Ciao!
Well today has been a reasonably productive day.
I’ve emailed 5 local estate agents to see if they’ll rent out my individuals rooms in the flat and to see how much they charge. Some of them had pretty good websites which explained the letting process in a bit more detail. I’ll need to:
- If I’m doing it myself (rather than getting an Estate Agent to do it for me), get applicants to complete a written rental application with their credit history, employment status and names of former landlords. I found a template on http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/templates/rental-application-TC001001442.aspx
- I’ll need to check references: credit check and contact previous landlords etc.
- Get a Gas Safety certificate (I think I’ll do that just before I let the place out), a copy of which will need to stay with the tenant. Should apparently be about £80.00 + VAT
- Get an Electrical Equipment Safety Certificate (EESC). It’s not a legal requirement but the landlord’s at fault if wiring or anything electrical in the flat injures/kills the tenant so I’ve decided I might do that! Should be about £65.00 + VAT.
- Check that all my furniture is fire resistant – it has to have a label somewhere apparently. That applies to beds, mattresses, sofas, cushions and other soft furniture.
- Do an inventory. I found some information and a downloadable template on this blog: http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/property-inventory-form/ There’s also some guidance for Landlords on there too which I’ve just spotted so I’ll take a look at that too.
- Need to look at getting a government authorised “Tenancy Deposit Scheme” which is needed for all Assured Shorthold Tenancies (this seems to be the agreement for renting out the house exclusively for a period of time so would appear not to apply if I want to rent out the rooms individually perhaps, that would seem to be a “licence to occupy”. I need to investigate that further.
I’ve discovered (or rather, my mum has discovered) a good website which links to lots of useful blogs about moving to Italy! http://www.expatsinitaly.com/ I’m wondering whether now is the time to start drumming up some interest in my blog despite my ongoing concerns of not really knowing whether it’s what a blog should be like or not so I’ll consider trying to get a link on there I think. Feedback from mum today was that I should be less personal at the start and as people form long lasting bonds with my blog, divulge more information when they start replying to posts etc.! Anyway, I suspect that’s too personal 😉 Hi Mum 🙂
And I’ve used www.mybuilder.com to try and get someone to come in and sort out my bathroom ceiling in my ongoing efforts to get the place in a reasonable rental condition. I promised a picture – here you are 🙂 The website is a good idea – you post your “job” and then tradesmen have an opportunity to show that they’re interested and email you if they are. As the job-poster, I can then shortlist them and get them around to give me a quote. I’ve already had a response from one guy so feeling quite good about that. Perhaps I’ll post up the finished product, hopefully in 2 or 3 weeks!
Right, I think that’s enough for today.
Ciao i miei amici. Sogni d’oro!
movetoitaly 