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I am about to advertise a nice house 3 bed house in the Hillsborough area as a stand alone landlord for the 1st time, I have gone through letting agents previously which I feel is an unnecessary cost.

 

Has anyone any advice on the do's and don't from experience

 

Thanks for your replies Mini-Me

Edited by mini-me

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I am about to advertise a nice house 3 bed house in the Hillsborough area as a stand alone landlord for the 1st time, I have gone through letting agents previously which I feel is an unnecessary cost.

 

Has anyone any advice on the do's and don't from experience

 

Thanks for your replies Mini-Me

 

Make sure you have a proper tenancy agreement in place.

Make sure you take a deposit.

Make sure you vet any tenants properly, bad tenants can be a nightmare to get rid of.

Credit check.

References.

Take an inventory and loads of photo's before tenants move in and get the tenants to sign the photos.

A personal one, but you charge a fair rent and treat your tenant properly and keep the home in good condition then your tenant will hopefully in return, look after your house and want to stay.

Having said the above, also don't be a walk over, take arrears seriously and nip any issues in the bud early doors as some tenants will walk all over you if you let them.

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I used purple bricks and got a tenant in 3 days. They did all the viewings, tenancy agreement, credit checks etc.. they charged about £400 and it went on all the major letting sites.

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Make sure you have a proper tenancy agreement in place.[1]

Make sure you take a deposit.[2]

Make sure you vet any tenants properly, bad tenants can be a nightmare to get rid of.

Credit check.

References.

Take an inventory and loads of photo's before tenants move in and get the tenants to sign the photos.

A personal one, but you charge a fair rent and treat your tenant properly and keep the home in good condition then your tenant will hopefully in return, look after your house and want to stay.

Having said the above, also don't be a walk over, take arrears seriously and nip any issues in the bud early doors as some tenants will walk all over you if you let them.

[1] Also remember to obtain an EPC and a Gas Safe check.

An Electricity check is fairly important, too, although not a legal necessity.

Plus obtain consent to sub-letting from your mortgagee (lender).

 

[2] And ensure that the Prescribed Information is served.

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Deposit needs to be protected......

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Make sure you have a proper tenancy agreement in place.

Make sure you take a deposit.

Make sure you vet any tenants properly, bad tenants can be a nightmare to get rid of.

Credit check.

References.

Take an inventory and loads of photo's before tenants move in and get the tenants to sign the photos.

A personal one, but you charge a fair rent and treat your tenant properly and keep the home in good condition then your tenant will hopefully in return, look after your house and want to stay.

Having said the above, also don't be a walk over, take arrears seriously and nip any issues in the bud early doors as some tenants will walk all over you if you let them.

 

I have a tenancy agreement drawn up with the current tenants who have been great the house is immaculate as it was done up to be our 1st home sadly we decided to move abroad shortly after but I am back in the UK . I was with a letting agent and took the tenants off them but due to personal circumstance of the tenant being offered a Housing Association house earlier than expected I now have to advertise on my own for the 1st time. What do I require for credit checks as I've never had to do this?? and what can I expect??

 

I am 7 years into the buy to let situation so I am aware of most of the pitfalls just this is a NEW entity of not using letting agents for services.

 

If I get any issue my mrs is the rottweiller and even I don't mess with her lolol

 

---------- Post added 28-08-2017 at 14:14 ----------

 

Deposit needs to be protected......

 

Already done but thanks Mafya DPS in place with current tenants so will have to transfer

 

---------- Post added 28-08-2017 at 14:14 ----------

 

Yes. The Prescribed Information includes how and where. For more on it, see Shelter's website http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits

 

Thanks Jeffrey already in hand

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When you move from the Letting Agent to self-manage you can't really use their Tenancy Agreement - that will be their intellectual property. You can create your own, of course, but the fact you have an agreement in place with the current Tenants is really neither here-nor-there.

 

Likewise, your comment about transferring the deposit with the DPS makes no sense, to me. If the deposit for the current Tenants is under your Landlord ID then you return that and start a new one with the new Tenants. If it's with the Agent you are currently using then they'll do that bit of admin. and either you or your wife - as Landlord - will need to set up as a Landlord on the DPS site and protect the deposit - there is no transferring going on in this scenario. You also say it's already done - it isn't - that's something else, right?

 

For me, even though I use Agents for Tenant Find (not full management) I will always do the viewings myself. I think it's very important to eyeball people and get a view yourself. Agents you employ to find you Tenants will put anyone in your property because, after that, they completely disengage. Tenant Find with the Agent doing the viewings is the worst of all worlds in my opinion.

 

Don't necessarily settle for the first Tenants who make you an offer. It is a Landlord's market still and if it's a nice property at a fair price you should have your pick. Likewise, don't be afraid to do a little haggle to get the best Tenants for you. On one property, recently, I agreed to a 2 year rent freeze (I nearly always increase rent by a modest amount each year) because I had a good vibe about the Tenants and I wanted to encourage a longer term tenancy (even though I only ever - my last bit of advice - offer a 6 month fixed term, then SPT).

 

---------- Post added 29-08-2017 at 10:34 ----------

 

Sorry, my last bit of advice...

 

If the Deposit amount is quite high - like, over £700 or something like that, and you think the tenancy will run for a long time, consider the Insured Scheme for protecting the deposit. For a small fee you can put that money into your own account (or in an offset for your own personal mortgage, for example) and have that money working for you.

 

The fee is paid one time and you need to work out what you'd make / save by doing Insured as opposed to Custodial.

 

---------- Post added 29-08-2017 at 12:49 ----------

 

Thanks Jeffrey already in hand

 

It can't be in-hand. You haven't advertised the property or selected Tenants yet. :) Deposit protection comes after those things. Good luck.

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When you move from the Letting Agent to self-manage you can't really use their Tenancy Agreement - that will be their intellectual property. You can create your own, of course, but the fact you have an agreement in place with the current Tenants is really neither here-nor-there.

 

Likewise, your comment about transferring the deposit with the DPS makes no sense, to me. If the deposit for the current Tenants is under your Landlord ID then you return that and start a new one with the new Tenants. If it's with the Agent you are currently using then they'll do that bit of admin. and either you or your wife - as Landlord - will need to set up as a Landlord on the DPS site and protect the deposit - there is no transferring going on in this scenario. You also say it's already done - it isn't - that's something else, right?

 

For me, even though I use Agents for Tenant Find (not full management) I will always do the viewings myself. I think it's very important to eyeball people and get a view yourself. Agents you employ to find you Tenants will put anyone in your property because, after that, they completely disengage. Tenant Find with the Agent doing the viewings is the worst of all worlds in my opinion.

 

Don't necessarily settle for the first Tenants who make you an offer. It is a Landlord's market still and if it's a nice property at a fair price you should have your pick. Likewise, don't be afraid to do a little haggle to get the best Tenants for you. On one property, recently, I agreed to a 2 year rent freeze (I nearly always increase rent by a modest amount each year) because I had a good vibe about the Tenants and I wanted to encourage a longer term tenancy (even though I only ever - my last bit of advice - offer a 6 month fixed term, then SPT).

 

---------- Post added 29-08-2017 at 10:34 ----------

 

Sorry, my last bit of advice...

 

If the Deposit amount is quite high - like, over £700 or something like that, and you think the tenancy will run for a long time, consider the Insured Scheme for protecting the deposit. For a small fee you can put that money into your own account (or in an offset for your own personal mortgage, for example) and have that money working for you.

 

The fee is paid one time and you need to work out what you'd make / save by doing Insured as opposed to Custodial.

 

---------- Post added 29-08-2017 at 12:49 ----------

 

 

It can't be in-hand. You haven't advertised the property or selected Tenants yet. :) Deposit protection comes after those things. Good luck.

 

Hi Hippo

 

Thanks for the advice, I meant by that term it's in hand means I know how the DPS situation works and will deal with accordingly(current tenants require their funds back) and I used the insured option myself unfortunately circumstances are too good to miss for my tenants and can only wish them well I expected them to be there longer

 

I did the lowering of the rent scenario and a two year freeze we were on a month by month with my current tenants as they were prompt and looking after the house as if it was their own also drew up a NEW contract it cost me £270.00 to keep them but hey ho!

 

Not taking the 1st offer is sound advice, my partner will do the viewing and she is good at sussing out the wrong uns. I think where I am falling down is how to go about the credit checks once I find a suitor. I have 2 months as that is what we agreed at the onset of the contract and the people I have now are honorable enough to stay until I find new tenants or the 2 months is up.

 

At the moment I have been spoilt, but you hear such horror stories I don't want any Tom Dick or Dodgy Git in there.

 

Thanks for the advice

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Hey mini-me. I think Google will be your friend. My parents used to use a credit checking service that they found on google, it was about £5 per search 10 years ago. Im sure something similar exists, they also used yo use a company that charged £12 to list your property on right move. I dont think these exist any more but you might find a discount agent who does them both for £50-250. They will probably throw in other services that you don't need too.

My parents now use a local service which does credit check, books viewings by phone and right move, but they don't serve Sheffield.

£270 for new contracts seems a hell of a lot. Last time my parents re did contracts it was significantly cheaper than that (somewhere around £50) but it might have been a special from the landlord association.

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The courts are all in favour of the tennant.

 

This statement isn't correct. The Courts, and the Law, is fair to both sides. It's just that Landlords feel very hard done by when they think a Tenant is taking advantage. However, when a Tenant takes advantage and a Landlord has a lot of trouble evicting them, it's often down to the fact that the Landlord has not done everything right in the first place. From the other side, there are plenty of people out there that think even the idea of a Section 21, where a person can be asked to leave their home with a 2 month timeframe, is ludicrous.

 

But the comment about not risking making the slightest mistake is good advice.

 

By the book is the order of the day.

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Don't let to people claiming benefits. If you decide down the line that you want them to leave the council will force you to take them to court to get an eviction notice. I know this from experience.

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