What's Worse - £50pm Less Or One Month Void..?

This time of year can be trick for renting a place out, it always starts to die down as people get ready for Christmas and New Year. So if you have a property just about to come on the market then it's worth doing your sums to make sure you don't lose out.

For instance, lets say there's two very similar properties on the market, one for £750pm and one for £700pm. Which one do you think a tenant would go for, and how much would the landlord get...?

Of course the tenant would take the cheaper one for £700pm, and the chances are at this time of year the £750pm one might sit empty for a month - or even two!

(Just thought i'd plug my letting agency - currently offering 8% full management with no VAT for a limited period!)

So if we do the maths for the £700pm property quickly:

12 x 700 = £8400 rental income

If the £750pm property is empty for one month but then rents for 11 months, then we have:

11 x £750 = £8250

But we also have to take account of Council Tax - seeing as landlords don't get the 6 months leeway we used to, it's now the full rate even when empty. So a month's Council Tax at approx £120, plus utilities (gas, elec, water) at approx £40 = £160 per month sitting empty. So:

8250 - 160 = £8090 rental income - a difference of £310 over the year.

Don't forget you can always raise the rent to bring it into line if you really want to after 6 or 12 months with a new Tenancy Agreement.

The above example is a case of less really is more, especially at this time of year.

If you'd like a chat about anything property related then give me a call on 01525 838848, or email graham@1st-house-lettings.co.uk and i'll get back to you personally - www.1st-house-lettings.co.uk

(ps. just so you're aware at 1st House Lettings we always try to get the highest rent achievable for a rental property, but we also take account of demand and time of year. Hopefully your agent does the same if you aren't using us!)