WHETHER you are a first-time landlord or have rented out properties, there are a few important things that you need to know.
As a landlord, you must comply with a number of obligations to your tenant and once you have firmed up your lease agreement, it cannot be altered.
At the start of the lease, you are obligated to deliver full possession of the premises to the tenant in compliance with the rental agreement.
You may ask for a security deposit for damages occurring during the lease term. You can deduct payment for damages to your property or unpaid rent and itemise it in a written statement and get your tenant to acknowledge.
If you sell or transfer the property, you must either return the deposit to your tenant or furnish your tenant with the name and address of your transferee.
To avoid a bitter experience when renting out your property, these are the four essential tips:
But what happens when the tenant runs away without paying the rent and the property is badly damaged?
In this day and age, it happens where there are tenants, especially foreigners, might take off without paying rent for a few months despite promising the landlord that they would make the payment.
Upon inspection of the property, the landlord will find that there are a few things missing or broken. Not only will the landlord lose in terms of not getting rental, they will have to spend money to fix the damages.
To ensure peace of mind when renting out your property, you may want to look at insurance coverage.
Interestingly, Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Bhd recently teamed up with Speedrent to offer house owners peace of mind when renting out their houses, protecting them from risks such as runaway tenants, tardy paymasters and damages.
Speedrent is an app that allows interested landlords to rent out their properties to potential tenants without the help of property agents.
House owners are able to advertise properties, filter tenants, use chat services and paperless agreements just by using the Speedrent app.
Once the deal is done, Speedrent also manages the rental payments and ensures everything will run like clockwork.
According to Allianz General head of digital innovation and special projects Linda Lor, insuring your property should be of utmost priority and more so if you ended up leasing the house to service your loan.
“Buying a property is one of the most important investments you would ever make. Together with Speedrent, we protect you from runaway tenants, tardy paymasters and home damages. We take care of the unnecessary inconveniences, so that you won’t have to worry about rent, tenants and everything in between,” she said.
Tips
1. Screen your potential tenants, so they don’t give you nightmares after they have moved in.
2. Take note of the condition of the property before and after it is rented and do a routine inspection.
3. Have a proper tenancy agreement done that will ensure your tenant pays the rent on time every month. In that agreement, there should be a clause, which states that if the property is damaged or vandalised they will be held responsible for paying for the bill.
4. Get a reliable real estate agent or property manager to manage your property for you.