I spent many years renting properties before buying my own home and back in the 80's and 90's I was largely glad to find somewhere to live which had four walls and a relatively effective roof at a price I could afford.
My very first rented place was literally one room in a shared house which had just been converted - badly. It all looked OK when I viewed it as a starry eyed graduate just about to start on real life. The paint was fresh and everywhere looked spotlessly clean.
It didn't take long to realise that if I opened the kitchen cupboards I could see straight through massive holes in the brickwork through to the garden. It took just a short while longer to realise the carpets which had been cleaned but not replaced were literally alive with fleas!
Renting is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to live. With it getting harder and harder to get on the property ladder and more and more people reluctant to set down roots too soon, renting comes out on top as the best option for modern youngsters.
With renting growing ever more popular it’s important for landlords to know what people are looking for to ensure they beat the competition and get the tenants. Millenials are retaining their place as the top renting group in 2018 so what do they want from a tenancy agreement?
Obviously a flea free environment is a must but today's young renters want more.
There are lots of things that landlords can do to make their property more appealing like offering online portals for rent payments and maintenance requests. Todays renters are generally very tech savvy and are more than used to managing their entire lives from shopping to dating online. If you try asking for a cheque you might get some baffled looks!
If you have good wifi speed and 4g in your area, boast about it. With today's flexible working patterns millennials won't look twice at a property where they can't work from home via a laptop or even their smartphones. Advertise the availability of cable and fibre services too as this might prove attractive to many prospective tenants.
If you are still looking for somewhere to buy to let bear in mind that being close to public transport is a must for many wannabe tenants. Even if you are out of the big city, offering accommodation which is an easy commute often beats a shorter but more complicated route. One bus ride for 40 minutes beats 3 at ten minutes each.
Parking is useful and might give your property the edge over similar in the area. Even non-drivers might have friends and family who need a space for when they visit.
Allowing pets is a biggie as well - Millennials LOVE their pets. You might have seen in the news this week that even local councils are thinking of changing their strict rules to allow their tenants more freedom to keep a wider range and number of pets.
It's easy enough to ensure the property is cleaned thoroughly and returned to it's original state after your pet owning tenants have gone - that's what the contract and deposit system is for after all.
So you have made your property perfect for young professional millennials. Now all you have to do is find a tenant. Try advertising the property online with videos and virtual tours and allowing online applications- these are both ways to make a property appeal to millennial renters.
Although you can manage a tenancy yourself it is much safer for both parties to use a good agency like HomeLet which will help match tenants with property owners and make sure the relationship is agreeable with both sides getting what they want from the arrangement.
By using an agency you also ensure that you have help if things go wrong so tempting as it might be to cut out the middle man just remember that when the boiler blows or the roof starts leaking that middle man might just make life easier all round.
Although you can manage a tenancy yourself it is much safer for both parties to use a good agency like HomeLet which will help match tenants with property owners and make sure the relationship is agreeable with both sides getting what they want from the arrangement.
By using an agency you also ensure that you have help if things go wrong so tempting as it might be to cut out the middle man just remember that when the boiler blows or the roof starts leaking that middle man might just make life easier all round.