Mistakes New Landlords Often Make

If you are thinking about renting out a property for the first time, it can be a little bit overwhelming. After all, there is a lot that needs to be taken into account. Nevertheless, one of the best things you can do is learn from the mistakes that have been made by others before you. With that in mind, read on to discover some of the common errors new landlords often make so you can avoid them…

Getting the pricing wrong – There is only one place to begin, and this is with setting your rental prices too high or too low. Both are just as damaging, which is why an expert rental valuation comes highly advised. If you set your rates too high, your property is going to remain empty, and you are going to lose money in the process. On the flip side, if you set your rates too low, you are going to be losing out on money every month. Plus, if your tenants decide intend to rent on a long-term basis, it is unreasonable to simply put up their rent by a huge amount the following year.

Neglecting tenants – While you do not want to pester your tenants, you should check in once per year to make sure your house is in good condition. Plus, health and safety legislation demands that smoke alarms and such like are checked on an annual basis or whenever a contract is renewed, so you can combine the two.

Relying on a handshake – This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. It does not matter if you know the prospective tenants and you trust the, you need to have a legal contract drawn up so that both parties are protected no matter the circumstances.

Underestimating the cost of ongoing property maintenance and repairs – As a landlord, you are going to need to have a considerable amount of cash reserved for property repairs and maintenance. Whenever something breaks, you need to fix it, and you need to fix it quickly. Running out of the cash to do so is simply not an option. Insurance is also very important so make sure you look around at companies like Just Landlords to find the best option for you.

Presuming the property is always going to be rented out – Last but not least, you need to plan for the fact that your property is not going to be rented out all of the time. There are going to be periods whereby it is empty while existing tenants move out and you look for new ones. Of course, you will try to secure new tenants as soon as possible, yet it does not always happen this way.

As you can see, there are a number of traps you can fall into as a new landlord. However, hopefully, now that you are aware of them, you can make sure that you do not make the errors that have been discussed. Good luck!

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