Landlords often ask us what goes on behind the scenes at
The Key Place and so we thought we would share our experiences, and what we
have learned from those experiences, with you.
If I had a penny for the number of times that I had
rolled my eyes in despair at something a contractor had done, then I’d be a
rich man by now (of course that is with the exception of our regular fantastic
trades guys and you know who you are!).
We sent Ron the painter to do some work in a property we
manage in the borders. The tenant was
able to go and stay with friends for the weekend and so it suited her to have the
work done then. Ron was happy to oblige,
even although it was a weekend, and we explicitly explained that he would need
to travel each day to the property or find accommodation as he wouldn’t be able
to stay in the property.
On Monday morning there was a phone call from the irate
tenant, who said that Ron had spent the weekend in her home, and she felt that
her personal space had been violated. On
further questioning, we established that a friend of hers had walked past the
property over the weekend and had looked in the window. She quite clearly saw 2 deckchairs, a table
and some bedding. The tenant also
claimed that dishes had been used and washed up but not put away.
Well we spoke to Ron who said that he had taken his wife
away for the weekend and that they had both slept in his van. Now if you could see Ron’s van, you would know
that is not possible as it is chocka full of painting stuff. No self-respecting partner would agree to
sleep in there!
Unfortunately the job was not finished and the tenant
refused to have Ron back in her home, and so we had to find a different painter
to complete the job .... and we never used Ron again!
Over many years of property letting, we have built up a
list of reliable, quality contractors but getting to this point has been
difficult and we have parted company with many trades’ guys along the way. There is also the issue of quality versus
cost. Landlords often want the cheapest
job possible rather than paying a wee bit more for quality. Maybe if Ron had quoted higher, then he could
have treated his partner to a nice B&B!
For information on all of The Key Place services, please
visit our website, www.thekeyplace.co.uk.
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