Landlords insurance is defined as a policy to cover a property owner from financial losses connected with their property which they let out. Mainly a landlord insurance policy will cover the building itself with the option of including the contents left within. It covers standard perils such as fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake, storm, flood, escape of water/oil, subsidence, theft and malicious damage. Each insurance policy is different and may or may not include all these items. Most companies will provide the option to have extra cover on top of what is considered the standard cover. These may include things such as accidental damage, legal protection, alternative accommodation costs or rent guarantee insurance.
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Rental Property Tax Deductions That Will Slash Your Landlord Tax
By Teo Zhenjie 
If you are a landlord or property manager, knowing your rental property tax deductions is vital for cutting your taxes to the minimum. Find out how to enjoy lower landlord taxes and boost your profit margins right now. Rental property tax deductions are basically rental expenses that you are allowed to deduct when calculating your taxes. They are crucial because they will reduce your total amount of taxable income.
To cut down your landlord taxes, you can should to include as many tax deductions that you are allowed to use. The following are the common and important deductions that you can enjoy as a landlord:
1. The Depreciation Value of Your Property
When you buy a new rental home, you cannot claim the full amount that you paid for it as expenses right away. Instead your property is slowly depreciated over a long period of time.
Depending on the country that you live in, most depreciation periods for residential property range from 20 to 30 years. Home owners are usually not allowed to claim depreciation as tax deductions so you will not be able to apply this to your own home.
2. The Premiums for Your Landlord Insurance
Being a landlord means that you will usually have to buy a series of insurance polices such as building insurance, home contents insurance and landlord liability insurance.
You will be able to treat the premiums that you fork out for all your landlord insurance policies as tax deductions. If you employ people to manage your rental real estate, you will be able to claim the premium for their worker insurance as rental property tax deductions as well.
3. Interest on Your Mortgage and Credit Cards
Unless you are awfully rich, you would have taken out a mortgage loan to pay for your property investment. Fortunately you are allowed to deduct this sizable interest charged by your bank or mortgage lender.
If you pay for any of your rental expenses by credit card, you will also be allowed to deduct the relevant credit card interest from your total taxable income.
4. Your Property Repair and Maintenance Bills
The money that you fork out to maintain your rental home in habitable condition is also tax deductible. This refers to any repairs or maintenance that are conducted to make sure that it meets your local health and safety housing standards.
However you must know that any home improvements that you carry out for the purpose of boosting the values of your real estate cannot be considered as a deduction. If you hire a contractor or repairman for repairs, make sure you ask them to give you a receipt with the property costs and type of repair work stated on it.
5. Travelling Costs for Managing Your Real Estate
Any travelling expenses that you rake up for rental activities such as rent collection and property repairs are also tax deductible. You are usually allowed to deduct both your gasoline costs and vehicle's maintenance bills. If you own rental properties abroad and you travel overseas for real estate activities, you may even to claim your airplane tickets, hotel stays and travelling fares as rental property tax deductions.
The tax agencies in most countries will monitor your tax claims for overseas travel quite closely so be sure not to abuse the system and keep proper written records of your spending such as receipts and bills.
Teo Zhenjie has been showing landlords how to manage their tenants and rental properties effectively on Propertydo http://www.propertydo.com - To learn more important tips on rental property tax deductions, visit his website today for step-by-step real estate guides, free resources and forms.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Teo_Zhenjie
Beware of Illegal Use of Your Rental Property
By Kath Wrong
The second cannabis factory in two weeks was founded in a buy-to-let property in the Kettering area, Northamptonshire. 600 plants (150 mature plants and 450 small plants) of Cannabis, worth £200,000, were discovered in a semi-detached house on Havelock Street in Kettering on Saturday; which was followed by 500 (£130,000) cannabis plants founded on Lindsay Street in the same area the week before. This suggested an increasing concern of the purposes and functions of the rental units.
Landlords should be aware of what kind of tenants they are taking in as well as the signs and possibility of cannabis factories. Internal walls demolishing as well as manipulated electrical wiring can be observed as signs of cannabis activity.
"Costs" of your rental property as a cannabis factory
If cannabis activity happened in your rental property unfortunately, you - as the landlord - have to deal with a number of aspects:
- As some of the insurance does not cover any damages due to illegal purposes, landlords have to spend a large sum of money to repair the damages. It is, thus, highly advisable to check with your insurer and its insurance documents carefully in case anything happens.
- There is a high risk of fire when electrical wiring has been manipulated; hence, it may take months for the property to be recovered to what it was used to be.
- Properties as cannabis factory are usually seen as a crime scene and access to the properties is often blocked for investigation. Thus, it will result in loss of rent for several months.
Advice to prevent cannabis activities in your rental property
- Run a complete full tenant referencing to check the background of your tenants - references from previous landlords and employers are important.
- Do not accept and take up a block of rent in advance (which could be a sign of illegal activity).
- Visit the property regularly, at least once every quarter.
- Ask your neighbours to keep an eye on your rented property if possible.
Discount Landlord Insurance
http://www.discountlandlord.co.uk/landlord-insurance.html
Please find us on Twitter @DLI_insurance for up-to-date information on property and the buy-to-let industry.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kath_Wrong
Letting Agent Information For Property
By Vijay K Shetty
Are you a property owner, landlord or a business owner who owns property for commercial letting? You must be looking out for letting agent's information in order to let out your property. These agents will find out all the information related to tenant and will save you a great deal of time. You can delegate your responsibilities to the professional agents and you can concentrate on your mortgage payments if any. They will collect all information about a tenant and find out if he is suitable for your rental unit or not.
They will carry out your property advertisement in the most popular real estate portal so that a greater number of people view his rental property information. It is advisable to add your rental property picture along side the property information to give a clear picture of how your house looks like. This will attract the right client or tenant for your rental property as only those who have seen those property pictures will approach you. You can thus avoid those who are not interested in your rental property.
Choose your letting agents carefully; reach out to the one who is highly professional. Find out how successful they have been in the past and have they referred right tenants in the past. You can even read testimonials about the agency in order to find out how reliable they are. If they are good enough they will find a potential tenant for you.
Once the suitability of the tenant is established, a lease agreement is drawn up. This agreement makes a written statement of the terms and conditions of the house which is in the interest of the landlord and his property. The terms and conditions will be regarding the rental payment on time, property management and maintenance. If there is any damage to property or nuisance to the neighbours reported he will be penalized for it and may be evicted if it continues. A tenant should also cross check the check list prepared by the landlord.
The inventory and condition report must be verified before agreeing to it. This states the condition of the entire property, including curtains, carpets, furniture, oven, refrigerator, wallpaper and paintwork along with a list of the entire contents of the property. If you find that a particular item in the property is already damaged and not mentioned in the inventory condition report, this can be brought to the landlord's notice.
Vijay Koragappa Shetty Letting Agent Information: |
