tips to privately rent property

buddy143

Hi,
I am planning to rent my 3 bed semi in the near future. It will be offered fully furnished.
I dont want to go through estate agents and spend money. I want to rent it privately.
What sort of things I need to check before letting it to somebody? I am not sure whether I am allowed to do credit checks/ask references.
suggestions will be much appreciated.
thanks a llot

creditboy

You can do a basic check on a tenant for a small fee, google credit checking services for the site as i am not allowed to post links. You should also request references...and CHECK THEM.

theartfullodger

a) Are you an experienced landlord??
b) Do you understand about Gas Safety certs, EPCs, deposit protection etc. etc.. ??
c) Can you financially & emotionally survive the "tenant-from-hell" who doesn't pay any rent & takes 9-12 months to get out while you keep paying the mortgage & legal bills to get him out ..(with no rental income) and the place gets trashed??

Welcome to the fun world of property management!

Cheers!

Lodger

starnac

theartfullodger wrote: »

a) Are you an experienced landlord??
b) Do you understand about Gas Safety certs, EPCs, deposit protection etc. etc.. ??
c) Can you financially & emotionally survive the "tenant-from-hell" who doesn't pay any rent & takes 9-12 months to get out while you keep paying the mortgage & legal bills to get him out ..(with no rental income) and the place gets trashed??

and the phone call at 3am on their way back from the pub when they realise they've lost their keys!!!!!

yes it does happen :rolleyes:

starnac

try to make sure one of their references is their current landlord (if already renting) and DEF get a tenancy agreement drawn up by a solicitor.

you'll also need to look into deposit holding scheme as landlords are no longer allowed to hold the tenants deposits. it needs to be registered.

PasturesNew

A small selection from my collection of tips:

http://landlord-misery.blog.co.uk/2007/07/02/ - Don't do it

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=782197 - Gone to China
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=619891 - Fire
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=887543 - Moonlight Flit

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1499697 - What Do You Mean It's Not Insured?
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0be3ecd0-1b04-11dd-aa67-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=true.html - Wanna Buy a House?
http://www.theargus.co.uk/search/display.var.1985710.0.mum_trashes_325_000_home.php - Trashed

Jowo_2

There's nothing more a rogue tenant loves more than a novice landlord who doesn't even know the basics of tenant screening or housing law.

Landlord forums are littered with tales of woe, both from tenants who experience the poor service and lack of familiarity with their rights and responsibilities from an amateur landlord, and from novice landlords who handed over the keys to a 'pro' tenant that an agent or experienced landlord would have identified upfront.

tbs624

Join a LL association (RLA or NLA) and/or sign up for membership of LL Law.

Trawl the webpages of LandlordZone and Shelter so that you have at least some idea of LL and T rights and obligations. There are 50+ Acts of Parliament and 70+ Regulations covering the private rentals sector and, as the others have mentioned, a "professional " rogue tenant can spot a newbie LL a mile off. Do the research *before* you get the T in.

benjo

c) Can you financially & emotionally survive the "tenant-from-hell" who doesn't pay any rent & takes 9-12 months to get out while you keep paying the mortgage & legal bills to get him out ..(with no rental income) and the place gets trashed??

theartfullodger asks a really pertinent question and I think sometimes you can spend a pound to save a penny. Perhaps you are quite able to cope with the above scenario - many years ago I had a bad experience with a tenant, after reading some of the horror stories on this forum I consider myself lucky that the nightmare lasted only a couple of months - but it was long enough for me to realise that in all future dealings I would give my right arm to have a really good agent acting for me....more to the point I never rented out my house again!

I would go further and ask that if anyone notices me considering renting in the future they should be obliged to slap me back to my senses - Im not made of LL material and have complete respect for those who are and do it well.

[Deleted User]

I used to rent privately, and yes you might get bad tennents and you might get good ones


I didnt pass a credit check due to bad history, so most agencys wouldnt touch me.

Yet i got a private rent, paid on time as i knew my options were limited, treated the place as if it was my own and left it in better condition than when i recived it (as I made a few repairs myself)

So you read a few posts about bad tennents but will people post the thousands more about good ones ?

chickmug

sky190176 wrote: »

I used to rent privately, and yes you might get bad tennents and you might get good ones


I didnt pass a credit check due to bad history, so most agencys wouldnt touch me.

Yet i got a private rent, paid on time as i knew my options were limited, treated the place as if it was my own and left it in better condition than when i recived it (as I made a few repairs myself)

So you read a few posts about bad tennents but will people post the thousands more about good ones ?

I feel it is a little like the Lottery advertising:

"It could be you"

Same with renting out it is a risk that is taken but now and again 'it could be YOU' with a very bad tenant and can costs £1,000's of pounds and a lot of stress.