Yes I fully agree, should’ve made it good/neutral before they left
Ah - my apologies. Yep, all of that is mess we've been left with. 🙁 We WANT people to be happy and make it a hom and stay long term, but jeez - please don't leave it too scabby. 🙁
thats what your deposit is for
Ain't gonna cover the work for the last lot, AND they skipped out of a fixed term a month early, so we'd have to pursue them if we want to see anything for this month. 🙁
We’re landlords, have a lot of properties. We aim to be fair to the tenants, we want them to treat the flats/houses as if it was their own home. We are in it for the long term so have never once requested a tenant leave the property. Our prices we feel are fair. We have just installed cable broadband into a set of flats, cost to us was £9k.
Two have recently been decorated. Two more are getting new central heating put in. We’ve only took ownership of the ones needing central heating from December last year (but technically only March as we had to wait for existing contracts to expire).
As landlords our aim isn’t to make a wage on the properties we own, the aim is to build up a portfolio for the kids to sell at a later date (when we are gone and buried). We don’t draw down on any of the monthly income, it’s all used for repairs and renovations. Some of our tenants have been in our properties for over 10 years. We do occasionally have to increase rent, but at the end of the day I see it as a partnership. We are not a charity but we will always try and do right by other people....today my wife took some furniture round to a tenant (chest of draws, brand new shelves and fairy lights for the kids, the tenant is a single mum who works and my wife thought they might like them)
The properties we bought this year, one of the ladies, retired lady, asked us not to perform a credit check against her. We agreed not to. My wife is now her official help desk, rings on a daily basis. Wife pops in to see her when she is in the area (we own the shops below where she lives so the wife visits regularly)
While I remember, we also spent a large amount of money renovating the outside area of one of our blocks of flats. Re-did the car park, added two electric chargers, the residents advised us of travellers using the car park and parking on the verges. We reshaped the car park and added a fenced off children’s play area, this has massively improved the appearance of the local area, gave the kids somewhere to play, but it also stops caravans entering.
Being called leeches or vermin is so wrong it’s ridiculous. I’m not saying every landlord is the same, but the ones I know and whom I work with are not interested in a quick buck, they know it’s a long game.
The whole situation with by to let and uncontrolled private letting does however transfer wealth from the poor to the rich.
I could use what I have to build a by to let empire. It would be quite easy with the capital I have in two properties to buy more
the whole situation stinks
rents should be controlled and tenants should have more rights.
OK, thanks for the info (and some lively comments). I met the estate agent yesterday that has the strongest presence for letting in the local area of the property and the charges seemed well laid out and fair. The NETT monthly income could be £850.00 ish (treating it like a job income and taking Tax and NI payments in to consideration).
This is a lot more than the interest I would get on the money invested in the bank, and I would no be able to get the cash for months anyway as probate needs to be completed before a sale can take place.
The local area is retired couples and young families, traditionally people who want to let for more than a year according to the agent, so I hope to avoid regular changeovers with the associated redecorating that seems to be a thing in the rental next door to us.
I have set aside £5K to get everything up together (a new lounge carpet was the only recommendation from the estate agent), but know that I may need more once the Electrical and Gas checks have been done (gas should be fine, I am not so confident about the electrics).
So I am going to bite the bullet. It's slightly too far away to manage everything myself if I am still working full time (that may be changing soon hence this 'need') so I will appoint an agent with a clause to reduce to self managed after a set period of time pending on how things go.
This is despite being unlikely to make money in the first year. However, it will be a comfort to have the security blanket of potential income from about month six and we should be keeping track of the property market if it goes up.... or down (noting the potential for capital gains tax.)
Based on your advise, I have already decided to pitch at the lower end of the suggested monthly rent, and build some form of low level rapport with the tenants if possible. There are some improvements that I would consider if they perceive a benefit in them (a brick garden room with light and power that could be converted to quite a nice office/studio if the old wooden doors were updated so I am hoping for a give and take relationship.
Thanks all.
Well Done and hope all goes well. I would join the local fb community group, I m on a few I am interested in buying and there s always someone asking for rental accom.
Keep an eye on what you are spending now v what is specifically required for letting as the latter can be claimed as tax deductible.
I manage mine from a different country, with WhatsApp it's easy getting jobs done and I reckon my tenants are happier that they rarely see me.
Good luck, be prepared for some surprises.
Thanks Poolman. I am in the process of opening a new bank account to deposit the £5K. This will then be used for all expenses associated with the property so I can keep a track of things.
I already do a self assessment/tax return so the figures should flow quite nicely in to there, but I know I can't upgrade the property to increase it's value and then claim that as an expense (although I am not sure where the UPVC doors on the garage room fall, the wooden ones are rotten and need replacing so I think I am ok)
As for surprises.... There has been a few over the last 12 months, so I guess I am kind of braced for that, but only time will tell.....
Plenty of good advice / warning already. I'm another accidental landlord that fell into it, but mostly a positive if not enriching experience.
Another thing worth noting and getting sorted is the EPC certificate. By law all rental properties have to be EPC E. Most properties will be a D, but if you're below an E you'll need to pay for improvements (grants are available though). There are murmurs of the minimum going up to C, which could turn out very expensive for a lot of landlords!
the EPC thing - while its a requirement as far as I can see here there is no penalty for not doing one ( Edinburgh) and no tenant has ever asked. It would be fun to get one tho because with the lath and plaster walls my flat has it looks really bad - but I have insulated it to a high standard
I think I'll get one next time it becomes vacant just for giggles
Well done and don't be afraid to change agent or argue with them if they piss you around.
@OP - if this is a probate property and you’re married and your husband/wife is in a lower income tax band than you, think about putting the house in her/his name. If you’re the sole beneficiary of the house in the will a simple deed of variation may suffice (IANAL). The rental income will then be lower tax..
The epc is a complete waste of time, no tenant has ever asked about it. In England if you don't have one any notices to tenant are not effective. Also, agents can not market a rental until it's done, mine won't anyway not sure if they all abide by the law.
In fact, for a legal notice to tenant to be effective all the legals have to be in place, epc, prescribed info at start of tenancy (a leaflet called how to let).
Just another newbie tip, any spending before letting can be ambiguous whether it was wholly and exclusively a letting cost (hmrc rule), however once the tenants are in, any spending needed is fairly robustly defined as a letting expense. There are of course some exceptions, the gov notes are v good.
The only thing I can add, is that if you are a worrier or stresshead, it will only add to your issues.
Some sound advice and some serious hand wringing hairshirt wearing sanctimonious preaching
Standard STW
the EPC thing – while its a requirement as far as I can see here there is no penalty for not doing one ( Edinburgh) and no tenant has ever asked.
In England and Wales no EPC = no rights to enforce any AST rules, so cannot issue any of sections 1-24 notices etc. You would be utterly screwed in the event of a dispute or requirement for an eviction.
Found out this weekend why the tenants left a shelf unit in the bedroom for us to take to the charity shop for them - it was covering up an iron-shaped burn mark in the carpet, so we've that to replace as well. What with all the other bits and pieces, we're probably looking at about 500 quid out of pocket, on the optimistic assumption that we get to keep the entire deposit.
I'm having a new consumer unit fit and a new bathroom fan done this week
Coupled with the new upvc door I had fitted 6mths ago. (Old timber door and was a touch draughty but still serviceable, but I noticed it was needing painting)
Has wiped out any profit for this year.
I'm not actually arsed about it. I'd rather have a happy Tennant and keep chipping away at the mortgage.
Fundamentally I've next to no pension as I'm ex motortrade and I've no inheritance so keeping this house on as I couldn't sell it years ago is my pension plan. It's not ideal and I'm sure I could invest my money somewhere but despite the anti landlord stance on here it's a cheap house for someone. I've had 2x tenants in 11yrs and basically I keep ontop of the property and I expect every time they move out I have to spend a few quid bringing it back up fresh.
