Becoming a landlord isn’t just for people with a lot of money and a huge property portfolio. You can become a landlord if you decide to rent out a spare property perhaps that you have inherited, or if you own a property but are not going to be living in it for a while because you are traveling, for example. Anybody who owns a property can become a landlord by renting out all or some of their property to a tenant. It can be a good way to make some additional income towards covering your costs. However, before you get started there are some things you will need to get.
Laptop
Getting your own laptop is a good idea if you want to become a landlord and don’t already have one for work or personal use. A laptop is not only a great tool for doing things like typing up tenancy agreements, shopping around for insurance, and communicating with your tenants via email, but you can also use it to store important documents that you might need later, like your insurance policy or copies of tenants’ personal details and identification. Lenovo Chromebooks are an affordable option that should allow you to do everything that you need.
Landlord Insurance
Getting landlord insurance is not a legal requirement if you want to rent out your home, but it can save you a lot of hassle in the future. Landlord insurance can cover you for a wide range of different things that might go wrong including accidental or even deliberate damage to the property. Accidents can happen to anybody and even if you have the best tenants living in your home, there’s always the risk that something could go wrong like burst pipes, so it’s best to be prepared.
Security
Installing a security system in the property is not only peace of mind for you but also for your tenants. You may even be able to charge a higher rental price as many tenants will be willing to pay more for a home that has things like security alarms or CCTV compared to somewhere without anything in terms of security. This will not only keep your tenants and their belongings secure but may also come in handy in the future if you need to make any insurance claims for break-ins or criminal damage to the property. Bear in mind that if you’re installing CCTV, you can only install this on the property exterior.
White Goods
Whether or not you want to let your property furnished or unfurnished is up to you. Long-term rentals are usually best unfurnished so tenants can make it their own, but short-term tenants usually appreciate some basics. Either way, you may want to provide white goods such as an oven and cooker at the very least. You may also want to think about providing items like a fridge and freezer, dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer.
Whether you’re investing in a buy to let property or want to use your current property to earn some extra money from being a landlord, these are some of the basics you will need before you get started.
