Maintenance work in lieu of paying rent.

patrickanthony

This might sound a bit random, but considering the amount of neglected/vacant properties around Ireland I'll throw it out there anyway. I've been looking online, and everywhere else for that matter, to see if it's possible to find someone willing to go for the maintaining a property instead of paying rent idea.(Limerick area). So far without much luck.
Is there a site I'm missing out on? It's nothing new elsewhere in the world, hopefully it's possible here too.
I must emphasise this isn't 'house sitting', and would be of a long term arrangement.
I'm a carpenter and would consider myself capable for most interior/exterior upkeep.
Any info/offers would be most appreciated.
Cheers,
Pat.

odds_on

One of the initial problems that I see would be as you are a carpenter (qualified with a certificate?) you probably would not be covered for being a bricklayer, plasterer, painter and decorator, plumber etc with any insurance you may have should there be a problem at a later date.

mdebets

I can't really see any landlord going with this. It would cause just too many problems.
- Who is going to decide what maintenance is worth 1 month rent?
- Would the revenue see this as an employment/self-employment situation, where you or the landlord are responsible for taxes?
- What happens, if the landlord is not satisfied with your quality?
- Who pays for damages to the house due to your maintenance?
- Who pays for damages to neighboring house due to your maintenance?
- Who pays you if you get injured during the maintenance?
And the list probably goes on and on

washman3

mdebets wrote: »

I can't really see any landlord going with this. It would cause just too many problems.
- Who is going to decide what maintenance is worth 1 month rent?
- Would the revenue see this as an employment/self-employment situation, where you or the landlord are responsible for taxes?
- What happens, if the landlord is not satisfied with your quality?
- Who pays for damages to the house due to your maintenance?
- Who pays for damages to neighboring house due to your maintenance?
- Who pays you if you get injured during the maintenance?
And the list probably goes on and on

And there in a nutshell is the Ireland of today..........:o

djimi

washman3 wrote: »

And there in a nutshell is the Ireland of today..........:o

I dont really see anything wrong with what was posted tbh. Would you prefer that none of those things were considered and it turn into a messy situation if an incident or situation were to arise?

patrickanthony

Thanks washman3, methinks some individuals would have been similarly disposed to the idea of leaving the trees, and the advent of the wheel.
I had expected some negativity but not like this,mind you it encourages me to endevour to persevere.
While there are the obvious (and already thought about) issues, theres nothing that cannot be overcome by talking them through with two parties willing to reach a settlement.
Perhaps I should add that the notion of paying a nominal rent is also on the table.
As regards qualifications, I'm a qualified chippy, having recieved my papers through hard work and rather a lot of effort.
Having been overseas through all the naughties i missed the 'boom' period, thankfully. What work I have is mainly repairing botch jobs done by apparently 'qualified' individuals during this period.
I had also hoped that Ireland had moved on from begrudgery etc. Apparently not.
SO, I'll ask the question again....
any kind souls out there know anything about maintenance in lieu....

Thanks and please, if you've nothing to offer except criticism, feckoff to another thread.
Cheeers.
Pat. A qualified carpenter.

djimi

I presume you are talking about a sort of "Super" role, as they have in American apartment buildings?

The biggest problem that you will face is finding a landlord/developer who considers that kind of work the equal value of a months mortgage to them. Ireland doesnt tradionally have a live-in handyman type figure in an apartment complex (at least not in any Ive ever come across), and landlords will take care of problems themselves as and when they arrive. I dont think any of them will deem it worth their while to have a fixed cost arrangement like you are proposing which would see them forfeit all or part of the rent for the privilage of having you on site 24/7 to deal with issues.

Thats just my two cents.

patrickanthony

Dear me, you're still not getting it are you? Thanks for your two cents of negativity djimi. Meanwhile negotiations are under way, with a like minded party, to reach a mutually beneficient conclusion.
Thank you all for the support and encouragement.

riclad

theres a company that rents out propertys,at lower rent ,if you stay there ,ie you might be paying 60 per cent normal rent.YOU have to be working ,in employment, i think.
see http://ie.cameloteurope.com/508/0/available-now-for-live-in-guardians/adventurous-living-and-working-as-a-live-in-guardian.html
they have places in ireland.
you could put an ad on gumtree,buy and sell.net etc most of the empty propertys, are owned by nama or the banks,there may be tax or legal reasons why they are not being rented out.

djimi

patrickanthony wrote: »

Dear me, you're still not getting it are you? Thanks for your two cents of negativity djimi. Meanwhile negotiations are under way, with a like minded party, to reach a mutually beneficient conclusion.
Thank you all for the support and encouragement.

Theres no need to get insulting about it. You asked peoples opinions and I gave mine. Im glad that youre getting it sorted and I hope that it works out for you, but dont come onto message boards asking for advice/opinions if you only want to be told what you want to hear...

ProudDUB

Agree 100% with djimi.

BostonB

patrickanthony wrote: »

...maintenance in lieu.......

Is it not simpler just to set up doing property maintenance and get paid for it rather than making it complicated by doing it in lieu.

Victor

patrickanthony wrote: »

Dear me, you're still not getting it are you? Thanks for your two cents of negativity djimi.

No need for snideness.

the_syco

patrickanthony wrote: »

I'm a carpenter and would consider myself capable for most interior/exterior upkeep.

I take it that you'll be only in the property on a short term basis; once you fix the place you'll move on? Or will you be paying for all of the materials, and thus be there for a longer period of time?

mdebets wrote: »

- Who is going to decide what maintenance is worth 1 month rent?
- What happens, if the landlord is not satisfied with your quality?
- Who pays for damages to the house due to your maintenance?

On these three points, I'd like to say that someone cold take advantage of the OP by getting them to do up the place, saying it's not "up to scratch", and bringing the OP to court for rent owed after the OP has moved out.

OP: it's a unique idea which I wish you luck in, but be careful some tool doesn't see you as easy money.

patrickanthony

time to put a bit of a lid on this by the looks of things lads.

some of the replies were unkind, unnecessary, unwarranted and, quite frankly, belittling in their tone.

the original post asked about the possibility of a website existing out there somewhere, not opinions on what could go wrong. if you don't believe me, read the original at the top.

the pros and cons of the idea have been well mulled over already, as i originally said. so yes, i would like to hear what i want to hear, but only, in this case, to the question being asked. some of the replies by the looks of things were meant in the best possible way, and for that i'm thankful, but they weren't answering the question that was asked. now by the same token, my apologies for insulting you djimi. that was unnecessary.

victor, tell me where were you in your capacity as moderator when my idea was being hauled over the coals in public? if a person cant post a reasonable request/idea here without getting shot down in flames, what is your position for, and what is this forum here for?

3DataModem

There's a block in Dublin with a live-in maintenance guy. As a landlord of one of the places, it's a godsend, and well worth the extra maintenance fee.

BostonB

patrickanthony wrote: »

...if a person cant post a reasonable request/idea here without getting shot down in flames,...

The point of a forum is to hear other arguments. It would be pointless if you just got those that agree with you.

Personally I would keep rent separate from any other issues like repairs etc. As such I wouldn't get involved with an idea like this.

ProudDUB

patrickanthony wrote: »

if a person cant post a reasonable request/idea here without getting shot down in flames, what is your position for, and what is this forum here for?

Who "shot you down in flames"?

Isn't that being just a tad over the top?

All I read were perfectly valid questions about such problems that you could run into regarding:

- What insurance would cover your being on a property if you got injured doing maintenance work?

- What view would Revenue take of your doing such work?

- How could maintenance work that you do be calculated in financial terms vis a vis writing it off as rent?

- What happens if the land lord is not satisfied with the quality of your work?

- How you over come the cultural/socio economic issue of Ireland traditionally not having an industry where janitors/caretakers get to live rent free in return for taking care of a building?

All perfectly valid questions to me & couched in sensible, logical terminology. I have no idea why you took offence at them.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Op are you referring to houses or apartments? I would assume apartments ie you get 1 unit free/nominal rent in return for maintenance of all units. I can't see this working as there would most likely be multiple owners, would one "donate" and all the rest subsidise?
An alternative would be to approach the management company and get taken on, but do they then rent an apartment for you in lieu of wages?
Im not trying to ridicule your idea im just interested to know how it works. Also, you're a qualified carpenter, would you also be carrying out plumbing and/or electrical maintenance?

patrickanthony

try reading my original thread. i'll say this one last time, i was looking for a website, not opinions, arguments or whatever. and again, not without due consideration of all possible scenarios.

is that too much to ask for?

is it a collective obtuseness that a request for a website address has to generate this amount of aggro.

by the by, i feel quite justified in what i wrote. whatever happened to 'hey, thats an unusual idea but why not give it a try, nothing ventured nothing gained'. guess it's easier to criticise eh?

it seems to me going by the amount of posts generated by some members that trolling through this forum is the only outlet they have.

by the way, it's a house with a small amount of land, and it looks like it's happening.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

patrickanthony wrote: »

try reading my original thread. i'll say this one last time, i was looking for a website, not opinions, arguments or whatever. and again, not without due consideration of all possible scenarios.

is that too much to ask for?

is it a collective obtuseness that a request for a website address has to generate this amount of aggro.

by the by, i feel quite justified in what i wrote. whatever happened to 'hey, thats an unusual idea but why not give it a try, nothing ventured nothing gained'. guess it's easier to criticise eh?

it seems to me going by the amount of posts generated by some members that trolling through this forum is the only outlet they have.

get a life.

My apologies, I see now you mention vacant or abandoned properties. There's still no need to be so defensive. If it's just a website you require I suggest you refrain from posting on a discussion site and use Google instead. Happy searching.

patrickanthony

do you think i hadn't tried google? thats why i came on here, after exploring everything i could think of. that was also mentioned in the original post. and thank you for the happy sentiment.
i've found a like minded individual in county limerick. it's a case of just having someone in the place, mainly so it dosen't deteriorate. the people involved have a few bob but the family members who would ordinarily have stayed there are all overseas. can't say more but thats an overview. the rest will be figured out between us

as for defensive, standing my ground would be more appropriate, and quite justified in my opinion. the thread has been hijacked and grown into something completely different from the original request. if people choose to put down my idea then expect to get it back.

just possibly, maybe thinking a little outside the box might be a way for this country to pull itself out of the depths its sunk to. thats,in part, some the thinking behind the idea in the first place.

many thanks for the posts with positive ideas and encouragement. very much appreciated.

BostonB

patrickanthony wrote: »

...it's a request for a pointer. nothing else....

Public forums don't work like that. You can't control the answers you get.

djimi

Its a discussion forum. People are going to discuss what is (for this country anyway) a pretty radical idea. Noone was unkind or belittling in their responses; most were simply pointing out potential pitfalls and reasons why landlords/developers might not be so open to your idea. Noone was having a go at your personally, critisizing your idea, or telling you not to give it a try.

patrickanthony

because if you read the original i've already thought all these issues through. i'm not here to discuss them, i'm on here as a last resort to try and get a direction to a possible website.


o.k. i see where you're coming from. fair enough. just read your last post. i felt the idea was being rubbished, and the tone of some is definitely negative but nevermind now, it looks like a goer.

so this is definitely the spot for a scrap!?!

quaalude

hey, thats an unusual idea but why not give it a try, nothing ventured nothing gained

BostonB

patrickanthony wrote: »

...I'm not here to discuss them...

You posted something you don't want to discuss on a public discussion forum. Kinda flawed no.

I think you need to advertise it yourself. If there's a demand for it, you'll get some takers. If not you won't. Its that simple.

the_syco

BostonB wrote: »

You posted something you don't want to discuss on a public discussion forum. Kinda flawed no.

Agreed.

patrickanthony

thanks quaalude!

lads i havent, nor have i ever asked for a discussion on this.

if one of you can point out where i've done this, i'll gladly eat my toes.

i asked for a website/info. and nothing more, having considered the issues inherent in such a proposal.

how many times must i say this?

this is a forum, i've grasped that. if i wanted to discuss this idea i would have, and under another thread.

discussions take place here, i've also managed to grasp that concept.

plain and simple questions are also asked.

mind you it is kinda cool to generate this amount of interest, fair enough.

good idea though for possible future use though, when the nuts and bolts of the deal with the people involved are sorted out it might be a worth a try to start something(blog?) so others can give it a lash.

BostonB

Posting anything on a forum is an invitation to discuss it...and you can't control the answers.

You get responses, (even if you don't like them) the forum gets traffic. Give and take from both parties.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Just pay your rent like everyone else, you're no different to any other struggling tradesman, no one is going to give you a cheap flat just because you've learned one trade. What makes you think you can do them all?
Your attitude stinks, thanking the input you agree with and either ignoring or talking down to those you don't.

patrickanthony

thats the spirit jar of coins! well done.

can anyone beat that 'un?