Congratulations, you’ve decided to rent out your property! We know that this might be obvious but all landlords should try to keep it occupied at all times if possible. If you don’t, the mortgage, council tax and any other bills will be coming straight out of your own pocket and can mount up quickly.
In true Great British weather tradition it seems that the summer may have ended all too soon; with autumn and winter starting to creep in… It’s know in the property market that the colder months can be a hard time for landlords to find new tenants; but hopefully if you follow these tips you will never find your property unoccupied.
Use long term contracts
We’d advise to try and avoid six month contracts where you can. Having people come and go more regularly can be quite disruptive and one year contracts work much better for both landlords and tenants.
Once the contract is up, think about asking your tenants whether they would be interested in signing another contract. You don’t want to get into a rolling contract if possible; as it gives you less peace of mind, knowing they could up and leave at any time.
Think forward
Once you know that your current tenants are planning on moving out, try and visit your property as soon as possible to find out if anything needs fixing or replacing. Put the motions into place and get quotes for any new furniture or appliances; and book in contractors to carry out any work needed as soon as possible.
The best time to do up your property and give it a quick lick of paint is during the first week after tenants have moved out. This means the house will be available for viewings quickly, hopefully resulting in brand new tenants.
Look after your tenants
The easiest way to avoid an empty house is to look after your tenants as well as you can; after all a little kindness never killed nobody. This may sound obvious, but as a landlord it is easy to just ask tenants to sign a few contracts, hand over the keys and walk away.
However taking the time to build a relationship with tenants can go a very long way. It’s also important to try and solve any problems they may have as quickly as possible. That way if your tenants do move out, having a good relationship with them means you can ask them what the reasons behind their move are. If it’s something that can be changed you can do so before any new tenants move into the property.
Advertise
If you do happen to find yourself with an empty house, good marketing and adverts can make a world of difference when it comes to finding new tenants. It’s key to choose an estate agent that you trust and that lists their properties on major property portals such as Zoopla and Rightmove.
At Century Residential, our lettings team take pride in finding the most suitable tenant for your property in the shortest time possible. We understand how much your property means to you, so you can be assured that your letting will be handled professionally, efficiently and effectively. A large majority of our clients come to us through recommendations and that’s why client satisfaction and our reputation are immensely important to us.
Make it easy
The best way to get new tenants is to make it as easy as possible for people to find out about your property. We always try to work smart when booking viewings for our landlords; and always consider block viewing days, where we arrange for as many people as possible can come and look at it.
Need any help? Here’s our number 01634 570057
If you’re looking for help to not just list, rent out or manage your property, please come and speak to a member of our lettings team.
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