Accidental Landlords

Accidental Landlords!!

Since the downturn in the sales market, there has been a marked growth in people becoming landlords by necessity rather than by choice. The national press call these 'accidental landlords'. It basically refers to people who rent their property out because they can't sell it, not because they have decided to invest in property.

Accidental landlords need to be careful! Quite often they are renting out the family home, or a property to which they are really attached. If they have spent the last 15 years turning the garden into a horticultural marvel, it can be quite disconcerting when a tenant pays less attention and weeds appear. For this reason accidental landlords often don't last longer than the first tenancy, and end up selling the property at a loss.

This however, is the nature of letting. Whereas some agents promise the earth when taking a property on, we go to great lengths to explain to homeowners what letting out a property actually involves, so people can make a balanced and conscious decision as to whether renting is for them. Most claim to have no issue, only to forget this a few months later. This is what they should consider:

• This is not your home any more. It's now a financial investment.
• Any items which hold high value (whether financial, or sentimental) should be removed from the property. This particularly applies to properties that are furnished.
• Landlords should not expect any damage, but must accept that 'wear' in a tenanted property is generally slightly more than a property that's owner occupied. Especially in the garden.
• Whereas you decorate your own property to your own taste, you decorate a rental property to appeal to the widest possible audience - white, magnolia, etc. 
• Whereas you're happy to put up with the fact that the garage door can only be opened from the inside, or that the landing light falls down if you knock it, your tenant will not. You should attend to any niggly DIY issues before your tenant moves in, as that will make for a hassle free tenancy, and less stress for you.

Landlords who are able to adjust to this way of thinking are generally fine with the rental experience. I know of one lady who rented her house out 2 years ago, and the experience persuaded her to buy 2 more investment properties! As such being an accidental landlord can work out well. Where it doesn't work, it's as often the failure of the owner to adjust as it is due to any real problem with a tenant. 

Annabel.