Updating post from Reddit.
Hi, My lettings agent has got quotes for doing some mandatory work ahead of an HMO inspection by the local council. It is mainly for fire doors and electrical work. The prices make me feel the quotes are way too high. Problem is I am an amateur landlord with just one rental property. I dont really understand what the work is let alone what is a reasonable price to charge. I feel pressurised to accept the quote due to the scheduled inspection. Is there a way I can advice about whether the quote is reasonable? Thank you.
Get 2 or 3 quotes of your own. You don’t have to use the agent surely.
I agree with this. Get 2-3 quotes.
It’s likely the letting agent will try and twist your arm to agree to their quotes. They may say they’ve already paid on your behalf, that they get to decide as they manage, that’s there’s not enough time to get other quotes, that’s the tenants won’t agree to another worker/ quote etc being done, that’s there’s a fee for X, Y or Z.
Frankly, the quicker you can get rid of the letting agent the better. They’ll bleed you dry knowing you don’t really know what you’re doing.
Also, HMOs are not a good idea in general, especially for an amateur landlord. Some of those who specialise in HMOs do them well but that’s the minority, the majority have issues and are constantly under a microscope by local authorities, tenants and the like.
If it’s any consolation I also paid ~ £10K for 5 internal fire doors and one entrance door. I spent a long time researching it.
New fire doors and frames could easily be over £1000 a pop by the time your done
Wait till you have to sort the fire alarm and electrics if you think joiners are expensive
Why not council inspect and tell you what work needs doing?
The price of fire doors is expensive and always has been. There is a lot more to just the material the installer needs to install to regulation there are lots of metrics a firedoor needs to hit to be legal. Not all carpenters fit these doors to standard unfortunately so the ones that do usually come with the pricetag for their knowledge, skills and training. Having said that the whole maintenance side of properties has risen hugely due to raw materials, cost of living, taxes etc. I am a small time landlord but realised this is nowhere near a good investment compared to the other things I invest in. Good luck making it work but you will potentially be taking on lots of headaches and stress for little to no gains. HMO you might be making more but still is it worth it?
Ask the agent what % mark up they have and they will say 0% quite quickly.
Ask the agent what % they take off the contractor and they will say we can’t disclose details between ourselves and any contractors we may or may not use , and their lies your answer , typically 20% or sometimes 40% .
You need to educate yourself, a landlord should never be in a position to say they don’t understand what work is to be done at their property. TBH for a part-time amateur landlord using a managing agent it would almost certainly be better to rent the property as a single unit unless it is very big (4 bedrooms +). HMOs need a lot of managing, tenants generally don’t stay very long, they are unpopular with neighbours and councils who will hassle you over noise and impose tighter regulation and registration requirements and you need to do a lot of safety-related work which doesn’t apply to single units. This and the additional management costs will eat up the additional rental you can get from an HMO.
You need at least 2 other quotes for comparison. Quotes from agents will always be excessive!!