.jpg)
Have you ever sat up late at night dreading your phone buzzing, just waiting for that nightmare text from a tenant about a burst pipe?
If you’ve done that, then you know how I feel. At 2 AM on a freezing Tuesday, I was watching a video of my pipe bursting in Leith, and water was all over the floor, and I was 2 hours away in a hotel for work, and could do nothing to help.
When I purchased my property in Edinburgh, like most owners, I had thought that I could manage everything on my own, from finding good tenants to collecting rent and fixing the occasional leaking faucet. I came to know that trying to manage your own property in the ever-changing, chaotic, and busy rental market in Edinburgh was as stressful and exhausting as any parent would tell you it is, and I was burned out quickly.
I thought I would be saving money by self-managing the property, but ended up doing the opposite. After selling the property online, having a couple of tenant viewings (none of which I had time to arrange), and getting someone over to give me their keys, it was only a matter of time before the property started to cause issues.
This included things like a broken boiler during summer festival season when most tradesmen were too busy to deal with repairs, lost keys over a long holiday weekend, and having to deal with a massive debate on who was responsible for cleaning the staircases we all use.
Instead of enjoying my time off, I spent the majority of my weekends being a part-time handyman and dealing with my tenants’ requests. Every time my phone buzzed, I got butterflies in my stomach because I knew there was an issue I needed to resolve.
Though I was bombarded with maintenance requests every day, my actual wake-up call came from the rental regulations for property owners across Scotland. There are numerous changes to the regulations regarding renting property in Scotland from the relatively recent past to the present.
As a result, renting a property has evolved into something that can be described as a personal passion or hobby. You can't just rent a property and not concern yourself with the legalities of it (i.e., you have to be compliant with multiple regulations).
The point here is that I've been losing sleep over many of the legal obligations associated with the rental property that I don't comprehend, and have been worried about whether I've calculated any of my rent correctly according to the most recent local laws and regulations.
For many years, I had stressed myself out about the safety certificates for my property and how I could be fined by the government if they were not up to date. After spending hours reading conflicting opinions on forums one night, I finally realised that my so-called passive income had become a very stressful, part-time job that I was not capable of doing.
I was putting myself at risk by putting my free time at risk and also breaking the law without even realising I was doing so. This was my "ah-ha!" moment to stop treating my property investments as casual hobbies and instead as an actual business.
As I have been living here for the past 10 months, I came to know about a popular estate agent in Edinburgh. And this agency was Umega Lettings and Estate Agents.
Then I contacted them to manage the entire management of my flat. I was really concerned about the cost of the monthly fee initially, but the difference was certainly worth it and so much more than I originally thought imaginable!
They are some of the most experienced estate agents in Edinburgh and had my property audited straight away to ensure that every single safety certificate, smoke alarm, and registration detail regarding my property was entirely compliant with the most current Scottish laws.
What's even worse than a broken pipe? An emergency happens at 12 am when you are sleeping. Imagine you are getting a call from your tenants on a 24-hour emergency maintenance hotline.
The agency can immediately send out reliable local contractors to fix the problem and prevent the disaster from getting worse. You don't have to receive any phone calls, text messages, or have to deal with any unexpected issues.
In retrospect, my biggest mistake was not investing in Edinburgh property; my mistake was trying to do it myself in such a great, fast-moving city. By working with a professional local agency, like Umega Lettings, I was able to protect my financial investment and buy back my time and my peace of mind.
My tenants are much more satisfied because they receive fast, professional help when something breaks, and I am much more satisfied because I now only check my property account once per month to ensure the rent has been paid.
If you are a self-managed landlord in Edinburgh feeling overwhelmed by the new regulations and nonstop maintenance text messages, do yourself a favor!
Comments