Whats your experience -renting out a house

little-spender

At the moment we want to move, but am not too sure if it will work out and would really like to come back to our house when the time is right
We have been thinking of letting it out for maybe 5 years or so
It is a 3 bed
For all the people who rent out their house, what are your experiences of tenants good/bad.

The more we talk to people(non landlords ) the more we are getting put off. It just seems to be doom and gloom with every tenant wrecking the house.

All views appreciated.

[Deleted User]

I haven't rented out a house but I have read this forum a lot. If you are even considering renting out your house you first need to look at the costs and read all about the responsibilities of a landlord, the liabilities a landlord has and the laws surrounding eviction. This will matter more than how many tenants are good. After you have done all this you'll be better equipped to ask this question and understand how it affects whether or not you want to do this.

Start here with this fantastic post from G_M: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

G_M

Read this forum with care though.

Yes, there is excellent advice and help to be had here (cheers for referring my post citric!), but when reading the doom & gloom stories, remember that people rarely come to forums, either as tenant or landlord, to say "It's all going fine."

So you only hear the horror stories here, not the success stories.....

ognum

I have had good tenants, I try to treat them well. But, I would not let a house that I planned to live in again, I would not let anything where my heart is!

Letting is a buisness arrangement, it's sometimes hard work, things need sorting out and it is seldom to the time scale you want or when you want but they still have to be done.

Statistically I think your home is unlikely to be wrecked but people don't always look after rented property the way you would.

You need to be organised, keep good records, declare income for tax and have good insurance. If it was a favourite house of mine I wouldn't let it!

angelsmomma

I started by reading G_Ms link too and a lot of the stories on here. I now have 2 let properties.

Both tenants pay the rent every month without problems. However there the similarities end as one is very clean, tidy and looks after the house. The other just doesn't care and the house is dirty and untidy. My plasterer and plumber don't like going in there to do jobs for instance.

I am happy enough to leave them to it though as you have to emotionally detach from the house. It is their home and they are paying for it. They can live how they want to and as long as they are not wrecking the house I am happy for them to live as they choose. It is a business after all.

Dave101t

Our house is rented. To protect ourselves, we went via a full management option with a reputable local estate agent. They take around 14%, but sort everything for us. Tenant knows they can't screw around due to the legal weight of the agent, we get no hassle, just the rent, and occasional minor repair. Wouldn't rent without the agent, that's when horror stories start....

ognum

Dave101t wrote: »

Our house is rented. To protect ourselves, we went via a full management option with a reputable local estate agent. They take around 14%, but sort everything for us. Tenant knows they can't screw around due to the legal weight of the agent, we get no hassle, just the rent, and occasional minor repair. Wouldn't rent without the agent, that's when horror stories start....

14% I just nearly fainted, my properties are fully managed and I pay 7.5%. If you have more than one property you are in a great position to negotiate your management fee.

dimbo61

" Legal weight of a agent " please be careful you are responsible not the agent.
Do your research and make sure you know the law re Deposits and Landlord responsibilities

de_g.

Dave101t wrote: »

Our house is rented. To protect ourselves, we went via a full management option with a reputable local estate agent. They take around 14%, but sort everything for us. Tenant knows they can't screw around due to the legal weight of the agent, we get no hassle, just the rent, and occasional minor repair. Wouldn't rent without the agent, that's when horror stories start....

I'm an accidental landlord like so many these days. I let via a franchise of a major national chain agent paying (I think) 12.5% for fully managed, and although that's on the high side I've had practically no voids and no problem tenants. Many of those renting in the area are Polish and the owner of the franchise speaks the language, so he's the first place they go. They're professional, price realistically (when letting and selling - properties they market rarely stay long on the market) and when I need work done at home there happy to give me the contact details of the tradespeople they use. I know people are supposed to hate estate agents, but I'm very happy with the service I get.

ognum

de_g. wrote: »

I'm an accidental landlord like so many these days. I let via a franchise of a major national chain agent paying (I think) 12.5% for fully managed, and although that's on the high side I've had practically no voids and no problem tenants. Many of those renting in the area are Polish and the owner of the franchise speaks the language, so he's the first place they go. They're professional, price realistically (when letting and selling - properties they market rarely stay long on the market) and when I need work done at home there happy to give me the contact details of the tradespeople they use. I know people are supposed to hate estate agents, but I'm very happy with the service I get.

I am also happy with my current agents and have good service from them but believe anything above 10% is way too much. I would only ever use an idependent agent and ditched my last agents when they sold up to a large national agency and their service became tied up with what the management said could or could not be done.

G_M

angelsmomma wrote: »

I started by reading G_Ms link too and a lot of the stories on here. I now have 2 let properties.

......

Thinks..... should I be getting a %....?

:kisses: