{"id":76,"date":"2018-06-08T08:21:12","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T08:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.idealflatmate.co.uk\/landlord-HQ\/?p=76"},"modified":"2018-10-18T08:15:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T08:15:18","slug":"qa-with-ideal-flatmate-landlords-andrew-christina-wallace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/landlord-HQ\/qa-with-ideal-flatmate-landlords-andrew-christina-wallace\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with ideal flatmate Landlords – Andrew & Christina Wallace"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Ideal Flatmate, we are excited by the number of new landlords using the platform to fill their rooms and find tenants with us. Recently, we sat down with Andrew & Christina Wallace, a partnership who got into the business three years ago after deciding they wanted to build their own project having experienced working for others for a significant period of time. They are among the most hard-working and dedicated landlords we have met and have a number of properties in their portfolio in <\/span>Watford, just north of London<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: How long have you been landlords?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A: We became landlords full-time three years ago. We both spent two decades working in corporate environments (Andrew at Network Rail and Christina for the BBC) and we spent several years dreaming of setting up and running our own business. <\/span>Property<\/span> had always been an interest of ours and we liked the thought of operating our own professional houseshares where we could bring people together in a nice, well-maintained home. We have enjoyed it a lot so far, although it is very demanding and a long way from the stereotypical image of sitting back and relaxing which some people think landlords do!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Q: That brings me <\/span>onto<\/span> my next question about how landlords are viewed by some people? Do you think there is too much negativity around the profession?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A: Yes, there is definitely a bad perception out there. We joke that it makes us less popular than bankers after the 2007 financial crisis! There are negative stereotypes about house-shares too, especially from next-door <\/span>neighbours<\/span> in the street. If you say you are a landlord and you are refurbishing a house for young professionals, people generally fear the worst, we have seen that this can bring a bit of hostility from <\/span>neighbours<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The only way to counteract that is to prove people wrong \u2013 we find lovely tenants and make the house the smartest <\/span>in<\/span> the street. We go above and beyond what is legally required for instance, and make living in one of our homes the best experience possible for our tenants. We like our tenants to enjoy their time with us and make friends for life, by, for example providing ample shared space for them to relax and socialise after work – recently we provided Christmas hampers for our tenants and heard that they all did a Secret Santa together, that felt like a big moment because we knew they were getting on and forming a happy home.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There is a bit of a misconception in the government and with some of the press when they argue that landlords should be offering longer tenancies – that\u2019s not true for our tenants who are largely in their 20s, most of them are starting their first job and don\u2019t want anything longer than 6 months – they want flexibility as much as landlords.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Q: How much attention do you give to the state of your properties?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A: We <\/span>care<\/span> a huge amount about our property and actively encourage our tenants to tell us any problems so that we can address them and sort it out quickly. We spend a lot of time doing our properties up – there is <\/span>of course<\/span> a financial incentive to keep the house in top condition – and we also want our tenants to feel good and comfortable in their homes. People in their 20s and early 30s have a right to live in a decent location in great quality accommodation \u2013 especially when they do not want to buy a flat in the area because they might be moving jobs in 12 months or so.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Q: How quickly do you deal with repairs and how regularly do you encounter problems?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A: We\u2019ve not needed to do anything too regularly or urgently yet – we have a cleaner who goes into our properties once a week and lets us know of anything that might need fixing or problems that are beginning to occur. We have a group messaging service set up with all the flatmates, so problems are reported and everyone can see when we plan to fix them. We are very hands on if we need to be and tell our tenants that we are on duty 24 hours on the phone and available at all times – they have tested us on this and we\u2019ve been called out at <\/span>11pm<\/span> to help with the basics a fair few times!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We know boilers can be an issue so we installed brand new boilers in all our properties and have installed MegaFlo hot water tanks which means people can all use their showers at the same time – good for avoiding flatmate arguments about using the shower at inconvenient times!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Q: Do you think the <\/span>government<\/span> should be more supportive of landlords?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A: Yes, certainly, mainly by better dealing with the bad landlords. The government seems to add layers and layers of regulations and hurdles, which the good landlords comply with, but the bad landlords just continue to ignore. Central government needs to better equip local councils so they have the staff to enforce the existing standards. That might quickly start weeding out the rogues. <\/span>Otherwise<\/span> we will be just be left with rogue landlords alone who are the ones giving the whole industry a bad name.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Q: What benefits do you get from being a Platinum Property Partner?<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A: We joined PPP 4 years ago \u2013 it\u2019s a franchise for landlords designed to help you start your own property business with the expert support of mentors and coaches, covering all aspects of our business \u2013 we couldn\u2019t have done it without them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The main benefits derive from being part of a large network of like-minded people who have been in a similar position to yourself and who you can ask for advice about a range of subjects. It can be quite a daunting industry to get into and we would have found it so much harder without the help from people at PPP and the confidence and security that comes from being able to ask other landlords how to get through various problems.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Ideal Flatmate, we are excited by the number of new landlords using the platform to fill their rooms and find tenants with us. Recently, we sat down with Andrew & Christina Wallace, a partnership who got into the business three years ago after deciding they wanted to build their own project having experienced working … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Q&A with ideal flatmate Landlords – Andrew & Christina Wallace”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":393,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76\/revisions\/393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/landlord-HQ\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}