A Few Starter Tips For First Time Commercial Landlords

It's not easy to decide whether being a commercial landlord is right for you, especially if you've never been a commercial landlord before - which is totally different to being the landlord of a residential property.

No one goes into commercial letting thinking that they will have a bad tenant who causes issues, but it is possible for one to seriously harm your business venture before you have seen the fruits of your labours materialise.

Void periods are one aspect that you should plan carefully for. There will be periods when your commercial property is empty - in between leases - and so you need to make sure you have the cash available to continue making your commercial mortgage payments even if you have no tenants in the property.

As a landlord you are directly responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of any properties you own. IF a boiler breaks or if a water pipe is leaking, then you the landlord must fix it. If you are not in the area, perhaps away on holiday, or if you own properties that are in different parts of the country, you will need to make sure that you have someone you can employ to make repairs for you.

A buy to let property isn't like a regular property, it tend to need a higher quality of maintenance because of the high number of residents that it is likely to have over the life of the property, and also due to the fact that no one looks after a rental property in the same way that they look after their own. To make the environment pleasant for tenants, you will have to regularly invest in renovation.

Being a 'passive' landlord isn't enough in a very competitive market where rent costs are high. It is not sufficient to simply be the landlord who collects the monthly rent cheque.

Your reputation as a landlord and the effort you put into your work (and it is work!) will pay off eventually, a better property will always command better rates and be rented by better tenants.

When deciding on a property investment, it is vital that you do your homework. Always carry out research to find the locations that are popular with tenants. For example, you may find that student lets or commercial properties in student areas are highly desirable and can offer excellent returns. This is because your tenants have a huge business opportunity to provide certain services in student areas.

Do not skimp on the essentials, get building and contents insurance. Without buildings insurance you won't be able to get a mortgage anyway, so you'll have to get this essential requirement first. If you are letting commercial premises, such as a retail space, contents insurance is always a good idea to protect anything in the shop from theft or damage.

Possibly one of the most important points, is that you will need to ensure that your tenancy agreements are clear in explaining where the responsibility lies - i.e. with the tenant or the landlord - for things like maintenance and repairs, decorating, gas and electrical safety and so on. This will leave no room for any finger pointing in the years to come, as it is fairly common for disputes to arise.