First time landlord- Advice needed please

vinuela13

We are showing a prospective tenant around our property this evening and have a couple of questions

1. Is it beneficial to get them to complete a tenancy application form
2. Reference/Credit checks- where is the best place to source these and who pays for them

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

Join a landlords association double-quick!

It's only beneficial to get them to complete a tenancy application form if you are prepared to act upon it. In your position I would want a reference from their previous landlord (not the current one) and have sight of the last six months of their bank statements.

How long have you had to plan all this landlording business? It sounds like you may not have done any proper research before taking the plunge or you'd already know how to go about getting credit-checks done. Do you have a firm understanding of all your legal responsibilities and the tax implications?

frankie1star

I will watch this thread with interest, as I have newly become a landlord, since November, and have made errors that have cost me

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Join a landlords association double-quick!

It's only beneficial to get them to complete a tenancy application form if you are prepared to act upon it. In your position I would want a reference from their previous landlord (not the current one) and have sight of the last six months of their bank statements.

How long have you had to plan all this landlording business? It sounds like you may not have done any proper research before taking the plunge or you'd already know how to go about getting credit-checks done. Do you have a firm understanding of all your legal responsibilities and the tax implications?

vinuela13

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Join a landlords association double-quick!

It's only beneficial to get them to complete a tenancy application form if you are prepared to act upon it. In your position I would want a reference from their previous landlord (not the current one) and have sight of the last six months of their bank statements.

How long have you had to plan all this landlording business? It sounds like you may not have done any proper research before taking the plunge or you'd already know how to go about getting credit-checks done. Do you have a firm understanding of all your legal responsibilities and the tax implications?

I am currently doing the research there is just so much to read.
Tax implications I am fully aware of. Legal responsibilites- still lots to read.
I have been looking on Visum which has a lot of information and they do credit checks at a cost to the tenant for £59 which I don't think sounds bad.
I have a AST agreement drawn up and EPC and gas safety check in place.The property doesn't have a mortgage so we don't need to ask for lenders permission.
Yes I am new to this and I guess I will probably make some mistakes along the way hence the reason for requesting help from people on the forums

vinuela13

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Join a landlords association double-quick!

Are these the two main ones?

RLA
NLA

Anybody have any thoughts on joining these or any other recommendations

discplayer

Do as BitterAndTwisted says.

I use the online service eletsure to credit check and reference prospective tenants. Approx £30 per applicant.

I ask for the money for this off the applicant. When I have people view that I think may be good I tell them that if they pass the checks and then sign the contract I'll pay (I change their money for the referencing to be the first few pounds of the deposit).

I'm protected against time wasters but it gives me an edge if the prospective tenant is viewing others with fees.

frankie1star

there is a lot to learn

Werdnal

Forgive me if I sound a little harsh here, but the time to do your homework and learn all about the rules and regs of letting is BEFORE you even advertise the property, not the day you show your first prospective tenant around. Experienced tenants can smell a new and inexperienced LL a mile off. You need to learn and learn quickly!

Mods - please delete if I am not allowed to advetise, but I used Tenant Verify for referencing. They supply a free application form (you need to sign up with their site for access), and do a range fo checks starting at around £15. You complete all the info and pay online, and they send you the report. It is quite acceptable to charge the tenant for their check in advance - TV offer an invoice printing service for this. Otherwise you could be checking numerous tenants at your expense and finding they are unsuitable.

Just out of interest, where did you get your TA? Make sure it is legit and legally binding. Do you know about deposit protection - if not find out! What about an inventory for the property?

As previously mentioned, ask for a previous LL as a reference, not just the one the tenant is leaving to move to you - they may be only too pleased to give them a glowing reference to get rid of them!

Geenie

diddlyidi wrote: »

I am currently doing the research there is just so much to read.
Tax implications I am fully aware of. Legal responsibilites- still lots to read.
I have been looking on Visum which has a lot of information and they do credit checks at a cost to the tenant for £59 which I don't think sounds bad.
I have a AST agreement drawn up and EPC and gas safety check in place.The property doesn't have a mortgage so we don't need to ask for lenders permission.
Yes I am new to this and I guess I will probably make some mistakes along the way hence the reason for requesting help from people on the forums

Yes do a tenancy application form, and follow through with the references and any details given.

The credit checks can be done through LL Associations or LA's, but be aware that the information given is never going to be fool proof. I have had prospective tenants lying and giving friends or relatives contact details for previous rental places, when in fact the actual LL had evicted them for not paying or disorder.

What you need to do is spend time with the people yourself. I hate to say this, but 30 years experience of letting has shown that a 2 parent family, working, has been the best in terms of looking after the property, tending the garden etc and returning the property in a decent state.

Good luck OP.

vinuela13

Werdnal wrote: »

Forgive me if I sound a little harsh here, but the time to do your homework and learn all about the rules and regs of letting is BEFORE you even advertise the property, not the day you show your first prospective tenant around. Experienced tenants can smell a new and inexperienced LL a mile off. You need to learn and learn quickly!

Believe me I am trying. I have read the book The Complete Guide to Residential Letting over the last couple of days and have tried to absorb the information but as it is such a complex subject it can't just be scanned over, it has to be inwardly digested .

Werdnal wrote: »

Just out of interest, where did you get your TA? Make sure it is legit and legally binding.

TA from makeurmove and I have also looked at an example in the book The Complete Guide to Residential Letting

Werdnal wrote: »

Do you know about deposit protection - if not find out! What about an inventory for the property?

Yes, I am OK with both of these

Werdnal wrote: »

As previously mentioned, ask for a previous LL as a reference, not just the one the tenant is leaving to move to you - they may be only too pleased to give them a glowing reference to get rid of them!

thank you

frankie1star

very illuminating,