First Time Landlord – What To Do?

by Jane Wilson Writer

Every job description has its good and bad sides. Nobody was born with the knowledge needed to perform a certain profession. People always learn what they have to know in order to be able to be good in what they do for a living. Being a landlord is not that different. There are certain skills and knowledge you need to have, so you can make all the right decisions and not regret anything. Being a landlord is connected with highly evolved people skills and not everyone could do it. So, what to do when you're a landlord for the first time? Here are some tips on what the other landlords usually do.

Get references. When you're looking for new tenants, you should always require some references. They can help you with your decision and eliminate potential bad tenants that could only harm you and your property. Most landlords require employment information. Knowing what profession performs the potential tenant helps with the decision making. In addition, you could ask for references from previous landlords to see if there's anything disturbing. And don't forget to check these references after you get them, because if you don't, they will be practically pointless.

Check bank statements. If you want to be sure that your potential tenants can afford to pay the rent you require, it's mandatory that you check their bank statements. Otherwise you can never be sure that the prospective renter will be able to pay you everything needed and you can only loose money from that situation, and every first time landlord needs every penny he can save. Checking the bank statements can be very useful if the person or people are self-employed or they are not in regular employment.

Do an inventory. The inventory is a very useful tool which can help you protect your property from tenants who only want to destroy it. You should conduct an inventory in the beginning and in the end of tenancy. You'll need to check the condition of every item in the property and if there are any differences between the two reports, the tenant will have to pay for the repairs. If your kitchen is working with gas, you should get it checked out by specialists and get a gas safety certificate London. This way you'll be sure that there won't be any troubles with it.

Protect the deposit. The security deposit the tenant gives you is very important and you need to take good care of it. These money are not for spending! You need to put them in a security deposit box and keep them safe until the end of the tenancy agreement. After that, depending on the condition of the property, you can either return the deposit or keep it, if there are some troubles that are the tenant's fault and he refuses to fix it.

Provide contact details. It's really important to provide the new tenants with your full contact details. This way you'll show them that they can count on you in case of troubles and that you're a good landlord, who doesn't run away from his responsibilities.

Maintain certain standards. When you're a new landlord, you'll quickly realise that you'll need do maintain certain standards if you want to attract better tenants, who will be able to pay more for the property you offer. So, you'll need to keep everything around the place clean and up to date, and make sure that everything works properly. It's also very important to have the electricity in the building checked up and to get a professional EPC London.

It's not so easy to start a new job if you've never done something like it before, but if you really want to do something , you can always learn how. Being a landlord for the first time is very hard, but if you're patient and try to follow a few simple rules, you can always learn what to do and how to deal with everything that could surprise you on the way.