Tips to Consider for a Successful Let

Have you become an intentional landlord, or perhaps an unintentional landlord?

Being a Private Landlord can be a fantastic way to make an income, whether it’s a primary income, a secondary income or a or retirement plan.

If you’re considering letting your property and being your own landlord then it can be tempting to manage everything yourself and want to avoid paying fees to Lettings Agents.

However, being in our game, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of Lettings, so here are some considerations to think about if you are thinking about becoming a private landlord.

Time and Convenience

Letting your property can be a very time-consuming process. You need to ensure that you have the time to do all of the viewings on your property. People may want to view your property in the evening or at the weekend rather than during the day, so you may find yourself having to give up your evenings and weekends to do so. Having an agency looking after your lettings process means that they can find great tenants for you and save you so much time!

Legal Considerations

The legalities around being a property Landlord can be an absolute minefield. You need to ensure that you have all of the right documentation in place to fulfil your legal responsibilities as a private landlord, that all equipment in the property is safe and is tested regularly and that you have all of the correct insurances in place to keep you covered, plus other considerations surrounding the current COVID-19 situation also. Navigating all of this on your own can be a nightmare, whereas a lettings agency can help to ensure you have everything covered.

Marketing Your Property

Have you considered your marketing strategy? Depending on your property and your network, you may not have issues finding someone to let your property, and you could always use social media and other local marketing strategies to find yourself a tenant. However, a Lettings Agent will typically have a wider customer base and reach and be able to market your property effectively within the local market. They will also deal with all of the interactions and enquiries for the property, saving you time, stress and hassle in the process.

Helping you make more Money

Letting agents will typically have a better idea of market value and will be able to help you price your property competitively. They will also be able to advise on realistic rent rises year on year.

If you are letting your property yourself then it can be tempting to let to friends and relatives or people you know, and to strike some kind of “deal” but although this may seem like a good idea which will save time and hassle, you may have ended up earning more renting your property through a lettings agent at market value than to a friend or family member at a reduced rate.

References and Vetting 

Do you have procedures in place to vet your prospective tenants and have a rigorous referencing process in place? Having nightmare tenants can be a tumultuous emotional journey and can end up costing you a lot of money in the long run. This could be prevented by ensuring that rigorous referencing leads to a fantastic experience for you and your tenants.

When something goes wrong

If you are a private landlord, then when something goes wrong with your property, it will always be down to you to fix it. This means that you need to have the time to deal with any issues that crop up, and have a good list of local suppliers to call on in times of emergency.

If you don’t want to be getting phone calls with emergencies in the middle of the night or have to drop everything and what you were doing to deal with an emergency at your rented property, then letting your property through a lettings agency can take away this stress and worry for you as they will typically deal with emergencies and have trusted suppliers in place for maintenance work.

Tried and tested Industry Knowledge 

Here at Aubrey and Finn, we like to think that we hold the key to a successful let. We have many years of industry experience and we work with private landlords to Let their properties throughout St Albans, Hertfordshire and the UK for short term and long-term rentals. If you are considering letting your property then we’d love to help you especially if you are new to being a property Landlord and just want some help and advice.

Why not give us a call on 01727 221290 to discuss letting your property with Aubrey and Finn?