How/where to find good Professional tenants..

mizrudey

Hi all...
My mate just inherited a 3 bed semi house... up North... its all ready to be lived in.... she wants to rent it out to suitable professional people...

Other than advertising in local newspaper... and with letting agent... where/how can she find professional OR reliable long term tenants... is there a website for such tenants OR for doctors, nurses., dentists .. etc...

apologies.. but really dont have a clue.... so have to ask all you experts out there.... any advices appreciated

thanx.

pippamannequin

Why do you believe nurse and doctors will make better tenants than a family wanting security that just cant afford to buy??
Surely long term is more likely from a family that cant afford to buy (or cant afford to get a mortgage) than a doctor or nurse that will want to get on the property ladder asap??!!! Im paying £800 a month in rent and intend to rent forever, that's a hell of a lot more than so many mortgages are.

mizrudey

SO sorry! didnt mean to offend.. you are so right .... absolutely... i will just take my foot out of my mouth.... ...

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

One of the worst tenants I ever came across was a doctor, sorry I meant one of the dirtiest, coming up second was a banker .

Friend of mine (another LL) just been taken for a small fortune in rent, she told me her tenant was a Director and drove a new BMW, tut tut, silly girl !! become a Directer for £100 quid , motor on the never never, springs to mind.

MOST of the better tenants I come across are not professional , sometimes struggling, but HONEST.

$$$_12

mizrudey wrote: »

Hi all...
My mate just inherited a 3 bed semi house... up North... its all ready to be lived in.... she wants to rent it out to suitable professional people...

Other than advertising in local newspaper... and with letting agent... where/how can she find professional OR reliable long term tenants... is there a website for such tenants OR for doctors, nurses., dentists .. etc...

apologies.. but really dont have a clue.... so have to ask all you experts out there.... any advices appreciated

thanx.

Try gumtree.com and see if there is a section for your area. I suggest your friend fully acquaints themselves with the law regarding letting before they start.

No reliable or professional tenant is going to want a landlady who is potentially letting out a death trap and won't repair things when they need doing. As a reliable and professional tenant I'm a bit fed up with having to train amateur landlords in the basics like fire resistant furnishings, tenancy deposit schemes and gas safety certificates.

On the flipside - your friend doesn't want a "professional" tenant moving in who knows the law better than they do and is fully able to exploit it to your friend's detriment. They are more common than you think and often leave trashed houses, court costs and unpaid rent/bills in their wake.

If your friend does their research - including finding out what the local market is like - and treats it like a proper business then she shouldn't go far wrong.

IveSeenTheLight

mizrudey wrote: »

Hi all...
My mate just inherited a 3 bed semi house... up North... its all ready to be lived in.... she wants to rent it out to suitable professional people...

Other than advertising in local newspaper... and with letting agent... where/how can she find professional OR reliable long term tenants... is there a website for such tenants OR for doctors, nurses., dentists .. etc...

apologies.. but really dont have a clue.... so have to ask all you experts out there.... any advices appreciated

thanx.

You can contact local businesses in the area that may cater for professionals re-locating / on secondments, attending meetings.

I know of a few LL's that don't rent out to tenants but have a long term reantal with the company.

Downside is that you don't know who is in your property.
Upside is that you will have an agreement with a company which can be much more long term and generally will check on the property for you to ensure it is properly maintained

Debt_Free_Chick

mizrudey wrote: »

Hi all...
My mate just inherited a 3 bed semi house... up North... its all ready to be lived in.... she wants to rent it out to suitable professional people...

Other than advertising in local newspaper... and with letting agent... where/how can she find professional OR reliable long term tenants... is there a website for such tenants OR for doctors, nurses., dentists .. etc...

apologies.. but really dont have a clue.... so have to ask all you experts out there.... any advices appreciated

thanx.

Can you just clarify what it is you're looking for? Describe your perfect tenant - what do they do and not do. I don't mean job-wise, I mean their behaviour as a tenant.

Thing is, you cannot categorise people's behaviour by what they do for a living or how much they earn. Stockbrokers, for example, earn wads of money and appear to look "very professional". But the vast majority of them will admit they are "market barrow-boys, with a gift for the gab"

My advice is to ignore labels - especially "professional" as there is no clear definition of what that means. Instead, make sure you have a robust process for weeding out those tenants who have previously rented "with good behaviour" and those who haven't. This means credit checks and references.

But remember, good behaviour in the past is no guarantee of good behaviour in the future. So know your rights - and obligations - as a Landlord!

Debt_Free_Chick

$$$ wrote: »

If your friend does their research - including finding out what the local market is like - and treats it like a proper business then she shouldn't go far wrong.

An excellent point. No good aiming for young professional single people in an area full of families or retired folk.

thesaint

i thought a "Professional tenant" was one that got a tenancy and ceased to make any payments from that point on, and refused to leave until the bailiffs arrived.

They would then be impossible to trace to get your rent money back.

Is this the sort of tenant the OP is searching for?

I don't mind living rent free.

DampProof

Can be a minefield for the uninitiated...and in additional to all the good advice given already you may want to sign up to www.eletsure.com operated by one of the credit checking agencies.

This check saved me an absolute fortune and shed load of grief when I had accepted two months rent, then found to my horror the person had two county court judgements.

So being a landlord has its hassles and the first thing you need to do is a credit check, take references, check driving license etc etc to ensure you are not being sucked in.

Once you have made as many checks as is practicle (although this will not gaurantee a good tenant) you can feel reasonable secure of a trouble free tenancy.

Good Luck

BenL

I'm an excellent tenant in my apartment and I found it from an advert on the noticeboard at my old work.

A friend of a friend of my landlord put it up for them.