How Much I’ve Spent On Maintenance Costs Over The Years As A landlord

There was an interesting/good question asked in the forum yesterday,

what kind of maintenance costs landlords have had to pay over the years?

Fortunately, over the last 5 years of maintaining 3-4 properties, I haven’t had to dig too deep to cover maintenance costs (from what I can remember). And in most cases, where I have paid out, I’ve managed to learn ways to reduce the risks of paying out for the same costs.

1] Painting

I had long term tenants for 4 years, and after they left, the entire property (2 bedroom house) needed a compelte repaint. I wasn’t hacked off because after 4 years, what was I to expect? I painted the entire house myself, so labour costs were avoided. The paint and tools cost me about £80.

2] Replacing front door

My ex-savage tenant managed to smash the front door in half. This was when I first realised how extortionate and expensive front doors are (who fucking knew?). You can read more about that awful experience here: I’ve Fallen Out With My Ex-Tenant Over Her Security Deposit

Unfortunately, I didn’t have an Inventory Form in place, otherwise I would have been able to shake the pennies out of my tenant to cover the costs. But I managed to squeeze about a £100 out of her. I ended up paying £150 out of my own pocket. Ouch.

3] Replacing garden fence

Stupid Mother Nature knocked down part of the garden fence in the back garden. It cost £50 to replace. I now know how it feels to be a victim of an earthquake/volcano eruption. It feels HORRIBLE, for those wondering.

4] Replacing carpet

When my long-term tenant left, it became apparent that she and her children had a fetish for shitting and pissing on carpets. There were odd looking stains scattered around everywhere.

Rather than putting my new tenants through the discomfort of stepping onto questionable stains, I had the bedrooms refitted with new carpet. That cost about £120.

5] Plumbing & Heating

This has probably been my biggest expenditure over the years. It turns out that one of my properties was fitted with a shitty boiler. Consequently, to date, it’s cost me £600 to maintain. At first the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) needed replacing, and then a valve needed replacing. I have no idea what any of those things do, I just know I paid out of my arse for them, and it hurt. A lot.

6] Electrical Fault

I can’t remember what, why or when, but at one point the electrics failed in one of my properties. Something or another needed replacing, and it cost me £120.

7] Gas Safety Certificate

This is required annually by law, so it’s not something I can avoid, but it is part of maintaining a BTL. It costs me about £45 per property per year. I’d say I’ve spent about £500 in total.

8] Other stuff

Other small issues over the years have involved poly filling holes in walls, refitting kitchen units, replacing doorknobs, Mr Muscle sink unblocker (NO JOKE), and replacing a doorbell. I estimate I spent about £70 over 4-5 years on “other stuff”

The Total

Total costs: £1,640. Over the period of 4-5 years, I don’t think that’s bad at all. I’ve definitely been a lucky sausage.

I may have missed a few maintenance costs out, but that’s all I can remember for now. Landlords generally remember the big financial hits, because they weep over that shit for years- I’m no different. So I’m pretty confident I covered the main costs.

Conclusion

This is probably a good reminder to all new and prospective-landlords that maintenance costs do exist, and they are very much part of the costs of being a landlord. Alas, it’s not all about a one way money train (common misconception). As mentioned, I’ve been pretty fortunate so far, but I’ve seen other landlords pay out thousands on a yearly basis, which cuts deep into profits.

How much have you paid out?

How much do you pay out yearly or have you paid out in total for maintenance costs? Also, what’s been, or consistently is, your biggest expenditure when maintaining? I’d love to hear your stats, people!

Attention! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed so you're notified of all new blog entries.

Talk / 12 Comments left so far

Sam wrote this on 2009-10-09 14:41:28 Out of interest - how old are your properties? 1

The Landlord wrote this on 2009-10-09 21:29:41 They're all between 10-15 years old! 2

Sam wrote this on 2009-10-09 21:32:32 Crikey you are a lucky sausage - although I have yet to have tenants who "shit & piss on carpets" so maybe I should count myself a lucky 'sausagette' ;) 3

Sabine wrote this on 2009-10-10 01:58:19 so your tenants lived in a house for 4 years and you didn't even offer them a decorating budget ? No wonder they sullied the carpets (if that is what it really was, and not just coffee and juice stains). If you would get a proper electric check done, your electrics wouldn't fail and put your tenants in danger either. 4

The Landlord wrote this on 2009-10-10 23:19:47 Sabine,
That's like saying if you get a MOT every year, your car will never breakdown. Get real! The electrics were/are safe and in full working order. Some times shit happens.

A decorating budget? The tenants weren't my children, you realise that, right? 5

twattybollocks wrote this on 2009-10-11 09:47:04 Sabine,

it must be nice on the planet you are on! Which one is that?

TB 6

John Tsigarides wrote this on 2009-10-11 20:59:42 I work for my father's property company and we have about 10 rented out properties. In relation to boiler issues I have found British Gas's Homecare 100 agreement, excellent for around 135 pounds per year, you get a landlords safety certificate (every year) and unlimited call outs for boiler and control problems including all parts and labour. It all saves the hassel of you doing anything, as the tenant can ring them directly.

You can get higher levels of cover, e.g. including radiators etc, but as with anything the higher the cover - the higher the cost!

Cheers,

John 7

Sabine wrote this on 2009-10-18 21:20:42 it's the planet where landlords undestand that it is in their best interest to make tenants feel like they are living in their home, not in some kind of temporary acommodation which can be treated as such. I know, this is the norm in the UK, but with things changing the way they are here (homeownership is no longer a given right), it is time that landlords adjust and no longer see us as just someone who pays their mortgage for nothing in return. In Germany the rental contract states that a rented property has to be re-decorated every 2 years unless both parties agree that it isn't necessary at this time. 8

John wrote this on 2009-10-19 10:32:47 Sabrine,

I think re-decorating a rented property every two years is excessive. I have a great relationship with all my tenants - they know when they phone me with a problem, it gets sorted as soon as possible. In terms of decorating, as long as they inform me of what they intend to do in terms of decorating/painting etc - before hand - I don't have any problem with that - sometimes I've even chipped in for the materials.

You have to remember though that with costs such as, Landlord Insurance, Tenancy Deposit Scheme Costs, Inventories, Gas & Electric Checks and Certificates, Boiler and Applicance Repairs etc etc - You have a lot of outgoings as a Landlord - not all the rent goes into your pocket!

If you've personally had a bad experience with a Landlord, than that's unfortunate. But there are a lot of Landlords out there that really look after their tenants. At the end of the day, Landlords are running a business, not a social care programme... 9

Aunty_P wrote this on 2009-10-22 10:49:59 Sabine, your expectations on redecoration seem unrealistic to say the least. Landlords have enough mandatory costs to pay out for as it is. I notice you're quoting German contracts. This is a website for UK landlords as far as I know. BTW, all my tenants are very happy and tend to stay for a very long time because I keep the properties well maintained and problems fixed immediately.

I'm glad you're not one of my tenants! 10

GillsMan wrote this on 2009-10-26 08:44:40 I became a landlord in April. Tragically my boiler had a problem, but also the radiators were all sludged up as well, so the whole lot had to be cleaned, a valve replaced, etc. Cost me £750 (British Gas tried to charge me over £1000 before I got someone else in). I only make a small profit every month, so that cost me several months worth of profit. The only good thing is I now don't owe the tax man any money at the end of the year. 11

Sam wrote this on 2009-10-28 08:36:00 Unfortunately, many people do not estimate how much it costs to run a property - there needs to be quite a big margin between your income and expenses to ensure you make a profit. 12

Please leave a comment

Click here to cancel reply.

*Name

*Email Address

*Your comment

Notify me via email when someone else leaves a comment