Renting your property to tenants for the first time can be daunting. Owners may be ready to dive into the private rental sector, but with the number of rules and regulations landlords must abide by only increasing, newcomers can find themselves unsure on how to let their rental property.
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What Is the Best Way to List a Rental Property?
Traditionally landlords have turned to high-street or online letting agents to find their ideal tenant and secure a tenancy for their rental property, being charged excessively at every step of the way. This service often simply amounts to the letting agent rushing a tenant through the door in a race to their commission fee. But, what if landlords could rent without paying any commission?
With PropertyLoop not only is your rental opportunity presented to millions of verified renters across the major online portals, but owners are given everything they need to establish and maintain a tenancy at no cost. Landlords are free to advertise, reference tenants, curate a legally sound agreement, protect the deposit and collect rent without paying any agent fees!
How Do I Rent Out My Property?
Whilst owners may be aware of the amount they will charge each month for their property alongside having an idea of their ideal tenant, what are the things landlords must remember when letting out their property?
Do You Have to Reference Tenants?
Perhaps one of the greatest fears of a landlord is to rush into a tenancy through fears of encountering a void period, only to be left with a problem tenant that soon falls behind on their commitment to pay rent, causes damage to the rental and is the root of complaints from neighbouring homes.
To the relief of many owners this outcome is rare, although can still easily happen if a landlord is reluctant to reference interested parties when marketing their rental opportunity. Before a tenant moves into a rental property in the overwhelming majority of cases they will go through the referencing process, put simply this is a series of checks that allows the landlord to determine if the renter will be a good fit for the property.
Referencing sees the aspiring tenant declare their income, employment status and credit history in order to satisfy the affordability checks, letting the landlord be certain the tenant will not accumulate arrears and has been able to clear all historic debt. Prospective renters will also be required to offer their new landlords a reference from their most recent previous landlord, giving the new owner an invaluable first-hand account of what their potential future tenant’s conduct was like throughout the tenancy and if they adhered to its terms.
How Do You Determine How Much to Charge for Rent?
As can be expected, if the owner of the rental property charges an excessive amount of rent then they will be deterring prospective tenants from proceeding into a tenancy. However, this is easily avoidable as landlords can use online portals to assess the costs of similar rental opportunities within the area. It is also essential for owners to evaluate how long these rental opportunities are available before they are taken as this will provide an insight into the current demand for rental properties in the area. Providing that the demand is consistent landlords may be able to charge slightly more for their property, however, if rental opportunities are slow to move off the market owners will have to be increasingly competitive with the amount they request their tenants pay each month.
Landlords will also need to calculate their rental yield before purchasing a property to let, or marketing the opportunity to new tenants. The rental yield of a property will allow the landlord to understand the annual income they will receive from the let, represented as a percentage of the rental’s market value. Owners will need to ensure that their annual rental income not only covers any mortgage interest payments but advertising costs, referencing fees, management charges and of course, repairs.
How Do I Make My Rental Property Safe?
As can be expected when providing tenants with a rental property it is the legal obligation of the landlords to ensure the environment being provided is safe and free from hazards that would present a risk to the occupants.
To this end, landlords are legally obligated to ensure that their rental property undergoes a gas safety check each year. This inspection must be conducted by a gas safe accredited engineer, with the certification being provided to the new tenants within 28 days of them moving into the property. Further to this, landlords will need to have a smoke alarm installed on each floor of the property that contains living space, with carbon monoxide alarms being fitted in areas that store dry fuels. Additionally, property owners will also need to obtain an electrical installations condition report, detailing the working order of electrical appliances, outlets and wiring across the rental. Landlords are only required to have this fulfilled every five years, but must supply the occupants of their property with the documents within 28 days.
What Insurances Do You Need as a Landlord?
Similarly to standard residential home insurance, landlord insurance policies are taken out to safeguard the property. Typically, rental property owners will cover themselves with buildings, contents, liability and rent guarantee insurance policies.
If the owner of the rental property has taken out a buy to let mortgage they will often be required to hold a valid building insurance policy for the loan to be upheld. Building insurance policies for landlords cover the costs of attending to needed repairs across the rental property and its structure, typically encompassing natural occurrences such as floods, theft, vandalism, burst pipes, fires, etc.
As mentioned, owners will also commonly take out contents insurance policies. Whilst this may be more applicable to those that are providing their tenants with a fully furnished rental opportunity, contents insurance will cover the costs associated with the replacement or repair of furnishings and appliances across the property. However, it is worth noting that contents insurance policies for landlords will not protect any items that the occupants introduce to the property, therefore requiring the tenants to take out their own insurance policies.
Landlords will also commonly take out liability insurance, offering them financial protection in the event that a tenant or guest is injured within their rental property, covering the costs of any compensation that would be awarded to the injured parties.
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.
