How to Rent My Property Outside?

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How to Rent My Property Outside?

19/12/2024

The procedure of letting your overseas property doesn't differ from the local domestic practice. However, you should be aware of local renting system features we will discuss later. In general, it takes four steps to rent out a house or apartment:

Market trends studies
Advertising
Tenant screening
Signing a lease

First of all, you need to understand the current demand for rentals. It determines the best rent you can charge. So, explore offers with similar locations, conditions, and amenities. On the other hand, keep in mind it reveals only the rent landlords desire to charge. Meanwhile, they may be quite inflated and not reflect the real numbers.

Then, place your ads on sites popular in the area to make your offer visible. When advertising, try to distinguish your rental property among other offers. However, be honest in its' description and make your non-negotiable rules clear.

Your next step is to select the right tenant. Of course, you rent your house out to get money but not the troubles. So, interview your applicant and ask them to fill out an application form. This gives you a lot of information. Do not neglect checking the most important details such as your applicant solvency, criminal history, references from their previous landlords, etc. This enables you to choose the tenants who meet your requirements. In turn, this reduces the risk of having troubles with them in the future.

After you find tenants, it's time to sign tenancy agreements. Make it a rule always to draw a lease in writing. Here you have two options: a fixed-term or periodic lease. But, keep in mind your tenants can terminate a periodic lease at any time. Thus, the best option for you is a fixed-term lease, which can be terminated only upon expiration.

Who Can Rent My House?

Basically, you have two options while seeking support in it:

Do it yourself
Hire a property management company

There is an opinion the first option is cheaper than the second one. Yes, this may be true when your rental property is located near your residence. However, when you let your overseas property, hiring a property management company may be more cost-effective.

Firstly, being a market expert, they will find a tenant much faster than you. That is to say, you will start making money much faster. Moreover, they are good at rental bidding negotiations. This means, you will enjoy a larger cash flow.

Secondly, your associated costs are likely to be lower with a property management company. Let's list what expenses you can reduce by hiring the company:

Travel to the place
Accommodation while preparing-showing-finding
International communication with your tenants
Attorney services

International credit card transaction fees for paying faulty fixes So, when you rent out a property outside your residing country, these cost savings may exceed a company's fee more than twice.

What to Know When Renting Out a House?

While letting your overseas property, you have so much to consider. These niceties are the cornerstones of really successful rental business you desire to run. In short, we divide all issues into two main groups:

Legislative issues
Protective issues

Legislative Issues

The group deals with the state and local legislation related to rental activities. Letting your house, you must comply with local codes and regulations. The legislation differs from country to country. Moreover, it may vary inside the country as well. Nevertheless, you must follow the local law and a property letting system.

Here are some examples that may give you a hint on what details to pay your attention:

In the UAE, a landlord can terminate a lease only in case of property sale, renovation or demolishing, and moving there his family
Register every lease with Ejari if the rental property is located in Dubai
In the USA, anti-discrimination laws forbid any touch to race, color, sex, religion, origin, familial status, or disability themes
Anti-discrimination laws in the state of California, in addition, protect sexual orientation rights
In the UK you must get an Energy Performance Certificate
Tenancy deposit protection schemes differ in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland

And last, but not least, when you rent your house out, do to forget about taxation issues.

Protective Issues

These are the measures that help to protect your rental property and minimize any damage caused by your tenants. Typically, they include:

Landlord insurance
Tenancy agreement that specifies rental terms and conditions
Security deposit
Move-in condition report (check list)

Though, these practices may be not introduced by law, they are still your must-have. They specify clauses related to emergency, terms of payment, rules of living in, etc. Thus, you can cover all major pitfalls and prevent a lot of disputes in the future between you and your tenants.

To summarize, letting an overseas property may be quite a challenge if you try to DIY. So, hire BSO to do the job, sit back, and enjoy being a landlord.