How long DOES IT TAKE TO RENT OUT A HOUSE

shoebp12

Hi im going to move out of my house and buy another, my current house wasn't selling. I have a 3 Bed Terraced, how long does it take say from the moment you have a tenant who says Il take the house for rent to them moving in and giving you rental money. Any ideas of Timescales, what kind of paperwork is involved ideally id like a private tenant which i would get from a paper Ad Thanks

Hump

Sounds like you're an accidental potential landlord - look for a lettings agent who is a member of ARLA (my opinion - though there are other lettings agent associations) - pay your 10%ish management fee and do it relatively hassle free. Or do it yourself and get stressed.

G_M

Depends HOW LOUDLY YOU SHOUT at them!

12 hours?

Read this though first.

ognum

shoebp12 wrote: »

Hi im going to move out of my house and buy another, my current house wasn't selling. I have a 3 Bed Terraced, how long does it take say from the moment you have a tenant who says Il take the house for rent to them moving in and giving you rental money. Any ideas of Timescales, what kind of paperwork is involved ideally id like a private tenant which i would get from a paper Ad Thanks

DIY is not really that easy for a first time landlord there are a lot of traps to fall into! Find a good letting agent to help you through they will give you advice on the legalities of saftey certification etc get a good landlord insurance and make sure your property is in a good state of repair Ensure you have enough mobney set aside for emergencies and voids! Setting up a rental will take a couple of weeks if your property is in an area with demand

FLAPJACK

More to the point ....how quickly can you get them out when they give up paying the rent???;)

Werdnal

Can be as quick as a week?

However, have you read the link with G_M's post above? Do you know what you need to do BEFORE you get even advertise to find the tenant?

Firstly, have you a mortgage? You need consent to let - some lenders agree, but many will add extra costs and clauses, some only allow you to let for 12 months, some refuse altogether.

Then your insurance will be void, so that needs to be changed to a landlord policy.

Gas supply at the property - you'll need an annual gas safety certificate then.

Then you advertise - carefully - Gumtree and other online sites are full of scammers!

Or you use an agent - wise move for a first time landlord, but choose carefully as they can get it wrong too.

You draw up a legally binding tenancy agreement and make a full and thorough inventory of the property, each room, its fixtures, fittings, carpets/flooring, decore and condition of each.

Right, now you are ready to meet prospective tenants, and vet/credit check them - do you know how this works? Have you decided whether you will accept LHA tenants, allow smoking, pets, etc. Do you know if you need to specify a guarantor and how to do this as a legal binding deed?

Once you have done your homework on all this, and you have selected the tenant, will you have sufficient financial resources to cover maintenance and loss of rent? General consensus is you should only count on 10 month rent in any year, to allow for unforeseen losses. It is not guaranteed income and in bad years you may only break even!

And remember, your letting income is taxable, and must be declared on an annual Self assessment to HMRC.

Don't rush into this without doing all your homework first - getting the tenants in is the easiest bit, getting them out is a whole other ball game - you should also read up on giving notice, what to do if tenant trashes the place, stops paying, refuses to leave, requires a court eviction and baillifs to chuck them out!

G_M

Werdnal wrote: »

...
Firstly, have you .......

Right, now you are ready to meet prospective tenants, and vet/credit check them - do you know how this works? Have you decided whether you will accept LHA tenants, allow

No he's not! Where's his EPC?

But I think the point being made is that you need to do a LOT of learning and preparation before you even start advertising. And getting a few odd tips off the internet is not the way to do it.

Hence the link in my earlier post.

Sit down with a computer and a good book (plus your phone) and spend at least a full day in research. By then you'll have learnt enough to realise you need to spend longer doing preliminary research!

Werdnal

G_M wrote: »

No he's not! Where's his EPC?

Thanks GM - I read and re-read my post and knew I'd forgotten something! Kept thinking about PAT testing, but thats not compulsory, although would be advisable if OP is thinking of letting it furnished. I'll just put it down to a few glasses of wine last night !

I agree OP needs to do a lot more research - seems to be putting the cart before the horse - "How quick can I get tenants paying rent?", rather than "Do I really know enough about what I am getting into to do this properly, and above all legally?"