Checklist to lower the risk for landlord

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tom_tom

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I don't agree with relatives decision to rent out a house .but rightly or wrong they going ahead ..they will be renting to a professional couple with 2 small kids.

Any advice on tasks that lower the risk ?

A lease..is there a link to an update template?

Deposit..what the going rate ..1 month 2 months?

Take pictures of the house beforehand

References ..whats OK to ask for ..previous landlord..employer?

I've never rented so I'm clueless but want to gather collective wisdom / experience here to advise them best i can ..

Thanks
 
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Are they as clueless?

if so, don’t get involved, and let an agent take care of business.
 
LS400 said:
Are they as clueless?

if so, don’t get involved, and let an agent take care of business.
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As I said at the start ..I don't agree with the decision..but they going ahead anyway ...they don't want to.use an agent ...it is what it is ...any help appreciated
 
tom_tom said:
They dont want to use an agent...hence I'm asking here
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Well they should if they don't know the very basics.

It looks like they are paying tax at the higher rate and with two kids won't have much time on their hands.

Agent costs are deductible against tax and a good agent is really worth it.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
Well they should if they don't know the very basics.

It looks like they are paying tax at the higher rate and with two kids won't have much time on their hands.

Agent costs are deductible against tax and a good agent is really worth it.
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Maybe my bad..the landlords took early retirement ...they have property ..just asset allocation..they dont need to rent it out ..they have been approached by a professional couple with 2 kids who are desperate to live in the area ..they trying to help them out ...correction they are going to help them out .....I thought I'd ask here ..
 
Have a look at today's Irish Indo and read what really happens today in the letting business. By the way, it's happening more and more every day and not a word about it. Below is a small extract of one story.

"The landlords of a Limerick property have spoken out about the emotional and financial stress they’ve experienced after a two-year dispute with their tenant, who owes more than €27,000 in rent.

Dan Corbett and his wife, Joy King-Corbett, took a case with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) after their tenant stopped paying rent in December 2018.

The RTB found in their favour, ordering the tenant to vacate the premises and pay the outstanding rent of €5,052 in 25 consecutive payments of €200.

However, nearly two years later, she is still living in the house"
 
noproblem said:
Have a look at today's Irish Indo and read what really happens today in the letting business. By the way, it's happening more and more every day and not a word about it. Below is a small extract of one story.

"The landlords of a Limerick property have spoken out about the emotional and financial stress they’ve experienced after a two-year dispute with their tenant, who owes more than €27,000 in rent.

Dan Corbett and his wife, Joy King-Corbett, took a case with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) after their tenant stopped paying rent in December 2018.

The RTB found in their favour, ordering the tenant to vacate the premises and pay the outstanding rent of €5,052 in 25 consecutive payments of €200.

However, nearly two years later, she is still living in the house"
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Yup I read that today ..personally I would not be a landlord..and there's good reason my relative shouldn't be ..but ..they've made a decision...there's a lot of worse case scenarios...and I don't believe the RTB (or the PSRA sure half the letting agents in Dublin not registered or homebond) is worth a toss ..but I do want to be aware of what their responsibilities are and try protect the downside
 
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We have two properties rented out through agents. We pay them 10% and it is the best money we can spend. We have never had issues with tenants, as they know how to vet tenants and take up references.
 
My advice would be to concentrate on the people who approached them first. How and why did they (ask themselves this btw) approach ? How well do they know them ? Check out their employment status by linkln. Google their names. Find out as much as you can about them. Where are they living now ? Who is their landlord ?
 
Get a reference from previous landlord.
Get details of their employment, if they know you know who employs them it may reduce potential maggot acting.
Make sure utilities go in their name not your relatives.
Don't overthink it.
 
elcato said:
My advice would be to concentrate on the people who approached them first. How and why did they (ask themselves this btw) approach ? How well do they know them ? Check out their employment status by linkln. Google their names. Find out as much as you can about them. Where are they living now ? Who is their landlord ?
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Long story the couple former home owners in the area are now in limbo there's no suitable houses for rent in the area and approached every possible contact until my relatives name came up
 
dereko1969 said:
Get a reference from previous landlord.
Get details of their employment, if they know you know who employs them it may reduce potential maggot acting.
Make sure utilities go in their name not your relatives.
Don't overthink it.
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Thanks
Apart from knowing they have a job ..what specifically does knowing their employer matter ...is it just potential loss of reputation if things got messy
CuriousCork said:
We have two properties rented out through agents. We pay them 10% and it is the best money we can spend. We have never had issues with tenants, as they know how to vet tenants and take up references.
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Yup ..whilst I'd never be a landlord myself if I found myself in that situation I'd use a agency ..but everyone's different .
Having said that ..I know of one letting agent not registered with a string of judgements against them ...Happily making a living as of right now...runs a brass plate operation..nothing for the sheriff to grab when they come calling to enforce the writ ....lots of strong language from PSRA but sweet FA action.....sure use an agent its a no brainer ...hmm you just lucky if you have decent tenent and a decent legit agent ..
 
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The Limerick story and the like are outliers. I wouldnt loose sleep over that.

Problems do occur however, and the best way to avoid them is by avoiding problem tenants, not easy to identify in advance of course.

I must say I do not like the situation here. Your relatives are not just renting a property, they are renting to a defined tenant. A tenant with a hard luck story. While anyone may have a set-back in life, every problem tenant has a hard luck story. The tenants problems end up being the landlords problems, and thats true even where the problems are genuine and no fault of the tenant.

And I really do not like this one.

tom_tom said:
Long story the couple former home owners in the area are now in limbo there's no suitable houses for rent in the area and approached every possible contact until my relatives name came up
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is it true that there is no property available to rent in the area. That is very easy to check.
 
To summarise.
Your relatives own a 2nd property. It's currently vacant, not rented and they don't need the rental income. They don't have any intentions of selling the property.
They've been approached by a couple who would like to rent the house from them.
If they hadn't been approached, they have no interest in renting the property.

This doesn't sound like the usual case where their biggest concern is not getting rent paid on time? So what is the concern you're trying to protect them from?

Just make sure everything is above board. Registered with RTB, utilities in tenants names, correct insurance in place, and tax returns filed correctly. They can ask for 2 months rent as deposit.
 
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