A new landlord rang us up to enquire about what they should do about their father’s old house as he had gone into a nursing home and they wanted to prepare it for renting out.
This is something we are continuously being asked about and with the background of over 50 years of renting out our own houses and other people’s we are well able to answer it.
One of the first questions is invariably about how much rent will it achieve and this requires a visit to the house to decide the exact price but a good guide can be found by looking on Rightmove for a similar house in the same area.
This particular gentleman also wanted to know if he should have landlord’s insurance and my advice was it depends on the market they will be targeting, the location of the house and the individual risk window of the house owner. It is very important that landlords insurance is not confused with contents insurance and buildings insurance, which are an absolute necessity for any rental property even if unfurnished as there will still be contents in the kitchen and bathroom.
Whatever you decide to do about insurance don’t forget to tell your existing insurance company that you intend to let out your house as they will be adding in some additional clauses like “not being empty for more than 30 days”. Whilst on the subject don’t forget to inform your mortgage company that you are going to rent it out.
Our conversation covered lots of different subjects and finally concluded at their property but just quickly, it is very important to decide quite early on if you are going to provide furnished or unfurnished accommodation.
Furnished accommodation tends to attract longer-term tenants, as they have to invest in moving their own furniture in whilst furnished property attracts shorter-term tenants, who are able to move out overnight.
For more information please get in touch with Blue i Properties on 01332 371661 as we can help with all the above questions and help promote and manage your property.
