How to be a landlord?

heathcote123

mrbadexample wrote: »

:think: Where to start?

:idea: Me and a mate thought it would be a good idea to chip in and buy a property to let.

So we did. We bought one with a tenant already in it.

Apparently, I'm now a landlord. :eek:

This is a bit of a learning curve for me. How do I do it?

If any people who are currently letting, or have previously let properties have any pearls of wisdom that they'd like to share, I'm all ears.

Cheers,
MBE

I found myself in a similar siutation a while back, made a aimilar post, and got a similar reponse the board is a hotbed of student commies, don't worry.

You need to get a gas safety certificate, if the house has gas. Need one every year, or every time a new tenant moves in. Not very expensive - I got a freebie one with a new boiler.

You may be able to get round the deposit protection thing by simply charging 2 months rent in advance instead of 1 months rent + 1 deposit. (at least that what I've seen a couple of agents round my way doing)

You need to maintain the building to a reasonable degree.

Interestingly, you may soon be able soon to get the tenants to pay for any energy efficiency improvements such as double glazing via their bills. http://www.martinco.com/landlord-news/buy-to-let/landlords-keen-to-take-advantage-of-green-deal/800727733

DSS tenants can be good if they have reason to have the DSS pay you direct (past problems paying rent, other issues)- I'd avoid if they cant do so.

Other than that, there seems to be suprisingly little. Just make sure you keep proper accounts so that you don't end up on the wrong side of the taxman.

Personally I'm avoiding agents for the time being, seems to be an easy way to cut your profit margins quite dramatically, and I'm OK with getting my hand dirty the odd weekend - may change in the furture as/when I buy more.

Leave them alone, sort out any problems, and let the cash roll in really.

mrbadexample

calliopeviolet wrote: »

...I'd advise you to do the following:

Check what your rights are and what the tenants' rights are. (i.e. you can't just go waltzing in to "check the boiler" and then demand that they vacuum the carpets);

I don't want to go waltzing in, and I don't care if they vacuum the carpets. If they want the boiler checking, all they have to do is phone one of us and we'll sort it. I can see no reason to bother them at all, as long as the rent is paid.

calliopeviolet wrote: »

Take a full inventory, including the condition of things and make sure you both sign and date it and keep a copy. I think if you don't, it's next to useless.

We haven't got an inventory as such, as we don't own any furniture in the property. I've taken some photographs of the condition. We don't have a deposit, so nothing to retain if something bad does happen.

calliopeviolet wrote: »

Join a LL Association;

Why?

calliopeviolet wrote: »

Ensure that the tenants have a contact number for you in case of emergency leaks or whatever;

They have one for each of us, and I've said they can call me whenever they need to, regardless of time of day.

calliopeviolet wrote: »

Remember that although you might own the bricks and mortar, it is the tenants' home and they have a right to what they call quiet enjoyment;

The less I see of them, the happier I will be. When I took the photos of the property inside and out, it felt like a complete invasion of privacy - I hated it, but it was necessary.

calliopeviolet wrote: »

Don't, whatever you do, become one of those amateur landlords who have no bloody idea what they're doing

Too late.

calliopeviolet wrote: »

and make an unholy mess of it all

I'll try not to.

calliopeviolet wrote: »

And then all the stuff that the others said about gas safety certificates, smoke alarms and courses for you etc etc.

Yep, that will be done. Except the course, unless we get another property, which won't happen for a good while yet.

mrbadexample

heathcote123 wrote: »

I found myself in a similar siutation a while back, made a aimilar post, and got a similar reponse the board is a hotbed of student commies, don't worry.

Actually, most of what I've got has been very helpful, from a couple of posters in particular. I don't mind a bit of banter or the odd sarky comment - after all, I've given them plenty of ammunition with my lack of preparation. It's all good.

heathcote123 wrote: »

You need to get a gas safety certificate, if the house has gas. Need one every year, or every time a new tenant moves in. Not very expensive - I got a freebie one with a new boiler.

Yes, ours is due in November. We've arranged for someone to go in and check the boiler over and let us know what needs doing.

heathcote123 wrote: »

You may be able to get round the deposit protection thing by simply charging 2 months rent in advance instead of 1 months rent + 1 deposit. (at least that what I've seen a couple of agents round my way doing)

We're getting paid weekly, one week in advance.

heathcote123 wrote: »

You need to maintain the building to a reasonable degree.

We want to continually maintain and improve the property wherever possible, particularly as we are not seeking to make a profit.

heathcote123 wrote: »

Interestingly, you may soon be able soon to get the tenants to pay for any energy efficiency improvements such as double glazing via their bills. http://www.martinco.com/landlord-news/buy-to-let/landlords-keen-to-take-advantage-of-green-deal/800727733

I'll have a look at that, thanks.

heathcote123 wrote: »

DSS tenants can be good if they have reason to have the DSS pay you direct (past problems paying rent, other issues)- I'd avoid if they cant do so.

It's a working household, so this is not an issue unless we change tenants.

heathcote123 wrote: »

Other than that, there seems to be suprisingly little. Just make sure you keep proper accounts so that you don't end up on the wrong side of the taxman.

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the end of year tax return.

heathcote123 wrote: »

Personally I'm avoiding agents for the time being, seems to be an easy way to cut your profit margins quite dramatically, and I'm OK with getting my hand dirty the odd weekend - may change in the furture as/when I buy more.

We will also be avoiding agents. I think we can manage one property between us.

heathcote123 wrote: »

Leave them alone, sort out any problems, and let the cash roll in really.

That's the plan! Except the cash rolling in bit. It only has to pay for itself to start with.

heathcote123

mrbadexample wrote: »

Actually, most of what I've got

That's the plan! Except the cash rolling in bit. It only has to pay for itself to start with.

Stop right there!. Appreciate that this is a business, not a charity - it's not there to 'pay for itself' - you are provding a service, and it's only good and proper that you make a profit for your efforts.

I appreciate if you've bought aplace thats a bit run down, you may have to invest a bit in the first few months - but have a clearly defined plan as to hwo this is going to earn you money.

B_Blank

heathcote123 wrote: »

Stop right there!. Appreciate that this is a business, not a charity - it's not there to 'pay for itself' - you are provding a service, and it's only good and proper that you make a profit for your efforts.

I appreciate if you've bought aplace thats a bit run down, you may have to invest a bit in the first few months - but have a clearly defined plan as to hwo this is going to earn you money.

Effort? Being a BTL LL is unearned wealth and basically makes you a leech on good society.

heathcote123

B_Blank wrote: »

Effort? Being a BTL LL is unearned wealth and basically makes you a leech on good society.

Buying FTSE shares is unearned wealth, as it speculating on Gold.

I for one don't want to have to keep earning wealth when I'm 50, it's nice that a capatalist system allows for that.

Anyone would think you guys actually enjoy getting up and going to work n the morning.

calliopeviolet

Why should you join a LL Association? Well, for help and advice for a start.

Siouxsie32

Can I just but in to ask a question on something that's already been brought up in this topic about Fire Detectors. Are they a legal requirement? My tenant has removed the detector from the property. Am I breaking any laws by not having a smoke detector in the property? He removed it a few months ago but I just found out this morning when I did an inspection.

mrbadexample

heathcote123 wrote: »

Stop right there!. Appreciate that this is a business, not a charity - it's not there to 'pay for itself' - you are provding a service, and it's only good and proper that you make a profit for your efforts.

What I mean is we're not looking to derive any income from it at this time. Any profit will be used to improve & maintain the property, and we may sell it in about 20 years time, or use it for additional income then. It's a long-term thing.

mrbadexample

B_Blank wrote: »

Effort? Being a BTL LL is unearned wealth and basically makes you a leech on good society.

In a word, cobblers!

Where the hell do you think I got the deposit from? :wall:

That's right, me and a mate decided to buy a property to let. So, we both had a root down the back of the sofa, and hey presto, £20k that we didn't work for. Well that was lucky, eh?