So I find myself in the unexpected situation of have a ‘spare’ property and urgently needing an alternative income to tide me over the next 6-12 months (or longer). Having not planned to become a landlord I now need to move fast.

Can anyone give me some pointers/advise? I really don’t want to be a bad landlord, but I do need to sort an income ASAP.

Is there a helpful forum? A quick search has only found a forum with a couple of posts in the last two weeks 🙁

Any other links before I supine myself in front of the local Estate Agents?

Easiest and fastest way will be to find a letting agents. They will charge you but against that they will have all the contracts and know all the legal stuff you don’t. They can also fill the property quite quickly.  Check out a few and the good ones should have a clear set of charges up front e.g. what they charge for electrical testing, what they charge for advertising etc.  It is also quite possible to do yourself but if you need it up and running now an agency might be faster

I am a sort of accidental landlord

Depending where yo are there are rules and regs about the standard the house must be and how many unrelated people can be in it before its an HMO needing higher standards

Anywhere you are you need gas and electric safety certs Usually and possibly interlinked fire alarms, energy certs and so on

Remember you are providing a home for someone. do not do it if you are going to kick them out in 6 months to a year. treat people as you would like to be treated

Let slightly below market rent. that way you get a queue of people wanting it and can pick and choose. Have a couple of thousand pounds on hand for repairs

You can get the standard tenancy documents off the net. If you live nearby you don’t need an agent as you can be on hand for everything. Agents are almost universally useless

thought of a cannabis farm? Much easier 🙂

Letting agents do the minimum possible to keep their costs and your costs down – my daughters have experience of that – i.e. repairs and maintenance not carried out. If you’re a caring human being, then do your best to manage it yourself or if you can, sell and save stress!

thought of a cannabis farm? Much easier 🙂

my FiL has just retaken possession of a rental property of his that had been used as a cannabis farm. Bit of a mess…

I self manage, but have an arrangement with a local estate agent to advertise properties and do credit checks. Get’s me onto Rightmove etc and fulfils my insurance requirements for having done full referencing. Much cheaper than having agents find tenants. Don’t have to use it often, I plan around my tenants staying for years, and have two that are into their second decade.

I use a letting agent.

A good one will advise you and have better tenants.

Be aware there’s not much cash in it short term due to gas and electric safety etc

Manage it yourself and use Openrent to advertise and draft contracts etc.

Don’t forget that you will be taxed on the income. When you add up this lot it’s not really a short term money spinner. These are some of my numbers

Gas safety / boiler insurance £230
Building insurance £140
Agent fee, 10% + vat on any rent collected
Tenant finding and initial agreement, £300 I think, might be less

One off electrical cert, £150+vat

Inevitable breakdown / leaky roof / whatever – if I get away with £50 per month averaged over the year I don’t moan. Tenants don’t tend to notice stuff going wrong and then small problems become big and your agent will have a contractor on hand who they’ll be getting a cut from. Better if you can do your own repairs but you need to be competent.

It can be good if everything’s working and you have decent tenants but even decent tenants can go bad quickly. I had a great one who developed very unfortunate health issues after 3 years and stopped paying rent.

Everything tjagain said. Apart from the weed farm thing.

I’m an ‘accidental’ landlord too. Have been for 7 years now. I use an agent mate of mine to find, vet and install my tenants, then I take over running the property.

Get a gas safety cert every year, and an electricity safety cert every 5 years (came into law this year for all landlords, not just HMOs). Get yourself landlord insurance, provide fire extinguishing equipment, and install smoke and CO alarms.

Keep the house in good order, and establish a good – but distant – relationship with your tenants. Get yourself good ones, and it’s a relatively stress-free form of income.

Only issues I’ve had: My second lot are OK but more often than not they used to be late with the rent (with multiple excuses) and wouldn’t set up a standing order. Bit annoying, but not the end of the world – they always paid in the end.

When Lockdown 1.0 arrived last year, and they were both furloughed couldn’t pay the rent for two months so I gave them a rent holiday. Since then they’ve been paying me back a bit extra every month and they’ve nearly paid it off.

Forum-wise, I’ve used landlordzone.co.uk a few times. You could join the BLA or NRLA for online assistance and support. I (briefly) joined the local landlord’s association and went along to a fair-few meetings and talks, but it wasn’t very helpful. I was never quite sure why they existed and they didn’t achieve much. But maybe see if there’s one in your town/city and tag along.

Agents are almost universally useless

This. Had three over the last 12 years, useful in that they do all the referenced keep on top of mandatory tests and are first port of call for emergencies, but have been ****-all use in keeping an eye on the place and their contractors are both rubbish and eyewateringly expensive. But the market seems lively now – ours went on back on the market yesterday and we’ve four viewings lined up. The shame of it is they’re taking them to view it while it’s still the shit tip the last mob left it in. 🙁

Top tip – when the agent says he s found the perfect tenant and wants to sign a 3 year agreement, it may or may not be true. However, the agent may not tell you till the bill arrives that he will bill you 36 months x rent x agreed commission.

They all try it, agents are like any other high st business, high costs and loads of online competition.

Just agree beforehand any fee and billing period, also, don’t agree to any fee beyond year 1 if you are self managing.

Good luck btw, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is.

In my experience I hated it, gave up after 3 years and sold the place. This was in 1997 and money was tight. The main issues I had was a couple of months empty eroded any annual profit, I found the self assessment difficult, but also each tenants whinged about every tiny thing – for example at home you might let a slowly dripping tap go for a while – and demand it was fixed immediately costing me money.

It’s mostly not the kind of thing you can just leave alone to pay your mortgage that some people think it is in my experience.

For balance I have had 3 sets of letting agents over the years. 2 have been good,one has been poor.  The ones I have at the moment are excellent, don’t mess around and seem to respond well to tenant requests.  I used to do it myself but on top of full time work and looking after the place I live in it just wasn’t something I wanted to do any more.  The charges are worth it imo but it’s also a fair amount of cash so opinions may differ

If in england or wales don’t use an agent thats crazy talk!!!
(If scotland, I have no idea of the laws there, but they are different)

Join the NRLA its about 100 quid a year:
a) Free contracts – the best ones, plus all the other docs you need.
b) Cheap referencing, insurance, mortgages, inventory management etc etc
c) Free legal advice for any problems you may encounter.
d) landlord school everything you need to learn about your legal requirements and duties

Advertise local papers, facebook pages, hospital notice boards, uni noticeboards.

Also harden up, do what an agent would do, eg I have a mobile for tenants only, iyts not my personal. It goes in a drawer at 5pm every night.

I use an emergency number which is an 0870 number for evenings and weekends, if its not their fault then I refund them the call. Otherwise they will call you on saturday night at 8pm about Krytons dripping tap.

This might not apply to you as you may have only one property, but when I get the plumber out, I call all the others and ask if they have any issues. Otherwise they will tell me about Krytons dripping tap the day after the plumber has done his round and will have to wait a week until I can get him back. You can make odds on bets on this happening and win every single time.

Because of my experience over the years ( only ever letting one dwelling out) I would never use an agent if I could avoid it for all the reasons outlined above. Excessive fees, poor service, legal mistakes leading to tenants getting security etc etc

Tenancy contracts are available free off the net here in Scotland with all the guidance that you need. Also the council scottish government has guidence on what a landlord needs to dothere is nothing an agent can do that I cannot do better myself assuming I am nearby. Of course if you are not nearby then its different. In particular choosing tenants. I want the final say

Best place I have found to get tenants is gumtree.

https://www.openrent.co.uk/ for letting and credit checks.

Make the house desirable then you can be fussy on the tenant.
Don’t go with trying to get the highest rent possible. Much better to have good tenant on a slightly lower rent and good tenant. A difficult tenant costs much more than £50, 60 70 a month.
Credit checks are important but at the same time you need to take a human approach and take a overall view.
Keep in contact with you tenant.

I am a bit soft but I like a low effort tennant so rely on a good relationship.

I have let properties,commercial and residential,for about 35 years.
Letting through an agent is easier but they will do as little as possible for their commission.They will also lodge the deposit with the Govts scheme,which is required by law.
I sort out gas/ electrical certificates and any work that needs doing myself. It’s better to build up a relationship with a local trusted tradesman than rely on the ones sent round by the agent.Also for speed of sorting out problems I deal with the tenant directly even though that is really the job of the agent.Its better to speak to the tradesman than through the agent .
For the gas boiler services I use the boiler manufacturers as they are cheaper and have all the spares in the ‘van.
Continuity of letting is imperative. Someone moving out every 6 months,redecorating,then a delay in reletting eats into your income.I’ve found it’s younger people who move on quickly.If the property is close to you ,and you have the time, do as much maintenance work yourself as possible.

Self managed and we use Open Rent here for letting, referencing and contracts on a one bedroom house about half a mile from our place. Had the place about seven years. I provide it basically unfurnished, there’s a decent bed base but no mattress, a wardrobe and last time we let it an IKEA sofa but no more than that. Every time I’ve had to let it it’s been in pristine condition (probably better than my home!) and I’ve been fairly scrupulous on who has rented it. Of the three couples two have had to provide guarantors for the rent, mainly because they were quite young and didn’t have substantial credit histories. The property was in very good overall condition when we bought it and that had made maintenance a bit easier, as a contrast our home if full of crappy bits no tenant would accept. So for an easy life keep it simple, get everything snagged whilst it is empty and keep on top of it. Being close is pretty handy if you aren’t going to use an agent. Also allowing dogs can make your place more desirable to tenants but remember to research end of tenancy cleaning provisions

On the flipside of the above…

I used to be all hands on nice guys/landlord, run round there when there was a problem etc.

No longer, I found in the end it meant sweat nothing

Don’t be under any illusion that you being a truly exemplary landlord will effect any tenant… they will still be out for THEMselves no matter how brilliant you are.

Agency now does it all and they do a decent job at a fair rate.

If I were you, I’d be putting my efforts into finding a good agency

Good luck

I suggest you get electrical and gas safety checks done first along with quotes for any work that needs doing. If your property needs a couple of thousand spent on it before you can even start, you might want to think twice about the whole idea………….

My business is based around renovating and letting properties, if you need to do any work, don’t skimp, do it properly & spend the money if you need to – it will save you in the long term. In my experience this is not a ‘get rich quick’ thing, if you are practical you can do a lot yourself which will save you money but you need to be prepared for stuff failing/needing to be repaired.

I have a bunch of guys, agent/electrician/plumber/roofer etc that I have worked with for the past 5 years, they are reliable, helpful & straightforward – some of them are now riding buddies. This makes life a lot easier, I always pay them promptly and try to fit in with them, but most of the time they will jump on stuff when it goes tits up which is invaluable.

Its a tough call sizing up tenants in the first instance, it’s really important to spend the time to get this right. I use a local agent to check them for me, it costs money but he’s a pretty good gauge of people, i’ve only had 1 issue in the past 5 years (in a 5 bed HMO). Treat your tenants with respect and be responsive, its all about the relationship, if they feel valued & looked after they are more likely to look after your property.

its all about the relationship, if they feel valued & looked after they are more likely to look after your property.

this is my experience

Don’t be under any illusion that you being a truly exemplary landlord will effect any tenant… they will still be out for THEMselves no matter how brilliant you are.

this is not my experience

In the time we’ve let my old flat, tenants have;

– Filled in the fish pond (heaven knows what happened to Fish)
– Built an enormous wooden porch outside the French windows
– Wallpapered in hideous patterns
– Repainted in hideous colours
– Took a kitchen cupboard off one wall and remounted it on another
– Built a substantial workbench in the garage
– Drilled whacking great holes to mount a 60″ TV on one wall
– Cut one of the bushes down and made some kind of half-arsed wood store out of pallets
– Changed the locks (for horrible tinpot lego ones)
– Mounted an electrical heater on the bathroom wall that was stolen by the subsequent tenants
– Stole the lampshades and low energy lightbulbs
– Had their kids (I presume) scribble on the walls and doors
– Smoked in their stupid wooden porch outside the French windows so the house now smells like a smoking station
– Got themselves a cable TV box mounted on the brand new fascia out the front

Letting is not a profit-winner for me, my eye’s on the long game – one day the mortgage will be paid and THEN it will turn a profit, and be potential capital if we decide to **** off round the world in retirement.

I have to commend my letting agent, he always sorts stuff out quickly with the minimum of stress. He looked into and organised installation of a brand new central heating system through a government scheme for no extra cost. A thoroughly decent fella.

tjagain
Full Member

its all about the relationship, if they feel valued & looked after they are more likely to look after your property.

this is my experience

Don’t be under any illusion that you being a truly exemplary landlord will effect any tenant… they will still be out for THEMselves no matter how brilliant you are.

this is not my experience

Fully agree with TJAGAIN here.

My agents fair his contractors are cheaper than my individual quotes.

They diary all checks and cover 24 7 emergencies

Plus all the checks ect.

Used them for 10yrs. The 40pcm they charge is more than fair.

Shit estate agents mind but fantastic rental agency

its all about the relationship, if they feel valued & looked after they are more likely to look after your property.

I believe the above to be true but the important word in that sentence is “likely”.

Maybe a better way of getting my point across is that it doesn’t matter how good the relationship is on a personal level just remember at the end of the day it’s a business transaction.

The tenant is paying for a service and “may” try (like all of us do) to get more for less from the business they are paying … that business is YOU.

We have a few flats. Our general policy is that decent tenants deserve decent landlords. Once they start renting we don’t put the rent up, or at least only put it up slightly and only every few years.

In loads of years of renting we’ve only every had one set of bad tenants, the vast bulk have been really good. We’re in it to pay the mortgages off, not to earn money through rental income.

We’ve found that if you treat the people well they’ll treat the flats well. And vice versa. As someone said above, yes at the end of the day it’s a business transaction, but there are good ways of doing business and bad ways.

Some good points, in defence of agents some are good. I Just use them to tenant find but you must tell them your criteria or they will just put anyone in, as they earn on renewals agents don’t actually like tenants who stay years.

I have good trades people who are look after loads of rental flats so they only have to go once.

For new tenants I go for professional people over 30. No sharers, no students, No pets.

It’s deffo a long term business, my agent says the only empty rentals are from greedy landlords. A void is your biggest cost.

In the time we’ve let my old flat, tenants have;

– Filled in the fish pond (heaven knows what happened to Fish)
– Built an enormous wooden porch outside the French windows
– Wallpapered in hideous patterns
– Repainted in hideous colours
– Took a kitchen cupboard off one wall and remounted it on another
– Built a substantial workbench in the garage
– Drilled whacking great holes to mount a 60″ TV on one wall
– Cut one of the bushes down and made some kind of half-arsed wood store out of pallets
– Changed the locks (for horrible tinpot lego ones)
– Mounted an electrical heater on the bathroom wall that was stolen by the subsequent tenants
– Stole the lampshades and low energy lightbulbs
– Had their kids (I presume) scribble on the walls and doors
– Smoked in their stupid wooden porch outside the French windows so the house now smells like a smoking station
– Got themselves a cable TV box mounted on the brand new fascia out the front

Letting is not a profit-winner for me, my eye’s on the long game – one day the mortgage will be paid and THEN it will turn a profit, and be potential capital if we decide to **** off round the world in retirement.

Yeah, god forbid they should actually make it their home. Should’ve put a clause in the contract stipulating that tenants are not to occupy the property at all. Except to turn the heating on to prevent damp.

Some proper scumbags on this thread. And proud of it too… You can also be the ‘nicest’ landlord in the world but funnily enough, people generally resent paying most of their income to what is essentially a human leech. Kennyp, you sound like a good-un and shows that it can be done right.

It’s a real shame that having a basic place to live has become a luxury to be profited from. There needs to be a ton of social/affordable housing built that people can rent for life and make a home of., instead of never settling in case the landlord kicks them out on a whim because they don’t approve of their decorating colours or have found someone else who’ll pay MORE. Maybe even, just thinking crazy thoughts here, affordable on one wage so one’s partner could bring up children etc… but I’m just idealistically dreaming now 🙂

Not knocking all landlords, don’t hate the player, hate the game etc… it’s a bad situation and private letters have rushed in to fill the gap. Some do an admirable job. Others are just just exploiting their fellow man. Let’s call it what it is.

Letting agent????
As with all companies, there are good ones and bad ones.

We became accidental landlords (both owned houses when we met)
We’re on our second agent now. First was ok but to far away. Second is actually great, checks done, paperwork bang on, the certs all taken care of and at a normal price.

Echo what was said above, we don’t hammer the price we charge and therefore get a pick of good tenants. We do repairs quickly and chat to them before hand. Some I do, some the agent organises, but in either situation do them quickly and work with the tenant.
It is someone’s home, and get the right people at a few quid less in rent will pay itself back ten fold when the look after the place.

We’re about 8 years in now and no horror stories, kept a few quid from one tenant for carpet cleaning, but nothing else.

jambourgie

the law in Scotland has changed to tip the balance back in favour of the tenant slightly. Still hugely one sided in favour of the landlord – I would like proper secure tenancies back and higher standards more easily enforced

That’s good to hear TJ. Sorry, wasn’t knocking you btw.

If you do the bare minimum for your tenants they are likely to just treat the place as disposable shelter not a home. Treat them right and maintain the place to a better than the agent recommended. Agents will not give a toss about your property just that they don’t brake the law and you can’t sue them.
You’ll have a lot less stress and repairs will be cheaper in the long run as repairs won’t be so deep if you keep on top of maintenance.

If you need money from it then sell the place.

Didn’t think you were dude. I am content with what I do – provide a good home for someone at a reasonable price ( for the area – its still absurd)

Its a key thing to remember – its my flat but its their home

Its a key thing to remember – its my flat but its their home

This is a good point, I remind our tenants all the time that it is their home and there is lots of stuff they don’t have to ask permission.
Like Mum coming to stay for the weekend! I mean WTF, of course you can have visitors.

Private landlords should be banned,all long term lets should be in Council housing.Really tj and his gang of mealy mouthed liberals are just exploitative Thatcherites…..come the glorious day.

I’ve been very happy with the service from the agent we use.

Except for one incident. Our children rent, so we asked them what made a good landlord (our son has lived in some dubious places). The main thing was ‘just make sure everything works’. So we asked the agent to check with the tenants that everything was OK. The agents took this to mean that we were worried that the tenants might lose their jobs due to the pandemic – this despite the fact that as soon as lockdown 1 started we contacted the agents and said that if the tenants had any trouble paying we were fine with that. So when they came back and said that the tenants jobs were secure we felt terrible. So we were clearer about the question, and found that everything was fine except a curtain rail needed re-attaching, which we had done (would have done it myself but we are 80 miles away and locked down) at a reasonable price.

“Their home” …. absolutely

Which is why I agreed to allow a family dog last year.

The fact that the month before the tenant told me they couldn’t afford more rent didn’t even cross my mind !!??!!

(I hadn’t asked for more rent it was just the year contact had run its course and she wanted to lock another year in)