Rental Agreements



Although not essential in all countries it is always best practice to have everyone sign a rental agreement.  The agreement should include the Terms & Conditions applicable to the occupant.  The names of the occupant, the dates of the intended stay, the deposit paid, disclaimer for withholding the deposit for early departure or damage fees.

Location & Price

For many travellers location is a must and helps determine the price people are willing to pay.   Remember to always choose your rental fee carefully and ensure it is competitive to other surrounding rental properties.  Look in the local estate agents that rent properties in your area and compare your price.

Employing a Local Agent

If it is a holiday home you are renting then most likely, you will not live close by.  You will need to find a reputable person or company to care for and manage your property while you are absent.  It is important for your agent to maintain your property, give a routine check-up, be able to organise maintenance and clean up after each client.  It is also a very good idea for agents to provide a welcome pack for your customers.  This could include a local map, a dining out or eating in guide, where to buy good local food, a bottle of wine or some chocolates, even some milk and cereal.  Remember a dirty house and poor service does not promote repeat custom.  The welcome pack should definitely include in house instructions and important telephone numbers.  For example instructions could be how to open windows or use the hot water and boiler.

Advertising Property

You can’t rely solely on your agent to find occupants for your home.  If you want to rent your property while you are away you are going to have to do some work. However that doesn’t mean it is going to be hard and you don’t have to pay huge advertising costs.  You just need to know where to get your property seen.  Most people search for holiday properties online.  For this reason it is a very good idea to have your own website with images that reflect the finest qualities of your property with important contact details and descriptions. If you don’t have a website, create one, it doesn’t have to be fancy and you can create one easily for free. Many domain registrars such as domainmonster.com often allow you to create a simple websites using one of their templates for free.  When it comes to property presentation is a must.  If you don’t have a knack for photography it might be worthwhile paying for a photographer to expertly take photos of your property.  You can then publish these photos on your site and submit them to other websites.

Advertising Channels

1)      If you have a website you can submit your website to numerous business and travel directories for free.  There are many directories online which you can submit your website to such as www.onlinetravelworld.co.uk. However these are limited, you can only submit your link. But they are still important to increase your websites presence.

2)      There are also many property sites you can submit your details and upload an image that best showcases your property.  But you will have to pay a yearly subscription fee or commission with each rental.

3)      Another preferred option would be to find websites that allow you to advertise for free.  I found Travel Jigsaw which allows you to submit your property for free on their property pages.  They also feature property in their monthly newsletter which is sent to over 500,000 people.  This option is an excellent way to reach many potential customers without costs of advertising.

4)      One last option would be to pay for advertisements in magazines and newspapers.  Of course newspapers are reaching a mass market and appealing to those people who skim through the paper with no purpose of booking property.  Holiday magazines are ideally targeted towards people looking to go on holiday, but the downside is they are expensive.

My advice is not to follow one channel of marketing but to embrace as many as you can to maximise your reach and optimise your earnings.

Inventory Checklist

Although it helps to offer a fully equipped house you don’t want to buy new equipment with money out of your own pocket each time you rent your property.  By creating a list of amenities and equipment your agent will be able to check everything each time they check out a customer. The agent should make your customers aware of damage fees accrued by any breakages and where to report any accidents if they occur.  You might also want to take photos of inside your property to keep track of wear and tear.

Local Legalities

Don’t forget to check the local rules and regulations when renting property abroad.  Different countries will have different fire stipulations and regulations. Therefore you might have to reconsider the type of furniture you provide, for example is it flame retardant, do you have enough fire exits, extinguishers and smoke alarms?  Although different countries have different regulations when it comes to peoples safety you can’t go overboard. However this area will need researching as your property might need a little redevelopment to comply with health and safety laws.

Accepting Payments

If your agent takes your booking they will probably also deal with the payment and collect a deposit and full payment before they leave.  If you achieve a booking through your online advertisement you will need to consider how you will collect payment.  This can be done through direct bank transfer or through a 3rd party online merchant. Some online merchants such as PayaPal offer online fraud protection.  This means you are protected from customers who use unwarranted and stolen credit cards.  Nevertheless care should be taken when accepting payments.

These are just a few points for consideration aimed to help you think about renting your property abroad.  If in doubt, always research into doing something before doing actually doing it.



Real Estate Professionals

Buying investment properties remains the best and quickest way to increase net worth and income yearly. However, the question that investors want answered is how to find lucrative investment properties in today’s market.



The task of choosing an investment property from among hundreds or thousands of offers is a daunting one indeed. Many investors are even more apprehensive when faced with stories of loss due to misrepresentation or fraud. What every investor needs is a reliable source of information and advice to rely upon while making this very important decision.



Buyers should also of course do their own research into the suitability and affordability of a certain piece of investment property. However, it would be very useful to rely on the expertise and experience of a company that would have consultation services. In this way, possible obstacles can be foreseen and a more comprehensive study can be made.



In choosing from the many companies claiming to help investors to locate and purchase the ideal investment property, buyers need to consider a lot the overall entity. A larger company with an extensive network may be able to offer more options to choose from.



Also, investment properties need to be studied in connection with the demographics of the area. Certain key points mark areas that are offer lucrative investment properties. First of all, the demand for real estate or housing should be greater than the existing supply. This forms the basic tenet for investment in order to realize income from the property immediately.



Another key point to consider would be the consistent and significant influx of population migration into that area. This way, even with additional supply of competing properties, the buyer is assured of a regular additional injection of demand from the immigrating people.



Employment opportunities in the area should also be above adequate. This means that the people who make up the demand have the opportunity and means to afford the housing and rent that the investment properties supply. A robust local economy will allow the renters also to provide more and more jobs to the people who continue to come in. This is directly related to the next key point which is income growth. The earning power of the people in the area should steadily increase with time, so as to allow rates for rent also to be increased.



Lastly, there should be a strong demand for properties for rent in the area. Although some areas may have a robust local economy and a steady migration of new people, if the demand for that area is for owned property alone, then rented properties may not be as lucrative.



As such, finding a lucrative investment in today’s market is attainable with a little research and certain factors in play. Buyers should thus remain optimistic that there are still many opportunities for profitable investment. A little homework and the help of a reputable real estate institution would be a move in the right direction.



Sell House Quick

So you finally found the perfect property that a tired landlord wants to sell. You have to wonder why they trying to sell. Do they want to upgrade their property with a 1031 exchange, have all the money they need selling you a ready made money machine, or has the tenant taken control and is now driving them nuts?

You are going to want to get copies of existing leases, statements of security deposits, move-in inspection reports, rent rolls for the last year, tenant contact information, tenant applications, expenses for the last year and any warranty information for warranties in place. Some buyers even go to the extent of getting statements from each tenant as to their interpretation of their obligations under the current lease. To do the latter, you will need the seller’s permission to contact the tenants and they may not want them to know the property is selling.

Once you determine the situation and if you still feel good about going forward you then need to consider a few things. What you do next will make all the difference in the world in your cash flow going forward. If the house is rented, after reviewing the existing lease, you will want to include language in the purchase agreement about receiving current months rent and security deposit at the closing. We make the leases attachments to the purchase agreement.

We like to close on the fifth of the month, and request the seller to pay us the full monthly rent at closing. It then leaves the issue of rent collection to the seller if the tenant is late with their current months rent. It also minimizes the amount we have to come up with at closing.

The rent roll will give you payment history so you will know up front which tenants pay on time and which are habitually late. For the ones with the bad habit, you will know to take immediate action when they are late with their payment so they will know you mean business.

Last years expenses will include payments made to service providers. The list may reveal that you have to pay certain utilities such as water & sewer of trash pick up and this information may not have been mentioned by the seller in the negotiations. The last thing you want at the purchase is the seller canceling a service and the tenant being without water or trash pick up.

You will need to send a letter of notification to the tenant of the change of property management, the date of change, where to send future payments, who to call with maintenance issues and the bank account number where their security deposit is now being held. You can use this occasion to reemphasize your expectations of the tenant’s performance under the existing leases.

Use the transition of property manager to meet with the existing tenants and find out if anything is in need of repair. This goes a long way toward good will, and it gets you into the property to do a quick inspection.

Handle the transition in a businesslike manor; remember now you are in the property management business.



Real Estate Professionals

If your pension is under performing and the stock market is just costing you cash, then maybe property letting is the route you should take to secure your financial future.

Buying a house and doing it up could be a sensible thing to do – especially if you have relevant building or decorating skills that you can use to keep the costs of the project down.

Buy to lets are very important to the UK property market. In the last week, the British Property Federation has said that property letting is key to solving the perceived housing crisis in the UK.

It says that government research shows demand for rented property is now 25 per cent higher than for houses purchased privately. And it believes that difference will continue to rise if prices increase further.

The BPF believes that it is only by renting a home that millions of people who can’t afford to buy a home are going to find somewhere to live. It points to a similar development of property letting in the United States and Germany.

While the BPF believes the solution is a professional rental sector where property managers run domestic lets on a large scale, as with commercial property now, this situation presents clear opportunities for small investors – you.

So if you decide to go down that route, or indeed you already have a home that you rent out to others, how can you make sure that you and the tenant are perfect for each other?

Estate agent Knight Frank recently issued a series of tips for both landlords and their tenants to help them get along.

For you, the key thing to remember is that property letting is a business. And that means if you give the customer (the tenant) what they want, you will maximize your profit from your investment. It’s as simple as that and the reason why it is key to research your intended market thoroughly. Ensure you understand the kind of people you hope to rent to, and the lifestyle they lead.

Families renting a four bedroomed house want space, a garden, safety and no fancy features that could be broken by the children. Professional couples might want more of a show home and will be willing to pay a little extra for the perfect location or feature in the home.

Next up, you must remember to make your property neutral but not bland. To impress tenants you need to declutter and depersonalize the house before viewings. Unless they are renting it furnished, they need to be able to imagine that they will be happy there.

Next in the list of property letting tips is to keep the house in an excellent state of repair. A house in an excellent condition is much more likely to be returned to you that way, whereas if it’s a bit tatty, tenants are less likely to take care of it.

You are legally required to get the boiler serviced each year, and you should ensure the electrics are up to scratch too.

Finally, ensure you tell your mortgage provider and buildings insurer what you are doing. It may seem tempting to keep it quiet and save a little money, but any claims you have to put in may be rejected if they discover you are property letting and haven’t told them.

For your tenants, the estate agent recommends they have references ready in plenty of time, ask for any improvements to the property to be done before signing the lease, and commit to at least a year’s rental, so as to be more attractive to landlords.



Sell and Rent Back

i want to use my heloc to grab hold of a great deal with built in equity and buy it all cash, but then I want to finance it after close so I can pay back my heloc and collect rent to cover the mortgage. please advise how I can structure this?

Sell House Quick

The renter has been a problem from the start.I had to work with her on deposits,Security deposit,water electric.She is now stating someone is breaking into the house and has got a dog.I have a extra deposit for a dog and the rent is an additional $100 which she refuses to pay.The other thing is she is pregnant and due in a few months.Im tired of the headache and would like to sale the house,but can I with a lease that is still good till November of 2010.

Quick House Sale

I would like to rent out my property. apart from all the estate agent stuff. is there anyone like an estate agent or someone that have any tips on how i can make my property rent out quicker.

Quick House Sale

The property in Dubai has made it a commercial downtown and Dubai has emerged itself as the Shangri-La of real-estate deals. From its patronage of sand dunes and tranquil beaches, it has congealed into a global property portal . The property here has become a fountainhead of capitalist investments.

The cardinal attraction of the property in Dubai is its low prices that are one-third per square meter as compared to the property in the US. Apart from it, one can economize through the tax-free income in Dubai against the vast revenues in the US.

The rent prices have inflated to a minimum of 10% to a maximum to 50% in past two years. This progression in rates is drawing in the investors into property and to combat this hike, people are shifting to permanent property from lease.

Property in Dubai offers the perfect pedestal for the markets of Central Asia, Middle East, Africa, Asian Subcontinent, and East Mediterranean. A multinational company that wishes to maneuver the 2million people of this area with their GDP of U$6.7 trillion ought to earmark property in Dubai.

The economy of UAE is flourishing as ever with the rising oil-revenues. The national economy turns out to be a boastful add-on for the property in Dubai.

Various financial institutions are forthcoming with diverse mortgage and security rate options. The prime objective is to reduce the cost of borrowing. With so much to offer and aiming to cost lesser, the property are adjuring with the gleam of gold.

The salient features that the property offers are expanding its market substantially. The demand has amplified enormously. Dubai has emerged out as a commercial hub where all dealers want to invest considering the lucrative possibilities. It is becoming difficult to locate property in the key areas due to the tremendous demand. With this rapid bloom, it is anticipated that the property will experience a further increment in its monetary value.

The major property areas in Dubai have highlighted themselves as the ‘drawing card’ for which everyone has a quest. With the expansion of Dubai as a commercial platform, it is attracting more and more expatriates. Hence the demand is outlasting the supply and there is a stage of imperativeness being developed that causes an acclivity in the monetary value.

Dubai has a lot more to dispense than just property. The egression of the commercial environment has brought with it a new era of lifestyle and glamour. The efflorescence of malls, hotels have given a new dimension to leisure and entertainment. Dubai has turned out to be the ideal destination for all shopping-lovers. It offers an avid and luxurious environment. With the connectivity to other countries via airport and other global means, Dubai offers the nonpareil blend of connectivity, investment, globalization, and commercialization and a property in Dubai gives a countenance to avail all these perquisites.



Repossession

I was wondering if anyone knew where I can download for free a 3 day notice form and eviction notice form . Is there a free link I can go to??????I have a tenant who doesnt want to pay their rent and they also threatened me verbally over the phone. …I really need to get them out of my property quick!!!!!!!!!!

Sell House Quick

I have 2 rental properties both of which are in danger of being forclosed. I have trid to sale and to rent to them to no avail. I have heard of deed in Lieu of foreclosure. How does this work? I do own one other property which has some equity. Will bank take deed in lieu of foreclosure and forgive any remainging debt or will they go after me for any shortage?
Thanks for the responses so far.
I have the properties on the market and have had no offers. Even willing to sell $20,000 below what I paid which will be a net lose of $40,000.00 There are a ton of similar properties on the market, very few are actually selling and more are coming on the market. I have run out of cash. This looks and feels like doom.

Quick Property Sale