Becoming a landlord 101 Help

riverboat2001

Hi All,

We own our current home, and will be renting it out in the near future.
(We are buying another property to live in)

As we will be travelling a lot and are not very practical, we will be using one of the High Street Estate Agents to manage the property.

I'd like to approach the situation with my eyes open, so would appreciate any insight on what I won't have even thought about.

Suggested threads or websites should be great. There is so much information out there, and a lot of it is contradictory.

Keep_pedalling

Not very practical, are you sure you really want the responsibilities of being a LL?

riverboat2001

I mean, as in fixing defects or home maintenance.

booksurr

read GM's guide

if you are serious about this you will read every single link in there and every page of every link . Just because you are impractical and use an agent does not remove your liability for EVERYTHING so you need to know (not just have read) what your legal position and responsibilities are

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5180214

they are your agent so it is YOU who will be sued for their actions

nkkingston

I can understand why you don't just want to leave your house empty, but you need to go into this with an understanding that when you get back you it could be months before you can move back in, you may be worse of financially than if you hadn't rented it out, it may be utterly trashed, and, of course, if your agents are incompetent you could be sued. If you have the financial and emotional resilience to take those risks, including potentially flying back to the UK at short notice, then now is a good time to start preparing yourself. You might not be practical now, but you're going to be soon!

The thing about becoming a landlord is you're essentially starting a new job - you have a lot of financial, legal, and moral obligations.You need to vet the people you hire, you need to take a huge amount of responsibility for potentially very little reward, and you need to be personally available in emergencies (agencies close over Christmas, but your responsibilities don't take a week off). Like most jobs, the best way to gain confidence and experience is through education and training: the National Landlord's Association offer one day courses if you're worried about picking your way through the contradictory advice out there.

HouseBuyer77

they are your agent so it is YOU who will be sued for their actions

Bear in mind they may not always act in your best interests and they may not be competent. Anyone can become a letting agent. I'm sure you can find a decent agent but as a new LL you will struggle to determine good from bad (unless you have some LL friends who can give recomendations). Which is why it is important you have a full understanding of how to be a LL and what responsibilities it entails, even if you end up leaving the day to day to an agent.

G_M

* Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants This thread is intended to provide information to both landlords and tenants relating to Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales.

Topics covered:

* Repairing Obligations: the law, common misconceptions, reporting/enforcing, retaliatory eviction & the new protection (2015)

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

* Rent increases: when & how can rent be increased?

* Repossession: what if a LL's mortgage lender repossesses the property?

* New landlords: advice, information & links

* Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

AdrianC

There's one question that you need to ask before you even get to this stage...

Are you absolutely, positively, 100% sure that the post-agent-fee, post-maintenance-cost, post-void, post-tenant-damage, post-CGT, post-SDLT-hike-on-new-purchase return on your money is good enough to be worth the hassle?

Cakeguts

What you need to know before you do anything else is what the market in rentals in the area you are hoping to let your house in is like. People assume wrongly that you can easily let any type of property and get a good tenant. This isn't the case. Tenants prefer some houses to others just like owner occupiers however some disadvantage in a house might be the compromise that an owner is prepared to make to own a certain house. Tenants are not going to want to make the same compromises so for example if good tenants in your area want a modern house that is cheaper to run and has off street parking they are not going to be looking for a Victorian cottage on a main road with no off street parking however nice the Victorian cottage is.

So you need to find out what rents easily in your area. You can do this bit of research by checking the rentals on Rightmove. The kind of house that is in short supply is the one that gets let quickest and for the best price. These are the properties where the landlord has the greatest choice of tenants. The kind of property where there are lots advertise to let are the ones where there is not much choice of tenant.

If you are going traveling and are wanting the house to be managed by agents the house will need to be one that is sought after by good tenants otherwise you run a greater risk of having to return to make extensive repairs to a house that has been wrecked.

Letting property is not as easy as you seem to think. Being a landlord is running a business and it is like any other business if you have a product that no one wants to buy you won't make any money. If you don't make any money you will not cover your costs and will make a loss. Any loss means that you won't cover your mortgage, repair costs and any other expenses occurred.

scriv

https://www.landlordzone.co.uk for information and for forums can be very helpful.

chanz4

Far from easy been a landlord, little if any profit and bills bills for repair. The one who gains is the estate agents from their high fees