All in a days work for a PRS landlord

I thought I would share a few of lifes little challenges that I’ve had to deal with recently as a landlord.

This is three mini blogs in one covering:-

1. TENANT CHECK OUT CHALLENGE – The tenant who touched up the paintwork throughout the house with the wrong paint
2. TO BE OR NOT TO BE THE PERFECT TENANTS – two sets of perfect tenants I thought would be competing for a property changing their minds
3. THE GUARANTOR STORY – tenant passes the referencing but guarantor fails

Tenant Checkout challenge

When I was showing my two prospective tenants around my property at Mardle Street on Friday I noticed quite a few marks on the walls, a bit more than normal wear and tear for a property which was decorated just two years ago. I planned to have a chat about this with my tenant when I met him and didn’t anticipate there to be an issue as he’s such a nice chap. When I arrived today he had taken it upon himself to touch up the marks. The only problem is that he’s used magnolia silk paint and I use matt. I now have shiny patches throughout. He admitted his error as soon as I arrive. I’m now going to have to have the who place re-painted whereas I could probably have got away with wiping the marks off and touching up with the right paint. Cost of redecoration is £500. We have agreed to go 50/50:)

To be or not to be the perfect tenants

In this blog I talked about the two perfect tenants for Mardle Street. I asked you to help me decide which ones I ought to choose and expected them to compete to get the property as they seemed so keen when I did the viewings. The outcome? Well the professional couple have found another place they like even more and the family have decided they can’t afford it. Thankfully my new online letting agent doesn’t charge me for tenant finds and has plenty more interest in the property.

The Guarantor Story

I mentioned in my last blog that my brother and three of my family were over in the Midlands last Friday redecorating a house ready for a fast tenant changeover. The referencing came back today with the tenant approved, even though he’s not working, and the guarantor declined even though she is working. It was not a mistake. The tenant, who has only just lost his job has got a great credit score. The mother, who is the guarantor, has been off work due to an accident and run up debts, hence a poor credit score. She’s now back at work, insurance has paid her a lump sum and she’s settled her debts. We have seen bank statements and other correspondence to evidence this. We asked if the tenant can get another guarantor or pay a larger deposit. he offered three months deposit but we have accepted two months instead as we do not want to create a premium tenancy.  We are happy to proceed on the basis of a two month rent deposit plus one months rent up front plus the guarantor as we can see that she’s good for the guarantee from her bank statements, never mind what her credit score shows.

If you would like me to put you in touch with the Online Letting Agent I’m using for free tenant finds just complete the short form below and press submit:

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