new at renting,

[windsorjen]

hello, new at this game, i have decided to rent my home out, until the mortgage is paid, whilst i live at my partners, i am a cautiouse person and want to have my facts and do things the right and lawful way. i am going thru an estate agents, hoping this will make it stressfree for me. is there any warnings anyone wants to make me aware of going this route. i know all about declaring my income from rent, and annual checks on elec, and gas. iam leaving my property half furnished. thanks.

[SPEEDTWIN]

Don`t forget fire regs on any furniture left. things like sofas and beds must be made after 1988

[fleming]

Thankyou for making me smile! You hope using an agent will make it stress free!

You really need to do your homework on this one (which is why you are on the forum, so that's a start) We went to an ARLA agent who came recommended and had nothing but grief. So be warned! My advice would be to sell up unless you really need to get into the landlord game. Believe me ..... it is high stress! If you do decide to let and you live in the Dartford area, don't use McConnells. Sorry to be so pessimistic but you need to face reality before taking this major step.

[BAS]

Hi,

Been renting for years, some tips.

Never use an agent unless you are desperate. You found this web site and all the other information you will ever need is on the web for free.

No DSS, if they dont pay the rent they think the house is for free and treat is as a gimmee, no respect etc.

Rent to working coulpes in long term employment, when you find one, if possible make an excuse to visit them at their previous address, (to sign a form or request more info etc) check out how they live now, are they keeping the house or flat clean etc. if its a dump, your house will be a dump if you let to them.

Take up all references, pay for a credit check and use you best judgment at all times.

There are plenty of good tenents about who will look after your property and

keep up their obligations, be fair and you should get a good relationship going which may last for years.

Check you property every couple of weeks, no less, just driving by at different times of day, I take a day out and drive past my properties on a regular basis checking for rubbish, dirty windows, curtains hanging on bits of string etc, all paints a picture of how people are living, an agent will never do this, you have to do it yourself.

Dont give up, a bit of stress is OK and will dissapear when your rent drops in and you calculate you capital gains from time to time.

Loads more but no time.

Best of luck... just do it

BAS

[Trenners]

Hi,

I agree - don't use an estate agent unless you are desperate - or mad - or both !

Estate agents often provide poor value for money - they sit in their ivory towers (otherwise known as their offices) and wait for tenants to call in to see whether they have any property to rent. How very 1950's !

When problems occur (as they will) - agents often sit in the middle (acting as an agent) and add very little value.

However - at the end of the month they will take anything up to 15% + VAT of your rent for delivering these indifferent services.

My advice - like the others - find tenants yourself, do the referencing yourself, do the paperwork yourself (free tenancy agreement available from this site) and cut out the middleman !

Good luck,

Mark

[F-Prop]

I'd have to agree with Trenners... in a word DIY!

Yes it's stressful but the agents are generally useless (I've heard so many bad stories I don't know where to begin!) I do all my own management and in 6 years I've only had one bad tenant.

I use Maras for referencing (www.maras.co.uk) which means your tenant will fill out a form anf you send it off, in a couple of days you'll know if he's genuine or not. (Don't forget to charge him an "admin fee" for the privelidge )

Make sure everything works in the house and photograph EVERYTHING from EVERY angle! Make sure you document any damage to furniture. That way if the tenant says it was like that when he moved in, you can produce a photograph that proves it was not!! (believe me, a photograph of a blank wall has saved me on a few occasions!)

And remember to tell your mortgage company, they may want to up the mortgage though and charge you extra but you'll be in big trouble with them if you don't!

It may also be worth employing an account to sort out your tax returns as they can usually reduce the tax through allowances and wear and tear which you probably wouldn't know about otherwise!

Good luck and remember it's not all that trouble really if you do your homework first!

Trevor.

[Paula]

Id Like to reply to Bas's comment, about not renting to people on DSS. I am currently a tenant in receipt of housing benefit, and i can assure you that my home is not a dump.

Why is it that tenants that are in receipt of benefit, are victimised against because people like you dont give everyone a fair chance?

I do not choose to be on Housing benefit, and i can imagine that there are thousands that cant be bothered going out to work everyday and do have a dump of a home to live in, but as for me, i wont be tarred with the same brush as most of them.

At the end of the day, housing benefit, is almost a guaranteed rent each month, which is more can be said for people that work, and struggle each week, to pay their rent. At the minute i am searching for a house in the Huddersfield area, and am finding it extremely hard work, as most agents/landlords, dont accept DSS. Jump out of the 1980's for goodness sake, people dont want to live like tramps anymore, the sooner people realise and give us DSS tenents a chance the better.

Paula

[BAS]

Paula

Sorry if you were offended, your right of course, not all DSS tenants are the same, as regards being tarred with the same brush, we private landlords have been since Rackman was exposed, we are mostly described as scum of the earth, second only to estate agents!

BAS

[Melboy]

The problem is Paula the mindless minority spoil it for the majority as is the case for everything else in life.

If I thought I could get a DSS Tenant that was going to be straight and fair then I would rent to them but I know from experience and from other Landlords experiences it just 'aint going to happen, which is why I don't do it.

The other problem is that Landlords will be charged higher Property Insurance for DSS Tenants and also Landlords can't get rent guarantee insurance either with DSS Tenants (or they couldn't 5 years ago).

This is why you see so many adverts with No DSS or Students etc on the listings.

Being a Landlord is not all Beer and Skittles and easy money it can be hard work, frustrating and blood pressure raising when you get bad Tenants.

[windsorjen]

thanks for all your advice, my mind has been choc a block, was so sure going thru an agent was the best idea how wrong was i. i am going cut out the agents now, scary stuff. thanks for the email address for the credit references. that is one thing i will deffinatly do, all advice and tips, good and bad stories are very welcome. one question, i have garden front and rear, gravel on 3 lawns so that is hassle free, but i have one small lawn and some hedging, do i have to provide hedge cutters and lawn mower?

jen

[SPEEDTWIN]

The best dss tenants ive come across are single mums who`s cercumstates (i know i cant spell) are unlikely to change then its money in the bank.

the problems begin when they stop and start jobs, boyfriends move in, payrises kick in. Because the first thing my council do is stop the claim to reacess it. Yes i know they will back date it but you dont know untill you get it. And of course the council pay 4 weekley in arrears so your calculator goes into overtime if your rent is due pcm.

I have a friend who has a single mum dss tenant for the last 4 years, the money comes in like clockwork + he only sees her or hears from her 3 or 4 times a year.

[fleming]

Well, you certainly sparked off some discussion with this one. If my gloomy response made you sit up and take notice, then I have achieved my aim. I sympathise with DSS people, but it really is not the landlords you should blame. The wheels of our Housing Benefit office grind so slowly. It takes them 3 wk to process a letter here and when you do get a response, they say they can't tell you anything because of the Data Protection Act. Our mortgage lender prohibits renting to DSS tenants, but of course you can end up in that situation a few months down the line. With regards to lawn and hedge. Yes it would be a good idea to leave a mower and shears. Make sure the mower is electrically safe and the socket has RCD .If it was just a hedge I would say use it as an excuse to go round there and cut it yourself (giving notice of course) but lawns need more frequent attention. Hope your first tenant turns out to be a good one.

[Melboy]

Incidently, I personally mantain the lawns and hedges of my properties.

Reasons? It is far better for me to keep the gardens under control then relying on Tenants to cut lawns regularly which they don't, happy to leave the grass length for a field of Sheep are some Tenants.

My properties have smallish gardens so it is no big deal to me to keep everything neat and trim.

Most Tenants are very happy with that arrangement and only once did I ever have a prospective Tenant actually state that they wanted to maintain the Garden! They never took the property in the end for whatever reason.

[Reg]

Make sure you call your insurance company in advance, telling them you're letting out your house. I wouldn't bother telling your mortgage company, although it would be technically breaking your current mortgage conditions to let your home out, they don't really care as long as you keep up the monthly repayments. There is also a chance if you tell your mortgage company, they might push up the monthly repayments (by raising the APR interest rate slightly). The estate agents will advise you to tell your mortgage company, but i'd ignore them.

But if you don't tell your insurance company of the change and something bad happens, you might well be uninsured!

It may also be advisable to find out what checks the estate agents have done on any possible tentants, possibly go in to the estate agents and see for yourself, if not quiz them and ask them what corespondense they have receved from references.

If the estate agents are fully managing your home, make sure they call you first if anything needs doing, as they use there own tradesmen, which are argubly more expensive then most, and it is possible that some estate agents get a drink now and again for using the same tradesmen over and over again.

Best of Luck!

[windsorjen]

hi thanks for all you advise, what a fantasic site. i'm sure i will be viewing this site for years to come (if my renting goes ok! ) i'm sorry if i seem dim, its just i want to be organised as with working full time, well you know how it is. iam leaving my home half furnished, i take your advise on leaving garden tools, and i may just maintain my hedges good idea to keep a discreet eye on the place do i need to provide cutlery and crockery, bedding/towels? or can i just leave my beds, settee, table&chairs and other bits of furniture which is good condition but not of value. bloomin heck its not as straight farward as people think, the next time i hear someone say "oh just rent" i may just slap them. i've down loaded the tenancy agreement of the website i saw advertised on this site, will that be ok to use? i've sorted out my buildings/contents insurance out thanks i am covered for renting, and my mortgage have been great only charged me £100. keep coming with the advice no matter how small, all is greatly received. thanks a lot. jenny

[Jenks]

Hi all

We are emigrating in a couple of months and have chosen to rent out our property privately but only because we actually know the family that are moving in tho' not very well, they are our next door neighbours daughter and family. We shall set up an agreement with them to be kept with our solicitors. I understand that you can also buy tenancy agreements from WHSmith - guess where I am going on Monday!

I understand we shall have to get an NRL1? so we can get our rent paid to us tax free.

We have a friend who is prepared to keep their eye on the place (I am sure that the tenants mother will also do the same)!!!

We will leave a list of contractors for all eventualities with our tenant to contact directly should anything occur. We were considering keeping a certain amount in our uk account so should anything need paying we can just transfer it to the contractor concerned's account. Any comments??

Should it go belly up we can contact our solicitor and we shall have to go through an agent.

With regard to insurance, should we just approach the company that we already have buildings and contents with? In your experience is the insurance less than if we were still living in and with contents.... hmm I guess we just tot up things like flooring, bathroom suite, curtains etc for a sum to insure? Am I on the right track??

Hope to hear from you soon

Jenks.

[Prestigelettings]

Would if it was me keep to a small local letting agent in your area..who will give you the time of day!...I run one in Gloucester and one of the noteable things I do is stay in contact from 8.00 till 10.00 at night as this I find helps the working Landlord as all large Estate agents etc. close up early ...I also work 7 days a week and do not charge VAT.....having once worked for a large estate agent decided to go it alone and give a fairer price to landlords as well as tenants..

regards