There are several ways to get your property rented.
If you live far away from your rented property, are inexperienced as a landlord or wish to leave the management and running of the property to someone else, you can use a Letting Agent or an Estate Agent to advertise, let and manage the property for you. Letting Agents and some Estate Agents will find tenants for you and start up the tenancy. Some will also collect the rent and provide a full management service so that you will not have to deal directly with tenants yourself at all. They will charge a fee for their services. It is always wise to choose an Agent who is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers or the National Association of Estate Agents as they are required to operate to national standards recognised by these organisations.
You may wish to advertise, let and manage the property yourself in which case, the links below provide further advice on how to do that:
How do I go about advertising my property to let?
There are several ways to advertise your property to prospective tenants.
If you are the owner of an accredited property with Best BD Homes, you can advertise your property free of charge on the ‘Home Hunter’ website, this site is used to advertise InCommunities and Housing Association properties throughout Bradford. Alternatively there are several websites that will allow you to advertise your property for rent. These include the online version of some classified newspapers as well as specialist websites that make money from advertising.
Some newspapers will offer free advertising, and publications such as LOOT! Otherwise, local newspapers have appropriate advertising categories which are read by people looking for accommodation.
Many shopkeepers will allow you to post an advert in their window if you have a property particularly if you live in the area and know the owner.
Public notice boards are also a useful place to advertise your property, Libraries, Universities, Supermarkets, large employers and other institutions often have them, it's just a case of choosing the ones where your target tenants are most likely to see your advert.
In addition, family members, past and present colleagues and anyone else you are acquainted with, can all potentially know someone who wants a property such as the one you have on offer.
Showing tenants around the property
When showing people round, allow them to make their own way through your home at their own pace. Be available to answer any questions and have a copy of all the particulars to hand. This should include any facts that are relevant to the property about which the prospective tenants might ask. Emphasise the good features such as security measures (outside lights, burglar alarms, window locks) and anything else which might have appeal. Give the viewers time to discuss the property alone before they leave and don’t pressure them for a decision whilst they are viewing the property.
What references should I take?
You should always vet tenants as thoroughly as possible. A professional referencing company can help you achieve this, by giving you information about a prospective tenant's employment and past tenancies, indicating their likelihood to be able to pay their rent and their reliability at doing so.
Even if you don't want to use a professional referencing company, you should still take and check references from would-be tenants. These could include character references, but more important is an employment reference and the details of their previous landlords. Bank references can be obtained, but you will normally have to pay for them.
A prospective tenant on housing benefit may not have the advantage of an employer reference or bank account reference, but once the benefit claim has been processed, the payment of rent is likely to be regular and predictable, especially if paid directly to you.
When carrying out checks on prospective tenants it is important to have both proof of identity and proof of current address. These can be established from a driving licence, passport or other document with a photograph on and a utility bill will confirm a current address.
Keep a note of the following information:
Name
Address
Telephone number
Referees contact details and capacity in which known
Ring individuals listed as present or previous landlords. Before you start asking them about the tenant, ask them if they have any flats to rent. It has been known for people to use friends as referees, sometimes because they have left their previous accommodation in difficult circumstances, and this is a good way to catch people who are doing this. If the 'landlord' sounds very surprised and acts as though they are not the owner of any rental property, it is likely that the reference is not genuine.
Remember that no checks are foolproof, and referencing tenants will not guarantee their behaviour. All tenants can encounter problems for a variety of reasons such as the loss of a job or a relationship breakdown. If you are unsure, it may be worth getting someone to act as guarantor for the tenant
Credit checks and Guarantors
Some landlords use credit checks when vetting tenants. This helps find out how reliable a prospective tenant is by looking at their past record for paying debts on time. If you are going to carry out a credit check you should get the tenant's permission first. The credit check will access data held by one of the major credit agencies, such as Experian or Equifax. There are two types of credit search - a credit enquiry and a full credit check.
- Credit Enquiry - Searches for debt-related county court judgements (CCJ’s) against the tenant at their current and previous addresses.
- Full Credit Search - Gives a statement of any debts and regular payments that are known to the register, along with arrears history and other information.
There may be cases where a tenant is a borderline case when it comes to credit and reference checks. They may have changed address frequently in the last 3 years, had a chequered credit history, been on a low income or in receipt of benefits. When such circumstances occur, it might be advisable to request a guarantor for their tenancy if you decide you want to let your property to them.
Essentially, using a guarantor means that in the event of a tenant being unable to meet their obligations under the tenancy agreement, the Guarantor is legally bound to accept the liabilities on behalf of the tenant. This offers some protection to the landlord in the event that the tenant defaults on the rent. The guarantor would usually be a homeowner and would probably be in regular, paid employment.
