Landlord Insurance Policyholders – How to Find Tenants
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Letting agents: As a landlord insurance policy holder you may well have to go through letting agents because companies tend to work with other professionals. However, it might be worth contacting human resource departments of large organisations – you’ll save a big fee. They may arrange lettings themselves, especially for staff coming from abroad, or they may provide the employee with a budget and contacts. You may be able to advertise quite cheaply in the company newspaper.
Relocation firms specialise in helping executives move to new posts. The ideal scenario is when a company takes out a let itself and simply sublets to its staff: you get a guaranteed premium rent without the hassle of finding new tenants or the dreaded void periods. However, try to limit tenant turnover as it can be disruptive, and carry out an inventory check with each changeover.
Serviced Apartments and ‘Apart Hotel’ Lets
This is where you buy into the ownership of a hotel room or serviced apartment within a hotel or block. They are relatively new investments and, as such, have yet to prove their level of performance. Typically, these investments are based in international cities, such as London or New York, and you receive a percentage of the income generated from their use. Sometimes you are allocated a set number of days per annum that you can use the room for free.
As the income generated from hotels and serviced apartments is greater than from a standard buy to t, if they are well utilised, your average rental return can be a lot a higher. However, you need ready cash to invest as you can’t borrow for these investments. This means that the potential selling market, when you cash in to make profit, is limited.
How to find tenants
Independent letting: Around half of UK rented holiday homes are let independently rather than through agents. Contact the local tourist office and ask what information they need for you to be added to their list of holiday lets. Many people look for holiday lets on the internet and the easiest way to put yourself forward is to add your rental property to a local or specialist holiday homes directory.
Create your own website, but only try this if you know what you are doing, as it must look professional.
Use a letting agent, for marketing or managing the property. This will take up a sizeable chunk of your income (they’ll charge a percentage of income, possibly up to 49 per cent for a full service), but they should be able to fill your bookings list more efficiently than you can. You obviously have the option of taking a limited number of private (possibly repeat) bookings separately and informing the agent of any weeks that are not available.
Let to friends and family. This is a good option but beware of doing this for long periods at discounted rents as it could affect your tax position.
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