advice re renting out

poppysarah

You're hoping to get ore money from the house than it's currently "worth" - are you prepared to rent for 10 years until prices rise? (Bearing in mind a poorly maintained property will not sell for as much as a well maintained one?)

My point is simply that you are starting from scratch on a potential minefield. Have you seriously considered selling the house rather than having the heartbreak of bad tenants mistreating your mums house?

Purely from a cash point of view you have missed the peak. Doesn't mean you get nothing for selling it now - less hassle and you can leave the house with the memories you have of it, not a potential problem tenant nightmare. Or ok you could have wonderful tenants for the next million years and not any problems and be quids in.

Just do plenty of reading about other "accidental" landlords before stepping down the route. Plenty in here over the last few months.

Are you going to manage a property and have tenants ring you up at 3am when their boiler breaks, or demand a new boiler on a Sunday? Do you want to be organising repairs etc? Complying with increasing amounts of regulation?

If you've always wanted to be a landlord then go for it. Plenty of help on this forum if you read through the back threads.

socrates

poppysarah wrote: »

You're hoping to get ore money from the house than it's currently "worth" - are you prepared to rent for 10 years until prices rise? (Bearing in mind a poorly maintained property will not sell for as much as a well maintained one?)

My point is simply that you are starting from scratch on a potential minefield. Have you seriously considered selling the house rather than having the heartbreak of bad tenants mistreating your mums house?

Purely from a cash point of view you have missed the peak. Doesn't mean you get nothing for selling it now - less hassle and you can leave the house with the memories you have of it, not a potential problem tenant nightmare. Or ok you could have wonderful tenants for the next million years and not any problems and be quids in.

Just do plenty of reading about other "accidental" landlords before stepping down the route. Plenty in here over the last few months.

Are you going to manage a property and have tenants ring you up at 3am when their boiler breaks, or demand a new boiler on a Sunday? Do you want to be organising repairs etc? Complying with increasing amounts of regulation?

If you've always wanted to be a landlord then go for it. Plenty of help on this forum if you read through the back threads.

That is as good advice as you will get anywhere!

skinnygirlnot

Okay. Background info is that my mum sold the family home to live nearer me as she couldn't live in a huge house that needed loads of repairs etc and she was ill and needed looking after. My husband and I found her a small house that we renovated for her, new boiler etc (so needs nothing doing). Sadly within five months of moving in she was diagnosed with cancer and died.

Where we live there is a huge demand for property to rent. The house is 5 minutes away from the shopping centre, a huge supermarket,a bus station and an underground station and 15 minutes from the airport. We have had two valuations guaranteeing rental income of £900-1100 a month.

The reason I want to keep it is because I want to leave my children something and I do still feel in the long term you can't go wrong with property. Also I would like to work part time and the rental income might cover my losses.

poppysarah

Do you want to be a landlord? You could look at having it managed by a LA -
else read up on deposits, references, credit checks, insurance, gas safety requirements, etc
Look on your local council's site - they may have a landlord acreditation scheme which will give you more info perhaps.
If you get the right tenants then it is in theory easy - if you get bad tenants it can be a nightmare.
It'll be easier if there's no emotional attachment to the place.

Look up about declaring your income from rental on your tax return - you should also research what you can claim as expenses etc.

Look up LHA for the postcode "LHA by postcode" into google to see what the council pays in HB as a guide what you'll get if your employed tenants suddenly lose their jobs. If there's a big gap between your quotes on rental income - then consider how you'd expect the tenants to find this.

Guaranteed rental income? You mean it's a promise off a letting agent? Treat them with caution - look on rightmove/rent and other rental sites for ideas of what's going on with rents.

How old are you kids? Will they want big lumps of cash for going to uni with in the next ten years?

Gorgeous_George

If I was to be left a choice of a considerable cash sum or a property, I know which I would choose (and it wouldn't involve bricks). Cash is easier to share and leaves the option to buy a property open. It's like giving a gift voucher at as a present. Nice but not as useful as cash.

If you think the market will recover, watch the news.

GG

clutton_2

How marvellous - i am suddenly part of the "in" crowd

Socrates has quoted me !!!!

"""Follow the advice of the "in" crowd on here for new LL's


"if a prospective new LL cannot sign onto another forum and do a bit of reading to research his new business - god help his tenants when they need urgent help"

"stop demanding spoon feeding for newbie lazy landlords - they are all grown adults wanting to start a business - its called doing Research and forming a Business Plan - start a new thread, its not rocket science"

"going into business is about self-reliance, responsibility for your own actions, accountability

and if new landlords can't even be *rsed to do a bit of web research before starting a new property business (a business which affects folks lives in serious ways) - god help us all from their ineptitude"

"if anyone is going to become a good LL they need to use websites which are set up by professionals who give accurate legal advice - this site is NOT one of these.

On here, some of the same old, same old, rubbish legal chestnuts get repeated ad nauseum till newbies may well come to accept them as true - or alternatively they are offered so many different answers, by so m any different posters, to a simple question, that they are no wiser than before

Joining NLA and using www.landlordzone.co.uk are 2 of the more profesional ways to find the truth about what is required of LLs -

this site is PURELY individuals opinions.

A new LL needs accurate info - this site is no guarantee of that - useful as it is on many many occasions and amusing as it is on occasion."

[EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com?subject=Reporting%20post%20http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=18289531"][/EMAIL]



thanks so much socrates for quoting previous post of mine so carefully - i am really honoured that you should have done so (blush blush !!)

As you well know this post was aimed at YOU Socrates - you who want to start a new thread to help new LLS but you who cant be *rsed to do to and want others to do it for you

having said all that, i take absolutely nothing back from the original post itself - folks seem to think that starting a "lettings business" is somehow easy money - it aint.

As i boringly say over and over - if anyone wants to be a LL (rather than use a good letting agent for 6 months - using that time to do their own research as to what it entails) they need to look at professional LL/Tenant websites - this is not one of them.

As i boringly say over and over there are 69 different Acts of parliament covering LL/Tenant affairs .........

my advice to the OP - and i fully understand where she is coming from - as i know several folks who started in this business after inheriting a property - is to find a letting agent who is ARLA or a member of another professional body - adn get them to find a tenant and manage your house for the first year. Spend that time researching like mad, read, read, and read more - there is a HUGE amount to learn

and good luck

muddi

House prices will eventually pick back up again, but it will be in a good few years time. I would consider renting out the property till then - I take it you dont need to sell it yet? i.e, not needing the cash etc?
I would however let a reputable lettings agency deal with it - paying the extra for handing over the reins will be well worth it. They do this on a daily business, its what they do! Being a LL is not easy and is full of legalalities that you would have to learn and follow. A good agency will already know the in and outs of these etc, and they will vet prospective tenants etc for you.

Do your research into letting agents, and pick out a good/well known one....

Good luck with it all..

Basically - what Clutton said!!

franklee

Leaving aside the "local infighting" to get back the the OP. That fixed rent company give no contact name or address, all they give is an 0800 number. Not the way for reputable company to behave IMO. You have no idea who they are, if they were OK to deal with they would at least say who they are and supply names and address. I would not touch this.

The fact is that in the lettings and property business there are a lot of sharks. Many of these talk a fancy talk (all no money down, BMV, gotta be in it to win it, new paradigm) but when push comes to shove they don't even know how to serve a S21 properly (they think the rules can be bent to suit them and would not even know which of a 21(1)(b) or a 21(4)a doesn't have to end at the end of a period). If you are going to get into something then you need to know how to get out!

So use the internet by all means just make sure you know who the wide boys (and girls) are.

poppy10_2

That site looks well dodgy, I'd avoid

tbs624

skinnygirlnot wrote: »

Anyway, could anyone tell me if they have had dealing with this company-it really seems too good to be true. There must be a catch to it and I'm sure that experienced landlords on MSE can spot it....

franklee wrote: »

.....That fixed rent company give no contact name or address, all they give is an 0800 number. Not the way for reputable company to behave IMO. You have no idea who they are, if they were OK to deal with they would at least say who they are and supply names and address. I would not touch this..

poppy10 wrote: »

..That site looks well dodgy, I'd avoid..

Most regulars on this board will be aware that I don't hold LAs in particularly high regard. However, whilst I agree with franklee that it seems strange for a website for any company who wants to deal with property and finance to not give *any* relevant info about themselves, the domain name appears to have been registered by Cavenidsh Rowe who self-describe as "one of central London's fastest growing and leading independent estate agents.... With over 25 years experience of the property sector". CR Paddington is registered with ARLA. So, Skinnygirlnot could ring CR and ask what exactly the links are & whether they can give her further info.

Skinnygirlnot - before you do anything with the property go over to Landlordzone and go onto the websites for the Residential LL Association (www.rla.org.uk) and the National LL Association/Nat Fed of Residential LLs (www.landlords.org.uk) , also www.Landlordlaw.co.uk run by LL&T specialist solicitor Tessa Shepperson.

Read up here and also read Shelter's tenant pages. You''ll then have the beginnings of an understanding of what is involved in letting property.

Even if you do use a LA you will still need to have a good background knowledge yourself because
(a) there is currently no legal requirement for any LA to be regulated, trained, qualified
(b) you as the LL are ultimately responsible for things like insurance, safety and tenancy deposits etc
(c) both wily tenants and even wilier LAs will run rings around newbie LLs who don't have a clue.

Don't sign any agreement with an LA without going through the contract thoroughly and seeking independent professional advice on anything that you are unsure of.: watch out especially for "renewal fees" and for clauses that allow the LA to go ahead with expensive repairs without further recourse to you. Make sure you know which tenancy deposit scheme they intend to use and that if it's one of the non-custodial schemes that the LA is keeping the money is a separate client account & that you have proof of this.