Can tenants do self-assembly furniture?

Find out how tenants feel about self-assembly furniture. You might find that tenants are resourceful and only too happy to assemble flatpack furniture.
   When the prospective tenant asks for an extra bed, sofa or chairs, assembly may be vital.
   Nobody wants to move in and find half a sofa or half a bed with the vital screws missing. The landlord may have to report any missing or broken parts to the carrier/sender/manufacturer within 24 hours. If you arrive to assemble furniture and then have to wait for a missing part, that's another trip, and another 24 hours before tenants can move in (if they need a bed).
   Most landlords would prefer to have furniture delivered ready assembled. You want to know if a major part is not there and needs to be ordered, such as the headboard or drawers for the bed - and if it's the wrong colour or wrong bed, single instead of double, you don't want to put it together, take it apart, and re-assemble.
  If the family have one or two children, including a baby or toddlers, you don't want them risking being injured and touching drills and swallowing nails.
   I looked at J D Williams catalogue. Beds say self-assembly. No good to me.
   One alternative is to simply say to a tenant, order what you like. The budget is so and so. Take the money off the next rent.

Beds & Furniture To Buy

I've made these notes for my own reference but they might be helpful to you.
1
www.landlord-furniture.com
They say in an ad they deliver within 48 hours nation-wide including weekends and evenings at no extra charge.
The President Double divan bed is 'only' £209.99. It has two drawers underneath. Very handy if you have little or no wardrobe space in the room, or want to store mattress protector or new pillows for your next tenant.
What size is their so-called double?
Is the headboard included?
Do I want one?

2 Mattressman.co.uk
Their advertisement says orders over £45 qualify for free next day delivery made before 4 pm Monday to Thursday.
tel:0800 5677625.
They charge £30 extra for Saturday.
They can't phone ten minutes before delivery.

A memory foam mattress was £179, in stock with free next day delivery, depth 16 cm, width 180 cm, length 200 cm.

The king-size mattress is made to order and needs a 14 day advance order before delivery
When using a carrier they have a one man delivery unless you order and pay for a second man, and deliver downstairs only (fine - if you've only got ground floor flat), although they say to the front door of a building - I hope if it's only a few feet to your front door they will move it - can't block the entrance to a block of flats.)
mattresses, for example, are 14 cms high at £199, 20 cms high at £215, 24 cms high at £269, 27 cms high at £329 and 28 cms at £459.
Delivered direct from suppliers
14 cm high at £139, 16 cm high at £192, 24 cm high at £205.

3 Prelet.co.uk
You can email your queries and order a catalogue

UK

IKEA offers a flatpack furniture assembly service for an extra charge.

Useful Websites

https://www.wikihow.com/wikiHowTo?search=measure+bedding

https://www.wikihow.com/Buy-Bedding

Showing Your Property - Stopping Showing - Deposit

   

I just had some agent feedback. One agent found a prospective tenant who made a low offer. The landlord agreed in principle. A second agent came back with another prospect. The first agent wanted to gather all the background checks and meet up ready to sign.
    The landlord said he would not gazump the first agent, having given his word.

    Meanwhile the second agent, hearing the first had produced a low offer tenant, wanted another viewing and said, "You should not stop showing the property until you have received a deposit".

What Can I Ask About the Tenant? Does It Matter?

Yesterday I was told that I should not ask my letting agent the race, religion, nationality nor language of a prospective tenant in case I am breaking the law by asking, or he is by answering, especially if I don't like the answer and refuse to let on those grounds.
   Apart from prejudice, are there any practical reasons for wanting to know?  These are the thoughts going through my mind. What are the chances that somebody from overseas will want to return to another country? What if they are here illegally and get deported so the landlord loses the rent? Can you check references if they have just arrived. (Often if somebody from overseas has no income nor credit history in this country, the landlord or agent will ask for the whole year's rent in advance, or the tenant will offer it.)
    From an insurance point of view, your insurance might not cover a property left empty, so you might want to put in a contract that if the tenant goes overseas, they must tell you when they are coming back and leave contact details. Otherwise, supposing they left the flat completely empty, how would you know whether they intended coming back? They might have been taken ill, died or been imprisoned overseas.
   It is also handy to have a forwarding address. They may say they are not expecting anything important. But then your mailbox is full of items addressed to them and others, including council tax bills, doctors, parking fines, possible bailiffs visits, electricity bills.
    You may also want to consider their particular habits or needs. For example, vegetarian tenants might want all plates and cooking utensils removed. They might accept only new items.
   Would a cake or a bottle of wine served at the signing, or sent as a moving in gift, be welcome, or cause visible embarrassment to a vegetarian, kosher or Halal teetotaller?
   My family is on the management committee for a block of flats. One tenant took out a new electricity contract and was sent a box of chocolates as a gift. She looked most confused and eventually handed them to the landlord. The chocolates were in the shape of pigs.
   Such a pity. They were very nice chocolates.
 

Who's Making The Profit? Check charges in small print

One landlord advises: We carefully checked the small print and we found the agent was going to make extra charges for lots of small things. I want to make some profit out of renting at the end of the day. Otherwise I may as well just leave the property empty or allow someone to live in it for free, instead of running up removal or storage costs, provided I can keep all my furniture and belongings stored there as before. 

My friend's property agents

 

1) One of my friends has just chosen an agent who gave a warm and sympathetic service, answering email queries promptly. What did the other agents do wrong? He had problems were about the quality and speed or communication, as well as price of service. If you are overseas and going for management as well as rental you need somebody who answers emails as you cannot pop into their office and chase them. 

   

2) Regarding management price, one agent told a landlord partnership they needed new carpet and called in a carpet/laminate company. The carpet and service price they were charging was a lot more than three other sources. 

    The agent said the carpet shop was dearer but most reliable. However, the shop did not have the choice and display of carpet and lino. The cost would have been several thousand. 

I found a cheaper carpet shop.

   The agent said she would not bring any more tenants to view as they were put off by the carpet. So the landlord moved back from his flat (which has laminate in bedrooms, hall, bathroom and guest toilet) and rented out the other property in another area 

   

 The agent claimed they got no percentage from the carpet shop referral. The landlord thinks they did.  

    One agent's contract lists charging a management fee which includes however many visits they have to make and all trouble-shooting. Admittedly, the flat owner gets to veto or approve the extra cost of any outside purchases and services (e.g. plumber, new boiler, new certificate). 

   

 Another agent wanted to charge the annual management fee - PLUS maximum three callouts per year, after which they charge per callout. 

    A third agent wanted to charge for every callout, in addition to the management fee - purely for listing the property on their books. 

    My biggest mistake - not marrying the estate agent I met when I was a teenager.

Agents In Your Area

Zoopla website lists estate agents (US property agents) in you area. You can see the number of for sale, and the number of rental properties. The site also lists the average number of weeks they've advertised each property. And the average price of a sale or rent.
    You might want to go for the more successful agent with lots of properties. or the smaller agent with only a few, so they push yours. You can also see if your will be the top of the range or the best bargain. What do you think? Tell me.

Rental contracts - adding clauses

Property Agents, especially those who manage property, often have a standard rental contract. This will usually stipulate the length of the rental agreement, conditions under which both sides can end the contract early, and conditions and obligations of both landlord and tenant. These may cover who is responsible, numbers of people allowed to occupy the property, any sub-tenants, obligations on keeping the property in good order, who pays for services and repairs, agreed monthly or yearly price, deposit, gas, electricity, water, furnishing and furniture.

   

Both landlord and tenant sign every page of the agreement, adding the date.
   You might wish to add other clauses. For example, regulations laid down by the building management about car parking, noise, smoking, keys, spare key holders.

Keys
    Regarding keys, what happens if they break their key in the lock? From a landlord's point of view, it can be costly and stressful if a tenant takes the building or flat keys overseas and does not come back. If there is a water leak from overhead and you need access in a hurry.
   If you have no forwarding address but the mailbox keeps filling up with letters from their doctor, the council tax, TV license, and all sorts of catalogues which won't let you call without giving a secret number. (Even if you've time, the law says you can't open others' letters.) So it's very handy to wish them well and keep in touch.