Rats, mice, what is it - how to get rid of it?

Rat in street, Vancouver, Canada.

Do you hear little noises? What is it? Moths in light fittings? Spiders in packaging paper? Or mice and rats - rodents?

And those droppings and little lumps?

Rats

In Hendon we had rats. They had run along under the building. When we called in the council rat catchers (at the expense of the landlord - who was me - they found that a hole at the end of the building allowed the rat to go along the whole building and then get into the kitchen through a hold around the pipework.

The rat catcher instructed the landlord to seal up the outside hole. First, we had to catch our rats or get them to die.

Prevention tips included keeping all food on high shelves, not waist high work surfaces. 

Our tenants were from the Middle East and used to sit on the floor on a carpet refilling large rice and flour containers from bigger containers or bags.

I also noticed that the tenants kept the place spotless. But just before they went out shopping (leaving me to wait for the council's rat catcher service), they allowed a child to walk around eating a biscuit. Naturally the child dropped half a biscuit on the floor.

One of the dangers of letting children run around with cakes and biscuit and other food is that you get stains and crumbs on the floor which attracts insects.

Here's one view which points out that you should seal holes around pipes and skirting boards so rodents don't get in.

http://www.attic-rat.com/prevent.html

If you have any experience, advice or questions, please send them.

Pets - what is reasonable?

Pets - so cute. So companionable. Protect the property. 

What could go wrong? In short: damage, stress, cost, legal action.
Your local papers will probably supply several stories about damage caused by squirrels, pigeons and invading or escaping animals, pets, birds, even fish.

In Florida snakes and alligators, so cute when they are the size of a little lizard in your hand. However, large snakes are not the least but funny when they fill the bath, block the bedroom door, or grow big enough to break the cage and slither out over the telephone wire.

1 Pets make a noise and disturb neighbours. Dogs bark. Cats run into other people's homes and frighten them. 
2 Pet bites postman who refuses to deliver post.
3 Pet not house trained and leaves smell in house on carpets or furnishings.
4 Pet does poo in garden endangering other residents.
5 Pet as guard dog prevents landlord entering or workers servicing appliances and doing gas and safety checks.

6 Pets frighten away prospective tenants coming for viewings.
7 Scratches on walls, paintwork, furnishings.
8 Stains on furniture.
9 Animals can attract predators.
10 Escaped rodents can eat wiring and start fires.

 (My friends' house was damaged by fire from hibernating tortoises. Their possessions were covered in smoke damage. Plus water damage from firefighting. They had to move out into temporary accommodation. They later divorced, which may or may not have been connected.)

11 Escaped animals cause damage or accidents to cars in car parks.
12 Tenant feuds start.
13 Building management changes and new management company bans pets during the tenancy.
14 Pets in so-called safe cages and fish tanks are dangerous piranhas or crocodiles, small snakes which grow huge, pairs which breed, the rescue dog or cat multiplies to 6 or 13, a viper has 21 other snakes and goes missing. Other tenants move out causing loss of income or claims against you.

15 Pets breathe out moisture increasing mould in the property.

16 Pets can knock over candles. Or incense. The owner might claim that they do not use candles. Sub-tenants might not know or forget. The cat could go into a neighbouring flat which has candles or incense. 

17 Pets can chew cables - rats ate wiring of a dishwasher in Hendon. Rats ate wriing under the bonnet of our car in Hatch End.

Insurance

Can you get third party insurance for damage by pets? Probably you should get the tenants to take out insurance and give you their policy number. (If your tenant was bitten by their own snake and died owing you rent, who could you claim on?)

Cleaning

1 The landlord might wish to add a clause that the property must be professionally cleaned at their expense when the tenanaat vacates the property, 

2 Or professionally cleaned (carpets, curtains, soft furnigh and work surfaces) annually. 

Permission

The landlord or management company might reserve the right to withdraw the perisson if

a) any other tenant complains

If the management company or landowners' agreement with the primary tenant (the owner landlord) forbids pets and requries the landlord -tenant to pass this on to the sub-tenant (renting the flat from the owner).

Pets Welcome - advantages
1 Tenants unable to rent elsewhere may choose your property.
2 Tenants who are animal lovers may see you as an animal friendly, reliable, trustworthy person.

3 Cats may reduce or eliminate mice and rats.

Sentis Court parking - exterior views - editing photos

I was reading the instructions on how to share photos using an Apple device.

So far I have shared photos on my blog.

Here are three exterior photos:

When showing car parking I use the retouch button to erase the numberplate of any cars shown, any car make, and the wheel trims, the tax disc and even the lights. I do not want distractions, items which would compromise the security of the car owner, nor anything to date the car, nor date the picture.

I duplicate the photo before retouching it. If I ever needed a historic photo of an entire car or place with identifying features I could go back to the original version of the photo.

You start by 

Questions Tenants Might Ask

On Viewing the Property
1Is the rent negotiable?
2 What sort of boiler is it?
3 Can you take away the old (washing) machine? (For example, if a new washer dryer has been installed and you have not yet removed the old fully functioning washing machine.)
4 Is all the furniture included?
5 Can I see the boiler/water tank?
6 Can I see inside the wardrobe/cupboard?
7 Do you have a dishwasher/washing machine/tumbler dryer/fridge?
8 Do I need to take off my shoes?
9 Is it noisy/quiet?
10 Do you have children overhead?
11 Where is the nearest school?
12 Can I have a bed/new bed?

Some people are demanding. Others are cheerful.

On one occasion I had two prospective tenants. One said signing was conditional on about six conditions. It was all too stressful and too much to organises, on top of the mandatory gas and electric checks and repairs.

I ended up taking another tenant who just said he was happy with everything and would sign straight away, no problem. After he moved in I ended up doing everything the other tenant had wanted anyway. But the easy to get on with tenant who let me deal with one things each week or month was the one who got the flat. My lovely tenant also wrote me thank you notes for everything I ddid each time.

When we rushed across London at the weekend to deliver the garage keys we'd forgotten I dreaded opening his email afterwards. I was scared he would say something rude. But he was effusive with thanks.

 'So kind of you to take so much trouble. And please thank your relative who brought them. So helpful. God bless you.'

I still smile when I remember his lovely note.

Photos of your property

I had to take and email photos of a property. At first I simply slid them onto the body of the email across the screen from my photo collection. Would an Apple machine talk to one which wasn't. You can convert a picture to a word document or a JPG.

When I tried emailing them, I was asked to send them as attachments. You might think it's a simple matter, clicking on the paperclip symbol. It didn't work.

We tried sending sample emails with one photo attached. Then we discovered that whether you send rich text or not makes a difference.

The number of photos in an email also crashes the system. On my machine, I could send, one, two, even three photos in an email. Not the ten photos I had hoped to send.

On some machines you can select the best photos from a group and stick all the favourites together in an album. Put them in an email or on a thumb drive for somebody else.

Here are some of my pictures of Sentis Court in Northwood.

The best time to take colour photos is in summer when it is sunny. Take photos when you can. 

Don't wait until you want to let out the property. Then you might find your scene spoiled by scaffolding from workers repairing the roof, removal vans in the way, bleak gardens, piles of leaves, snow or rain. If the inside is being redecorated, the builder's ladders and dust sheets and tool boxes could also be in the way.

The caption can also be used as a selling tool. For example: This photo shows the attractive landscaping of the grounds and visitor parking. 

Tenants Should Report Problems Immediately - Why?

Tenants should report problems immediately. Landlords should have a spreadsheet with a feedback checklist. What could go wrong? 

1 Fixtures and fittings incomplete. 

2 Curtains too short or too narrow. Cleaned curtains returned with stains, shrinkage, holes, missing tie-backs. No curtain rings.

3 Items not delivered.

4 Electrical equipment delivered without guarantees and instructions. Fitted item such as a washing machine without the door. Item too large to fit the space. Washing machine or dishwasher not attached ready to use and not checked to see it is in working order. Tenant not warned not to use fridge for 24 hours until contents have settled otherwise if it won't work the guarantee is null and void and a new machine will have to be paid for and delivered after another month or two waiting.

5 Old item such as a bed or washing machine not removed.

Item removed leaves stain or dirty area which landlord could remove.

For example:

Item ordered
(size, colour, material, accessories, number of pieces - see eBay listings for ideas)

Supplier
address
tel
part number
order number
customer number

Delivery address
(Landlord/tenant/agent/pickup point)

Date Sent from Supplier


Date received/checked

Date delivered to property

Date unpacked/ installed

Feedback: Satisfactory/missing parts/wrong size/date of written complaint/replacement sent/refund made

Problems For Tenant With Missing Kitchen Shelf (Singapore)
As a tenant in Singapore I had two problems with deliveries:

The top kitchen shelf in one cupboard was missing. (My husband said: Don't complain to the landlord.  It's a lovely new kitchen. I'm overseas, I haven't time to email him. You can't reach up that high. It doesn't matter.)

Two years later when we vacated, the landlord's agent sent somebody to do an inventory check. We were charged for the cost of replacing a missing shelf: replacement shelf, delivery charge, fitting installer's charge.

Moral/lesson learned:
The Landlord must make it clear to the tenant that tenant must report problems at the time, in time for landlord to claim missing items, or change broken items with the supplier.

Problems With Curtains (Singapore)
The second problem was the curtains in the bedroom. They did not overlap nor even meet. They were just a centimetre short, and unless you spent ten minutes pulling both curtains to meet the sides and touch exactly, they let in light which woke you. The looked skimpy.

Problem With Curtains (UK)
My agent orders new nets and overlapping heavy curtains for the short bedroom window and the full length lounge patio doors. My agent sends back the first set which are too small and orders larger ones. My agent says the larger ones are fine. The tenant says the curtains are fine.

Near the end of the let when the tenant is going to vacate, I go to take photos for the property. From the outside the windows look awful, because the curtains are not hanging straight but leaning to one side because they are too long and pile up on the window of the bedroom and the floor of the lounge.

When I go back to take pictures indoors, again the windows look awful because both sets of the curtains don't hang straight. The tenant is not bothered about the lounge curtains, but admits the bedroom curtains droop in the middle, which means light comes in at the top.

Looking up I can see the problem is quite simple to solve. The curtain wire just needs a hook in the middle to hold it up. Either the central hook has been lost, or the curtain hanging system has changed from a fixed rod to a wire.

I phone my 'agent/manager' who says, a hook in the middle won't work - is it one curtain or two?

Either way, if I'd known about the problem, I could have taken over a curtain hook and bradawl or gimlet for making a hole. Or I could have asked my handyman on a previous job to add this little job to his list.

Long Curtains
The long curtains long wrong from the outside to prospective tenants, and in photos, and from the inside to prospective tenants, and in photos. Given notice, I could easily have taken up the nets myself, given an hour, with a needle and cotton. Not a perfect job, but looking neater, also better than having them on the floor collecting dirt.

Bathroom Light Not Working
The strip light over the bathroom basin is not working. Now it's not working to brighten the room for a photo. If a prospective tenant comes along and tries it, the light is not functioning. She has not had the use of it. Her visitors have not seen the property in 100% good, well serviced condition.

The tenant hasn't bothered to tell me because she never uses it. (Of course not, if it has never been functioning.)

But the electrician was supposed to have checked all the lights, before she moved in several months back. If I had known earlier, we could have called him back to finish the job, or taken back the faulty strip light if it was defective when installed.

I can now see the point of having an agent doing a routine check every three months to check everything is working correctly. It makes for a happier landlord and a happier tenant.

Less to worry about, putting right small problems when they arise, rather than having a long list of jobs when you are facing the major time-consuming tasks of finding a new tenant.

References
I now have a vacating tenant who has written saying she hopes I can provide a good reference. I would like my tenant to reciprocate with a good reference for me as a landlord/landlady.

Lessons Learned
To ensure that both parties are happy and there are no disputes at the end of the tenancy, make it clear to the tenant that it saves trouble later if tenants give feedback at the time.


Checklist
I have learned that it is better to have a list of items to be send, a checklist with ticks and crosses and initials would be enough, ideally with photos.


Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, author, writer, photographer, speaker.
On Blogger, Facebook, YouTube.
If you need a speaker for landlords and tenants, property seminars, or other meetings, please contact me through LinkedIn, Facebook, Toastmasters International, here or direct to my email.