Holding Deposits in Buy to Let Contracts

Once you have got a new tenant and he has passed your referencing criteria, you are ready to go ahead and set up the letting.
At this stage you will need to collect a holding deposit from him because it’s not unknown for tenants to change their mind and fail to show up on moving in day. If this happens, you will have to advertise for new tenants as well as face a void period with no rental income.
The holding deposit is therefore your security against this happening. As a minimum you should ask for at least 3 weeks rent for the holding deposit because it can easily take this time to find new tenants should the ones you thought you had, fail to show up.
You should sign to acknowledge receipt of the holding deposit. Also, your prospective tenants should sign to acknowledge that should they change their mind or be unable to pay the balance of the deposit (which will normally be 6 weeks less the holding deposit of 3 weeks) and the first months’ rent in cash on the agreed move in date; they will lose the holding deposit.
David Lawrenson
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Six Tips for Being a Successful Landlord and Winning at Buy to Let

I'm often asked what are the top things you must do if you are going to be successful as a landlord. Here are six that are key:
1. You must buy the right sort of property at the right time in the right location (and there should be lots of rental demand for any property you buy, both now and in the future)
2. You must do all you can to minimise vacant periods when the property isn’t let (and that can mean cutting the rent.)
3. You must take the utmost care to vet tenants to avoid having a bad one (and if you employ an agent to do this for you, you must make absolutely sure they have done tenant vetting properly.)
4. You must fix things promptly and cost effectively (the days of Rigsby are over for good)
5. You must be good at dealing with administration - in particular, you must keep account of all your income and costs and have a proper filing system.
6. You must know and keep up to date with the ever more complex legal requirements to being a landlord
David Lawrenson Back to www.lettingfocus.com

How to Find Out True Rental Prices

A developer’s guaranteed rental may look tempting, but what happens at the end of the guarantee period. Will you be able to achieve the same rents then? It might be difficult to do this, especially if you going to have to compete for tenants with hundreds of other landlords all of whom have properties identical to yours.
Here are some good tips to test what rent is achievable before you buy a property.
Try running a test advert for the property you are thinking of buying. If no one calls at the rent you want, there's a message in there somewhere!
Look at local papers to see what other landlords are asking -then take 10% away to get to a rental fugure that will rent a place quickly - with no voids!
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Why It Might Still Be Worth Having a Home Condition Report

OK, so the Government bottled out and backed down on making Home Condition Reports mandatory (for now at least). However, is it still worth having one done?
The answer is, yes it can be.
If you are selling a property you should always try to provide as much useful information to buyers as possible - as long as it helps sell your home.
There will still be lots of companies around who will provide the full packs and if having one allows you to put one over the competition – i.e. your neighbours trying to sell their houses – then so much the better.
It may cost you a few hundred pounds for a detailed home condition report, but that could be small beer if it helps sell the property at say £2,000 more - and sell it quickly too.
David Lawrenson
Back to main site www.lettingfocus.com