What would you want if you were renting a house?

[ThePencil]

DH has a house which he used to live in. He bought at the peak of the housing market, and is now in negative equity to the tune of about £100,000 (which is about half what he paid for it). He now lives with me.

We'd like to sell his house, but we can't, because of the negative equity, so we're planning to rent it out (his sister has been living there since he moved out but is now moving).

We're in the process of sorting out the legal stuff, like letting the mortgage company know, getting the relevant safety certificates done etc. We approached an estate agent for advice about a contract, and they basically gave us a standard one. It has things like "no pets" etc. We both felt it was a bit "restrictive" - I know both sides need to be covered legally, but if I was renting a house I'd like to have the option of having a pet, redecorating a room etc.

Anyway, it got me thinking- what are the things that would be good to have if you're renting, that make it a bit better (apart from, like, no rent!). We're not really looking to make a fortune on the house, just to get ourselves to the point where we can sell it, and we want to be decent landlords. Obviously we'll fulfill all the legal requirements.

paying over a time will cost more. looks to be no malicious damage cover - very risky.

What do you mean by "paying over a time", @specialsubject ? Paying what?

I'd suggest meeting your tenants and not taking them at face value. We've been tenants for 18 years, over four houses. On paper I suppose we are less than ideal tenants - we have multiple pets including two dogs, I run a business from home (which involves having customers in the property) and we have four children. Those things make us risky, particularly for excessive wear and tear on the house, and we would probably struggle to find somewhere if we had to move.

However in our favour we've never made a rent payment late, never had deductions made from a deposit, never had any issues raised about the condition of the houses during inspections etc. Our current home is immaculate (it has to be, given that I have customers in the house!), it's repainted neutrally and tastefully yearly, garden is beautiful. We are better tenants than first glance would suggest, so I'd suggest being open minded.

As tenants we would only rent somewhere that we can have pets and run my business (obviously). Somewhere that we are allowed to redecorate (because I am houseproud and need the house to be well kept). We would reject anywhere that the landlord seemed to have excessive ties to - we have walked away previously when viewing a property where the landlord was storing his junk in the garage, and one where the landlord wanted to come and do the gardening himself (not because we have anything to hide but because I suspect it's a way of keeping a very close eye on the house and feels very intrusive), and quite a few accidental landlords who still seemed to view the house sentimentally as their home rather than their business. We also want the house to be maintained in the condition we first rent it - our first home, for example, had a couple of fence panels destroyed in high winds and the landlord refused to replace them as he had no legal duty to provide a fence.

Other than that, it would be great for landlords to recognise that we work full time for the purposes of things like repairs and inspections - having to wait in all day 7-7 for a simple gas check can be maddening.

Our ll insurance wants a guarantor or 6 months rent up front, if benefits are involved, but I only found that out when I actually asked them.

Good landlord to me is one thats easy to get in touch with. Allows personal touches such as pictures up ect. I had the option to decorate but never did as I'd have to return it all to magnolia which is fair. Also had pets didnt pay an extra deposit for two properties I've rented however if you get a naff tenant you'll wish you had asked for a deposit. Friend of mine had to conpletly recarpet so deposit didn't cover costs

Please consider renting to childminders, a lot of ll's don't because it is a 'business'. We work from home and have to abide by a lot of regulations safety wise, therefore are v likely to treat the house fairly. Also all registered childminders have their own public liability insurance therefore potentially negating some of the risk you have renting to one as if something happens as a result of their work their insurance should cover any repair/replacement.

sorry, that was really unclear. Someone referred to paying for an insurance policy over 10 months. Remember that 'spread the cost' means 'pay a high interest charge'.

if you can't afford a few hundred pounds of insurance in one go you really really should not be a landlord.

Thanks, @specialsubject , that makes sense! Yes, I always pay up front for stuff like that anyway.

Thanks for the comments and ideas. I'm not sure the house would be great for a childminder, but I'd have no objection in principle as long as the insurance etc was sorted.

We actually have a friend who's been renting her house out but now needs to move back in, so we're going to see whether her tenants (who've been excellent) might be interested in moving in.

Don't treat your tenants like you're doing them a favour. Every single LL I have had has behaved like they're doing me a massive service and I should worship them for it and put up with all their crap.

Tenants are your customer. They are paying you for a service, the same as if you were a shopkeeper or a hairdresser but on a long term basis. Treat them that way.

That was me and it out to about just over 100 pounds extra.
For me it does not matter as much because my property is mortgage free.
Now if I had a mortgage to pay, all of this would have had to be added to the mortgage in order to determine what rent to charge

specialsubject:

I could afford the insurance, but choose that option.
My property is mortgage free.

fine. lets hope you dont need malicious damage cover that you dont have.

Agree with being easily contactable, and replace or fix things quickly when they break.

If you have sensible, reliable long-term tenants, try to give them a bit of input into what you choose (e.g. give them three options you're happy with yourself and let them pick). They're the ones who'll have to live with whatever you've bought or chosen.