Advice for New Landlord

Lister1

Am due to move to London next month and will be looking to rent out my apartment in Drogheda. Are there any threads/websites that give advice to potential landlords. Things I need to read up on include....

pros/cons of renting private vs. using a letting agency
advice of being an out of country landlord
PRTB
Screening Tenants(have viewed recent thread)
Contracts
Collecting Rent
Rent Books
etc....

pwurple

Make the place as bomb-proof as you can. Solid floors, regular colour paint, and everything easily replaceable.

Keep communication open. Give the tenants your email, phone and postal address so they can get hold of your quickly. If you know the neighbours that is handy too. Email or text the tenants after a few days at the start, and every few months after that to ask how things are going.

Have a list of local suppliers that you trust for electrical repairs, plumbing etc. What I do when I'm out of the country if there is a problem is tell the tenant to contact supplier X themselves, get it fixed, and bill me. But this only works if the vendor is on good terms with you.

Pay your PRTB, your NPPR, and keep everything tax compliant. You need a BER.

I make sure rent goes into a dedicated bank account (not your personal one in case you get audited). Get a cheque book for that account and any payments related to that property come out of it.

Vet your tenants. Get references, find out where they work. Hold onto good tenants. I have had one bad set of tenants in all the years in one property. A young couple, references checked out, but there was a domestic violence incident after 3 months. They absolutely battered the place one night. Broke down doors, smashed windows, gardai called by the neighbours and the guy was taken away. Deposit covered about 30% of the damage they did in one night. The tenants after them have been there 4 years, and

djimi

Just be aware that if you are living out of the country then legally your tenants are obliged to hold back a portion of the rent (20% I think) to be paid to revenue. If you are letting through an agent then they will probably take care of this for you, but if you letting direct then thats the law.

pwurple

djimi wrote: »

Just be aware that if you are living out of the country then legally your tenants are obliged to hold back a portion of the rent (20% I think) to be paid to revenue. If you are letting through an agent then they will probably take care of this for you, but if you letting direct then thats the law.

Got a link for that?

djimi

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/tax_relief_for_tenants.html

If your landlord lives outside Ireland and you pay rent directly to them or to their bank account, whether in Ireland or abroad, you must deduct tax at the standard rate (20% in 2011 and 2012) from the gross amount that you pay. This deduction is not your tax relief - it is tax payable to Revenue from your landlord's income.

You must account to Revenue for the tax you deduct from the gross rent. If you fail to deduct tax from rent you pay to a landlord living outside Ireland, this will mean that you (and not the landlord) will be liable for any tax which should have been deducted.

SligoLady

www.irishlandlord.com is a good site with all the info you'll need.

mitosis

Vet your tenants thoroughly. Find out where they previously rented, where they work. Be exhaustive, because, if things go wrong, you have effectively no rights.

BostonB

Lister1 wrote: »

Am due to move to London next month and will be looking to rent out my apartment inSet up a new business in Drogheda....

Corrected that for you. That should be your mindset.

johnmolon

Lister1 wrote: »

Am due to move to London next month and will be looking to rent out my apartment in Drogheda. Are there any threads/websites that give advice to potential landlords. Things I need to read up on include....

pros/cons of renting private vs. using a letting agency
advice of being an out of country landlord
PRTB
Screening Tenants(have viewed recent thread)
Contracts
Collecting Rent
Rent Books
etc....

MAKE SURE YOU GET A LARGE DEPOSIT

mood

As you won't be living in the same country never mind the same town I would think it maybe better to use a letting agency as they can arrange any repair work needed etc. Or maybe you could get a relation or friend to act on your behalf.

Also make sure they have things like a hoover etc in the house. I lived in a student house once with no hoover and it was very difficult to keep the place clean and tidy!

whatnext

My tips.
It's no longer your apartment, it's a liability that is costing you a months rent every month it's empty.
Don't supply anything you don't need to, extras are only things that can go wrong, I'm thinking specifically of TV's , wireless routers etc.
Be reasonable on the rent, if you price it too high by €100 it could cost two months rent getting a tenant.
ALWAYS stick with your gut instinct. Meet prospective tenants if you can, find out where they work.
Look after a good tenant. I've reduced the rent for good tenants in the past so they can't move out without paying a higher rent somewhere else.
Never raise the rent on a sitting tenant unless you want rid of them.
Simple robust neutral furniture and decor is better than something that is a matter of taste.
Make sure all the utility bills go in the tenants names.
Take lots of pictures, upload them to picasso or something similar and get the tenants to agree on the condition.
Do a full detailed inventory, include everything down to the toilet seat and door handles, get the tenants to agree to its content.
Get a number for a carpenter, plumber and electrician you can trust, and put them in your phone.

Will add to this later

OnTheCounter

Make sure if something needs fixing you get it done within a week, sooner if it is the shower or cooker.

mood

OnTheCounter wrote: »

Make sure if something needs fixing you get it done within a week, sooner if it is the shower or cooker.

Or heating. We have been without heating for over two weeks and are going to give the landlord a months notice as soon as we find a new apt. It's totally unacceptable for the landlord to make no attempt to have it fixed in two weeks. :mad: There are other things that need repairing that he knows of for ages and again no attempt at all has been make to either call over to access the situation and/or do anything about it. You will loose good tenants just like our landlord is going to because of this type of lazyness / meanness / thoughtlessness. :mad:

Idbatterim

Or heating. We have been without heating for over two weeks and are going to give the landlord a months notice as soon as we find a new apt. It's totally unacceptable for the landlord to make no attempt to have it fixed in two weeks. There are other things that need repairing that he knows of for ages and again no attempt at all has been make to either call over to access the situation and/or do anything about it. You will loose good tenants just like our landlord is going to because of this type of lazyness / meanness / thoughtlessness.

get it fixed, take it out of the next months rent and send the landlord the receipt...

mood

Idbatterim wrote: »

get it fixed, take it out of the next months rent and send the landlord the receipt...

I think there is a clause in the lease preventing us from doing that but I'll double check. I think I would rather move and get a decent landlord who takes care of tenants and the property. I take care of my end of things and so should he.

whatnext

Idbatterim wrote: »

get it fixed, take it out of the next months rent and send the landlord the receipt...

That would be a breach of the lease terms I would expect, unless you have written prior agreement from the landlord.

The fact that the landlord may also be in breach is irrelevant legally.

Also if the LL did agree, taking responsibility for repairs to a heating system is setting yourself up for a potential sh!t storm if something further were to go wrong down the line

relax carry on

Lister1 wrote: »

Am due to move to London next month and will be looking to rent out my apartment in Drogheda. Are there any threads/websites that give advice to potential landlords. Things I need to read up on include....

pros/cons of renting private vs. using a letting agency
advice of being an out of country landlord
PRTB
Screening Tenants(have viewed recent thread)
Contracts
Collecting Rent
Rent Books
etc....

Since its taxation season, it might be worth your while ensuring that you are tax compliant as a non resident landlord. But in any case, you must inform Revenue to stop the TRS on your mortgage if you rent out the property as one of your first steps.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it70.html