As a landlord, your biggest nightmare is tenancy voids. If your property is your main source of income, you’d never want it empty. Even if it’s not, why would you have bought an investment rental property for sale if you wanted to keep it empty?
That’s why to avoid tenancy voids, all landlords should know how to tackle it beforehand. And even if you are someone who’s investing in rental income property for sale, you should research it beforehand.
Here are a few tips we feel would be beneficial for you:
Maintain your property
Don’t disregard maintenance problems. If you don’t take care of maintenance concerns, it will take you a lot longer to locate a renter since nobody wants to live in a neglected home.
Deal with maintenance problems as soon as they arise. During routine property inspections, make a note of any issues and address them right away. If you ignore maintenance concerns, they may become worse over time. If you keep track of such problems, the home won’t have to be vacant for long periods when you have to make repairs between tenants.
Make sure the property is safe and secure
Homes that are vacant raise concerns since they are more vulnerable to burglary and destruction. Even if you are renting out the property unfurnished, fixtures and equipment, such as copper wire piping, may draw burglars if it is clear the house is unoccupied. Vandalism, arson, and squatters living in your house can all be problems.
Consider replacing the locks with each tenancy to guarantee safety. Use a light timer to provide the impression that the property is occupied. Make sure you check and collect the mail from the property frequently.
Charge Competitive Rent
Many landlords, especially new ones, commit one of the worst errors by holding out for excessively high rent. Maybe a shady letting agency that wanted their business previously gave them a rental assessment. They feel that taking less is throwing away their rental property since this rental price has become ingrained in their minds. This attitude can end up being their downfall.
To prevent the void, landlords must be reasonable with the rent they charge. Remember that you may always raise the rent gradually over time after you have a renter in a home paying it.
Because of the annoyance factor, a renter who is already there and content is considerably less likely to object to a tiny rent increase and leave for the sake of several smaller rental increases.
Keep in mind that even when you have to accept 5% less in rent, this is still a significant improvement over having a rental vacancy for a month, which results in an annual revenue loss of nearly 8%. You can never get this rental money back if you lose it, so always attempt to negotiate a bargain.
Offer Longer Lets
Offering lengthier fixed terms is one strategy to lower the possibility of a vacancy given the advantages of fixed terms. Landlords frequently only provide six months. However, you are only limited to a seven-year offer since after that time the tenancy resembles a leasehold and has legal and tax ramifications.
Longer leases result in lower tenant turnover, which reduces the likelihood that your property will go for a lengthy period without having renters pay the rent. A solid lease for a period of one, two, or three years may also assist you to draw in potential renters who are looking for a place to call home.
Early Marketing
You run the danger of leaving your property unoccupied longer than required if you wait to advertise for new renters until it is empty. The best advice in this situation is to advertise your rental long before the existing tenant expires.
Think beyond the box and cast a wide net as well. Consider things like store windows and neighbourhood Facebook groups instead of simply using the standard channels like your managing agent, web portals, and local media.
It might take some time to find good renters, so be ready for the long haul and get going well in advance.
Budget for void from the start
Although you should consider this before purchasing a buy-to-let property, once you have it, you may still include void periods in your spending plan. A decent rule of thumb would be to budget for one month of downtime for your property each year and then make preparations as though it were certain to occur.
Save now to avoid being caught off guard later!
Be Open-minded
Finding the ideal tenant will become more challenging the more requirements you impose. If you’re searching for a non-smoker, professional, or someone without pets, it’s okay to say that, but be aware that the number of suitable candidates will be much narrower as a consequence.
Be flexible in who you will accept as a renter if you want to reduce vacant periods. For example, the conventional prohibition on pet tenants means that many pet owners are searching for rental homes that will welcome them and their pets. Consider each candidate according to their individual qualities.
Consider HMO?
If your type of housing meets the requirements, converting to an HMO may make sense. This may seem a bit out of the ordinary to some. Renting your home by the room can significantly reduce your risk since it will be shared among all of your renters rather than putting all of your eggs in one lease. Even if one tenant vacates, you will still have others who are paying rent.
Hopefully, if you follow these few tips you won’t face any issues. Regardless, the best way to avoid tenancy issues is to use letting agents. They know the market well and they know what tenants want and need. So why not let the professionals handle it? You can check out FF Property Management to get in touch with a short-term rental property manager. They are professionals and once you’ve talked to them you’ll automatically want their help. So don’t wait up and contact them now!
