Top mistakes that landlords make when letting out a premium property and how to avoid them.
Are you considering renting a high-value property out? Perhaps you have an empty property and feel it isn't the right time to sell it, or you want to keep it as an investment. You've no doubt heard horror stories of landlords that had nothing but problems. Read this article to learn the most common mistakes landlords make and how to avoid them.
As you research renting out your property in more detail, you may build a picture of what you need to do and perhaps how much money you can charge for the rental. But it's easy to get carried away, and many landlords become a culprit of these major mistakes in their property investment journey.
Fundamentally most landlords are looking for a good tenant that will pay their rent on time and look after the property whilst they are living there. But how can you ensure that this happens?
You might even start chatting to friends and colleagues for advice about renting out property and may be stopped in your tracks by horror stories of vandalism and rent arrears, but there are very easy ways to prevent this from happening to you.
With years of experience in the property industry, it is clear to see how and why these horror stories happen; simply by avoiding these mistakes, you can ensure they don't happen to you.
Overvaluing:
When thinking about the income you might generate from a property, it's easy to get ahead of yourself and think that getting an extra £100 per month, for example, will make a huge difference to the overall profit for the year. But, you must be sensible and realistic in your pricing and seek an evidence-based valuation from an expert. If you over-value your property, the tenants won't want to view it, and you will be left with an empty property that generates no income. Over the year, it would have been better to advertise the property for £100 less and rent it out 2 months earlier.
Not understanding the legislation:
The private rented sector is a minefield with literally hundreds of different pieces of legislation to abide by. And failing to follow them could create significant problems for you as a landlord. Sadly, ignorance of the laws is not a defence in the courts. The remedy is often a hefty fine, but in some circumstances could mean that you cannot serve an eviction notice to the tenants, meaning that you will have trouble regaining possession of your property. This is far from ideal, so you need a complete understanding of the laws and legislation governing the private rented sector.
Regular inspections:
If you are not visiting the property at least two or three times each year, how can you hope to know whether the tenants are looking after the property? It's your property and asset, so you must visit and ensure everything is as it should be. This will also help keep the relationship between you and your tenants nice and healthy and keep the lines of communication open. It also allows you to tackle minor maintenance issues swiftly while still minor. If things are left, the property will deteriorate, and those minor issues can soon become major.
Staying on top of maintenance:
If you're told by a contractor that something will need to be addressed in the property, address it. Don't leave things until they go very wrong. If, for example, the gas engineer carries out a CP12 and advises of works that will need to be done soon, don't leave it until winter when the temperature drops and the tenants are left without heating or hot water whilst you rush around trying to find a gas engineer at short notice, paying emergency call out prices, at a time when engineers will be much busier than in the warmer months. Instead, deal with the issue swiftly so that your tenants are not left to suffer, and you are not stressed trying to find a contractor.
Self-managing:
The biggest cause of problems for landlords is trying to do everything themselves. Even if you're not working and have the time to commit to looking after your properties yourself, do you have the knowledge and understanding to make sure that everything is compliant? Have you got years of experience, sat exams, and qualifications for renting property? Are you familiar with all laws and regulations and keep up to date with new ones as they change, which is very frequent at the moment! If you're being totally honest with yourself, probably not. Self-managing a rental property is the biggest mistake that landlords make because unless it is your full-time job, you will not be able to devote the time needed to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Hire the professionals; they are worth every penny!
If you are ready to start the ball rolling with your property rental endeavour, contact our team of property letting experts for valuable advice and guidance on how to rent a property without falling foul to these mistakes.
