Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and our minds (well some of us) turning to thoughts of love, relationships and romance.
During the 21 years as a letting agent and property manager we’ve seen many times when people who have decided to rent out a property can’t ‘let go of it’ emotionally.
Our advice to all landlords, especially new ones, is to totally detach their emotions from the property.
Here are ten of our top tips to run your rental property business well.
1) If you’re interested in the buy to let business for the sake of investment and financial gain, then it’s important to “keep it strictly business”. Don’t take a viewer not wanting to move in personally or get annoyed when a tenant decides to move out.
2) When making your purchase discard the things that might be attractive to you if you were going to live in the property. What matters is selecting a property that will be attractive to the masses.
3) We know you’ve heard it before but location, location, location. Tenants, especially busy professionals love a good location. It needs to be convenient to transportation (the nearer to a train/bus/motorway the better) as well as shops and increasingly cafes and coffee shops. And if it’s convenient to schools, green spaces, restaurants, cinemas and theatres then even better for when we are able to venture back out.
4) When you rent out your property ensure that it’s fitted out to a good standard. Good quality fittings will not only attract good quality tenants, they will also attract better rental values. And as the years go by you will find yourself spending less on repairs and upgrades. Be warned though we’ve seen many a landlord pay dearly for cheap fittings/materials and/or cheap labour.
5) No one loves a cheap skate. It’s fair to say that you will very likely be financially better off in the long term by spending more at the outset. It doesn’t have to be “high-end”, just reasonably good quality. For example, when buying paint go for a good brand like Dulux as opposed to your local DIY store’s own brand. A brand like Dulux will last much longer and stand up to things like cleaning off scuffs; unlike cheap imitations which will invariably wash off with the scuff!