To ask what mistakes you have made as a landlord?

[Ditheringdooley]

Finding ourselves in the position of being a landlord for a 2 bed flat in London. Have not done this before- after 6m empty during lockdown etc we now have it on the market and are doing viewings.

Please share any lessons you have learned - things you would do differently this time?

Will be managing it myself. It is in a block with a managing agent who manages the building (well, mostly just passes stuff back to us so I’d rather not pay 2 sets of agents to not do their job).

Any wisdom gratefully received (and horror stories shared if it’s cathartic for you!).

Just to absolutely never do it. Its an utter nightmare. Be warned.

When you take the inventory pictures, make sure they are dated within 24 hours of the tenant moving in

Yes, but I'd recommend have a specialist company do this. If they record the date and time there will be less room for arguing. I took some photos of a previous property as the tenants had left it in an absolute state only to be told my photos "didnt count" as I could have adjusted the time/date on my phone and I wasnt "independent" or truly objective. Of course you can take your own photos but I'd definitely get an independent party to do it too so there can be no accusation of manipulating the inventory.

It’s going to be offered on a furnished, white goods basis- but for the type of property/ tenants I’m after that makes most sense. I don’t care about most of the furniture except a couple of ££££ pieces and going to reconsider whether to include those.

I would recommend not leaving any valuable items in the house, even if you end up having to pay for storage. I’m not a landlord but I’ve been a tenant - I loved my flat and looked after it as my own but I’d have been nervous to have something valuable of someone else’s in case I accidentally damaged it. Plus there are some tenants who wouldn’t care that it was yours and valuable.

Also, something I learned recently - credit checks don’t show criminal records which, if someone was living in a house of mine, I’d want to know.

@BrightYellowDaffodil - I hadn’t thought about that- I suppose a DBS (?) check is what you would need but no one tends to do that for rentals! Only employment where it’s relevant for the role.

Regarding legal advice/ legal requirements- absolutely, plan on doing lots of research and consulting the legislation/ official guides. Thank you for pointers to relevant associations.

I wasn’t looking for legal advice here- as noted, common myths abound in landlord and tenant law and the law changes pretty regularly as well, rather for experiences etc.

I’ve found a nice couple that seem like a good fit so going to put in the work over next days/ weeks to make sure everything is in place and do necessary research and checks! Fingers crossed.

Advice to build up an emergency fund is a really good pointer, thank you.

For my usual life I have a mental ‘shit happens’ fund. On the basis that shit happens, rather than being annoyed when you get an unexpected bill or repair or fine etc, I simply deduct from the ‘shit happens fund’ and if I get to the end of the year and it hasn’t been used up I think that’s not a bad year. Otherwise I was stressing out each time a misfortune happened (getting my car towed etc!!).

I overlooked getting a reference from a tenant whose personal circumstances made me feel sorry for him.

He didn't pay rent, trashed my property and cost me thousands which I can't get back because I don't know where he moved on to.

I always ask for a reference now, and if it's their first property I get one from their employer

Giving someone the benefit of the doubt was the biggest mistake. Woman with a CCJ but solid income...she was fired for gross misconduct just after moving in, didn’t pay any rent and had to be chucked out after 6 months of this nonsense. Never again...no more kindness...money talks. Completely put us off anyone on low income, benefits or anything financially negative. Fortunately we’ve got a great man renting the property and all has been great. We learned not to make the mistake of being lulled into a woman’s sob story and we were kicking ourselves for being such suckers!

I would consider their job security given the current climate, if you can. I’m worried about our own security at moment as our tenants have no income suddenly through no fault of their own and yet we rely on it to afford our own rent as rented out our home. These are tricky times and a friend who works in property commented that London rental prices are dropping too

Get yourself clued up on what you need to do regarding landlords tax. If you do the calculation and there is no tax to pay, don't assume you don't need to do a tax return - you do!

Make sure you have converted your mortgage to a Buy To Let mortgage. It costs a bit more but you usually can not rent out a property that has a standard residential mortgage.

You asked earlier about finding a reliable agent. It's hard. My son will wax lyrical about the subsidiary of a large national chain that "managed" the place he moved out of recently. Part of the reason he moved was the agent. I quote the large chain who forgot to let us know our tenant had moved out the previous day, or even that she had given notice.
Asking around for recommendations is often the best plan.

@EdwardsNewJumper

Not for the first time, we are currently landlords on one property and tenants ourselves in another, so we see things from both sides. Just be decent.

Read up on your legal obligations and rights as well as tenants legal obligations and rights.

^ this.

Someone mentioned chavvy tenants. Six months inspection etc written into contract are sign of chavvy landlords.

I don’t understand this statement @EdwardsNewJumper I’m currently a tenant and a landlord. How does a landlord wanting to check their property is still in a reasonable condition every six months make them ‘chavvy’? - Not debating the legality of whether you can or can’t do this just trying to get some clarification on the statement.