The benefits of renting out your own property

When writing a blog on renting out your property I must admit that I felt an immediate sense of dread. But why?

The mere thought of renting out my own property fills me with abject terror. I couldn’t bear the thought of people living among my things and a) will they like my taste? And b) are going to ruin things that I have taken great care in choosing for my home and which I have enjoyed and cherished?

However, there are circumstances such as relocating to another property, not being able to sell the property at the right price, or needing the rental income to subsidise an elderly parent’s care when you may mean you might just have to rent your property…

Forget the property was ever your home…

However, this is not a blog just about renting your own personal property but a blog about what the benefits of renting properties out are. I have had to pull myself together and my first bit of advice to any would-be Landlord thinking about renting their own property out is to forget that the property was ever once your home.

I remember reading an article years ago about a tv presenter who had gone to Los Angeles and had rented his house out for 10 years and when he returned he immediately had the house renovated so that he felt that he was moving into a brand-new house. This is definitely a course of action that I would endorse.

What are the benefits of renting your property out?

So, having considered that you may want to rent your property out, what are the benefits.

1. Well, the first is obviously that you are getting a steady rental income and that this should cover any mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc, and that you can often offset the income against the tax payable. Furthermore, in some cases, the rental income can even exceed the associated expenses and you may make a small profit which you can either retain or put towards any refurbishment that may be needed.
2. A further benefit of renting out your own property is that despite all the horror stories that you hear, there are some genuinely nice tenants out there who will look after your property as if it were their own. I know this is true from my own experience of being a tenant and being told by the Landlord, that the only thing that was missing was the smell of freshly baked bread or brewed coffee! At the time, it certainly made me stop and think about making the flat so welcoming, on the basis that the Landlord might take it back sooner than I wanted to give it up.
3. However, the most important benefit to my mind is that the value of your property is only going to increase. Regardless of the nature of the “bust and boom” economy, by renting it out you are retaining your property while hopefully not paying for it and if it is not costing you anything to maintain then this seems a “no-brainer” for investment purposes.

With these three benefits, my “abject fear” of renting out my property is diluted and I feel that as long as you have the right agent looking after this for you then this is definitely the option for you. Particularly if you are looking to realise the value of your home at a later date.

If you would like some more advice on renting out your property and planning for the future please contact MIH who would be happy to assist you.