A friend who lives in Poland owns a rental apartment just near me, which is managed by a local agency. A tenancy came to an end a few weeks ago, and he asked me if I’d pop over and have a look for him, check the condition and give any recommendations.
Do you remember that moment on Absolutely Fabulous when Patsy and Edina rock up at the old people’s home to do community service and the smell hits them at the door, the memory of their twisted and grimacing faces still makes me smile….I had that very same face when we opened the door at Dawn Court, but from the overwhelming stench of B&H, Marlboro lights and sweaty students. Urgghhh it was like walking into an ash tray. Reformed smoker, can you tell?!
Interestingly for me, I helped out on the sale of these apartments a few years back, and worked closely with the developer and the builders. Ah the days of sitting in that portacabin Summer 02, when it was easy to sell flats and people could get buy to let mortgages without a 90% deposit 🙂 It’s only when you go back years later that you see poor workmanship which hasn’t lasted through the years, or poor design which shouldn’t have been allowed. But they were very early days for buy-to-let builders of apartments and landlords back then, and certain things you just wouldn’t do now – mosaic tiles, integrated washing machines, ridiculous boxing off designs.
I’ve advised him to go back to the letting agents regarding the smoking / cleaning issue as there really should be some deduction made from the deposit for the state of the apartment – NEVER allow smokers in your rentals, it’s impossible to clean sticky nicotine off , but I’d also retile, sort the damp, fix the niggles and generally give it a spruce up. It needs fully redecorating, but there’s no real point in carrying out a full revamp, it won’t uplift the rent by a huge amount unless we change all the furniture as well, which would cost approx £1500 for new flooring and furniture for the 2 bed flat.
My day today involves sourcing all things 1930’s traveller and indian inspired, and meeting a new client to talk through the revamp of a bathroom and living room. To be continued…..
Great tips. First time LL here and I would not have thought about the smoking or mosaic issues.
Q: Is it at all possible to post your pics in slideshow style or even have next and previous links to the rest of the pics once I click on a thumbnail? As well as a “back to original post” button a la apt therapy? Would make a great site much friendlier!
A – No idea!! I’ll give the slideshow idea a try when I upload some more pics. Not sure if WordPress supports next and previous on images, its a pain clicking on and off, I agree.