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If we can help at all with any part of the process of give advice please feel free to contact us.
The below will help you with the property advertising, preparing for the tenant move in, doing the move in, inventory reports, inspections, move out and if the worst comes to the worst the eviction process. For every step we can be there by your side. We maybe an online agency but we are real people in the real world here to help.
Ok, the fact you are on this site probably means you have this covered right. You simply create your free account, create your ad, load your photos and your property will be listed on all the online portals like rightmove.co.uk, letmatch.co.uk, primelocation.com, findaproperty.co.uk and all the leading online property portals. So, best not delay as tenants will start to come your way within a matter of hours or days!
As a landlord renting property you have a number of legal aspects to take care of when renting property. We will cover these below.
This is a legal requirement, you MUST have a gas safety certificate in place BEFORE a tenant moves in. We can arrange this for you, simple contact us and we can sort this out with you. You can find out more about gas safety here.
It is also a legal requirement now to have an EPC in place before a tenant moves in. Again this is something we can arrange for you, just contact us if you need help. You can find out more here.
Whilst it is not a legal requirement to have an eletrical inspection or certificate, it is a good idea, should a fault develop and a tenant be injured, if you could not prove you had shown due diligence you could be in trouble. We can arrange this for you, simply contact us for help. You can find out more here.
It is a good idea to walk around your property and have an eye out for health and safety, check trip hazards, faulty locks, broken window catches, broken glass, banistar rails safe and secure etc. Again this falls under showing due diligence and ensuring your property is fit for purpose. You can find out a bit more here.
Ok, so, your property is advertised, you have the legal issues taken care of and your property is ready to let. Tenant viewings comes next. Tenants will call us initially and we will pass on your contact details for them to make an appointment with you to view.
Make sure tenants know to come with proof of ID and some cash to pay for credit checks/tenant references should they wish to take the property (on passing the checks). Take a photo of their ID, photo ID is best!
Be safe when doing viewings, ensure you inform people who you are meeting and when.
Once you have viewed your property with the prospective tenants and you and they are happy to proceed the credit checks/tenant references come next (or guarantor reference checks on behalf of the tennat).
We STRONGLY advise you to perform the credit checks or tenant references. Your property is likely to be one of your most valuable assets and you need to ensure the people you are going to allow to live there are able to afford the property, have not left a trail of bad debts and are who they say they are.
We are here to help, we provide a full tenant or guarantor credit check and tenant reference service at unbeatable prices and speed of turn around. Read more about our credit check and tenant reference service.
Insurance always seems like an expense you can do without, until you need it! This is never more true than with rent guarantee insurance. We can arrange rent guarantee insurance, landlords buildings insurance and landords contents insurance for you at prices unbeatable! Give yourself peace of mind and sleep at night knowing for very little money you are fully insured for any event.
See, it's not so hard when you have a partner like Visum working with you!
So, ready for move in, property is ready, tenants are checked out, insurance is all in place.
Download your free tenancy agreement in the free tenancy pack pack from within your account area. Print out two copies of everything and enter the details in the blanks in the forms. Each form is self explantory.
Do a good inventory of your property, we do recommend using video, burning to disc and having the tenant sign and date the disc, video inventories are not open to subjective review. Don't skimp on the invetory, detail each and every item.
At move in get the tenant(s) to sign and date each and every form, initial every page in the tenancy.
Ensure the tenant has paid in CLEARED funds the deposit and first months rent. Do not accept cheques on the day of move in!
We also recommend serving a section 21 at move in, this way the tenants cannot claim they never received it, section 21 notices stay in effect for good, and do not have to be actioned, but, should there be problems during the tenancy you are ahead of the game in having done this. You can create your section 21 notice on this site.
It is now a legal requirement that the tenants deposit is protected in a recognized scheme. Again, Visum are happy to help here, simply contact us. You can find out a lot more about the tenants/landlords deposit protection scheme here.
We recommend keeping the property in good order, repair jobs that are reported to you by the tenants in a timely manner. You do not want to fall out with the tenants and have them withhold rent over incomplete jobs.
It is a good idea to inspect the property every 3 months, ensure you write to the tenants giving them ample notice before hand. This is an opportunity for you and the tenant to go through any issues/jobs/wear and tear.
To increase the rent of your property you can either wait till the end of the term of the signed tenancy and issue a new tenancy at a new rate, which of course the tenant may not wish to sign (and hence one of the reasons you should serve our section 21 notice at move in), or you can serve a section 13 notice more commonly called the rent increase notice.
Even with all the best preparation in the world and all the best tenant referencing, things can still go wrong, tenants can lose their jobs and often rent is the first thing they stop paying, aren't you glad you took out rent guarantee insurance now! Visum once again can help here. Evicting a tenant is a legal minefield and 75% of cases are kicked out of court through incorrectly completed eviction notices. Don't be one of those 75%, as it WILL cost you THOUSANDS in lost rent and wasted legal fees, we can complete the eviction notices for you.