types and learned what a load of smack heads are like to rent to. His impact was to turn shells into decent homes and didn't do it with loans or any backhanders from the State.

Edited March 11, 2015 by bogbrush

[Sancho Panza]

You also need to include the capital you need to roll deposits.Even if you don't swap agencies and have no disputes,it can take a month or two to get your deposit back.

Actual costs of getting a man and van, is minimal and is only a small part of the cost of moving.

I've moved house for work on almost an annual basis for the last few years. There are loads of costs.

Cost of moving, cost of change of no-longer suitable furniture, cost of changing utilities (e.g. early termination fees on utility contracts), mail redirection, car and home insurance address changes (never less than £50 each in my experience), tenancy related costs (e.g. admin fees, credit check fees, checkout fees), etc.

Once all this is taken into account, you're usually looking at £750 and up.

[Sandwiches33]

Actual costs of getting a man and van, is minimal and is only a small part of the cost of moving.

I've moved house for work on almost an annual basis for the last few years. There are loads of costs.

Cost of moving, cost of change of no-longer suitable furniture, cost of changing utilities (e.g. early termination fees on utility contracts), mail redirection, car and home insurance address changes (never less than £50 each in my experience), tenancy related costs (e.g. admin fees, credit check fees, checkout fees), etc.

Once all this is taken into account, you're usually looking at £750 and up.

Yeah if your just a guy its pretty cheap but not if you have a family, Houses in my street have dropped by 20k in the past few months so I just grin and bear it becuase it might be coming time to buy if I stay.Thats if I can stay in this country any longer, I got a call from another recruiter today and the states are offering stupid money now. I reckon I have two years left here tops.

I dont mind doing little jobs to keep it habitable for the immediate future but they dont have a long term tenant in me and when I go they will have to drop the ren tby at least 100.

[Starla]

Depends on what that 1970s kitchen looks like. As a lover of all things retro, then if it's a funky 1970s avacado afair like this one at Leeds City museum then great. But a soul destroying dark oak may be not.

Original 1970's kitchen here. White cupboards with silver trim, complete with original Parkinson Cowan 1800 Deluxe with a pull out handled eye level grill. I laughed quite a lot when I got here, but now dreading returning to a conventional grill set up.

[leonardratso]

not seeing it

[leonardratso]

Original 1970's kitchen here. White cupboards with silver trim, complete with original Parkinson Cowan 1800 Deluxe with a pull out handled eye level grill. I laughed quite a lot when I got here, but now dreading returning to a conventional grill set up.

hmm

[Austin Allegro]

Fitted kitchens are one of the biggest built-in-obsolesence scams I can think of. In the old days you had good quality built in cupboards made from solid timber, which only required repainting every few years, or you had free standing units, dressers etc which could be repainted or replaced ad-hoc. Then in the 60s/70s people started installing chipboard laminate units with everything built in, of course they fall to bits every few years and are difficult to repair or repaint so the whole lot has to be trashed, thus adding to the rental costs.

[rantnrave]

When I lived in Germany for a couple of years, we soon discovered that Germans install and then literally take the kitchen sink when they leave a rental property. They then store all the kitchen units to be fitted into their new place. Of course, the new place will have a different sized kitchen... Thus every good German, at least in the south of the country, has an abundance of spare kitchen units in their garage and every fourth shop on the high street specialises in kitchen units. Unsurprisingly, we rented a place which still had a functioning kitchen in. The owner had married an American and moved to the US and so didn't want to take a set of kitchen units with them. His brother had agreed to be the landlord, and my German was good enough to understand him apologising that the flat still had a kitchen in it and that he hoped this wouldn't put us off renting it...

Edited March 12, 2015 by rantnrave

[porca misèria]

When I lived in Germany for a couple of years, we soon discovered that Germans install and then literally take the kitchen sink when they leave a rental property.

When I lived in Germany, I rented furnished. It's quite usual for foreigners.

The flat included a working telly, and is the only time in my life I've had one.

[rantnrave]

When I lived in Germany, I rented furnished. It's quite usual for foreigners.

The flat included a working telly, and is the only time in my life I've had one.

We were somewhat off the beaten track - an hour away at least from anything which might have been classed as a city.

[Quicken]

Actual costs of getting a man and van, is minimal and is only a small part of the cost of moving.

I've moved house for work on almost an annual basis for the last few years. There are loads of costs.

Cost of moving, cost of change of no-longer suitable furniture, cost of changing utilities (e.g. early termination fees on utility contracts), mail redirection, car and home insurance address changes (never less than £50 each in my experience), tenancy related costs (e.g. admin fees, credit check fees, checkout fees), etc.

Once all this is taken into account, you're usually looking at £750 and up.

The key to flexibility is not having any furniture or insurance. Utilities need planning. Mail redirection is an optional cost. Agency fees are outrageous, yes.

[Snugglybear]

The key to flexibility is not having any furniture or insurance. Utilities need planning. Mail redirection is an optional cost. Agency fees are outrageous, yes.

You can't drive a car without insurance. Even if you don't have furniture and live with whatever crud the landlord provides, you still need contents insurance for personal property, like electronic gadgets - unless you're sure the landlord's security measures can be trusted.

If you don't have mail redirection, you would have to rely on the landlord sending on essential post*, or hope that if another tenant moved in straightaway, they would 1) keep your post and 2) send it on or be in when you called round to collect it, which would be a faff every week, especially if you moved some distance away.

*You can guarantee that some organisations will take weeks or months to update your records.

[Quicken]

You can't drive a car without insurance. Even if you don't have furniture and live with whatever crud the landlord provides, you still need contents insurance for personal property, like electronic gadgets - unless you're sure the landlord's security measures can be trusted.

If you don't have mail redirection, you would have to rely on the landlord sending on essential post*, or hope that if another tenant moved in straightaway, they would 1) keep your post and 2) send it on or be in when you called round to collect it, which would be a faff every week, especially if you moved some distance away.

*You can guarantee that some organisations will take weeks or months to update your records.

Never needed a car and nobody needs contents insurance - it's a choice. The insurance companies rake in massive profits from people assuming they need their products.

I'm vehemently against snail mail in general. Essential post is questionable.

[Snugglybear]

Never needed a car and nobody needs contents insurance - it's a choice. The insurance companies rake in massive profits from people assuming they need their products.

I'm vehemently against snail mail in general. Essential post is questionable.

I think you're probably in a very small minority.

[renting til I die]

Never needed a car and nobody needs contents insurance - it's a choice. The insurance companies rake in massive profits from people assuming they need their products.

I'm vehemently against snail mail in general. Essential post is questionable.

Indeed, I once looked at the cost of contents insurance and thought what a rip off. I keep some money aside to replace broken/lost or stolen stuff and over the past 20 years I am well up! The only thing of true value to me would be some personal artefacts and some of the data on my computers which insurance wouldn't be able to replace.

[porca misèria]

Indeed, I once looked at the cost of contents insurance and thought what a rip off. I keep some money aside to replace broken/lost or stolen stuff and over the past 20 years I am well up! The only thing of true value to me would be some personal artefacts and some of the data on my computers which insurance wouldn't be able to replace.

Contents insurance can be useful for more things than your contents. For example, liability if someone does themselves an injury in your house and sues. Or if your washing machine floods and your landlord sues for damage. Or if you get sued for something that happens when you're out walking or cycling.

But I've never put any of those to the test.

[Si1]

I don't use contents insurance, agree that it seems overpriced, even for the fringe benefits

[winkie]

Contents insurance can be useful for more things than your contents. For example, liability if someone does themselves an injury in your house and sues. Or if your washing machine floods and your landlord sues for damage. Or if you get sued for something that happens when you're out walking or cycling.

But I've never put any of those to the test.

Insurance is built on peoples fear of what might happen......there is a good case for putting the money away that you would have spent on all non compulsory insurance....there is a high chance that the saved money would cover the costs...there is also a high chance you will never have to make a claim on your saved savings.......the add-ons to the main policy make the biggest profits for the insurance cos.....check what you are paying for and what it covers you for, chances are will not be needed and would never make a claim....my opinion of course.

[Si1]

Insurance is built on peoples fear of what might happen......there is a good case for putting the money away that you would have spent on all non compulsory insurance....there is a high chance that the saved money would cover the costs...there is also a high chance you will never have to make a claim on your saved savings.......the add-ons to the main policy make the biggest profits for the insurance cos.....check what you are paying for and what it covers you for, chances are will not be needed and would never make a claim....my opinion of course.

It rather depends on the replacement value of your stuff off course.

A computer, say, only has high replacement value for the first few years of its life. So unless you always have a nearly new home PC, there little point insuring it IMHO when you could like for like replace it off eBay for less than the insurance premium

[Starla]

Indeed, I once looked at the cost of contents insurance and thought what a rip off. I keep some money aside to replace broken/lost or stolen stuff and over the past 20 years I am well up! The only thing of true value to me would be some personal artefacts and some of the data on my computers which insurance wouldn't be able to replace.

Same here. Never bothered with contents insurance, and well up on the deal. I was talking to a mate about this and he was horrified and said he's got at least 20k's worth of stuff in the house. TV cost 2k, loads of gadgets etc. If you're the sort that likes to have loads of stuff you don't need, then you're going to shell out even more to insure it all through fear of losing it all. Stuff costs you more than the money you paid to buy it. If you just have a few things you need, life is lot simpler and a lot cheaper, with a lot less fear attached.

[Guest]

I'm trying to visualise this could you upload a pic.

Here's a cupboard with door closed...

And with door open:

Detail of left edge with door stop and edging reducing accesible size:

And even worse on right hand edge with a massive hinge:

Edited March 20, 2015 by Guest

[Killer Bunny]

and my German was good enough to understand him apologising that the flat still had a kitchen in it and that he hoped this wouldn't put us off renting it...

I am literally LOL at that.

[SarahBell]

Here's a cupboard with door closed...

And with door open:

Detail of left edge with door stop and edging reducing accesible size:

And even worse on right hand edge with a massive hinge:

I'm not sure that's a huge problem.

[Guest]

I'm not sure that's a huge problem.

Compared to modern cupboards they are abysmal! Designed to scrape hands/knuckles at every oportunity, and mock you with acres of space which cannot be utilised.