Rent guarantee insurance claims rise!

It had been reported that rent guarantee claims have risen by over two-thirds, as naughty tenants are defaulting on their rental payment.  We’ve been banging on about tenant referencing for a while now, and how it has never been so important.  A major provider of rent guarantee insurance saw a 32% increase in claims over the last year, and saw a quick increase of 68% in the second half of the year.

Carlos Thompson commented “The increase in landlords and lettings agents suffering defaulting tenants is a big problem in the industry at the moment.”  Carlos is the head of business development at Endsleigh.

Tenant who may have signed tenancies before the recession are thought to have suffered with the recession and struggling to keep up with rental payments as financial situations have changed.

Tenant referencing is a good way to check your tenant before you rent to them, to make sure they can afford payments and have a good financial history.  Referencing your tenant can be done quickly and easily over the internet.  Referencing tenants is vital for happy and easier life as a landlord!

How to sucessfully conduct tenant screening.

Tenant screening is one of the most important aspects of renting your property.  It is important to be aware of all the steps involved and the weight that the information gathered carries.

Screening tenants involves three stages, which will produce three separate pieces of information to consider.  All of these stages work together to help a landlord or letting agents find the right tenant.

The first stage is the tenant credit check.  This is vital as it outlines clearly if the tenant can afford, pay and be financially responsible tenant based on previous actions.  If a tenant has CCJ’s or bankruptcies, this is a clear indication that this tenant has had money problems in the past.  There is no guarantee that this won’t happen again while they owe you money.

Screening tenants also involves gathering references from their employer and previous landlord.  Good online tenant screening should provide a system for you to do this online through email.  Previous landlord and employer references will verify all the information you need to feel confident in renting your property to your tenant.  These references will look at the tenant’s salary and employment contract, if they paid their last landlord on time and if the property was kept in a good state.

Once you have completed all the steps then you have all the information you need to make an informed decision about the tenant.  You could be forgiven for ignoring tenant referencing and checking in the past, when often it took days to get results.  Most tenant screening services are internet based now, and take minutes to complete.

So there you have it, tenant screening online – no excuse not to do it.

UK rental prices drop according to Rentindex.

It is reported by Rentindex, the Uk’s only real time indication of residential rental rates in the UK, that there has been a fall in rental levels for tenancies using assured shorthold tenancy over the last 6 months.

The average rent in England and Wales now stands at £571.55, with rates falling 2.9% in the past three months.  In November 2009 rents stood at just under £600.

Chris Horne the Editor of Property Hawk said: : “These figures indicate that landlords and rents are not immune from the economic realities the country faces.  Clearly tenant’s incomes are being squeezed and this is translating into the fact that they are able to afford to pay less rent.”

With tenant budgets being squeezed, and the fact that tenants can only afford to pay less rent highlights the important of tenant referencing.  With tighter budgets and flexibility with money tenant referencing can check a tenant financial responsibility to make sure the tenant will pay their rent on time.  Tenant referencing will look at employer references to check that the tenant is in a stable job.  It will also consider Landlord references to see how a tenant has acted in a previous rental.

As tenants are squeezed for cash tenant referencing may be the answer to help you chose the best tenants available.

Could you find tenants for these houses?

Sometimes finding tenants can be tough, fact.  Sometimes finding good, decent, paying on-time tenants can be even harder.  But how about finding tenants for houses like these.  If you thought your property was quirky, a little wonky with interesting features then take a look at these.  Prehaps your next property investment could turn some heads.

So- your lucky you’re not renting these properties out. 

Finding the right tenant for your property is so important, different tenants have different requirments so it is important know as much about your tenant as you can before you hand over the keys.

We recommended that you conduct a full credit check for tenant as part of your renting proceedure.  For online tenant credit checks and information then go to LettingRef.co.uk.

Why is tenant referencing so important

Tenant referencing can save you a lot of hassle. When you first meet a tenant your most likely showing them the property and most likely everyone is on their best behaviour. Even the tenant who comes across as the perfect fit can disappoint you with late rental payments and damage to the property. Referencing tenants is a step towards getting to know them better, quickly and efficiently – a bit like speed dating! From this you can decide if you would like the potential tenant to take on the rental.

Tenant referencing allows a landlord to get a better view of their tenant. It involves a credit check and referencing of landlords and employers. The credit check will look into a tenants financial history finding out if the tenant has any debt outstanding, had any insolvencies bankruptcies on the financial record. The credit check will also verify if the tenant is on the electoral register which is a good way to check the identity of the tenant.

Landlords will have to obtain references from employers and their previous landlord to check that any information provided is correct. Is the tenant being paid what they claim? Did the tenant look after the previous property rented? Did they pay on time? Are they in full time stable employment or part-time contract employment?

 A tenant could tell you anything you want to hear, unless you check you could find yourself in a hard situation. Evicting tenants and dealing with unpaid rent when you have a mortgage to pay isn’t easy. It costs a lot to evict a tenant and have a vacant property until it is filled again. Make the sensible choice – reference tenants early, at the beginning of the tenancy to avoid future conflicts and disputes which may threaten your property investment.

What do people really think about letting agent and landlords: Social media lets us know

So, landlords and letting agents sometimes get a bad rep.  Tenants complain and sometimes there is no winning as a landlord or a letting agent.  Social media can tell us  a lot, which is why i have compiled a small list of somethings found on social media sites about  letting agents, it’s not all good, but it’s not all bad.  I feel, however there may be a long way to go before letting agents and landlord win the hearts of the nation.

– thinks letting agents suck! obviously they don’t want our business so they can stick it where sun doesn’t shine ;o)

– DIY chicken salsa panini on the way… then harrassing letting agents

–Sleep time! Gym in the morning and then to the letting agents to sign my new lease. Wooo! <

-someone know a good litigator so that i can sue my letting agents?

–Letting agents are slack and then when they do speak to you they are totally anal about everything!!!!

-Interior Designers’….a landlords best friend or worst nightmare?

–Landlords got me down…

-going to my landlords house to hangout with his son and play resident evil 4 ive beat that game so many times infinite rocket launcher :]

So, a cross-section of those who are happy, annoyed or even friends with their landlords.  But what can a landlord or letting agent do to keep relations good and your tenant happy and not complaining.

– respond quickly to enquiries and work that needs to be done

– Be a fair landlord, it makes dealing with tenant much easier

– make sure expectations are set.  If you want to inspect the property every few months make sure this is clear from the start to avoid complications.

Be contactable,  Make sure you get back to tenants with issues or problems as soon as possible.

We recommended that you conduct a full credit check for tenant as part of your renting procedure.  For online tenant credit checks and information then go to LettingRef.co.uk.

Homeowners will continue to decline according to the CML.

It is suggested by the council of mortgage lenders that people who own their own homes will continual to decline in the coming years.

The recent figures from the government show that those who own their own homes had fallen since 2005 and made up fewer than 68% of households in Britain by 2008/2009.  This percentage is actually the lowest since the 1980’s.  The Council of mortgage lenders believes this to be down to a lack of new homes and the rationing of mortgages.

In contrast to this there has been a rise in the number of people who are renting out their homes privately with the figures showing a rise from just over two million in 2001 to over three million in 2008/2009.  This is mostly down to the credit crunch, maybe we’ve heard it all before but with less mortgage options on offer restricting would be first time buyers many are forced to rent instead.  In a study done last year the Council of Mortgage lenders founds that 80% of first time buyers were getting financial help from parents in order to raise the cash for the all important deposit on a property.

“What is most striking is that to get into the market, today’s first-time buyer is putting in a deposit of around £34,000, equivalent to more than their total gross annual household income,” said the CML’s head of research, Bob Pannell.

“Only three years ago the deposit required to enter the market was a much more manageable – but still hefty – 37% of annual household income, at £12,700.”

We recommended that you conduct a full credit check for tenant as part of your renting proceedure.  For online tenant credit checks and information then go to LettingRef.co.uk.

Get all the tenant information you need to trace absconding tenants.

Landlords face lots of costs which pop up at a moment’s notice- from non-paying tenants, damages and repairs.  But, what if your tenant just disappears, with no regard for your property or your situation as a landlord.  If a tenant absconds and you cannot trace them then how can you recover unpaid rent and proceed with any legal processes.

There are a few things you can do to make sure all bases are covered from day one, and most of this is down to the gathering of information about your tenant.  As a responsible landlord then you will run online tenant screening and gather a lot of information from that process, such as the tenant’s place of work, previous address, date of birth and phone numbers.  Extra things to ask for which could help you trace a tenant in the future would be their parents addresses or someone close to them, maybe get the number of their partner with all telephone numbers, emails and addresses.  Having as much information on your tenant from the beginning will really help with future problems.  Don’t get into the position where you don’t know where your tenant is and you have no-one to contact in order to find them.

Screening tenants is a huge part of the initial tenant process and should always be conducted to rule out tenant who may have absconded in the past, been troublesome with rental payments or those with bad debt.

Protect you rental payments – Get a Gaurantor if you are unsure!!!

We’ve been through tenant referencing and tenant credit checks a million times on this blog, and rightly too – it’s probably the most important part of renting your property to a tenant.  But, what if you have run all the appropriate checks and you still feel unsure about the tenant, maybe your  still wondering if they will pay you on time as their credit rating wasn’t the best, or maybe you are wondering if they will look after your property as their landlord references wasn’t up to scratch. 

The answer to these concerns and something which can always be considered is asking the prospective tenant to provide a guarantor.  A guarantor is someone that your tenant knows – usually a family member or someone they are very close to- who will sign the tenancy agreement and be legally accountable for any unpaid rent, legal fees and damages of the property during the lease period.  Guarantors are often used for students lets, as  students have low incomes and a guarantor is needed to protect the property from non-payment and damage.

You will need to reference and credit check your guarantor just like you would do for a tenant to make sure that there credit rating is acceptable and employments secure.  You can check a guarantor just as you would do for a tenant; you can do this online for quick results, meaning you can accept your tenant faster.  The credit check will look at the guarantor’s financial history and determine their financial behaviour based on past evidence, this will then generate a credit score for you.  If a guarantor has CCJ’s, then they are already in debt and may not be the best guarantor for the tenant as they have financial problems of their own.  Run employment references and if they rent get a landlord reference also.

We recommend to always run full tenant referencing and tenant credit checks on tenants and guarantors is need be to protect your property investment.