Landlord 101

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So you want to become a landlord, Good for you. But before you make the big step in letting out your property, we’ve got some answers to your many questions…

Welcome to the wonderful world of being a landlord. You are now the proud owner of your very own property empire. Or, perhaps you’re just thinking about getting into the renting game. Either way, you need to ask yourself some important questions (which is a fairly good rule of thumb when entering into any transaction that involves large sums of money anyway). Brik’s Lettings Manager, Tyrone Olivier Marla, breaks down some very frequently asked questions for any would be landlords

I’m buying a house. When do I have to decide if I’m going to rent it out?
Pretty much straight away. Ultimately, if you ask a lettings agent to value the property, and you tell them you’ve just bought it, we’re going to assume straight away that a decent amount of documentation is in order. But then first of all the agent will want to make sure that your mortgage company is going to let you rent it out!

How much is renting a house going to cost?
You want to make sure that you’ve got a competitive lettings fee. This can be achieved by speaking to various agents to make sure you don’t get over charged. And it’s stating the obvious slightly, but it’s a really good idea to make sure that lettings agents are working with you, and not for themselves. For example, they should give you the option to pay the letting fee on a monthly basis, as apposed to paying it up front, so the agent can then forget about you.

Ok, so I’ve bought a property that I’d like to rent. What’s the first thing I should do?
The first thing that you would do is contact the lettings agent. You’d get them to come over, give you a valuation in terms of current market value. They’ll then give you advice to maximise any amount of rental income you’re looking to receive. Your agent will advise you get various documentations, that you’ve got an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for example.

How much should I charge for my property?
We can’t take a clients mortgage payments or rates into consideration. We will simply quote a price to you that we feel the property is worth. The actual overheads of letting a property, after the agency fees and your mortgage, include a gas safety certificate, an EPC (if you don’t have one), and I would always advise that clients get a PAT (Portable Appliance Test), which isn’t a legal requirement, but for the sake of a couple of hundred pounds, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“A lot of landlords are now taking our rental insurance, too, which covers you, should the tenant stop paying rent for some reason”

What legal rights do I have? Should I register somewhere…
No, as long as you’ve gone through an ARLA (Association of Residential Lettings Agents) registered agency, which means everything has been done absolutely by the book, you can enter into a rental agreement in complete confidence. Because if something does happen, once you go to a solicitor, you know that your paperwork is in perfect order. A lot of landlords are now taking our rental insurance, too, which covers you, should the tenant stop paying rent for some reason.