Learning to be a landlord?

[ElizabethinherGermanGarden]

I'm moving in with my partner. He doesn't have a mortgage so isn't charging me any rent - we're just sharing bills and food and day to day living expenses. It means that I can keep my own house and at the moment I just can't decide what to do with it.

I'm considering renting it out but I am very aware that I know nothing about how to do this - I haven't even rented on my own behalf for over 20 years so don't have relevant experience either as renter or landlord. Lots of threads on here saying 'don't do it' have put me off a bit. On the other hand, my house is empty most of the time and I'm paying the mortgage etc.

Is there a course or something where I could learn about what being a landlord entails? Is there some reputable body that offers something like this? Ideally, I don't want to have to do loads of research or learn from my mistakes - I want someone to teach me properly. Is this a thing? Does anyone have advice on where to start?

The NLA is your best bet. They have a customer service department who will chat away to you all day about various queries.
You can join them for a small fee and it’s well worth the money.

we let 2 houses....no issues....lower than market rent...go for long contracts so no voids etc....get the homelet rent insurance in case tenants dont pay...covers loss of rent and eviction etc if needed...use a good agency...they all talk a lot of BS...and will tempt you with high rents.

Thank you both - that's a good starting point. I'll start educating myself.

We use an agency for ours

Just to add...use agency registered with ARLA...usually much better....we do rent collection only and do the repairs and gas certs as they are only 20 mins away from home so its easy....agencies will carry out these jobs for you and charge a lot more money....meet the tenants yourself...agencies will push anyone through if they can pay....I will say that we did have one major bad experience years ago...young couple with children who had fake passports etc....stopped paying rent, i discovered they had a pub in birmingham also....but the insurance paid out the rent loss and eviction etc so didnt lose much....use your nose !!

Sell it.
Accidental landlords, ie those that no nothing about it and 'fall' into letting have a steep learning curve. There's a bundle of legal stuff to fall foul of and getting shot of a bad tenant is nigh on impossible at the moment. Then you have to account for it in an annual tax return.
Not worth the stress

There's a bundle of legal stuff to fall foul of ...
... and, like most law these days, is updated all the time so it is time-consuming to keep on top of. An Agent will cost money but will save you aggro (from tenants and from officialdom).

The trick is finding a good Agent. Easily said, not so easily done.

@Loofah01

Sell it. Accidental landlords, ie those that no nothing about it and 'fall' into letting have a steep learning curve. There's a bundle of legal stuff to fall foul of and getting shot of a bad tenant is nigh on impossible at the moment. Then you have to account for it in an annual tax return. Not worth the stress

I thought this might be the response. I have little spare money and little spare time so am aware that it's possible I'd be absolutely hopeless as a landlord.

Having said that, I've been divorced and find myself really balking at the the thought of having no property of my own. My partner owns his house outright and has for years, so it isn't going to be 'mine' in that way; it's his daughter's home. I was once given a wedding card that said 'love shmuv - keep everything in your own name' (nice wedding card, turned out to be good advice I didn't heed) and it has stuck in my head.

I suppose as we have only bills to pay here I could keep paying the bills and mortgage, but it's weird to have a spare house, right?

There's a lot of emotional baggage tied up in it all, which I know is a bad combination with lack of knowledge and lack of experience.

I'll think about what you've said, thank you.

You need enough money to fix whatever goes wrong. And enough insurance to cover if they move in and pay no more, as at the moment it could be two years of that.

Don’t sell your asset!

You are totally right to hold onto it, if you are super organised and happy to spend time to organise paperwork and all that jazz then do it yourself with guidance from experienced forums and organisations.

However if it makes you feel a bit uneasy and you don’t want the hassle then use a agent. Ring round half a dozen local agents to check their services and fees as they can really vary.

There are things to consider like insurance, certificates, smoke alarms / carbon monoxide, boiler servicing, you’ll need to consider the tax implications and keep your accounts in order etc.

There’s lots of things to consider but there is so much help online, YouTube videos, blogs, forums, national organisations - there’s NO reason the average person couldn’t do it themselves if they have the time and decent organisation skills.

But if you want to take the agg out then use a decent, reputable agent.

Definitely do not sell your asset!

Why don't you use a managing agent? If you use a full managed service they will do absolutely everything, including finding the tenant and doing all the credit checks. They also arrange all the boiler and electrical safety checks that you're legally obliged to have. It's more expensive of course, but worth it in my opinion.

Perhaps get a reputable agent to manage it while you join the NRLA and do their courses on letting law. There is a lot to it which you need to know. It is also high risk compared to other investments especially at the moment with it taking many months to evict bad tenants. Having said that I have let a property for years with few problems but if things go wrong they can go very wrong and be very stressful.

Using an agent does not mean you can just leave them to it. The buck stops with the landlord.

We use a managing agent and rent our property while we live overseas. They take 11-15%. They found us good tenants (3 year lease), run all the checks, advise on legal changes. Really think you're over-thinking this.

OP I am in exactly your position. I kept my property because happy though dp and I are, I have no rights to his house so I'd be in a precarious position if things went wrong between us. I use an agent who does everything, there is a cost implication but it's very low stress. I only hear from them if repairs need doing or there is a change in tenants.

Only downside for me has been that I underestimated how much I would need to budget for repairs and maintenance. Lots of little bits and pieces and the occasional big thing. Things you might put up with yourself but when it's a tenant youre more obligated.

If you don't have a lot of money, then please for the sake of your prospective tenants, do not become a landlord. You need to be able to invest in and maintain the property. You need to treat it as if you were living in it yourself. While you may be happy to live with a kitchen that is 30 years old and a knackered boiler, i can guarantee your tenants will not.

Unfortunately, we were tenants in this situation. The LL just wanted us to pay the rent. She had absolutely no intention of investing in the property because she didn't live there. The kitchen was 30 years old. Getting her to replace the faulty boiler was like getting blood from a stone. The last laugh was on her, when we moved out and she sold it, she sold it for less than what she paid for it because it needed so much work done to it.

I've had a rental property for about 8 years, after the death of a parent.
However I made a conscious decision to make it my 'job' as I wasn't working at the time. There IS a lot to learn, but it's also all available online.
Useful sites include:
www.landlordzone.co.uk
www.nrla.org.uk/
www.openrent.co.uk/
www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/ (This one is quite tongue-in-cheek, but he tells it how it is!)

If you're not sure, you could use an agent to start with - setting it up, finding tenants, meeting legal requirements (Gas/ Electricity reports etc), doing inventory, but then take it over yourself in the future once you see what's involved.

@Moomoolandmoomooland

If you don't have a lot of money, then please for the sake of your prospective tenants, do not become a landlord. You need to be able to invest in and maintain the property. You need to treat it as if you were living in it yourself. While you may be happy to live with a kitchen that is 30 years old and a knackered boiler, i can guarantee your tenants will not.

Unfortunately, we were tenants in this situation. The LL just wanted us to pay the rent. She had absolutely no intention of investing in the property because she didn't live there. The kitchen was 30 years old. Getting her to replace the faulty boiler was like getting blood from a stone. The last laugh was on her, when we moved out and she sold it, she sold it for less than what she paid for it because it needed so much work done to it.

The house is in brilliant condition - completely renovated 6 years ago when I moved in and redecorated to a good standard last year. New electrics, gas, water pipes, boiler, kitchen etc all within last 6 years and tidied recently.

There's nothing that's likely to go wrong, but I know I need a buffer for incidents and accidents. I wouldn't start until I have that saved.

@OverTheHill50

I've had a rental property for about 8 years, after the death of a parent. However I made a conscious decision to make it my 'job' as I wasn't working at the time. There IS a lot to learn, but it's also all available online. Useful sites include: www.landlordzone.co.uk www.nrla.org.uk/ www.openrent.co.uk/ www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/ (This one is quite tongue-in-cheek, but he tells it how it is!)

If you're not sure, you could use an agent to start with - setting it up, finding tenants, meeting legal requirements (Gas/ Electricity reports etc), doing inventory, but then take it over yourself in the future once you see what's involved.

Thank you for the links - very helpful.

Sign up as a member of the Tory party-they’ll do a conscience bypass for free alongside your first payment.

Obviously once you rent it out you put a % aside for current and future costs, but just to give you an idea, here are some of the things I've paid for in the last 2 years with a new tenant in a 10-year old modern house:

• listing and tenancy preparation - £150
• Landlord insurance - £220
• Cleaning and repairs pre-tenancy £200
• Gas Safety Check (legal requirement, annually) £85
• Electrical Safety report (Every 5 years) £300
• broken front door lock £80
• Cooker repair £75
• New extractor fan +fitting £120
• Plumber - 3 times for issues with things £300+
• Outside drain clearage £100
• Boiler repairs £400
• New smoke alarms £50

My husband and I do a lot of the practical household repairs to save labour costs. To be honest, getting trustworthy tradespeople who don't try to exploit you because they know you're a landlord has been my biggest headache!

@GuernikaGuggenheim

Sign up as a member of the Tory party-they’ll do a conscience bypass for free alongside your first payment.

Ah, I see the "evil bastard landlord narrative" brigade have arrived . . .

Semi-accidental LL here.

On the one hand I totally understand people saying "don't do it", on the other hand I do think people on MN can be a little over dramatic about this topic.

Yes there's lots that can go wrong but that's the same with many things in life! I'd say as long as you have common sense, a back up fund for repairs and you go into it with your eyes open, you'll be fine.

I have done fully managed and fully self- managed and there are pros and cons to each.

Currently self manage a flat. Things that have gone wrong/ needed fixing in the last couple of years...
New boiler
Leaking shower, bathroom needed retiling
Heating system needed degassing
Light switch broken
Damp

All perfectly fixable, some by us some by getting someone in, amiable tenants.

A managing agent, IME, is useful on checkout if you have pain in the arse tenants who leave stuff broken, don't pay rent, etc - they can do all the chasing for you. If eg boiler breaks mid tenancy all they will generally do is call you and say "boiler has broken what do you want to do"

You do need to be prepared for some hassle doing it, but (touch wood) 90% of the time you hear nothing and the rent comes in.

I'd think twice if:

• I didn't have any flexibility in my time eg if there's a leak and you need to get there to help sort something out in an emergency, can you manage that? (If self-managed)
• I was scared of conflict or found it difficult to have commercial discussions with people. Sometimes you do need to be assertive and put your foot down on certain things.
• I didn't have the means to pay for eg sudden broken boiler
• I was disorganised, let admin get on top of me
• I might need to sell or move back into the asset in the near future - it's a long term thing, getting tenants out is tricky if you need to do it quickly on your timeline

If none of those are you, I'd definitely look at letting it.

To be honest OP this is the bit about your earlier posts which would worry me most:
There's a lot of emotional baggage tied up in it all

If it's your former home and you have an emotional attachment to it, then I'd strongly recommend you get an agent to manage it to remove yourself from the day-to-day aspects of seeing someone else live there.

I've never lived in my rental property, but I DID invest a lot of time and energy into it before we let it - cleaning, painting, gardening, upgrading etc.
I haven't been able to do regular landlord visits due to covid, but was
finally there last week after many months. It broke my heart to see the state the current tenant has let it get into. She isn't looking after it at all, and the cost of repairs I'll have after she's left will cost more than anything I'll be able to recoup from the deposit.

There is online training course if you search Google and go to landlord accreditation