Any tips for new landlord to manage a buy to let property?

David_Evans

OP - could I ask - what made you decide on going into BTL?

Genuinely interested, with all the changes recently.

G_M

Riablo wrote: »

I really like the idea of advertising directly with local businesses - thanks for the tip. A big draw of the properties is that they are located close to some large business parks and we know the properties have rented out to employees of these large firms previously. Perfect, but I'd let direct to staff on ASTs, not to companies on corporate lets. This latter means

* they can put who they like in the property
*often giving the property to short-term contract staff or overseas staff visiting locally. Fast turn-over = fast wear and tear
* les control/ability to evict than an AST


.......

....Our main concern would be the tenant referencing as we would want to do everything we can to avoid problem tenants. We would personally want to meet all tenants anyway,

I prefer this too. Trust your judgement and instinct



and we would normally insist on a guarantor

Unrealistic. Few tenants want to dothis uness they have to, and even fewer guarantors! Being a guarantor is a major comitment and my advice here to people who have been asked to be guarantors is not to do so unless there is no option.


but I would still feel happier with a good tenant reference service.
If your vetting is thorough there's no need for a guarantor. I prefer to do reference checks myself - contacting the previous landlord /current employer direct ( but NOT using the phone number provided by the tenant which could be their mate!)


Any of the commercial providers will search the credit files for bankrupcy history, ID, electoral regiter etc for £15 - £30

I am finding different reviews online - some rating Openrent and their £20 service, others slating it, but it's hard to know which reviews are genuine.

Depends what you are expecting them to do!

The EPC you got when you purchased lasts 10 years and can be given to the tenant - provided it is rated E or higher (or can be registered on the exempt register)

phil1011

As a landlord, one thing that gets overlooked a lot is the responsibility for making sure you have carried out a Legionella Risk Assessment on the property to protect against Legionnaires Disease in the water systems.

Some useful resources for you:
urisk.co.uk/legionella-risk-assessment
hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/legionella-landlords-responsibilities.htm

Hope it's useful.

Phil

pinkteapot

WARNING: Old thread