Should I sell or re-let?

I was out last night catching up with an old pal of mine Sid the Latin Master.

He wanted some advice over what to do with a problem property he'd bought 4-5 years ago.

Things came to a head over the last few weeks when his last tenant upset the local mafia and ended up having most of the windows being put through. Sid had quote reasonable taken a guarantor but after a series of bad tenants he'd come to the point of no return and was trying to decide whether to get rid or invest and hope for his luck with tenants to improve.

Sid has bought the 2 bed Victorian terrace at the height of the boom and quite reasonably was hoping that the area was ripe for a bit of an uplift. As I've said before I'm sceptical of the whole topic of 'gentrification'

This traditional working class area was sowing no signs of a rapid improvement.

The importance of the bathroom

As his tale unfolded it sounded like a familiar male tale of a landlord who failed to appreciate the allure of the bathroom.

Now I'm a bloke. The bathroom is a place where you go to have a shower a dump and clean your teeth. Not necessarily at the same time.

However, if you are a lady. It is your sacred space. A place to recuperate, to lounge and pretend however briefly that you are the Queen of Sheeba.

The fact is that female tenants will dismiss a property that is good nick just on the basis that the bathroom is a little dingy or tired. Any man who has viewed a property with their female partner will appreciate that it's the woman who decides. If the lady is happy so will the man.

This means if there is one room to spend time and a little effort on - it's the bathroom.

It might not dramatically improve your rent, but hopefully the quality of your tenants will improve and give you a much easier life!

Landlord insurance