First time renting property need advice please.

Och999

Hi hope I can get some advice.

I've decided to rent my property .it's a 2 bed apartment in a complex. The tenants I know. they used to live in the same complex. They have decided to move back to Ireland and rent.
I'm not registered with anyone or have no legal advice sought as yet but I will. I'm confident they are great tenants and I'm happy to rent to them.
They will be moving in 21st November. They want to send money now to secure the rent.
I must clear it up do they think this is the deposit? If so would I ask for rent to be deposited Dec 21st. ? And just go from there.
I'm not keen in joining a management company but should I get a contract drawn up by solicitor .
On nights so I'll be reading the rights etc.
Any advice is welcome and be taken on board!
Thanks

davo10

Firstly. Check how much properties nearby are renting for, find the highest and set the rent at that. This is the only time you will be able to set the rent unhindered by tenancy legislation, assuming this is a first time let.

You need a tenancy contract, under no circumstances should you let without one. Google is your friend. The day they sign the lease, they pay first months rent in advance plus at least the equivalent to one month as a deposit. Rent should be paid by electronic transfer, monthly. No pets, no smoking etc.

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With the current laws as they stand if I were you I would do only short term lets. Or even see if you can find a company that will rent it off you.
Don't get into long term letting. You will go mad and basically the government will try their best to remove all control of it from you, but leave you with 100% of the risk. I repeat, avoid long term letting like the plague.

TT rainbows

If you know them and trust them you have a chance to offer them a decent rate. See what the going rate is around and ask them for a bit less. If you can build a relationship on trust it could help protect your property in the long run. You can also bring happiness into their lives and yours in been a decent person. You can find a lot of info on public and state websites on rules and duties for each party. You can get tenancy/lease agreements from the web as templates and modify in ms word to suit your situation and then get them to sign. Make sure you aware of some of the costs you may have eg appliances failing, heating packing in over xmas etc

DivingDuck

Make sure you are aware of the obligations of landlords in the current climate, which are pretty heavy and expansive. Make sure you are willing to provide all the requirements, and make sure you know where your responsibility stops. A tenancy contract won't prevent all problems, but one will help in the event that you have some.

Bear in mind that all future rent increases will be capped at a rate of 4% annually, even if the tenants leave and a new tenancy begins. You might want to be generous and understanding with these particular people, but setting a low rent now means you will be stuck with that rate with strangers if these people need to move on in a year's time.

When you say you are "on nights", do you mean you will be living in the property also? If so, they will not be tenants; they will be licensees, which is an entirely different situation. Make sure you understand the difference.

wordofwarning

Why not sell it? You can take any capital tax free. Whereas, if you wait a few years you will have to pay tax on some of the capital gain

How have you decided the rent? As in the amount per month

I would not accept their deposit now. They want to make a legally binding contract today. Take their deposit closer to the move in date

Honestly I think you need to get an agent, if you can't answer basic questions that you are asking

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It hurts the amount of capital gains tax I have to pay now. So much so I don't really want to sell my remaining property for that kind of hit. I don't want to do long term rental either anymore.
Connundrum

Askthe EA

TT rainbows wrote: »

If you know them and trust them you have a chance to offer them a decent rate.

I'd advise against this. The rent you set now is the benchmark at which every further rent can be set if and when they leave. An unintended consequence of the RPZ legislation.

Askthe EA

Askthe EA wrote: »

I'd advise against this. The rent you set now is the benchmark at which every further rent can be set if and when they leave. An unintended consequence of the RPZ legislation.

Exactly, regardless of how well you know them you must set the rent at the maximum rate you can to future proof.

TT rainbows

you must not do anything. Its the choice of the landlord to do what he wants with the property. Sometimes in business its worth trusting people and having people you know in your property than someone unknown who its hard to judge how much they will respect it.
The OP sounds like a decent person and the world is better with such people. Not just greedily getting the max - 'sorry Im future proofing' doesnt sound decent when decent people trying to find decent places. Treat people fairly and be aware of the ugliness of greed.

Askthe EA

TT rainbows wrote: »

Treat people fairly and be aware of the ugliness of greed.

That's just naive and spoken by someone with no experience of being a LL. Being a LL is a business. If you start off now with a low rent to good tenants, because of government intervention you are stuck at a low rent for every subsequent tenant. What if these tenants prove problematic? What if the next are troublesome?

Are you going to apologise to this person for giving them Ill informed information if it all goes pear shaped?

Askthe EA

TT rainbows wrote: »

Its the choice of the landlord to do what he wants with the property.

Lol. It really isn't. You don't understand how restrictive landlord tenancy law is and how imbalanced it is. Once a tenant is in 6 months the LL loses almost all control over the property.

TT rainbows

I mean in deciding at the starters gun what he wants to do. Of course after 6 months the tenants get some rights as it should be. People should have a decent place to live and security of tenure. A young family with kids going to local schools can be turfed out at short notice. Landlord just had to advise its for refurbishments or sell as market prices are going up. I think it should be balanced in protecting peoples rights to security and decent place to live and make a bit of profit for the landlord in return.

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TT rainbows wrote: »

I mean in deciding at the starters gun what he wants to do. Of course after 6 months the tenants get some rights as it should be. People should have a decent place to live and security of tenure. A young family with kids going to local schools can be turfed out at short notice. Landlord just had to advise its for refurbishments or sell as market prices are going up. I think it should be balanced in protecting peoples rights to security and decent place to live and make a bit of profit for the landlord in return.

Landlord wouldn't have to refurbish if there were no rent controls. And I think anyone selling now is most probably genuine. The business doesn't work for them anymore so they sell.