Advice On Letting Out Home Needed

delb0y · 1 December 2005 at 7:34PM

Hi folks,

I am looking to rent out a house.. i have managed to find some tenants myself .. but i have never rented out myself before its been mainly though a letting agents. This time round i am thinking of letting it myself.. could someone please point me in the right direction to what i need .. contracts insurance etc .. repair / maintainence of garden etc can all this be added into a contract so its the tenants responsablity ?

Also how long should i make the lease out for? i heard its best to keep it to a short term lease of 6 months incase the tenants stop paying rent its easier to get them out of the property as apposed to a 12 month lease where id have to get a court order

fishhawks · 1 December 2005 at 7:57PM

Hi
I have just let out my second property and this time did the paperwork myself, rather than use an agent. My first property was through an agent and I felt that they did very little to earn the money.

You are in a good situation if you have a tenant already, and really all you need is a tenancy agreement and references. Why dont you go to your lawyer and ask them to draw up an agreement and give you some advice, my lawyer said that they would charge £50 to draw up the agreement and get the tenants to come into their office to sign.

References, I got an employers reference and one from a previous landlord. I typed up my inventory and the tenant and myself signed both copies.

Good Luck

nmiah786 · 1 December 2005 at 9:14PM

Make sure you have the neccessary Gas & Electrical Certificates, smoke alarms and CO2 detectors, if required.

6 months Assurred Shorthold Tenancy (AST) is best for both parties. You can get a basic copy of the AST from RLAs website.

You can credit check the tenants, check RLA's website for more info. You could just get a employers reference and previous Landlords reference is a must!!

Make sure you have the correct type of correct type of Household Insurance.

inmypocketnottheirs · 2 December 2005 at 8:48AM

Personally i would look at using letsure to take up the refs (they get full credit reports). https://www.letsure.co.uk

I have been a BTL landlord before and had every problem imaginable. Am returning to the BTL market, and I will not be letting without using their services. They offer legal protection, rent protection, tenant reference services, and all types of landlord insurance.

I have no connection with the company in any way.

HTH

delb0y · 2 December 2005 at 1:14PM

thanks guys for the info the story so far is the family that came to view the house defo want it it will be a short hold lease renewed every 6 months
i was going to use letsure.co.uk for credit and cc judgments checks etc think its £25 for that.. i got the tenants to fill out a tenant referencing form in which i asked for their:
name
address dob
marital status
employers name address telephone number
bank details

is this enough to do the credit check with?

i havnt had any checks done on the gas and smoke alarm etc could someone please point me in the right direction .. and how much this would cost
i am in glasgow

would i have the contract drawn up by a letting agent or estate agent?

thanks

delb0y · 2 December 2005 at 1:16PM

also could someone tell me where i can get a template for a inventory?

delb0y · 2 December 2005 at 1:18PM

https://www.rla.org doesnt seem to be working cant download any documents

rrwfotr · 2 December 2005 at 1:19PM

Hi I would also get a photocopy of their passports and birth cert as well to prove to say who they are. Nowadays there is a massive problem with id theft. People moving into places and using previous tennants id's to get credit and then do a runner. Make sure you know who your tennants are!!

delb0y · 2 December 2005 at 1:22PM

been quoted £788 for building insurance .. does anyone know of any cheaper companys ..

delb0y · 2 December 2005 at 1:23PM

thanks for that rrwfotr i will do that .. should it just be the tenant ie the husband or shall i get both of them in the contract ?

fishhawks · 2 December 2005 at 5:08PM

I got my insurance through Norwich Union, although I did get this through my financial adviser. Norwich union do a buildings insurance for "buy to let" I have a 2 bed flat and I am paying around £15 per month. The good thing about Norwich Unions policy is that along with the buildings insurance they allow about £4000 or £5000 contents insurance which is free with the buildings insurance. The only downside to their policy is that they dont allow studnets or people claiming benefits.

I am in Ayrshire, and you will be aware that the tenancy agreements are different in Scotland than England.

For the inventory, I just made up a template on the computer, I just listed everything I could see - carpets, curtains, curtain poles, light fittings etc and listed the condition they were in - New, good, fair etc. I also took digital photos of all the rooms. Someone on this site also suggested making a video which is a great idea, as you can describe the condition as you see it. But you would also need an inventory so that the tenant agrees with the contents and condition and they sign it.

Advice On Letting Out Home Needed

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