When you are looking for a room to rent, you usually have two initial options to consider. This being whether you want to rent a room in a property where the landlord also lives or whether you want to live with other like minded individuals where the landlord does not live and actually where the landlord has minimal interference with you living in the property.
Choosing to rent a room from a “live out” professional landlord has its advantages and disadvantages. We will now look at these in more detail.
Advantages:
Whilst the landlord will own the property they will never actually live there. This gives you as the tenant the feeling of the property being yours to feel at home in rather than worrying about what you can and can’t do or where you can and can’t go in the property. In house sharing situations however, it is still important to be respectful and mindful of your other house mates and consider their situations.
You will get to meet other (hopefully) like minded people that you can socialise with as much or as little as you like. House sharing can be a great way to find new friends and give you that opportunity to unwind after work and share stories about your day.
At no point will you feel that you are treading on the landlords toes because they do not live there. You can use the kitchen, bathrooms and living room whenever you like and not feel like you have to do what the landlord does or feel like you are always just being an inconvenience but having to pay them for the privilege of feeling like that!!
A professional landlord will have minimal reasons to be at the property and so it can allow you to come and go as you please. The only reasons you should really see you “live out” landlord at the property is when things needs fixing, when they are showing a prospective new tenant around the property and when they may be carrying out routine health, safety and maintenance inspections.
Professional landlords are likely to have multiple house sharing properties in that town or city. This gives you options of where you might want to live in that town but also gives you the option and ability to move to another house share property should things not work out once you move in or give you the option to move should you fancy a change of scenery.
There is a big distinction between just a “live out” landlord and a “professional, live out” landlord. By this we mean a landlord whose main business activity is property and renting out rooms. A professional landlord should ensure that the safety of their tenants is number one and that each property has the appropriate fire, health and safety systems such as smoke/fire alarms, fire doors and regularly checks that this is all in good working order.
Disadvantages:
There should not really be any disadvantages with renting from a live out landlord however you may find that your landlord is one of those people that lives a long way away from the property and ultimately has little interest in your issue or problems at the property. This can be difficult for you to solve and ultimately you have the choice as to where you live and if problems are not being acknowledged or fixed then you can give them your notice to quit.
It should be one of your questions to ask when you are looking at renting from a “live out” landlord as to how they deal with any issues at the property and whether they have any local tradesmen or contacts who you can speak to if they live a long way away from the property.
Conclusion:
As a professional “live out” landlord in Chelmsford we offer all the advantages listed above and feel that there are more advantages to living with a “live out” landlord than a “live in” one. That overall feeling of it being YOUR home and place to live without worrying about when the landlord might be home or that you might have to watch what they want to watch on the TV then it really is an easy decision to make. If you are looking for a room to rent in Chelmsford then please get in contact.
Tony Pepper (Lettings Manager)
Email: ppl@platinumpropertypartners.co.uk
Mobile: 07791 866602
Office: 01245 356039
245A Broomfield Rd, Chelmsford, Essex. CM1 4DP