So, you are considering renting out a property for the first time. The reasons might be various – moving to a new location, struggling to sell the property or holding on to it as an investment. Whether you ended up in this situation through choice or through necessity, you need to take account of a number of factors.
In this post, we’ve gathered the essential steps that you need to undertake before letting out your house and feel more or less confident at the beginning of your landlord journey.
If you:
Then read on. This guide with tips for renting out a house won’t disappoint you!
If you are looking to become an HMO landlord, you should know that they come with more requirements than a standard single let. For more information, check our article on what is HMO.
Before you even place your house on the market, ask yourself, “Do I have legal rights to rent my home?”.
There are two conditions that you should pay attention to:
Looking for more advice for first-time landlords? Our dedicated collection of helpful articles has everything you need to know!
As a first-time landlord, there are a lot of costs that you never really know about before doing the research. While the cost of running a property business varies depending on location, there are a number of items you’ll need to consider when calculating how much it will cost to be a landlord.
Depending on the circumstances, the list of expenses might not end here. We know that it might seem overwhelming, however, once you get a grip of the expenses, the managing gets easier.
As you’re renting out a property for the first time, you will have to prepare to spend more money on preparing for letting out, however, this is mostly related to you just starting out.
Do keep in mind, you’ll more than likely have to put up some money in order to deal with repairs. This also includes cases of fair wear and tear where it would be unreasonable to expect your tenant to pay for them.
Let’s be honest – everything else takes a back seat when we think of how much money our properties can generate. And it’s perfectly understandable – the more you earn, the faster you will be able to cover the expenses associated with the property, and eventually get paid for the time and effort put into renting. However, there is one important thing to remember – don’t get emotional.
It’s quite common among landlords to overprice their properties. They simply put a price on the time and effort that it took them to bring the property into rentable conditions.
However, that way you risk missing on tenants. So, set the sentimental value aside and adapt to the current rates on the market.
Check what prices other landlords demand for properties similar to yours. The information is readily available online on websites like Rightmove, Zoopla or even Facebook Marketplace. Compare the properties by size, location, furnishing and decoration conditions. As an alternative, you can request a professional estimate from a letting agency – some of them provide the assessment without additional fees.
Once you’ve researched the market, you probably have an idea of how you should improve your property before letting it. If you haven’t thought about it yet, here’s a hint:
Tenants don’t like extravagant or old “fit-for-the-purpose” decorations. Keep it simple and clean.
The furnishing will depend on the type of tenants you wish to attract. For example, students will most likely search for a fully furnished apartment. Whereas families will probably give their preferences to a property with a minimum furnishing. You might want to include white goods in your rental property. Also, remove your personal belongings or any items of sentimental value, otherwise, you risk having them damaged.
It’s also important to make sure that the property looks immaculate. It’s essential to deep clean the property before you put it on the market. The same applies to structural repairs – that way you will not only speed up the tenants’ search but show that you are a responsible landlord. Once you are done, don’t forget to snap detailed and good-quality pictures (alternatively, you can arrange a professional property photography session).
In a podcast session, we recently had with Tonya and Rea from The Property Twins we delved into the topic of ensuring that whenever you’re renting your property, you make sure it’s in pristine condition. That way you show tenants that you care about the property. It’s sort of a subconscious trick successful landlords use to reduce the wear and tear of a property.
Furthermore, fixing even the smallest problems that occur will easily extend the life of the rental and ensure that your tenants remain for a long time to come, thus maximising your return on investment.
Not to mention that this will definitely increase the chances of you getting the property rented out quickly.
Also, the keys. Don’t forget the keys. While you are preparing your house to let, a good idea will be to cut a couple of key copies. You will have to have a set for yourself and a set or two for your tenants.
And last but not least, before the tenancy beginnings, create an inventory list of everything that you own. This way you will avoid unnecessary disputes over broken items in your house.
Before you start renting your property, you need to check if a potential tenant has the right to rent. This includes the immigration status of all the adults living on your property and the validity of their documents.
Once you find the tenants that you are happy to rent your property to, you have to provide them with the following pack of documents:
The safety of tenants falls into the list of new obligations that you will be entitled to once you officially become a landlord. Gas Safety checks and Electrical Installation checks are only some of many others.
To start with, the property should be fit for human habitation. This means that the building should be in good condition, damp-free and with proper ventilation. You also need to improve the internal arrangement of the property. The layout shouldn’t pose any danger to tenants.
Moreover, the rental should have a stable supply of hot and cold water and systems for disposal of the used water. A heating source is a must, however, it is up to you to decide what to install – it might be electric radiators or a boiler-operated heating system. To make things easy for you, we offer landlord boiler cover plans to help you keep your heating system in its best condition.
Let Fantastic Services help you with this upcoming challenge! Whether it is deep cleaning or repairs work, we are happy to provide you with reputable workers. Fantastic Services is proud to say that we are able to serve you in more than 100 different ways. Cleaning, gardening, property maintenance, appliance repair, pest control, antiviral sanitisation – you name it!
And, with our Fantastic Club membership, you will be able to get preferential member rates and exclusive deals. Don’t waste any more time scrolling through the web in search of the right solution, it’s already here! Book your consultation, today.
Find a professional to take care of your rental property.
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Image Source: Depositphotos / AndreyPopov
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