Can't find any tenants

FOURCANDLES_2

Well as for the a letting agent will find you tenants in a blink of an eye I suppose it all depends where you live and how much your charging times are no less hard for a tenant as it is for a mortgage payer. we have a country estate by us who have 37 houses they rent out all 3 -4-5BED PRICE £650£1,100PM all done up rather nice all massive gardens etc all unfurnished in the last 2 years they have struggled to rent them out through one of the uk biggest land agents and when they do it is for 6-12 months then the tenant leaves . He did use to rent to people on benefits but he has lost those now due to the benefit cuts but he never had any problems with people on benefitS as his agent said many people in the private sector rely on some Housing benefit they just do not broadcast it. The agent just says yep loads of tenants and yep still loads to choose from. This estate use to have a waiting list for people as although the rents are 6-12 mnths people got it renewed most of the time so he had tenats who had been their 20-30 years but when they got old died etc he banged the rents up .It is my view the rents in the uk are far to high and I would question if the properties are actually worth that in rent.

BitterAndTwisted

Well, they obviously can't be or people would be queueing up to rent them. It's all down to market-forces, so perhaps these properties aren't attractive because of their location and people's ability to get to and from their work.

FOURCANDLES_2

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Well, they obviously can't be or people would be queueing up to rent them. It's all down to market-forces, so perhaps these properties aren't attractive because of their location and people's ability to get to and from their work.

Well no I think you have bought in to the myth that we have millions of tenants out there waiting and queuing, you do not maybe in the city i'm not sure but in Shrewsbury we have a number of mainly letting agents and estate agents who sell and rent and at a recent business do I was at I was talking to a few of them and they said it is dead slow , and as one said we are not going to say it is to the public as that would be silly talk it up was their view, and 1 has gone out of business who specialized in rentals.My business part of it was to do with end of lets calls from agents over the last 2 years have plummeted some blame on people not moving and some on the places I dealt with 6 months ago are still empty.

dancingfairy

It very much depends on your taget market- are you going for young professionals or is for students - in which case have you met all the HMO requirements - check from a building point of view and council tax point of view what the requirements are. Have you got all the safety certificates done -eg gas, checked the electric etc.
If you're looking for students then a) this might not be the best time of year and b) I guess you're advertising at college/unis near you?
If you're looking for professionals do you have any large organisations like the council or elsewhere whose employees might be interested?
Have you got a good agent?
df

Cassandra_W

Try sell it a.s.a.p. before it bleeds you dry. Put it on the market at a realistic price compared to other properties and keep dropping it 5% every month or two until you sell it. Remember inflation is already 5.5% RPI (5.1% last year) so every year you don't reduce the price to sell it the money is worth over 5% less when you do sell. Some people are stubbornly holding out for a high price not realising that each year they don't sell, the money will buy them less. e.g. £500k two years ago will only buy less than £450k worth of goods now. When you sell think about something to invest the money in that is earning close or above to RPI not a house that is losing RPI and more each year. Houses dropped by 2.9% in the last year (if you believe the indices) so with 5.5% RPI (if you believe their inflation figures) houses lost at least 8.4% - it's like burning your money on a fire. The banks have now lined up all the suckers as 90% of mortgages have switched to Standard Variable Rate, so expect them to tell their friends at the Bank of England to up interest rates soon, so they can start raking in all that extra interest. At that point house prices could tumble and anyone with properties to sell may find it very difficult. Run for the exit now before crowds are gathered around the door.

FOURCANDLES_2

I think a storm is coming and then I will be ready.

geek84

Hi Folks

Once again, many thanks for your replies.

I think the general opinion is for me to find a good letting agent.

My next question would be - How do I find a GOOD letting agent? They all say they are the best in the town/region!

Anyway, after I have found some tenants, how do you suggest I deal with the maintenance and upkeep of the property? The reason being I am totslly hopeless at DIY - a bit like Frankl Spencer from Some Mothers Do Have 'Em !!!!!

I was thinking of giving that responsibility to the letting agent. If I do that, would it cost me a lot of money? Would it take away a large proportion of the rental income?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

dizzybuff

you haven't researched this at all have you ...

myhouse_2

You don't give details, but since you just bought the property, I hope you've factored in empty periods and the occasional non-paying tenant into your calculations about whether you could afford the property. You'll also have an idea about your competition - how much they charge, how much better/worse they are compared to yours, how long they are on the market to let before being rented out, and finally what kind of tenants you expect to get.
I'd definitely consider a letting agency. They'll charge quite a bit, but take care of the essential legal requirements of being a landlord. Can be useful the first time at least just to get the place rented out and earning some money. Undercut the competition if necessary - better to rent cheap than to not rent at all. Just make sure you get good tenants.
Try advertising in the local newsagent/supermarket.

Tiddlywinks

I have to say you are not really filling me with confidence - why did you not do this research BEFORE signing on the dotted line and buying a property?

You are about to enter into a business arrangement with a tenant and will be paid to provide a service - you need to get your act together fast.

Do you know the Law? Do you belong to a LL's professional body? How do you intend to gain the knowledge you require for your business venture? Surely not simply from an internet forum!

Sorry to sound harsh but... you need to get a grip of things.