Property Landlord advice: Buying a House to rent Part 4.

By Steve Roulstone

Part 4; Just how flexible is the house?

Finally in my humble opinion, you need to consider how easy the property will be able to be used as a rental house, not just for you as Landlord, but also by the Tenant. It is these practicalities that will be in the mind of any possible Tenant when they visit the house in the first place and my experience of such is littered with examples.

Furniture.

The number of times a rental has fallen through because the Tenant could not get his furniture (usually the settee) in the lounge is by far the most common. The size of room is not usually the issue, rather where are the doors situated. I myself have turned down a house because the Landlord had built a conservatory with an entrance from the lounge, which meant there were three doors and a fireplace to contend with. The end result was a total lack of wall space. There is also the issue of tight corners and narrow staircases. They do still exist and if for example the bedrooms do not have fitted wardrobes, you have to imagine how such large pieces of furniture are able to be manoeuvred around any tight corners.

Gardens.

Now for the big one! It is to be hoped that the garden is not the main reason anybody buys a rental home, but a fiddly set of borders and rockeries are a definite disadvantage to a Tenant. Exactly the opposite of flexible! It should also be remembered that just because a garden is immaculate when handed over, does not mean that the Tenants are expected to know when to cut plants back or down in accordance with the RHS Gardening year book. The expectancy on a Tenant to look after a garden is that of what is considered reasonable in very general terms. In other words, one man’s Eden project is another man’s Butterfly garden. Both are acceptable, providing they are not left alone completely. So make them easy to start with, it will pay in the long run. I am not suggesting concrete wall to wall, but perhaps a new lawn is better than a rockery and vegetable patch.

Decoration.

If you are lucky (just like my Landlords) The Tenant will rent for several years and decorate top to bottom himself. As a Landlord I have never been so lucky. So you need to consider how easy it will be for you to decorate, which will be needed along the way and ideally between Tenants. This means that dado rails and wallpaper are not the best way forward. Anaglypta however is perfect, because you can apply a coat of paint easily and quickly. Likewise anything other than sapele doors are more difficult and will probably need several coats. White painted doors fit the bill, look clean and are again neutral in colour and therefore better all round. The point being that these issues are not deal breakers, but by changing or decorating or dealing with them at this stage, you could remove difficult decisions from a later date and make the property more flexible during its lifetime as a rental property.

 Thats all folks!

This four part article is by no means the definitive ‘what to do when buying’, but hopefully it is a big enough one to provide you with a basis to start. In all seriousness it is your Agent (and everybody else you know who is a Landlord) that will help fill in the gaps. I have said before you will be surprised just how many people you know own at least one other property which is rented out. One thing for sure, is that the trends we are currently experiencing show no signs of slowing down. Even quite periods, the like of which we have witnessed since Easter are only a week away from a busy one. Only two weeks ago, we were discussing just how many properties we have available at present. After what are possibly two record weeks renting those very same properties, I know the ‘we need more properties to rent’ discussion is only a couple of days away!