1st time Landlord advice please!!

Cheddar_2

Ok, we have notified our lender today and applied for consent to let Will hear back from them in 7-10 days, so keep your fingers crossed for us that all goes well! Our prospective tenants have paid for the credit checks by cheque, so we are waiting for that to clear before paying TenantVERIFY by debit card. What are the chances they'll ask for a guarantor do you think?

Our application for our new house has also gone through today, so we move out of here on 15th July.

I know we may seem naive in becoming landlords and renting the apartment ourselves, but we fully appreciate all the help you guys are offering - what would we do without MSE?!

clutton_2

""What are the chances they'll ask for a guarantor do you think?" No one will know until the credit check / salary verification is done

which deposit scheme have you decided on ?

Cheddar_2

clutton wrote: »

""What are the chances they'll ask for a guarantor do you think?" No one will know until the credit check / salary verification is done

Ah right OK

clutton wrote: »

which deposit scheme have you decided on ?

We were looking at using the Deposit Protection Service - we've been reading up on the options on DirectGov and theirs seemed to be the most suitable. Do you have any info or alternative advice on that clutton?

clutton_2

i use DPS cos its free - easy to use - either pay by debit card on their website or send a cheque in the post. I've got one deposit back so far, and didn't find it tooo strenuous - mind you the tenant had gone AWOL so - no opposition.

owitemisermusa

Following this thread very closely. Thanks to the OP for posting and a big thank you to the experienced LLs giving great input and advice. This thread represents all that's good about MSE.

BTW, I wish there was a seperate LL board for Q&As for newbies etc.

All in all, jolly good!

PayDay

clutton wrote: »

get a mate (who is hopefully) impartial to check out the information you have about your tenant to see if you are still looking at them thru rose coloured glasses

I hope that isn't the tenants private credit details that you are showing to your mates?

Cheddar_2

I know there may be an obvious answer to this question, but I figured I'd ask anyway...

One of our prospective tenants is unemployed. She lives off her divorce settlement at the moment. I am assuming that we will need a guarantor for her, so will they have to pay another £30.55 for the Guarantor's TenantVERIFY checks, too, or will the guarantor's personal details suffice?

I have already completed and submitted her form to TenantVERIFY without any guarantor's details.

moneysavinmonkey

you really need to credit check the guarantor otherwise it doesn't give you much protection - but they don't need a full tenant verify (e.g. landlords references not necessary etc!)

Well done for requesting the consent to let. I really hope you get it after we all (ok me!) gave you a hard time about it!!!

Just a point about 'the cheque clearing' be wary that even though it looks like a cheque has cleared initially as in the funds are showing in your account, I think you have to leave it a good 3-5 working days longer before it has definitely cleared. In that time the cheque can still bounce and the funds will be taken back... this happened to me once when a landlady gave me one cheque returning deposits for a house I shared with 4 others.... i thought the money had gone in so I started doing online payment transfers to the others sharers only for the cheque to bounce a day later putting me massively in the red!!! (Fortunately I had a free student overdraft that I wasn't using, but still!)

Am very interested in this lady.. she must of had a mighty rich husband if she can live off her divorce ( and no kiddies?) ... anyone famous???

clutton_2

www.landlordzone.co.uk has a Guarantor Application form - exactly like the tenancy one, except for the last page - charge them and do the same credit checks - just as important as checking the tenant

if she has no "income" ask for a building society/bank statement to show she has funds - not unreasonable.


a great LL forum is www.landlordzone.co.uk

Cheddar_2

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Just a point about 'the cheque clearing' be wary that even though it looks like a cheque has cleared initially as in the funds are showing in your account, I think you have to leave it a good 3-5 working days longer before it has definitely cleared.

Yes - we made sure we waited until the cheque had fully cleared

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Am very interested in this lady.. she must of had a mighty rich husband if she can live off her divorce ( and no kiddies?) ... anyone famous???

She's not famous (as far as I know), and to be honest, there didn't appear to be a great deal in her bank account statement (which I took a copy of). A guarantor is definitely needed, methinks, especially as her boyfriend only earns £17k.