Advice from Landlords please

[GypsyQueeen]

Hi 👋

Just after hearing people's views on the following options -

Renting out a 3/4 bedroom family home
Renting out a 1 bed flat
Renting out a HMO
Renting out a student HMO

I'm interested in hearing people's views/ experiences and the pros & cons...

You hear so many horror stories now & I'm wondering if it's actually worth it. We wouldn't have a mortgage if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

Also interested as we would like to buy a UK house that we would like to rent in the shorter term.

Yes, just interested in a few different options. I must admit the horror stories do kind of put me off....
Maybe Airbnb? But that's not without issue.

Probably you would get less hassle out of all with a 1 bed flat if you get a professional couple in. However they move on quickly and property prices will appreciate less than a family home. Personally I wouldn’t touch HMOs

I’d probably invest instead. Property isn’t the great deal it used to be. Landlord conditions are much worse now also.

You say you have no mortgage, so you have the cash to buy. It is a question of doing the maths. What return would you get on each property in terms of percentage of investment? You then need to take off expenses, estate agent, void periods, insurance, wear and tear costs etc and tax on the rent. Then try to estimate and add on the amount of potential increase in property price.

What percentage are you left with? Would it be more than the percentage you could get for a stocks and shares investment?

Also note it needs to be more to justify the increased capital gains tax when you sell (capital gains is more on property than on shares), and the hassle and work that renting out property inevitably entails.

As you can make between 8 and 10 % on average on shares, then your property return needs to be more than this.

Property is really only worthwhile if you are borrowing money to finance it.

I’ve been a landlord for 20+ years and have done Airbnb for about 7 years. For Airbnb it’s easier if you are close by. Holidays makers are generally very high maintenance and we’ve nipped a lot of problems in the bud by just popping up to the house and fixing things/apologising/smoothing things over. Things can be diffused very quickly this way. long term lets are much easier. I’m 300 miles away from my properties and have a very good agent who does everything. However, I would caution that the girls in the office will just immediately replace everything that’s broken on the tenants say so rather than fixing it. Example, there was a small leak in a window that just needed a bit of sealant but they wanted to replace the window! Thankfully, a relative lives in the same city and is a joiner. Harder if you don’t have that independent person, I know. Otherwise, you’ll have good tenants and bad. You just need to learn to not take it personally and some months there will be very little rent due to repairs.

Thank you for taking the time to reply - definitely a lot to consider 😊