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The truth is that many people find to their dismay that they
absolutely hate the hassle of it all. Former pop star John Moore, of the
Jesus and Mary Chain and Black Box Recorder, is typical of the new breed
of extremely reluctant landlord.
John, who is married with a 4-year old daughter, has rented out
his former home, a one-bedroom flat in a period conversion in London W2,
for the past 4 years and says quite categorically: “I can’t stand it. I
live in dread of a call from my tenants to say that something terrible
and expensive has happened. When I get the call, I know I have to fix
the problem at once whatever the cost.
| “Last winter, for instance, our own central heating packed up at the
same time as the tenant rang to say there were problems with the boiler.
The upshot was that we had to live without heating and hot water because
the tenant’s problem had to be fixed, and we couldn’t afford to do both
at once. On another occasion, our tenant let the toilet leak, and we
knew nothing about it until the downstairs flat was flooded. Because it
wasn’t their flat, they didn’t bother to do anything. And once I had to
come back from America specially to sort out a problem.” |
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The worst aspect, so far as John is concerned, is the fact that
he never feels completely comfortable, not only for fear of a call from
his tenants, but because financially he is on such a knife edge.
“Our biggest worry is that the place won’t rent out and so we cannot
cover the mortgage. At times, I’ve had the place empty for more than 2
months, with debts piling up. To add insult to injury, your bank charges
go up if the rent doesn’t come in.
“I don’t like feeling that something major is always about to go wrong
and agonising about how to pay for it if it does. As it is, the
rental just about covers the mortgage - so long as the place is
tenanted, the tenants pay up and there are no major bills.
“Renting out property is definitely not something to enter into lightly,
unless you have to have the kind of personality that doesn’t worry too
much about what might go wrong.”
Virginia Skilbeck, director of lettings at Douglas and Gordon’s
Chelsea branch, also believes that not everybody is cut out to be a
successful landlord. She sums up with the following:
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You have
to be prepared for problems, just as with your own home. Your tenants
will never act as if they are the homeowner, and they can call you up
to change light bulbs if you don’t provide them with a long ladder.
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There is
also no easy way around maintenance. All properties need repairs and
renewals, and you as the landlord will have to deal with them and pay
for them.
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If you
buy a rental flat believing nothing will go wrong, you are in for a
shock. Many investors, for instance, buy newbuild properties because
they imagine they are perfect, then discover there is a long snagging
list, as the tenants are the first people to live there, and the place
has not been tried and tested.”
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The ideal
landlord has a detached, businesslike approach, is able to stay calm
and does not get emotionally involved. If every little problem is the
end of the world and causes you sleepless nights, you should not
consider renting out property.
“In our
office, we get a feel as to whether a landlord is the right type.
The ideal landlord takes the agent’s advice, but we always get those who
think they already know everything, and won’t listen.”
The greatest fear of most amateur or new landlords is that they
will get a terrible tenant, but in fact this hardly ever happens. John
Moore has never had a bad tenant, and Virginia Skilbeck agrees that the
majority are not a problem.
“The chances that you will get a bad tenant are statistically
very remote. Most are normal, ordinary, nice people who pay the rent on
time and keep the property in good condition,” she says. “The real
problems are to do with maintenance of the place.
“You do occasionally get over-demanding, fussy tenants, but that
is part of the game. My advice to anybody who really hates being a
landlord is: sell your place up and don’t even try to let it.”
Which is just what John Moore is doing. “Originally, we wanted to
keep on the flat, which I’ve had since 1988, for our daughter, but we’ve
had enough and it’s now on the market.”
Liz
Hodgkinson is the author of The Complete Guide to Letting Property
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