Any landlords on here?
- Thread starter Phil-E30
- Start date
Got all my eggs in the property basket & no regrets but before you get to the insurance part study the market in your chosen area & more importantly the yield , if buying with cash then not as relevant but if borrowing then you may find you won't need the insurance as risk + costs will outweigh potential income & growth :wink:
May be stating the obvious but give yourself a good allowance for empty periods /non payment /damage etc
May be stating the obvious but give yourself a good allowance for empty periods /non payment /damage etc
Sorry i can't help with any specifics RE companies to use in relation to buy to let in UK
Mine are in France so things a little different .
iI you are planning holiday let dr john then from past experience do not waste time + money using any other companies other than http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/ not the cheapest at around £275/yr but the results speak for themselves :wink:
Mine are in France so things a little different .
iI you are planning holiday let dr john then from past experience do not waste time + money using any other companies other than http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/ not the cheapest at around £275/yr but the results speak for themselves :wink:
pvr said:
Property has always been a game of snakes & ladders no matter the country or the location , what works for some won't for others & it can be a quick way to lose your shirt :?
Ground zero here i know but came across this earlier in the week after doing a job on the same street on Wednesday , its about 5 miles from me , i know the area & its by no mean's rundown , dodgy or a no go zone . http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49546712.html
Rent on that would be £325 -£350 month so a yield of around 9% net of expenses , not bad , , but the property itself would be unlikely to increase with any significance .
So the question is , good investment as buy to let or can a better yield be got elsewhere ?
Phil-E30 said:
I like to look the folks in the eye , i can usually sift out the bad ones purely from email contact , then phone , then meet ,
I encourage them to think of the property as their own home as opposed to a borrowed house , for that reason i would never advise furnishings of any kind .
Initially i would ask for 2 months bond with 1 month returned after 6 or 12 months (on inspection ) also encourage them to let you know of any problem's no matter how small as you then have the opportunity to be in the property which would usually reveal whether the tenant is the "one" you want .
Initially trust none of them , folks lie & tell you any old stories which is why i would advise the patience in selecting the right ones as opposed to the first ones
We've got another place that we rent out through a letting agent, it's about 6yrs old now as I didn't want a property that would need work doing on it as I'm not handy at all, we're now on our 2nd tennants and all's run smoothly, I forget we have it tbh
I take OP means residential rather than commercial? Probably safer for the uninitiated but lower returns.
i used reeds rains for a year @12% of the rental fee.... biggest waste of cash IMHO. this time round i just got them to find me a tenant and do all the checks etc. as for insurance the other half deals with it so its a bit sketchy but i think she just looks about and makes sure we have the relevant cover for fire/public liability/buildings. we pay about £150 PA i think.
as for contents. as Mr wilks said rent it out completely unfurnished. that way you don't have to worry about being liable for anything.
. remember now your supposed to get all electricals PAT tested. you will also need to get a bunch of certificates done. these are some sort of energy thingy, an electrical safety inspection which is valid for 10 or 5 yrs (i cant remember), and a gas safety inspection each year of any gas appliance. for peace of mine (and my lazynes) i just have a British gas cover thing which does all the service/maintenance/cert for ~£15pm
i was forced into being a landlord due to separation, -ve equity, and taking a 120% mortgage during the bubble. the tenants i have had have been generally good. i painted the house white inside and i let them do what they like regarding decorating so long as they put it back white (one set tried to paint over a grey colour with cheap white.... didnt work
). the latest set have re carpeted the whole place, replaced the wooden drive way gate, fixed the outside light when it broke and kept the gardens nice. When they were looking they asked about decorating and stuff like that and i told them i wanted them consider it their home and thats what they have done. so you do get good tenants. i think they may have even re instated the pond which i was made to fill in.
as for contents. as Mr wilks said rent it out completely unfurnished. that way you don't have to worry about being liable for anything.
. remember now your supposed to get all electricals PAT tested. you will also need to get a bunch of certificates done. these are some sort of energy thingy, an electrical safety inspection which is valid for 10 or 5 yrs (i cant remember), and a gas safety inspection each year of any gas appliance. for peace of mine (and my lazynes) i just have a British gas cover thing which does all the service/maintenance/cert for ~£15pm
i was forced into being a landlord due to separation, -ve equity, and taking a 120% mortgage during the bubble. the tenants i have had have been generally good. i painted the house white inside and i let them do what they like regarding decorating so long as they put it back white (one set tried to paint over a grey colour with cheap white.... didnt work
). the latest set have re carpeted the whole place, replaced the wooden drive way gate, fixed the outside light when it broke and kept the gardens nice. When they were looking they asked about decorating and stuff like that and i told them i wanted them consider it their home and thats what they have done. so you do get good tenants. i think they may have even re instated the pond which i was made to fill in.original guvnor said:
Interesting thoughts OG , i know you deal day to day with commercial property but would you say it was a much better return than residential especially given the higher overheads on legals & insurance ? Not to mention the higher taxes incurred on profit if selling whole ?
My father has a decent sized high street commercial property bought 35 years ago , he's 70 now & wants out .Its fully occupied longterm to 5 separate tenants on longterm leases with gross income of £47k . Three different valuations he received to sell as a rolling business including the property ranged between 9% & 12% of the yield .
He started 18months ago at £495k / its now at £425K & still no interest :|
Would you say its overpriced in that commercial yields should be much higher meaning he needs to drop significantly ?
Sounds like you are close to the area you intend to buy. In which case you probably don't need an agent taking 15%. When we first became Landlord it was due to a work move away. So the property was 300 miles away. We took out a cast iron insurance policy and full agent involvement, to cover all eventualities. It came in handy at times over many years and a couple of evictions. Now we live a couple of miles away and do every thing ourselves, also
To Mr Wilks advice. +99. Interview prospective tenants yourself and politely watch them like a Hawk for the first 6 months of any Tenancy.
We sold our old home about five years ago and bough properties locally. We were very patient told a number no and fingers crossed, now have reliable tenants who will be long term.
When considering properties you should have the tenants you want in mind, as well as the yield. We have settled for a lower yield, buying in popular residential areas. The upside being, good tenants should stay longer and thus far we still have the tenants we started with, in our current properties. Also consider the number of bedrooms. You might make more from the property by investing in a cheap 3 bed. But if it means young, low wage families with kids, then personally, from experience I would run a mile and pay the same for a two or one bed., in a better area. Remember every tenant is different, some will look after your property treat it like there own and stay for several years and some do indeed lie through there hind teeth and can wreck a place in 6 months.
Hope you find something useful in those ramblings.
Now we live a couple of miles away and do every thing ourselves, also To Mr Wilks advice. +99. Interview prospective tenants yourself and politely watch them like a Hawk for the first 6 months of any Tenancy.
We sold our old home about five years ago and bough properties locally. We were very patient told a number no and fingers crossed, now have reliable tenants who will be long term.
When considering properties you should have the tenants you want in mind, as well as the yield. We have settled for a lower yield, buying in popular residential areas. The upside being, good tenants should stay longer and thus far we still have the tenants we started with, in our current properties. Also consider the number of bedrooms. You might make more from the property by investing in a cheap 3 bed. But if it means young, low wage families with kids, then personally, from experience I would run a mile and pay the same for a two or one bed., in a better area. Remember every tenant is different, some will look after your property treat it like there own and stay for several years and some do indeed lie through there hind teeth and can wreck a place in 6 months.
Hope you find something useful in those ramblings.