There are increasing numbers of people who own a second property and want to rent it out. If you set aside property developers who buy and rent out property for a living, there are many reasons why more people have that second property. The most common ones are:
- Inheritance
- New relationships – increasingly people are finding that both parties already own a property
- Job moves – people are moved with their work but they don’t want to or can’t sell their existing property
- Pension investment – with the recent changes some people see a buy to let property as a good investment
However ownership of that second property came about, if you decide to let that property out, there are a number of things to consider, and not just the legal and tenancy issues either. If it’s a property you already own and have lived in or an inherited property, the chances are you’ve got a whole lot of furniture and other things you need to think about. Do you leave it all in place? Do you remove some of it and if so, what? Do you keep what you remove or get rid of it? Self storage can be a great help in these circumstances and can mean you don’t have to rush in to quick decisions.
If you’ve bought a property specifically to let out, then the furniture and storage issues probably won’t factor, but if you’ve got your second property any other way then you’ll need to put your thinking hat on!
If it’s a property you’ve been living in and are now moving on you’ll need to decide
What comes with you- What stays in the house (to be used by tenants)
- What you’re happy to sell
- What you want to keep that can’t go with you but that you don’t want to stay in the rented property either (highly likely if you’ve had to move into a rented property that may be furnished)
A self storage unit in the location of the rented property or your new one is the solution for those things you want to keep but don’t have room for. For a small cost you can be assured that your contents are being kept safe, clean and dry, ready for when you want to get them back out. Your storage cost should be easily recouped from the rental income.
If a property and its contents have come to you as part of an inheritance the decision of whether to keep the property will have been difficult, but for many, the decisions about contents can be even harder. Sorting through everything, deciding what stays and what goes is difficult enough, but doing that in a short timescale can lead to regrets later. To then also have to consider whether you’d be happy with someone else using those things is just another stressful decision, especially where things have great sentimental value.
Here’s where short term self storage comes in really useful and can help you avoid making hasty decisions you’ll regret later. Whether you decide to empty the whole house and store everything or just all the smaller contents, a self storage unit will allow you the time you need to carefully sort through and consider every item. As the amount of belongings in storage reduce, you can reduce the size of your unit, until you’re left with one that’s a perfect fit for anything that you want to store longer term.
We mentioned legal and tenancy issues before and it’s essential that you know and understand what your obligations are as a landlord. There are fire and safety regulations to consider, tenancy agreements, government deposit schemes, rent collection, inventories and much more. How are you going to find your tenants? What rent will you charge?
You can do it all yourself but a good letting agent will be able to help and advise you with all these things, meaning that you can relax a little. Of course, all legal responsibility ultimately lies with you the landlord, so if you do use a letting agent, you need to find a good one. Make sure they are doing all the right things at the right time and keeping you informed.
Storing household contents is a fact of life here at Space Centre Self Storage, so we can give you help and advice about most things. We’ve been in the storage business for over 20 years and the family have been in the removals business since 1900 so we understand the stress and emotions that come with a house move. If you need storage in the Gloucester, Bristol or Cheltenham area, get in touch.
Anyone out there got any tips about things to avoid or things that are essential when letting a property? Why not share them and help those new landlords to get it right?
Image by Terrah Coon