When times get hard should you, as a landlord, change your investment strategy? Certainly, this can make sense, especially if the market changes. So, what are the best current property strategies around for landlords right now? Well, we list them in this article:
Contents
The majority of high street letting agents charge from 10 to 14% of your rental income for providing management costs. Go online though and you could have a low fixed cost which helps you budget better.
Base interest rates are super low right now, which makes it the idea time to re-mortgage is your last deal was carried out a number of years ago and is based on a higher base rate. You’ll also have more equity in your property to put down as a deposit.
Could changing to a limited company make more financial sense than being a sole trader? For some portfolio landlords they can save quite a bit of cash by paying corporate tax, instead of income tax. However, remember you’ll be hit by capital gains tax initially when you sell your property and buy it back as a business.
Having a property with a higher spec means you’ll be able to increase the rent. Certainly, if you’ve been having a lot of void periods recently then this could be the answer – even just to get it up to standard! What tenants are prepared to settle for changes as time moves on.
You don’t even have to refurbish or fit a new kitchen or bathroom. Even just a spot of decorating can make a big difference, together with a change of window dressing and adding a few more appliances, such as a coffee machine or steamer.
This means renting out your property via Airbnb or similar ie for holiday lets. Although these are for a shorter period ie over summer or the Christmas holidays, you can charge a far higher rate – and which could go some way towards making up for void periods.
Making sure you claim for everything you are due as a landlord can really help cut back on your annual tax bill. The kind of things landlords often miss out on are claiming heating and lighting in their own home which they use as an office. Other write offs include a portion of your phone and internet bill, as well as subscriptions for work-related magazines. Remember to always claim for repairs and maintenance too.
If you have tenants who always pay their rent on time and never cause you any problems then let them know you appreciate them by always attending to repair requests immediately and checking things are alright (especially during lockdown).
It really doesn’t make sense to invest in a buy to let unless you work out who your target tenant market is going to be first. That’s because you’ll want to tailor the property to them in terms of location, size, cost, décor etc. If its students, you’d be better buying within walking distance of a university or college. If it’s a family you want to attract then make sure there’s a good school nearby and a park or two. Young professions will normally want to live in a ‘buzzy’ area with plenty of bars and restaurants to socialise in.
This type of landlord insurance protects you against void periods. It means you’ll continue to receive rental income, even when you don’t have any tenants in your property at the time.
Why continue paying thousands each year in commission to let your property? With 97% of landlords recommending our services, and with over 50,000 tenants joining our rental community in the last year alone PropertyLoop is welcoming a new era of renting.
The PropertyLoop platform establishes the trust, transparency and personal service that has been lost from the renting sector. We are anything but another faceless corporation looking to profit from your investment, but a community founded on expertise and ambition.
We offer landlords complete clarity on available specialists through a landlord controlled rating and review system, giving users complete confidence of your PropertyPro’s proven results in finding owner’s ideal tenants faster.
With PropertyLoop landlords will have everything they need to let out their rental from start to finish, with no hidden fees, financial barriers or catches; only a revolutionary new way to let.