Calling All Landlords, Advice Wanted!

Mentalminis_2 · 25 November 2005 at 6:41PM

Hi,

I am unsure if you know my current predicament but for those of you that don't you can catch up via this link http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=113892

basically the road we are trying to go down now, is to rent the whole property out, this way i do not lose my place on the property ladder but cut out my daily living outgoings by living with my parents again.

now i have done a little research into renting out propertys and have an appointment booked at my local CAB on tuesday, but i was after a little advice from those of you that are doing it already.

I have not found any litriture as regards to fire safety in a rented property (it wouldn't be multipule tenentants), i am aware that i would have to have smoke detectors fitted into the property but do i also have to provide fire extinguisers/blanks etc??

Also landlords insurance, does this work out much dearer than standard house and contents insurance, the property would be unfunished although would include the normal electrical appliances (fridge/freezer/washing machine/ cooker) would these come under buildings, or contents and would they have to be covered by a seperate insurance policy??

basically i am trying to work out if it is a viable option to do rather than selling the house.

Corgi registered checks, i have a gas cooker and 1 gas fire in the property that would need to be checked for safety, the cooker is the item i am worried about due to the fact of it's age it no longer has the pictures in place to show which knob does which hob and the electric starter button no longer works, i don't know why this is, would this mean that for rental perpouses this would have to be changed, or by leaving a directions to use manual be enough along with a clicker lighter rather than matches?

I am also led to belive that water rates are normally included in the price of the standard rent, although everything else is then paid by the tenent is this true?? and could i do it so that i pay the service charges whilst the tenent actually pays for the water they use, i am a single occuper in the property at present but the house could comfortably hold 3 people, thus 3 people would use more water than myself i am not sure how i could budget this into my rent.

lots of questions i know, but any help and advice would be greatly appreciated as i don't really want to have to sell the house and end up on the FTB's list again, it was tough enough getting on the first time around.

RedBoots_2 · 29 November 2005 at 1:42PM

Not really answering your questions but endsleigh are always good for landlords insurance

meanmachine_2 · 29 November 2005 at 1:50PM

Why don't you get an agency out to check the place over first? You don't have to use their services if you don't want to, although it's advisable for your first rental, I'd have thought.

I'm not a landlord, so others on here have much more experience, but I do know that smoke alarms should be mains operated, not battery operated.

You appear to have done most of the homework, so good luck.

But you do have to be entirely honest in your calculations when comparing rental to just selling up.

Bottom line is, your cooker might go, the taps might leak, and all that eats into your "profit".

Basically you're worried that, if you step off the ladder, capital appreciation will mean you'll never be able to get back on. Sounds unlikely to me, but if you really believe that, then OK, pursue the rental route.

garry_2 · 29 November 2005 at 2:00PM

HI there, I think a lot of the things you mention are common misconceptions, ie. fire extinguishers etc. I don't provide these in my properties and my agent hasn't mentioned them. A good place to start would be the web site of "arla" ( Association of Residential Letting Agents )

https://www.arla.co.uk

Good luck
Garry

inmypocketnottheirs · 29 November 2005 at 2:07PM

Another source for landlord insurance as well providing credit reports on prospective tenants is letsure. Just type letsure into google. I looked at it yesterday as I am looking at buying an investment property. The offer all types of insurances and services to landlords.

HTH

Mentalminis_2 · 29 November 2005 at 5:03PM

hiya.... wow a lot of catching up to do, for some reason i wasn't getting the email updates..anyways i am here now.

Actually got a quote from Endsleigh last night actually, didn't think it was that bad myself, however they asked a lot of questions i didn't know the answers to...Age of property, Cost of full property rebuild to name just 2 that are sticking in my head.

as regards to selling vs renting i totally agree it will depend totally on the capital i have within the house if it pays a good wack off my debts then i can't really refuse, however i do belive that it would be a long time before i could get another house, this one i have now i bought for £60,000 is a 2 bed mid terrace with front and rear access, front and rear off road parking and garage to rear of property, also has a garden to the rear of the house and in a ideal location, 20mins to walk to town center (if you really wanted to that is) but i am within 5mins walk of 2 large grocery stores, 15mins walk of 2 schools etc etc... is prime location basically and was a steal at the price i got it for.

as regards to fire safety thanks for that input garry.... by the sounds of it all that is required is that the smoke detectors be electrically operated then..... i am having double glazing fitted shortly and i know this meets with both the window regs and fire regs (bottom openers at the upper level).

I have also been to the CAB office today to discuss both my financial situation and the idea of renting the property out, they were able to give me some booklets that i now need to read through.

regarding insurances what sort of cover should i really be looking for, my own insurance was taken the same time i got the mortgage so haven't really had to think about it too much... having those questions thrown at me was a little strange to say the least...call me stupid but i thought it would be a little like buying car insurance.

fishhawks · 29 November 2005 at 5:28PM

The cheapest insurance I have found was with Norwich Union, their buildings insurance covers £4000 or £5000 of contents insurance within the price. The only downside to using Norwich Union is that they dont allow tenants on benefits or students, you would need to look for alternative buildings insurance if you had these types of tenants and the price works out slightly more expensive and you wont get any contents cover.

My advice would be the same as previously suggested - get advice from a letting agent, get them round to look at the property and tell you what needs to be done (new cooker etc) and how much they think you would get for it.

Mentalminis_2 · 29 November 2005 at 6:05PM

Yeah i am definatly going to go via an agent... all those people that do it DIY styleee are gonna be screaming at the screen now, but it's my first attempt and so i feel there input would be invaluble at this point, i shall get 3 estimates like anything else and make sure i get the low down on there services and costs etc before making a decision to go with any particular agent.

Calling All Landlords, Advice Wanted!

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free