1st time Landlord advice please!!

Cheddar_2

clutton wrote: »

i find it odd that someone only has one pay slip ......

Yes I thought that, too... ah well, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now - my husband never used to keep his payslips either until he met me, but an employer check is definitely in order!

Tassotti

So, you say you have read the 20 most important points of letting, and thought you would make an excuse for them all.?.?.?

Take note

'benefit of the doubt'...you lose thousdands

'Financial Advisor'...not your money ..he doesn't care

YOU own the property..If the tenant says 'we don't need credit checks', they are taking advantage.

Tell the tenant and agent they are complete idiots...read a bit more over the next 3 days and do it yourself.

Ade

Cheddar_2

Tassotti wrote: »

'benefit of the doubt'...you lose thousdands

You missed the words 'for now' from your quote. How can I pass judgement without seeing his payslip first and then contacting his employers for more information? Would you do something different?

Tassotti wrote: »

'Financial Advisor'...not your money ..he doesn't care

Our financial advisor is excellent, and he does care. I know that I'll get good advice from him and he is talking to the Abbey for me today

Tassotti wrote: »

YOU own the property..If the tenant says 'we don't need credit checks', they are taking advantage.

They are now having credit checks. When I first mentioned it to her, she didn't understand the process properly and only questioned it because she had only had credit checks 9 months ago when she moved into her other apartment. When we explained to her why we needed them, she was fine with it. They have given us a cheque for the credit check fee with TenantVERIFY (and before somebody says it... yes we will wait for it to clear before paying for it on our card!!!)

The forms have been completed fully, although I think we may need a guarantor for her. She only stopped work at the end of May, so has only been supporting herself for a few weeks! His income is £17k (which will be checked out with his employer by TenantVERIFY, and also by me if necessary).

Claire

Tassotti

If the tenant passes credit checks, it is also worth getting Rent Insurance... Rentguard provide cover against rent losses for 6 months at £52.00 (also can be offset against tax)

Very cheap for peace of mind and great cover

Tass

Cheddar_2

Thanks Tass - will look into that!

Tassotti

I do admire you for doing it yourself, but there is a lot to learn...Some of these lessons can be very expensive.

I hope you are not renting to friends/family...NEVER WORKS

Tenant Verify will give you all the info you need. They are a reputable company and I have always used them.

Did you say you are going to be putting in £90.00 per month to pay the mortgage?

Worrying signs there!

Change the mortgage to interest only and claim the interest as tax relief....

Oh my god..I could go on forever...In time you will learn more and more, as we all do...Nobody knows everything?

Best of luck

Tass

moneysavinmonkey

how's it going with the financial advisor and the permission to let?

Cheddar_2

Tass - we are already on an interest only mortgage! Reading back through what I typed above, I realised it's not quite right, and slightly misleading! Our rental income is £3 less than our mortgage payment. But the management fee is £76, which we are including in the rental. So it's actually an extra £79 we're putting into the apartment each month, not £90.

When you consider we're renting a 3 bedroom house in a much nicer area for £700, which has ample room for our family and two businesses, financially it's a no-brainer at only £179 extra per month (assuming our tenants don't do a runner, of course!).

Claire

Tassotti

A loss is a loss

Consider selling..May be difficult in these times.

As it was your home there are tax advantages

Dunno...wouldn't like a loss-making business myself
Tass

Cheddar_2

We've had it on the market for about 2 years with only 1 viewing (4 different agents and our own advert online). We bought the apartment off plan for £190k, and it's on for £156k now. We have a £140k mortgage. The fact that we can't sell is the only reason we're renting it out. Believe me, if someone came and offered us £150k for it now, we'd take it and leave!!

We've made a massive loss as it is, so renting it out and us renting somewhere else is our only option... besides, if property prices do go up in five years or whatever, losing £79 per month will have been WELL worth it!