Tenanted Properties
It is advisable to do regular inspections of yur tenanted properties and your AST should state this ensuring your asset is well maintained by the tenant and any possible maintenance issues are caught early and rectified.
The letting market has been strong and continues to be so with more and more people not able to obtain mortgages. With this said it’s very important once you’ve thoroughly vetted and chosen a tenant to occupy your property that you set out guide lines from day 1.
Your AST should state you’ll be doing regular inspections to ensuring your asset is well maintained by the tenant and any possible maintenance issues are caught early and rectified.
Your property is ONLY an asset when it is occupied by a paying tenant who is looking after the property and reports notable issues when they arise.
The same property can quickly turn into a liability if occupied property with non-paying tenant who refuses to leave or does a late night scarper leaving you with a property in a non-occupiable state.
With that said, even if you’re receiving rent every month this does not mean all is well with the property…
- Tenants could be subletting, i.e. renting out your property to another tenant (more likely multiple tenants) at higher rent.
- If you’ve taken on a tenant offering to pay 6 months in advance should ring alarm bell, may seem great to have such a lump of cash at one time, but typically there maybe some form of criminal activity (i.e. money laundering, prostitution, cannabis farm etc.).
These are extreme ends of the scale but with regular inspections and communication with your tenant these issues can easily be avoided.