Being a landlord can be challenging, especially when you’re starting out. Get started with our top 5 tips for new landlords.
1. Treat your rental property like a business
Managing your rental property may not be your primary job, but it is still a business and a source of extra income. It’s important to remain professional with your tenants, keep your finances intact, and perform thorough tenant screening prior to renter move in.
2. Find a good rental agent
Not all landlords need to use a letting agent, but unless you have the time and experience to manage your own portfolio, a letting agent is often useful. Letting agents can manage viewings, inventories, tenancy checks, lease setup and tenancy checkout, manage existing tenants and properties, collect rent on your behalf, and do pretty much everything that needs to be done so you can sit back and forget about your investment.
3. Set the right rent price
Research your market to learn what the fair market rent price is in your area. Pricing your rental at a price that is fair to your location helps find tenants quickly. Of course a good letting agent will also help in suggesting an appropriate monthly rent.
4. Health and safety requirements
The specific duties of a landlord vary depending on the tenancy type and agreement, but all landlords must follow certain basic duties to accommodate their tenants. This includes providing certificates and documentation, carrying out checks, adhering to access rights, and following deposit protection, rent increase, and eviction requirements. We’d be happy to talk you through all aspects of H&S for landlords.
5. Maintenance responsibilities
Besides sticking to the rules on keeping your property on the right side of the health and safety regulations mentioned above, you also need to keep your property in good condition. If you want even less hassle, many letting agents will also fully manage your rental property for you.
Landlords that opt for a buy-to-let fully managed service can expect all of the same levels of service as a let only service but will not have the hassle of day-to-day contact with tenants or all of the other regular activities associated with managing a tenancy. For example, if anything goes wrong with the property or if there any issues with the tenants, then the letting agent will deal with the problems and instruct one of their approved contractors to carry out any repairs.
Articles and materials from the Petty Real website and newsletter are provided for informational purposes. Petty Real are not responsible for the accuracy, legality or content of any external sources referenced on this website. The information provided is for general information purposes only and you should not reply upon the material or information as a basis for making any business, financial or legal decisions.
