View Full Version : Renting out my house
I want to move house but cannot afford to buy in the area I want to.
I also don't really want to sell my house now as I won't get a very good price for it.
Another reason I don't want to buy another place is I may get the same problem of being fed up with the area after a while, similar to what has happened in my current location.
My plan is to rent this house out and rent another place somewhere else.
Has anyone done this before? Did they use an estate agent? What did they charge you? Did you get any hassle with the tenants?
Thanks lovely org :D
Yes .... let my flat out ....
Yes .... used an agent ...
No ..... no problems ...
Cost ..... numerous .... Agent charges, gas cert, deposit registration, insurance, inventory .... etc ....
Overall though ... go through an agent .... will cost more, but they will get you more ..... void periods reduced ... and good tenants use an agency (as a rule)
PM me if you have any more questions .... my Mrs is a runs a lettings office !!
Dave20046
19-03-10, 04:50 PM
Rent prices are due to go up even(!) higher soon, wondering if you could capitalize on this. Rent asap and rent yours out as soon as it's ready at the inflated price? You'll need to idiot proof your existing house and remove anything expensive/you like. People always seem to have problems with estate agents and I've been advised time and time again to rent privately/direct from the landlord (just check the contract thoroughly etc.)
timwilky
19-03-10, 04:53 PM
A mate across the road is renting his place out. Doing it himself. downloaded an off the shelf contract from the net and tweaked it to suit.
The difficult part is getting decent tenants. his first managed to scarper the day before he was coming round to forcibly evict. The one now are a delight, keep it clean, no pets apart from a Kwak Zed thou.
He put my name on the contract as his agent with a right of entry. Just to ensure after the first lot there would be no problems. I have actually been in twice, but as the guest of the tenants and even when nick (The owner) turns up at my house to scrounge a brew he has nothing but praise for them
wyrdness
19-03-10, 04:56 PM
I thought about doing this. Only problem is that the rent you receive is taxable and can't be offset against the rent that you're paying.
I know using an agent is probably the easiest way of doing it but for what they do they seem to charge an awful lot and it's nothing I couldn't do myself. The only thing I would use them for is to find a tenant, they said they can do this for %75 of the cost of the first months rent.
Does this sound reasonable?
I thought about doing this. Only problem is that the rent you receive is taxable and can't be offset against the rent that you're paying.
I see, do you know how much tax you have to pay?
dizzyblonde
19-03-10, 05:02 PM
I thought of this also, but then I suppose its seen as second income, and the taxman would get Capital gains on it(or something). Wouldn't be worth it for me.
Owenski
19-03-10, 05:03 PM
When my mother moved to Fueterventura she left her house here for me to rent from her, for 2.5years I had no problems sub-letting the rooms.
When I moved out my mum got an agency involved with letting out the whole house. Local Properties were the agency of choice and within a month they had 2 blokes living there.
3months later I get a phone call from a naighbour which went along the lines of
"POLICE ARE ****IN EVERYWHERE, ITS YOUR MUMS HOUSE ITS YOUR MUMS HOUSE QUICK DRUGGYS EVERYWHERE! QUICK"
BOLLOXS! me thinks, hops in the car (no bike then thank god!)
make it to the house and sure enough 2 blokes sat in the back of a pair of paddy waggons and coppers everywhere. They'd been growing the ganga in the attic! Back door totally feck#d needed the extension wall re-building.
Needless to say they were evicted, god knows how they werent banged up tbh but anyway they were out the next day.
They moved out, in moved a loverly family of polish people. Paid 2 months rent never paid again and refused to move out claiming squatters rights. Eventually we got them out by basically making life for them hell. (I might be all smiles but I can b a right ruthless **** if provoked, ask miss YC lol).
So in my experiance I'd never rent anything out to anyone ever again unless I personally knew them, agencies dont do enough because data protection actually stops them from finding out about prior convictions. An the liability of slander and people having human rights to accomodation stops them from knowing the real reason why they are changing lettings.
NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN!
I know using an agent is probably the easiest way of doing it but for what they do they seem to charge an awful lot and it's nothing I couldn't do myself. The only thing I would use them for is to find a tenant, they said they can do this for %75 of the cost of the first months rent.
Does this sound reasonable?
Cheap to be honest ...
You say its nothing you can't do .... but are you skilled enough to reference the tenants, know about checking them in and out, know the laws about fire regs, registering deposit, notice periods, how to get them out if they don't pay ....etc
Brain surgery ... easy - cut someones head open, remove what you want to remove, stick the head back together ....
Plastering .... mixed the plaster .... smooth it on the walls .....
Never under-estimate the work involved ..... if it was that simple, there wouldn't be agents around !!
IMO its worth the money to have the expert advice to hand ..
barwel1992
19-03-10, 05:16 PM
leedsmatt what is squatters rights ? because it seems like finder keepers to me lol
dizzyblonde
19-03-10, 05:21 PM
Must admit the scenario LeedsMatt describes would be my worse nightmare.
Theres a lovely house over the road thats rented, actually I'll rephrase that, it was a lovely house. We have a family on our street, who between them had four houses here. The youngest daughter got evicted from her council house as it was like a squat, lucky for her neighbours as they couldn't take much more.
She only moved in the private one over the road! How the hell she got it I don't know. The other daughter then also got evicted from her council house further down our street..she disappeared for a month, and shes no living over the road too.
The lovely house has now turned into something like a squat, there are six kids and 3 or four adults living in a three bed house. The front garden is full of old beds, some grace at least theres a big over grown bush to hide it.
POooor neighbours either side.
I wonder if the owner knows, I bet she doesn't as its through an agent, I suppose as long as they are getting their rent paid by the DSS they won't look too closely at them!
Cheap to be honest ...
You say its nothing you can't do .... but are you skilled enough to reference the tenants, know about checking them in and out, know the laws about fire regs, registering deposit, notice periods, how to get them out if they don't pay ....etc
Brain surgery ... easy - cut someones head open, remove what you want to remove, stick the head back together ....
Plastering .... mixed the plaster .... smooth it on the walls .....
Never under-estimate the work involved ..... if it was that simple, there wouldn't be agents around !!
IMO its worth the money to have the expert advice to hand ..
True, but I will still be living nearby so wont need them to sort out problems etc as I could do that.
I occasionally act for landlords who aren't using an agent. Do bear in mind that you are responsible for repairs - and if there is no hot water at a weekend, who is going to fix it? Agents usually have a retained list of qualified people on call 24/7.
If you do it yourself, then I would stongly advise you (a) to take as big a deposit as the tenant will pay - you MUST register it with the DPS - and (b) to serve a section 21 notice as soon as you complete the tenancy. It might sound a bit odd starting a tenancy and then a minute later giving the tenant a notice requiring possession. But it is perfectly lawful, and the time period under the s21 notice will run concurrently with the tenancy. So, if you have problems with the tenant, you won't have an awful 2 month period when you can't do anything. As someone has said on here, it is critical to get the date in the notice right, else the notice is void, and you'll have to start over. Embarrassing and awkward if the person who spots it is the District Judge in a possession hearing.
Ed
Done it without an agent, and with. I'd never do it without again.
My current agent does credit checks, sorts references, sorts deposit, sorts repairs (I pay), covers 1st month's rent if the tenant defaults.
Yes it costs a % each month but I know the piece of mind is better than having the Police at my door coz the last tenant was erm, naughty - some white powder, don't think it was icing sugar.
What % does your estate agent charge Bri? PM me if you'd rather not say on the forum.
Tim in Belgium
20-03-10, 07:08 PM
I believe my agent takes 8% on average, plus extra fees when new people move in, I can't remember what they are though.
timwilky
20-03-10, 08:44 PM
I forgot about my brother who rents out the flat above one of his shops.
He got the cops knocking on his door, threats to do him for immoral earnings etc. turned out the two girls who were renting it were also working from there as well.
He evicted them next day.
Ed, I no the law is there to protect tenant from bad landlords. but it seems there is little to protect landlords from bad tenants. Or is there?
What % does your estate agent charge Bri? PM me if you'd rather not say on the forum.
Costing me 15%. But one dodgy tenant has cost me a lot more than 15% of the year's rent.
Your choice but.......
Cheers, arranged to meet with an agent on Monday so will probably go with them.
Ed, I no the law is there to protect tenant from bad landlords. but it seems there is little to protect landlords from bad tenants. Or is there?
No, not really. It's all weighted in the tenant's favour. I have a current case where the tenant has not paid any rent since 17 September. The client didn't act that fast but I had to serve a section 8 notice (ie notice of intention to issue proceedings, serve not less than 2 weeks before you can even start proceedings) and then in January I issued a possession claim - the court listed it for Monday week, 29 March. Tenant still hasn't paid a bean. So 6 months loss of rent - the landlord felt sorry for this individual, she knew her well, and didn't take any deposit. Landlord can do nothing - can't forcibly evict, that's a serious offence. I have had to give the client's son in law a serious talking to, he was all set to go round with a van.
Always insist on at least 2 months depo, serve your section 21 notice upfront, and never get friendly with the tenant - it's a business relationship and if it goes sour then there are no fractured friendships.
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