Reply to: Question to landlords... claiming on insurance due to tenants trashing the place

[AtW]

You could still get a decent family home in Yorkshire for £60K in the late 1990s.

If he bought it for £60k back then do you really think the price (after massive growth in the last 15 years) would drop so much that it would be £40k?!?!?!

He must have bought it recently (last 5 years?), something that would make him double moron.

[Sysman]

I mean you bought the house for £60k, unless you did so 30-40 years ago then how possibly can it be in a good area? Decent house in my area is £450-500k. Very good is £750k and top end is £2 mln+.

You could still get a decent family home in Yorkshire for £60K in the late 1990s. Go back to the mid-1990s and you could have something quite up market for that. The North East was possibly cheaper still.

Alexei, you obviously haven't seen how once respectable locations Oop North deteriorated under New Labour.

[moggy]

Great ideas. In an area where weekly rental to benefits tenants is the norm, I'll demand a high deposit and charge much more. This will attract a middle-class family to live with all the chavs.

You utter moron. Your suggestions are about as sensible as physically moving the house to a nicer area. It would just mean the house sits empty for months... even with bad tenants, keeping the place occupied is the best option.

It wasn't deliberate, we're stuck owning property in what is now a rental area... it's changed a lot over the last few years as many privately owned properties are repossessed. We can rent to bring in a bit of money with a lot of stress, or sell the place at 2/3 what we paid - true that was only £60ish but I still don't want to throw away £20k.

As someone posted above, to be landlord in this area you need to be a tough git. Probably the fact we used to live there makes it more painful, seeing the sorry state it's in.

someone once told me.. the first lesson you need to learn in renting your old place is... its no longer your home.. once you realise this it will be easier to take someone trashing it i guess.

[Lockhouse]

Only a couple of weeks', since it's let by the week. About enough to cover the last bit of rent they didn't pay. Actually that's another thing to add to the list, again on its own chasing 2-3 weeks' rent is pointless but if we're making a claim...

As others have said, always take the rent monthly, always take it by direct debit and if it's not in your account on the right day of the month, call the tenant to find out why. It's all part of managing your property. I always have my tenant's rent due dates in Outlook and I get pop ups reminding me to call the bank, when to speak to them about renewing their tenancy, when the property is due for inspection etc. I do all that when they move in and from then on it's automatic. I also don't take DHSS tenants but have had tenants convert to DHSS when they've lost their job etc. Not had any issues yet but then I'd rather the property was empty for another month than take a dodgy tenant.

I find that if a tenant feels they have a landlord that's on the ball, they are much less likely to take the p***. If they see you being shoddy, they think they can get away with it as well.

[Scrag Meister]

For proper security you need Decent vetted tenants, Min £1000 deposit and 2 months in advance on the rent. get friendly with the nosy neighbour (there's always 1) give them your mobile number and drop them £20 a month to keep a close eye on the tenants.

The guy who lives opposite my house in Devon is ex-military, and occasional personal security for some very rich folks.

Observant or what, and he's now a tree surgeon/landscape gardener, very handy neigbour to have.

B0ll0cks people for parking on my drive, cos we aren't there most of the time, mows our grass, trims our trees.

[AtW]

Unless you've lived in a deprived/poor area you don't know squat.

I've lived in a tulipy area of Wolverhampton where I rented a room in a shared house for I think £120-140 per month or so.

I now live in a nice area where I rent 3 level flat (1500 sq ft) for £1000 per month.

What I've learnt is that I certainly would not want to live where I started and heavens forbid I would not be investing my money there.

If your place is now worth £40k (less after damage done by your tenants) then how much were you possibly making from it per year? It is a more retarded Plan B than MF's tat shop selling sledges in the middle of summer.

I mean you bought the house for £60k, unless you did so 30-40 years ago then how possibly can it be in a good area? Decent house in my area is £450-500k. Very good is £750k and top end is £2 mln+.

And no, it's not Wandsworth

So there moron.

[d000hg]

No, Sir, the utter moron is you actually - for buying tulip house in a tulip area with total tulip tenants.

It isn't a crap house, the area wasn't crap when we bought it.

HTH but I doubt it because you're so tremendously blinkered in how you view the world through the tiny, tiny slice of it you've actually experienced, that you're simply unable to imagine anything other than middle-class Birmingham flats. Unless you've lived in a deprived/poor area you don't know squat.

Your own posts about renting and buying property show that even in your own demographic, you're totally ignorant about how things work. Do yourself a kindness and go back to posting about economics, a subject on which you're equally ignorant but it's a bit harder to tell.

[AtW]

You utter moron.

No, Sir, the utter moron is you actually - for buying tulip house in a tulip area with total tulip tenants.

We can rent to bring in a bit of money with a lot of stress, or sell the place at 2/3 what we paid - true that was only £60ish but I still don't want to throw away £20k.

See above.

btw, don't count in insurance too much - they'd have to have actuaries who are even bigger morons than you to either insure you in the first place or have such terms that you can have safe business model by investing into tulip place with high risks.

[d000hg]

I am not actually, but you certainly are - otherwise you would not get into this game of letting weekly to people who can't afford proper deposit and who'll steal your tulip.

I mean are you stupid or what? If anything you should have built this risk into the price you charge many times over and therefore still be quids in when somebody does it to your place.

Great ideas. In an area where weekly rental to benefits tenants is the norm, I'll demand a high deposit and charge much more. This will attract a middle-class family to live with all the chavs.

You utter moron. Your suggestions are about as sensible as physically moving the house to a nicer area. It would just mean the house sits empty for months... even with bad tenants, keeping the place occupied is the best option.

maybe not get into this game in the first place.

It wasn't deliberate, we're stuck owning property in what is now a rental area... it's changed a lot over the last few years as many privately owned properties are repossessed. We can rent to bring in a bit of money with a lot of stress, or sell the place at 2/3 what we paid - true that was only £60ish but I still don't want to throw away £20k.

As someone posted above, to be landlord in this area you need to be a tough git. Probably the fact we used to live there makes it more painful, seeing the sorry state it's in.

[doodab]

It's changed then. That was certainly the trick in the 80s and 90s (and it actually had the effect of releasing more rental property onto the market).

It changed in 1988 I think.

[Sysman]

Generally one needs to be a **** to be a slum landlord. Or at least, you need to be a bigger **** than your tenants.

That's rubbish. Those terms don't have any legal meaning and putting furniture in doesn't confer any additional rights.

It's changed then. That was certainly the trick in the 80s and 90s (and it actually had the effect of releasing more rental property onto the market).

Furnished or Unfurnished?

Letting and residential property fully furnished, part-furnished or unfurnished in England & Wales no longer has any implications regarding security of tenure for the tenant or for taxation. However, Council Tax and the 10% Depreciation Allowance may be affected - you don't pay Council Tax during voids if let unfurnished, but if you do this you cannot then claim the 10% Depreciation Allowance.

So there are Council Tax and depreciation considerations.

[MarillionFan]

http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...our-house.html

Looks like you're not cut out for being an accidental landlord.

[Sysman]

They might even be your previous tenants.

You might even find out where the previous tenants are.

When exploringing renting as a Plan B in the 90s in the North East (which I believe is where doogie's property is), one of the better plans I came across was to rent to students:

• The prices are pretty well defined and the marketing is easy (Students Union noticeboard).
• Charge per head rather than per room - 2 girls who want to share a room - boomed!
• Don't let them stay over summer - no problem with tenancy rights.
• Don't let them stay over summer - send some lads in with cleaning materials and emulsion. Job sorted.

The going rate for lads sent in to do the job was a tenner a day in the NE in the 90s (as mentioned above, get yourself down the pub to find 'em).

[doodab]

Generally one needs to be a **** to be a slum landlord. Or at least, you need to be a bigger **** than your tenants.

And by dint of that you have more tenancy rights than someone renting a furnished place. Furnishing or part furnishing is a way that landlords gain more rights to chuck bad tenants out.

That's rubbish. Those terms don't have any legal meaning and putting furniture in doesn't confer any additional rights.

[Sysman]

His biggest mistake was getting involved into trying to make money in that segment of the market.

It depends what he paid for the place and how much it would be worth if sold. There are plenty of folks who do make money in that market.

FYI - my monthly rent is £1000 and I got 6 weeks deposit with 12 month contract.

That's a different market sector.

... and still the place was not furnished!

And by dint of that you have more tenancy rights than someone renting a furnished place. Furnishing or part furnishing is a way that landlords gain more rights to chuck bad tenants out.