Important changes to our snagging policies...
Hey guys,
I have been investing in the UK market for over 5 years and not once have I paid to have a property snagged. If there was a problem with one of my properties, once the tenants moved in they promptly told me what was wrong. You might think that it's a little irresponsible of me but in truth I rarely had problems, and when I did, tenants would quickly raise the issues.
That is until the start of 2008...
It seems that with the economic downturn, developers have begun cutting corners, cutting costs and some of them are letting their normally high standards of build quality drop.
So in response to this (and the fact that Karen has been taking more and more time sorting out these issues) I have taken the decision that all of our properties must be snagged using our professional snagging company.
Now obviously it's your property and you can choose whether you snag it or not but from now on if a property is not professionally snagged using our company we will not be managing any of the aftercare issues that arise, nor will not be offering you any of the guarantees.
Let me explain why...
Karen has been taking more and more time managing the snagging issues that are raised with each property, but not issues raised by our snagging company; rather -- issues raised by clients. Some of our clients feel they are experienced enough in property snagging and have decided to do it themselves.
The problem with this is -- when someone who doesn't really know what they're doing decides to jump in, things often blow out of proportion. Especially when they are emotionally attached to the property and have no relationship with the developer.
Their inexperience means that often they chase people that we have already chased, make ill-advised statements and in some cases even threaten developers which frustrate and infuriate them.
We even had a developer who now refuses to speak to a particular client because they actually attacked the site office manager on a development who didn't even have anything to do with the snagging of the property. I completey understand the client's frustration (and attendant emotional attachment) but I this is obviously unacceptable.
Obviously, completing your property is an emotional time, especially if you are waiting to secure a tenant who may not move in due to the 'horrible' state the property is in. Frankly, it's a feeling you can't understand until you've been there, but in truth -- it is very rare that snagging will deter a tenant.
So back to the problem at hand...
We use professional snagging consultants with years of experience in carrying out these inspections. A lot of them are builders themselves, they know the game and they know how to deal with it.
They will go into your property just before or just after completion, they will inspect the property using their extensive checklists. Once they are done they will hand a report to the developer. The developer will then go about fixing anything on the list. Once they have completed the list our snaggers will re-inspect to make sure the job is done properly.
Doing it this way means that Karen simply oversees the whole process and it takes very little of her time because she knows what she is doing and because she's not emotionally connected to the property.
The cost to snag the property, including a full report and two inspections is only £350 including VAT, which we'll be adding our cashflows from now on.
Snagging is normally done with in a couple of weeks and then you can get on with Setting and Forgetting your property.
So let Karen be your representative squeaky wheel, she has an amazing way of getting things done in a timely manner and without it affecting your potential for a tenant.
Live with passion,
Brett Alegre-Wood