Managing my own property let

inferno

inferno

inferno

Associate
Joined
23 May 2004
Posts
2,184
Hi guys

I have got tired of foxtons charging me nearly £1000 in management fees, so I am going to use foxtons to find a tenant but not fully manage my apartment. Has anyone done this before, does anyone know what is expected of you and where you can go to find a checklist of what you need to do or if there are any major legal implications meaning it's better to let the company manage it?

Many thanks
 
I just advertised my flat on Gumtree and dealt with everything myself. I downloaded a contract from my council website (Scotland so may be different in England) which also had a list of legal requirements that a landlord has. It's not too onerous either.
 
I paid a letting agent to sort the initial part but I do the managing myself. The letting agent did the advert and viewings. They found me a good tenant in about a week, vetted them, got references, sorted the contract, first months rent, damage deposit and inventory.

Luckily my tenant is sound and I'm fairly handy so can sort most problems out myself. I've got a few good trade contacts I've found from doing up my current house that I can use for any other problems.
 
I'm inheriting a property at the moment, cant decide whether to sell or rent out.Are you guys renting furnished or unfurnished?

EDIT: just found this site seems useful,
landlordzone
 
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My property in the UK is rented unfurnished, but I also have the Estate Agent fully managing it for me whilst i'm out the country.

When trying to decide whether to rent or sell you have to ask yourself a few questions

1. How much is the property worth?
2. How much could you rent the property for?
3. How much would it cost to bring the property up to rentable standard?

If its not financially viable to rent then the only other option is to sell.
 
Renting unfurnished generally gains a little less income, but you don;t have the maintenance fees on that furniture - imo a bit swings/roundabouts.

The main thing doing it myself was that I upped the deposit to a substantial figure. Along with refusal to consider anyone on any form of benefits, it filters out a LOT of bad tenants imo.


Unless you;re going to be a professional landlord, I feel it;s best to see it as a way to pay off the mortgage rather than make money - with recent tax changes making money has got very hard for small provate landlords.
 
Don't overlook local authority tenants. They are often looking long term. You will get paid every four weeks in arrears. The local authority give you a deposit bond and it's just a matter of a phone call to the local authority for a yearly rent increase.

The only down side I found is the tenant usually treats it like dirt so expect to have to clean the place and remove thier junk after however this will come out the deposit bond.

I've just had a nice five year stint with a local authority tenant and it's been worthwhile.

Because of the recent tax changes and ever growing pressure to maintain the property, the margins or returns are not what they were. If you need liquidity then property is not for you.

I've just had a three hour meeting with a IFA and there really was more to consider than my back of a fag packet calculations seven years ago however it's been good for me.
 
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