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Jan 12
Using a buy to let mortgage calculator is just the first step in letting a property
By Mortgage Calculator on January 24, 2012If you have decided to become a landlord in order the gain more financial security, as well as pay off the mortgage on a home in the most secure way possible – with a tenant paying off part or all of your monthly mortgage repayments meaning the house is essentially paying for itself – using a buy to let mortgage calculator should be your first step. This will show you exactly how much you will be looking at paying each month and thus how much you will be looking to charge for rent, taking into account what you will do if the property is empty for a couple of months, or if there are any maintenance problems which you will be required to pay for.
There will be a few other things you’ll need to look into before you buy your property. First of all make sure you have decided on the right kind of mortgage by comparing different mortgage deals with an online mortgage calculator. Often these will include an interest only mortgage calculator so you can see both repayment amounts at the same time.
You should check the rental potential for the area and property you are looking to buy. Going to a lettings company will be the best way to find out, and if you go to more than one you should be able to get a good idea of exactly how rentable your property is. Lettings agencies can also let you know the costs involved with renting a property out, and these should be something you take into account before you put any money down whatsoever – to make sure that you can afford all the costs involved just to get your property on the market.
You will need to sign up to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which protects both you and the tenant when they move out. The deposit basically covers any damage to the property and this can be filed on the scheme so that everyone gets the right amount of money back at the end of the tenancy.
Before your tenant moves in, both you and your agent should file a full inventory to make sure everything that should be there is still there at the end of the tenancy. Anything that has been broken or lost will then come out of the deposit.
Once you have gone through all of these steps you should be protected both as a homeowner and a landlord, but you should make sure you have taken all of this into account before you become a landlord in the first place.
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