Any happy Renters or Landlords?

tommie1shunt

Is being a landlord a good move? Reason I ask is noticed a property to let near me, I checked on the internet the rent does not seem extortionate to me, the house is a pleasant one, at least from the outside, to be honest if this house was on the market I would be interested in buying it. In town the Estate Agents have advertisements for houses to rent out, and a casual search near me has found a couple of nice houses that remain unrented. Also we are trying to buy a house and the Estate Agent says it could be a smart move to rent our old property out in the present market and wait until the market recovers before selling it. Must admit after reading posts on this website that avenue is not very appealing.
Should add the property I checked out are unfurnished.
Another question I am curious about is there any happy renters out there, or come to that any happy landlords out there? All the posts on here about renting both sides off the fence would seem to be nightmare situations.

brit1234

tommie1shunt wrote: »

Also we are trying to buy a house and the Estate Agent says it could be a smart move to rent our old property out in the present market and wait until the market recovers before selling it. Must admit after reading posts on this website that avenue is not very appealing.

All of sudden there has been a massive increase of people wanting to rent out there home because they can't sell. It all appears to be happening in the last month.

Your the first person who mentioned the estate agent has said to do this. Did the estate agent mention this also say to register the property with them to let?

Its got me curious just from the huge amounts of posts on this all of a sudden. I'm just wondering as if they are not getting any money from sales that now they are trying a new tact to bring money in.

They tried a similar thing in 2008 which brought rents down due to the huge influx of accidental landlords.

I would say do your research, there is a huge amount of information to learn being a landlord and a fair few responsibilities as well. It might be hard work.

My fear for you is if you rent your present home out and buy another you will loose equity at twice the rate due to split property in the continuing price falls.

[Deleted User]

I rent a three bed house just outside Greater London. I was not obviously an ideal tenant as receive some housing benefit.., but managed to find a good landlord and as nice a property u could wish for, at a reasonable price. I did not expect perfection but found as close to it as I could get and am very happy with the property.

I think u have to go into it with your eyes open. Know what u can expect at your price bracket.., ask the neighbours what the landlord is like and what they know of previous tenants/the property, find out what the lettings agency is like if u use one. Doing this will save an awful lot of problems. Its the same as buying a house, (and u will probably be tied into it for a year unless u are lucky).., ask lots of questions, don't just fall in love with it.

Werdnal

On a good day when you have 100% solid gold tenants who love your property as much as you do, pay rent on the button every week/month and devote many hours to maintaining and keeping your property in tip top condition, then its good.

Then you have the ones who move in, pay rent for the first 2 months, then no more, swear blind they don't smoke/have pets, and actually do both, cause havoc with the neighbours, wreck the place and then refuse to move out, forcing you into costly and lengthy court action to evict them, and leaving your property total unrecognisible to the lovely freshly carpetted and decorated little palace you originally rented to them!

Right thats the 2 extremes dealt with. Most tenants are somewhere in between these!

Are you planning to let through an agent - if so, although they do a lot of the legalities for you, you as LL are ultimately responsible for the property and ensuring all the obligations of a LL are met.

The basics: You will need BTL mortgage (higher terms), BTL insurance, and gas safety certificate as a minimum. You need to advertise and credit check/reference all prospective tenants thoroughly. Then you need to understand deposit protection rules, how to prepare and present a legally binding tenancy agreement and inventory for the property. Probably most important to learn is how serve correct notice to get your property back at the end of the tenancy. You also need to declare income for tax, and if/when you eventually sell, any profit will be subject to CGT. A lot of agents will help and advise you on above, but some will just do the bare minimum and drop the rest in your lap. Also remember, there are no minimum qualifications required to become a LA - they are ordinary people like you and me, and not blessed with second sight or higher intelligence! They make mistakes - some are spot on reliable and will serve you well, others will make even very basic errors - often very costly to you!

Think very clearly whether you want to do this and read, learn and inwardly digest everything you can about the legal obligations of becoming a LL. Sounds easy and it can be, but it is not something to take lightly!

tommie1shunt

Hi
Sorry, think I have gave the wrong impression out, me and the better half have discussed renting, but to be quite honest we don,t think its for us, we will 95 % sure we will leave it empty and on the market until it is sold. We did have a little look in to being reluctant landlords, but feel the hassle factor is not worth it. More curious about the rental sector, it can,t all be a war zone!!!!

Werdnal

tommie1shunt wrote: »

Hi
Sorry, think I have gave the wrong impression out, me and the better half have discussed renting, but to be quite honest we don,t think its for us, we will 95 % sure we will leave it empty and on the market until it is sold. We did have a little look in to being reluctant landlords, but feel the hassle factor is not worth it. More curious about the rental sector, it can,t all be a war zone!!!!

Best change your OP title then, as asking whether being a Landlord is all its cracked up to be is the question I thought I was answering!

G_M

I too thought you were trying to discover if it was worth becoming a LL "is it all it's cracked up to be......"

Now I really don't understand what you want to know.

Best answer I can give is
1) don't believe what an agent tells you - he has a vested interest in persuading you to become a landlord or in selling (depending whether he's an estate agent, a letting agent, or both)
2) don't make judgements based on reading this forum. Happy tenants have no reason to post here. Nor do happy landlords. There are 1000s of both. People who post here are tenants/landlords who need help with issues/problems , or people like.......


you??

dancingfairy

Of course there are happy renters and landlords out there - they're just not on here moaning about their problems - you are only really picking up on the people that have got problems from either end either as a landlord or a tenant. Another problem is that there are no real requirements for someone to be a landlord or run a letting agency and the market is unregulated as far as I can tell.
df

hellokitty08

I am a happy tenant. My l/l is awesome. (well its a building company) I have atucally lived in my flat twice i like it so much!

soccermom

Werdnal wrote: »

On a good day when you have 100% solid gold tenants who love your property as much as you do, pay rent on the button every week/month and devote many hours to maintaining and keeping your property in tip top condition, then its good.

That's us my hubby has mended double glazing, put in radiators that work (he is a heating engineer) and keeps all maintenance in hand. Our LL even paid him for putting in a shower.

We are edging our bets at the minute by renting after returning from Australia for a while, we can't decide what to do in the long run buy here or buy abroad. So for us it suits our needs and our lovely landlady. It's the first time she has rented out and I personally think she hit the jackpot with us lol.

serious_saver

We're tenants and reasonably happy. Although our flat isn't what we would ideally like (just because of personal circumstances) it is lovely and our landlords are friendly and helpful.

We are also very fortunate that our landlord is the mother-in-law of the person who built the block. She owns the flat outright and uses it as a means to get a steady additional income and therefore doesn't want the flat lying empty. Because she wanted to make sure there was always someone in there we were able to get a very good rate. An identical flat downstairs has just been let for £175 more.

We've also been lucky enough to avoid the stress and hassle of agencies by dealing directly with our landlord. From looking at these forums I've noticed that incompetent agencies seem to be the biggest gripe for both landlords and tenants.