Are you cut out to be a landlord?. 17/01/11

Heywoods said that not everyone was cut out to be a landlord and that many people had discovered that letting their home involved a lot more time and effort than they had initially thought.

The company said that DIY skills and having contacts with reliable tradesmen were especially useful, given the problems that many landlords faced trying to get things fixed when tenants contacted them with problems.

Heywoods also urged would-be landlords to do their maths, warning that in the current housing market they needed to look at their investment more in terms of rental income than any increase in property value.

It also reminded homeowners that some areas of The Potteries were far more attractive to tenants than others. Terraced houses around the universities and homes near major employers such as the two hospitals consistently proved popular.

However, probably the best advice that Heywoods could give to any prospective landlord is to go through a specialist letting agent.

This, it concluded, took much of the strain out of letting a home and gave landlords the peace of mind that somebody was on hand to advise them and help sort out problems whenever they arose.