Leasing home helps to offset costs

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 57

Leasing home helps to offset costs

Overseas travel is costing more and more as the months go by, and home owners planning to go abroad have been looking at ways to lighten the burden of the higher fares and services. One means of doing this is to lease the home fully furnished for the period during which the owners will be absent.

As well as providing part of the cost of the holiday, the leasing of the home gives additional security to the property as it is less likely to attract the attention of undesirables than a house remaining empty for a long time. Letting or leasing a home fully furnished for a specified period is not new. It is a service real estate agents cater for all the year round. The summer holiday season is a favourite time for short-term letting. At other periods of the year, in winter as well as other seasons, owners lease their homes as people move temporar-

By the REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE

ily to other parts of the country to suit employment requirements.

Real estate agents specialising in letting and leasing are able to provide a type of agreement suitable for the particular purpose and to suggest appropriate rentals as well as suitable tenants. An agreement could specify that the tenant would keep the building, furnishings and grounds in good order, and meet power, water and telephone charges. Broadly there are three different types of agreement. One is on a caretaker basis under which the occupant would be expected to maintain the property as the owner would. Alternately there need be no undertaking about the tenant attending to maintenance, in which case the rent would be on a higher basis. Third, the owner could lease at a rate that would take care of anticipated redecoration on the

family’s return. The agent may be given authority to attend to necessary repairs during the absence of the owner and to ensure that rates, insurance premiums, arid mortgage dues (if any) are paid on time. It would be wise for the owner to check insurance covers before leaving to ensure they are adequate and suitable for the purposes intended under the new circumstances. Fees to which the agent is entitled under the agreement are in accordance with a schedule approved by the Real Estate Institute. These vary according to the type of duty involved and the length of the lease or tenancy. Finally, it is wise to draw up an inventory of the contents of the home and have it checked by. the incoming tenant to avoid ‘ misunderstandings about what the house contained when the tenant moved in.