It has now been almost 2 months since I am the proud landlord owner of a rental property . Or rather should I say that we are, Madam having accompanied me on all the stages of this beautiful project, and will accompany me again on the next ones! The property on which we have set our sights has kept us busy lately, and that’s saying something! This is what explains the drop, or even the absence of publications on the blog in the past weeks. But let’s continue. So, what have we been up to since acquiring our first rental property?
I briefly recall the context. Since May 2014, the month of the signing of the deed of sale, we are therefore officially owner-lessors of a beautiful apartment building. The latter consists of 3 apartments, 3 rooms, all rented. I invite you to consult my previous articles for more details on the characteristics of the property, but also to know the figures associated with this investment.
First thing done following our move to landlord status, contacting the tenants already in place. The term chosen is not quite correct, since we had already had the opportunity to meet them before the signing of the sales agreement, during one of the visits to the building. But once on the other side of the barrier, the approach is different and firmer. While remaining cordial and courteous, the idea is to clearly define the roles and the relationship that binds us to our tenants, which must above all be a “customer / supplier” relationship, as opposed to a “friendly” relationship. .
Even if the notary told us to send a certain amount of information to the tenants in place, we wanted to get in touch the next day with each of the occupants. On the agenda, several topics were discussed:
Everything seemed so easy… But that was without counting on the tenants on the top floor! They are an unmarried couple, each in their sixties. I spoke to you earlier about the payment of the rent by transfer of 2 tenants out of 3: it is of course the couple of the second who act as ugly duckling , even if obviously they have no legal obligation to do so. TO DO.
What is more annoying is that they were late for the payment of the rent ! I had the opportunity to have them on the phone several times on the subject, and these multiple reminders have fortunately ended up bearing fruit: the situation is now restored, but it was not without wetting the shirt . The good news is that they are not against setting up a monthly transfer for the rent. It’s not done yet, but I continue to gently encourage them (or not… 😉 ) to put this means of payment in place: I will be much more reassured and serene with 3 rents falling automatically on my bank account , than with a check to be cashed each month and on which I may have to send reminders regularly! The rest in the coming months, I remain vigilant…
Not to mention that for the moment, I have focused my reminders on the payment of the rent. Of course, they have not yet provided me with the certificates requested for the home insurance and for the maintenance of the boiler. I should have a little more time in the next few weeks, and I have set myself the goal of covering these various topics!
Work to bring the electrical standards up to standard has also been launched for 2 of the apartments, we have obviously warned the tenants in place. The longest was finally to settle in terms of schedule on the work: between the craftsman and the tenants in place, finding the right slots was not easy. Work is now complete for the first apartment, and is in progress for the second.
We have also set up PNO insurance from the day of the signing of the deed of sale : the negotiations for our rental investment passed by the subscription of insurance through our bank, it is therefore towards them that we turned to, not without having all the same compared with the competition. Good news, they are slightly cheaper than estimated in my simulations: €215 per year, against €280 expected. 65€ less, that’s always winning! Coupled with the revision of rents carried out on 2 of the apartments, the cash flow of the investment has just increased by 10€ per month! 🙂
As you can see, the weeks following the signing of the deed of sale were not easy, but nothing too bad in the end. And what a pleasure to collect his first rents: even if they cannot be qualified as passive income to date, it is a great satisfaction to see his bank account supplemented with several hundred euros not from this salaried income ! As far as our next landlord actions are concerned, we have simply listed 2:
In your opinion, are other actions to be taken in the short term to complete the “inauguration” of our owner-lessor status? How would you have handled the case of the tenant on the second floor?