Last week the National Landlords’ Association showed us research that around 24% of the UK landlords entered into the market unintentionally. Are you an ‘accidental’ landlord?
Many ‘accidental’ landlords do not know what they are getting themselves into and do not think of being a landlord as an actual job, as they already have a job. There are over 100 Government statutes and regulations that landlords must abide to in order to be compliant, most novice landlords have no knowledge of these, and this can impact on the compliant running of the tenancy and also open the landlord up to financial loss. The Treasury has said a new European Mortgage Credit Directive, which comes into force in 2016, will result in some landlord mortgages facing regulation – and this would stop homeowners making an easy move to being a landlord.
When first trying to fill a new property, many ‘accidental’ landlords do not know the questions to ask prospective tenants. Established letting agents have proven processes that tenants go through before they would allow them to move into a property, from references to credit checks. Letting agents have the experience to understand who would be good tenants for your property and why, many ‘accidental’ landlords have never been exposed to this.
When an ‘accidental landlord’ inherits a property, there is a large chance that the additional property will be located a long distance from the owners current home. This would make it difficult for the landlord to deal with maintenance, home inspections or generally knowing what is going on at the property. If the landlord had appointed a local letting agent to manage the property, all of these requests would be dealt with, without the landlord having to travel (thus, saving some money in travel expenses.)
Dealing with issues that arise during a tenancy is another area where the ‘accidental’ landlords to not have the knowledgeable experience to handle the situation. Some accidental landlords do not have the professional mind set to deal with the income property as a business, and become emotionally involved in tenant disputes. Where as an estate agent, knows this is a business – a business they practice everyday.
You might think you’re saving money by ‘going it alone’, but in the long run your time is probably more valuable then the cost of the appointing an estate agent. Estate agents are around for a reason, they are the professionals that deal with property day in and out. You wouldn’t be your own dentist to save money, so why be your own estate agent?
If you became an ‘accidental’ landlord and are looking for some professional support, get in touch with the team at Mansons today and we will give you the relevant information to make your property as profitable as possible.