Cawood

any one on here rent a house out?

im just in the process of buying another house, instead of selling the current one i plan on renting it out....... but aint a clue where to start and what to do.

gather its a good idea seeing an estate agent about it, but what about if i fancy advertising it and managing it myself?

where do i start?

do i need to see a solicitor and get any legal documents?

what happens if the tennants fall behind with the rent? can i not just go round with a few friends n bats and kick them out, or is that squatters rights crap still the case

i plan on renting it as unfurnished if that makes any difference

lots of questions i could list, i pretty much dont know shit! help

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

erm.... theres loads of hassle for this kind of letting!!! you cant just boot anyone out like that. requires eviction through court order if they dont play ball.

Lots of people go through agencys, lots dont. Look up "assured shorthold tenancy".

maxest

iTrader: (1)

You can buy a pack, there about Ł20 with the relevant forms..

geoffxr4

I'd go with a reputable letting agent with a solid tenancy agreement. Dodgy tenants will tend to be put off by going through letting agents as they know all the proper checks will be done, well worth it in my opinion. Managing it yourself is relatively easy as long as you're a bit handy or have plumbers / electricians etc that you can call on.

Your best bet is to buy a book about renting as there are lots of things to think about and some of them can have serious consequences if you get it wrong i.e not having a gas check is a criminal offense, not getting the deposit properly protected makes you liable to pay the tenant 3 times etc.

Overall it isn't that difficult long as you dont mind your phone going off saturday nights etc to deal with some nonsense like the batteries in the central heating controller need replacing

PM me if you want with specific q's

Iain Mac

Your mortgage holder has to give their consent to letting the house, as do your insurers. You should maintain the buildings insurance (because you can't trust the tenant to do it) and insist that they should have their own contents insurance (and consider what happens if they don't?)

Speaking for myself, I wouldn't even think about going it alone with probably the biggest single asset you own when you "aint a clue where to start and what to do" and admit you "pretty much dont know shit!"

There's also questions about the size of the property and who you can legally let to (e.g. a family could live in a four bedroom house, but three unrelated students mean you need an HMO licence which requires fire doors and alarm just for starters.

Then you get into fire safety for any furniture you supply, PAT testing for the electrical appliances, Gas safety checks.

As a minimum, take up Geoffxr4's offer, and forget going it alone with a Ł20 pack of forms.

tabetha

The reason you need buildings insurance is because if the tenant had it he would be commiting fraud, not because he can't be trusted.
DON'T whatever you do give more than a 7 year lease at a time, as the tenant becomes legall liable for the structure then, I have a 25 year lease, but special arrangement, and I do/arrange everything repairs sort out gas(with gas man) etc.
Just make sure it IS a decent letting agent, as a lot say not our problem, despite them getting paid for it.
tabetha

dojj

iTrader: (3)

find an agency that will do it all for you for a comission

easiest way

unless you live in a part of the world where you know peole will pay Ł50 a week per room and don't mind sharing 2 to a room (working days/nights) and are raking in a grand a week on a 3 bed property (loads and loads of illegals will do this and you can get away with it because they won't have a leg to stand on, but don't get caught out with the fire exit shit because the guy down the road got clobbered with a Ł20k fine, albe it he had a 6 bed house and was probably getting that in rent in a month)

Markb_s1

definitely.. find yourself a good agency and don't forget to negotiate them down on the fee.
i manage mine myself and providing you have reasonable tenants in there (which I do now but the last lot in one of the flats were absolute arseholes!) you shouldn't get too much grief, and it also knocks a few percent off the fee.

don't forget the tax either!

Cawood

nice one thanks for all the info lads, much appreicated.

dont think i'll go it alone, with all the things need to be done/checked. just get an estate agent to sort it.

i will have a scan on the net for this book and get myself round some estate agents on saturday and see what they say.

yeah, looked into the tax thing tonight, bugger, fooking government!

cheers for that tabetha, wont do more than 7 years

know about the house insurance thing, must look into the mortgage thing as im locked in it until 31st december 08 and they wont switch it to a rental mortgage for me.

cheers iain, i want to try rent to a family anyway, not a bunch of students, hopefully less risk of the house getting trashed.

and yeah think i will just get the estate agents to sort everything out, then just sort the stuff out after that myself rather than paying the estate agents a commission each month, half my family in the trade so they can help me out with the repairs/maintence.

or do you recommend i stick with the agencies throughout?

ta