Julian_S Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Good morning all. I have an apartment becoming vacant next month. A bugger as the tenant has never missed payments and looks after the place. Anyway, regarding the Chinese virus, is there anything that I should be additionally aware of? I'm thinking they pay their deposit and months rent, move in and instantly claim a rent holiday IAW government guidelines. Maybe ask for 6 months rent upfront, but I think that probably rules out 95% of tenants. Is it a buyers or sellers market at the moment? Interestingly, Rightmove have very few similar properties available in the area which I don't fully understand. Regards Julian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 I can't see that anyone is going to want to rent a place in the current emergency. Are you sure there IS a market ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian_S Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 I've no idea. I had some others a few months ago that came from HK and paid 6 months upfront. It's an area where a fair number of immigrant workers reside. I'll put it up on Gumtree and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 People are only allowed to travel for specific reasons......viewing potential rental properties is not one of them. Perhaps it might be better to find out where your existing tenants are going to cos they aren't supposed to be travelling either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian_S Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Statutory Instrument, The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 6 (2) (l)to move house where reasonably necessary. There's no need to ''view'' in the day of digital images. BTW, three replies via Gumtree already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 The most important thing a landlord can do is pick his tenants very, VERY carefully. If you don't meet them how are you going to make a judgement about the suitability of appllicants ? Unless you have a very detailed questionnaire, so detailed people probably wouldn't bother to fill it in, then you can't make that judgement with confidence. Letting a property is not just about finding people who like the images & want to rent it.....there is far more to it than that. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian_S Posted April 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 Indeed, I've done this for several years and have enjoyed far better success than when I let agents find me them. (who quite frankly, would accept anyone in order to get the cash in - and that was a nationwide company) This is a job of mine (well not my main job) that can't be done from home so I consider it acceptable to meet a tenant provided social distancing rules are complied with. Anyway, it's in a few weeks time so we'll be out of this nonsense by then otherwise the country will be back in the stone age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbut Posted April 22, 2020 Report Share Posted April 22, 2020 We have one empty at the moment as unfortunately the tenant of 12 years had a heart attack and died aged 42 , its all redecorated , new EPC and new bathroom fitted , its empty and can stay that way for a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acura Posted April 23, 2020 Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 10 hours ago, kerbut said: We have one empty at the moment as unfortunately the tenant of 12 years had a heart attack and died aged 42 , its all redecorated , new EPC and new bathroom fitted , its empty and can stay that way for a few months. Goodness, how sad. That happened to a colleague of my husband. He didn’t show up for work one day so they sent the police to check on him. He died sitting on his kitchen chair tying up his laces before heading to work. Awful for his family 😞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted April 23, 2020 Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 Take a guarantor, and check the guarantor out to be sure they have assets to threaten in the event. As said I wouldn't want to accept a tenant I hadn't interviewed. But on this one you might consider the lost rents over time versus the likely losses from remaining w/o a tenant. There will be o/h's of remaining mt. While a tenant might take the payment holiday the debt accrues. Any guarantor should then be liable. A tenant might view you as a deserving target and 'do one' in a few months, but it's far less likely they would do that to a guarantor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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