Newbie BTL landlord to be - any tips appreciated

Pixie5740

If money isn't a motivator for you then selling the place is probably the right option.

dimbo61

Using a letting agent would cost what 10% of the rent if not more.
It is a house and if you rent to a family after taking up references and credit checks/employer checks it might work for a couple of years.
Consider Selling up before the 3 years after you start renting so you are selling when the fix runs out ( Capital Gains TAX)
Make sure you register with HMRC

G_M

See

[FONT=&quot]New Landlords[/FONT][FONT=&quot] (information for new or prospective landlords)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Letting Agents [/FONT][FONT=&quot](Tips for selecting, and tips for sacking them)[/FONT]

pmlindyloo

The only other thing you need to consider is the worse case scenario. (sorry!)

If the in laws had to go into a care home/die would your husband's inheritance be sufficient to allow you to take out a mortgage/have a deposit for a new house. I know you say you will be able to save but best to do the sums.

Personally I would be hanging on to my house. A safety net. That will give you more options if the worse happens. It ( hopefully!) will still be increasing in value so that in itself is a form of saving.

I totally understand your concern about letting but despite all the horror stories you hear if you get a good letting agent (and have done your sums correctly) and read up about being a landlord then you should be OK.

I_want_a_baby

Thank you all so much for your input and thanks for the links to the guides too, I shall read them tonight.

The problem currently is that we agree with both sides and can see the benefit of both keeping the house and selling it.

If the worst were to happen we would be looking at receiving around £80k plus the £30k we would have stashed away from selling the house and that's without any additional savings. Locally our dream house (we don't want much) would cost around £260k so I am confident that we would be comfortable should that happen.

I am thinking along the lines of selling and then saving the amount of capital we would have paid if we had a mortgage. I have a super dooper spreadsheet from the mfw forum that tells me what is repaid and what is interest each month until end of term.

If we keep the house we will have the worry of having to pay out for void months or repairs and will move into a property owing my in laws around £10k. I feel it is too much of a risk especially with two young children and me not currently working.

Thank you all for your input. I think I will talk to my husband and see if I can get him to see my way of thinking

I really appreciate you all taking the time to reply x

tumbledowngirl

pmlindyloo wrote: »

The only other thing you need to consider is the worse case scenario. (sorry!)

If the in laws had to go into a care home/die would your husband's inheritance be sufficient to allow you to take out a mortgage/have a deposit for a new house. I know you say you will be able to save but best to do the sums.

Personally I would be hanging on to my house. A safety net. That will give you more options if the worse happens. It ( hopefully!) will still be increasing in value so that in itself is a form of saving.

I totally understand your concern about letting but despite all the horror stories you hear if you get a good letting agent (and have done your sums correctly) and read up about being a landlord then you should be OK.

I generally agree with what you say about being a landlord BUT even using a good agent and being clued up, there is no accounting for human behaviour - you could still end up with a nightmare tenant (as we have) and need to be aware of the aggro, stress and cost they can cause you, especially if your contingency is slim (which it sounds OP's might possibly be, once management fees are taken into account each month).
Of course, no-one has a crystal ball and I'm sure there are as many excellent tenants out there as there are duff ones BUT if the OP is risk-averse, dealing with any kind of problem could prove too much.