A newly finished building in Hulhumalé: six two bedroom flats over a ground floor commercial unit, and an owner who wanted it full by the end of the quarter.
Full by the end of the quarter was the wrong target and we said so. Filling six identical flats in the same fortnight means all six tenancies end in the same fortnight a year later, and that is a building with six empty flats at once and a landlord accepting whatever is offered. We let them across ten weeks on terms of twelve, fourteen, sixteen and eighteen months, so that the anniversaries are spread across the year from now on. It cost about three weeks of rent on two flats and it is the most valuable thing we did on the instruction.
The flats were identical, so we priced them differently, which surprised the owner. The two on the top floor are hotter and further up and let for eight hundred less. The two at the back are quieter and let for the same as the front despite having the poorer view, because in a residential building noise is worth more than a view.
The ground floor unit we handled as a separate commercial letting, to a pharmacy, on a three year term with a two month fit out period at no rent and a written restoration clause. Both of those were negotiated in one meeting because both sides had them in front of them in writing.
Every flat has its own water and electricity meter, which we put at the top of every listing. In Hulhumalé that is normal and in Malé it is not, and tenants who have rented in Malé do not assume it.
The owner is now on our management service at six per cent, mostly so that the tank cleaning happens on a schedule.