The Biggest Challenges A Landlord Faces

Ask anybody where you should invest your money and they’ll say property. It’s fast becoming one of the most popular investment opportunities and for good reason. Rents are at an all time high and the value of the property itself is only going to go up. It’s a very sensible investment but the advice about it online can sometimes be a bit misleading. Everybody is quick to tell you about how amazing it is and how much money you can make, but it isn’t all swings and roundabouts. Like any other investment, there are a lot of risks and challenges involved and if you aren’t aware of them, you can easily get caught out and lose money on your property. But that’s not going to happen to you once you’ve read our list of the biggest challenges that all landlords face.

Tenants That Don’t Pay

When somebody moves into the property you should always be doing credit checks and asking them to provide some form of proof of income as well as getting a reference from a previous landlord, but that doesn’t guarantee they’ll pay on time every month. You never know what could happen and if they suffer a job loss or hit some other financial hurdle, you can end up not getting your rent. Obviously, it’s nobody’s fault, but it still puts you in a tricky situation. Fortunately, you can avoid that by renting the property through an agency that offers guaranteed rent for landlords, even if the tenant stops paying. Getting landlords insurance is also an option because a lot of policies are offering a certain amount of guaranteed rent if the tenant can’t pay. This will help you keep your head above water until you can find somebody else to move in or work something out with the existing tenant.

Keeping The Property Legal

There are all sorts of laws in place to safeguard tenants and make sure that the property is in a fit condition to live in. It’s up to you as the landlord to make sure you’re adhering to all of those rules and regulations. If you don’t, the tenant isn’t obliged to pay you rent until you bring the building up to scratch. You need to make sure all of the electrics and the boiler are properly safety tested and get rid of any damp or black mold issues. You’re also eligible for any repairs that need doing which can get pretty costly if the house needs a lot of work.

Changes To Legislation

The government is increasingly under pressure from tenants to make renting more affordable and easier for them. That means that legislation for landlords is always changing and if you don’t keep up with it, you can quickly find yourself on the wrong side of the law. There are now over 100 pieces of legislation that you need to get your head around and that number is going up all the time. It’s vital that you’re constantly tapped into what’s going on so you can prepare for legislation changes ahead of time.

Everything that you hear about how great it is to be a landlord is true, just remember that you have to get over these hurdles as well.

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