Our first property letting experience

If you’re thinking about getting into property investment, this post will be quite timely for you.

When we bought our first buy-to-let place, spurred on by Rich Dad, Poor Dad, we were quite proud of ourselves.  Not only had we secured our first investment property, but we were also on the look out for our own first residential home – all at the same time.  I had this objective and achieved it in a little under 3 months!

Investing in property is a great way to build yourself a steady income stream but be in no doubt, this isn’t for the faint-hearted.  You should be prepared for unexpected problems and frustrations that go hand-in-hand with investing in property and then managing it yourself.

Why not just use a letting agent?  Well, firstly the numbers need to add up.  If paying management fees tips your cashflow into negative territory, then you either need to increase the rent, decrease your mortgage payments or sell up.  I do not and will never believe in topping up the mortgage on a BTL property unless you plan on living in the property yourself some day.

Secondly, a letting agent is normally just a first point of contact.  If there are repairs needed or a non-paying tenant, the agent will only be helpful to a point.  After that, its over to you again.

Thirdly, as this was our first foray into property, I wanted to experience everything hands-on, warts and all.  Also the property wasn’t that far from where we lived.

We’ve been at this about two and a half years now and have gone through quite a bit.  When going through it, you’ll feel like its a hassle not worth it.  But if you actually take a step back and determine how much of your time has actually been taken up for what you’ve made, it might paint a much rosier picture.  It did for us.

The top tips we’ve gathered along this journey:

1. Get an Energy Performance Certificate pronto.  Once done it lasts 10 years for a rental property (this is a MUST).
2. Get a Gas Safety check every year (this is a MUST).
3. Lodge your deposits with the Deposit Protection Service within 14 days of receiving it or face losing upto three months rent.
4. Get a fellow landlord to check the Tenancy Agreement you expect to use.  Some of the online templates out there are great, but make sure you’ve got the right one for your situation (e.g. HMO, student let, DSS tenant, short-let)
5. Make sure your Inventory Check covers everything in your property.  It makes things much simpler at the end of the tenancy.

If you’re interested in property investment, I am working on setting up a service which delivers just that for investors.  Whether you’re just starting out or have a portfolio to build upon, Leading Route Properties will be built on the principles of trust, integrity and clarity.  Buying a property is no small commitment, and you should expect no less from a partner in this field.

Register at www.LeadingRouteProperties.com now to ensure you are the first to know when we open for business.

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Anand

Anand is the managing co-founder of Memfy and acts as a commercial and digital strategy consultant to organisations in the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter under the handle, @AnandPajpani.

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