This article first appeared on LetaLife.com's buy to let landlord's resources and information pages.
This is just a springboard check list to get you thinking around the subject. it isn't exhaustive by any means, but hopefully it will help you get your ideas organised.
Are you good at dealing with people?
DIY Landlording will at times involve dealing directly with your tenants. There will be times when you need all the diplomatic skills of a Henry Kissinger, if you are to successfully achieve your objectives.
Being a landlord is a contradictory position, on the one hand you are an ambitious entrepreneur with a keen eye on the bottom line. On the other hand you are a service provider being paid (hopefully, if you have chosen tenants wisely) to provide a service, sometimes to awkward customers, you may not be particularly sympathetic towards.
If you are the impatient grouchy type then maybe getting a property management professional to do the customer facing stuff for you would be a sensible decision.
Joining a Landlord association will help you in many ways. The support and advice of other landlords may be invaluable.
National Landlords Association
Residential Landlords Association
It might also be a good idea to join in with a local council approved landlord scheme which may give you a ready made structure for how to deal with tenants fairly. To find out if your council operates such a scheme here is a site where you can find your council's website.
