The first tip is: Landlords can save money by not using letting agents
The fees being charged by a letting agent are the biggest cost to a buy to let landlord, so if you can then try to manage the property yourself. In addition, a landlord can also save to several hundred pounds when finding a new tenant if they show potential tenants around the property themselves. That's because a letting agent will charge around 10% of the property's annual rent as a finder's fee. Finding tenants is also becoming easier thanks to the role of online letting agents who have low fees for advertising and have probably got potential tenants on their books already.
Landlords could bring in shorter tenancies
Another good tip is to introduce tenancies of less than six months because, generally, a landlord can charge much more than they would get for a longer let. The downside to this approach is that the landlord will have to ensure that they are allowed to introduce short lets and then they will have higher costs in finding regular tenants. These tenants can be found via a letting agent or by contacting major firms in the area who are often looking for good quality accommodation for short periods. The other potential issue is that the landlord could face regular void periods but the higher rents being charged should help to cover this.
Maintain a buy to let property and save money
Another issue that is often overlooked by landlords is that the proper maintenance of a property will ensure that the long-term problem caused by a big bills to fix problems will be avoided. Checking the property when a tenant leaves is always a good opportunity to redecorate or fix problems and those landlords with an agent should also examine carefully any bills to ensure they are not overpaying. Leading on from this notion of having regular property inspections for maintenance issues is that it also provides the landlord with the opportunity of seeing whether a conversion can be carried out or whether an extension can be added to add extra rooms.
Landlords should split rooms to boost profits
There's no doubt that these additions will bring in more rent and increase the value of the property but the problem for a landlord is that the work can be expensive and will have to be carried out when there are no tenants in the property which means there will be an extensive void period to face. A quicker and more realistic way to save money and boost profit is to take a large room and simply divide it into two which should easily add an extra bedroom. Landlords should be aware of the local authority rules on owning a house in multiple occupation (HMO) though.
Convert a buy to let into a multi-let
Again, leading on from the previous idea, a landlord could also consider converting their property into a multi-let which will generate more money than simply letting the property to tenants. There's always a big demand for house-shares in many areas and this will appeal most to those landlords who aren’t earning enough rent from their buy to let property to cover the mortgage. So while they can be more profitable as a buy to let, there's also more work for the landlord since there are more tenants in the property and there will be a higher turnover of tenants.
