Write a great advert for your rental and the phone will soon be ringing Legend tells of one estate agent who described a driveway as a ‘multi-vehicular block paviour parking facility’. That is not the sort of description you want in your advert. Edit out the syrup (see jargon buster below), but make sure you include everything a tenant really wants to know: Where? State not only the area (and don’t call it central Manchester when it’s actually Salford Quays), but also how far it is in distance – not minutes – from transport, shops, restaurants and parks. What? Is it a flat? Terraced house? D ..read more

Use floorplans to market your rental property and attract the right tenants Historically floorplans have been used to market property sales and higher-end rentals but they are becoming more common – for good reason: they’re an invaluable marketing tool for all lets. Floorplans only need to be done once, but can help a would-be tenant work out whether the property is right for them or not, saving both your time and theirs. A professional photographer or the assessor who does your energy performance certificate can usually create a floorplan for £20–£30 extra if they’re visiting anyway. Your a ..read more

When it comes to advertising your property, make sure you stand out in a crowd of rental listings. How did we ever manage to find homes before the internet? These days more than 90% of property searches start online, and two-thirds of them are via mobile devices, says Zoopla. Local lettings agents, once the first port of call, are no longer the gatekeepers linking tenants and landlords. Nowadays tenants can even do virtual viewings. Britain’s main property portals are Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket. You cannot list directly on these portals but can access them via online agents (See How t ..read more

When furnishing a property, less is more: a few good pieces are better than a house full of wobbly leftovers Even unfurnished lets are not completely empty. You still need to provide: Appliances. Just about 99% of tenants will expect a decent washing machine, fridge-freezer and cooker Light fittings for wall and ceiling lights Curtains or blinds. Tenants will need these from day one, but finding the right size is a hassle, so do supply them. Go with neutral or understated colours and use poles rather than tracks for curtains as the latter tend to break Household basics. As a courtesy provid ..read more

Become an Airbnb host and turn your dream holiday into reality It’s holiday season and you may well have stayed in an Airbnb rental this summer. But have you thought (and perhaps hesitated) about letting out your home on Airbnb while you’re away? For the past three years, my wife and I have rented out our London home on Airbnb to fund our holidays. Although we’ve had the odd broken glass, and one particularly demanding set of guests who cranked up the heating to 24 degrees, overall it’s been a smooth ride — adding significantly to our holiday coffers. Airbnb has enjoyed phenomenal growth in ..read more

When it comes to letting out your home furnished or unfurnished – do your research in order to find the best possible tenants. Rule number one of lettings: properties attract the tenants they deserve. Put the odds in your favour by doing all you can to make your property look its best. In most countries rental properties are provided without any furniture – and if you do want it furnished, you’ll pay a premium. In fact, in Germany tenants have to bring their own kitchen – cabinets, appliances and all – as most rentals have an empty shell for a kitchen. It’s a fairly unique quirk of Britain t ..read more

Sometimes you simply have no other choice but to evict tenants who refuse to leave. It started with a phone call from the inventory clerk: “I tried to use the keys, but the tenant is still in there and won’t give me access to the property.” Thus began my own experience of a six-month eviction nightmare, which included court appearances and a visit by the (lady) bailiff. Evicting a tenant is a last resort for any landlord but if tenants refuse to leave, sometimes you simply have no choice. Below I explain how you can protect yourself, should your tenants refuse to leave. How can I avoid a str ..read more

Take the worry out of the lettings process by using a trustworthy agent. Lettings agents don’t have the best of names. (You have two bullets. Who do you shoot: the lawyer, the insurance salesman or the estate agent? The estate agent – twice, just to make sure.) Yet there are some excellent high-street agencies that could prove invaluable. Their biggest benefit is that – for a fee – they take care of all the details for you, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. How, then, do you tell the professional experts from the suits who sold wet fish last week? We’ve put together 20 points to sift ..read more

Winter may be over but now it’s time to get to know the new energy efficiency rules for rentals. This winter’s “beasts from the east” that covered London in up to 10cm of snow are over, but from this month new rules ban landlords from allowing tenants to shiver in the draughtiest homes. Here’s what you need to know about the new minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES). What are the new rules? Every property let to private tenants in England and Wales must have a minimum rating of E on its energy performance certificate (EPC). (The scale is A-G, with G being least efficient). If your prope ..read more

Make sure you know what to look out for when using an online lettings agent If you self-manage your rental property, you can use the new generation of online lettings agents to advertise your property. They can, however, take care of a whole lot more: some offer full management at a mere 3% of your rent. Tempted? Though there are brands with excellent reviews (Upad.co.uk and OpenRent.co.uk and well-funded players (easyProperty.com and Purplebricks.com), there are also wannabes trying to jump on the bandwagon. As with any business, vet your online agent carefully. If the fees sound too g ..read more