Anyone rent out property?

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by L3nny

if someone has one cat or a small dog it's unlikley to cause too much mess

What about when the one small cats p*ss has soaked through the gaps in the kitchen laminate and destroyed the floorboards?

1. Visit the prospective tenant in their existing place to get an idea how they will look after your place.
2. Keep on top of them with regular visits
3. If they default on one payment give them notice to quit pending them getting back on track

Agents are fine but they do very little for their cut.

[L3nny]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

What about when the one small cats p*ss has soaked through the gaps in the kitchen laminate and destroyed the floorboards?

What happens if they enjoy letting off fireworks indoors and practicing bomb making?

99% of pet owners are responsible and would clean up after them.

You are however letting a stranger in your house un monitored and they can do whatever they want. Hence why I decided to sell my place rather than rent as I couldn't be bothered with the hassle.

Bought a nice bike with the sale proceeds too

[yorkie_chris]

In retrospect I would have rather blown the place up than clean it up, would have been easier.

I'd personally skip an agent if you can.
Yes, it is a bit more work on your part, but all they do is charge you money for not a lot!

If you're looking at a agent managing the property, then again, it's a bit of a waste of money as they quite often are useless and you are still responsible as the landlord.

You pretty much want to vet any prospective tenants and make sure you're happy with them. Don't feel like you have to accept the first one that applies!

I'd be looking to advertise in my local paper/ad listings and word of mouth and see what you can get. Will save you a lot of money in the long wrong for the same (possibly even less) hassle.

I rent my properties without any estate agent crap etc.

Go to www.rentfromtheowner.co.uk and register. Pay the fee and advertise through there to all the major sites. You will then have access to contract docs, FAQ's with good info and also be able to perform credit checks etc.

Finally take a deposit and just put it through a Safe Deposit Scheme.

When the tenant moves in go through an inventory, make sure you have a Gas Safety Cert and landlords insurance. Pay them a visit every quarter and that's it.

I do this from my property in Manchester and for another 5 properties here in London.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by 600+

I rent my properties without any estate agent crap etc.

Go to www.rentfromtheowner.co.uk and register. Pay the fee and advertise through there to all the major sites. You will then have access to contract docs, FAQ's with good info and also be able to perform credit checks etc.

Finally take a deposit and just put it through a Safe Deposit Scheme.

When the tenant moves in go through an inventory, make sure you have a Gas Safety Cert and landlords insurance. Pay them a visit every quarter and that's it.

I do this from my property in Manchester and for another 5 properties here in London.

That's interesting, I've been toying with the idea of doing the same as tommy (probably in a year or so) and was thinking of going with an agent purely for the meticulous auditing and ruthless enforcement they have a reputation for and also for them to have some liability. Do they have no liability if they **** up?

I work stupid hours and most weekends, absolutely no chance of escaping for an appointment between 8am and 6pm mon-fri , so another reason I perceived an agent as my only option and of course stress .


An eviction/squatting scenario would be something I'd dread, I'm not sure if have the patience to deal with in the way you perhaps should

I make quite a good living out of putting right trashed rented property.

You need to put things into perspective a bit before you start considering all the disasters that could occur.

Firstly I work as well and do viewings after work and over weekends. Maybe your gf could help you out as well.

Secondly, you will be taking all possible actions to ensure that your tenants can afford the rent. If you are soooo unlucky that they become squaters that is why you take out landlords insurance so they can support with the legal aspect. I have to admit though that such cases are rare. Then again only you know the area and the quality of people that would be your tenants.

Estate agents are just thieves and offer sweet FA when the brown stuff hits the fun!!

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[MisterTommyH]

Well my local EA (the ones I rented off when I was in that position) offers three services:

- find tenant and contract only £295
- find tenant, manage payment etc. £225, then 5%
- find tenant, manage payment, manage property etc £225, then 10%

They also charge £35 for inventory if I want them to do it.

So option 3 is definitely out. I like the idea of having the first years payments covered by them though.....(I.e. all costs covered except the first missed one until they manage to get them out).

Place is only 3 years so I already have an EPC. Need electronic and gas safety certs (any idea on costs?..... EA reckoned £130)

So then only the cost of getting mortgages companies permission to rent..... So that's another charge....

I'm beginning to think it might be just as easy to swap to an interest only for 6 months and leave it empty until I know how things are going......