Renting out a house provides a 3 – 10% return, but also questions. Fortunately, it is all easier if you have a complete picture of all income and costs.
Table of Contents
Rent out a house
I had money in the bank at too low an interest rate and since I didn’t really want to invest or invest in gold and silver, I started looking for a house to rent out. I wanted to spend a maximum of 100,000 for an apartment in the center of the city, in my case Utrecht and yes, I found it. With that investment in real estate and rental I achieve approximately 8% NAR per year.
In this post you will see all matters such as a checklist for renting out a home yourself . Of course, in addition to great opportunities, there are also quite a few points of interest. In addition, you can also immediately get all our tips with the yield tool .
Before we go into detail on each aspect, below you will see a nice practical experience of buying a building with 6 apartments and the costs.
Also in this example of a customer of Verbouwkosten, a property with 6 apartments was purchased and then rented out. First, of course, he wanted to know what it cost to buy and renovate this house.
Tips
You will see more about the return in a moment, but first it is good to know that your greatest risk is the tenant. On the one hand you have to find that tenant (quickly) and on the other hand it has to be a reliable person who pays rent properly for a long time without causing nuisance or causing much damage to the home. Searching 6 months for the perfect tenant is too long for most, but waiting 1 month for that good tenant is definitely worth considering. This is one of the most underrated aspects of a rental home.
Efficiency
When renting out, people often make a return between 3 and 10%. The definition of this return is very important because in the pub the returns fly around your ears without knowing what they mean exactly. In fact, some don’t even know exactly. Before we discuss the different returns, your goal should be clear: Get an acceptable compensation for the higher risk you run by renting out.
Your return depends on:
- Income (per month and then per year)
- Purchase price home
- Vacancy (long-term)
- Profit (or loss) on sale. This is also known as indirect return. Please note that people who buy a rented house from you pay less than a house ‘free of rent’
Experiences
My experience and opinion is that you should make a good return without this last point of profit on sale. The past decades have shown that house prices do not always continue to rise in value, but can also fall sharply.
BAR
The BAR is Gross Start Yield and is nothing more than the total annual rent to be divided by the purchase. BAR is still the most used and (still) gives the least accurate ‘how many euros you have left’ at the end of the song.
Example:
BAR apartment of purchase (incl. buyer’s costs, etc.) of 100,000 and rent of 650/month= 7,800 per year gives 7,800/100,000=7.8%.
NAR
Let’s go straight to NAR. This Net Initial Yield is lower than the BAR because the annual costs (maintenance/insurance) are deducted from the rental income. For the same house, the following NAR applies for annual costs of 1,000 euros:
Cost
An example of revenue and costs”NAR apartment of purchase (incl KK etc) of 100,000 and rent of 7,800 per year gives a net rent of 7,800-1,000 = 6,800. So NAR is 6,800/100,000=6.8%. A necessary renovation for that rental must be included in this. A small renovation of, for example, 5,000 euros is spread over (for example) 5 years, so 1,000 euros per year. If you want to sell earlier than those 5 years, you must therefore include these not included renovation costs in your final return. Unfortunately, quite a few cost items are often forgotten.
Don’t miss our new Rental Cheatsheet!
Get insight into all components at a glance for the best rental return (without spending a lot of time)
- A checklist of all points for attention. That way you don’t forget anything
- With exclusive tips that cannot be found on the website
- Benefit directly from experience expert
Best calculation
This NAR calculation is better because the maintenance costs in principle have little to do with the rental income, but have everything to do with the euros that you are left with. Even more accurate is the so-called Net Present Value (NPV) calculation. This is going too far for this article, but it is certainly worth investigating because you take more things into account so that the percentage return between potential rental property can be better compared.
Apparent Accuracy Yield Calculation
A side note of the NPV calculation is that it is possible that people attach too much value to the result due to the many numbers. Many estimated figures do not always provide much more certainty. With a vacancy of 2 years, almost all calculations go in the trash, so a university-level calculation is just as hard as that back-of-a-cigar-box calculation. This does not mean that NCW is not better than BAR and NAR, but do apply it with logical thinking / common sense.
Leverage
If you let the bank pay for your rental home, you can achieve a higher return due to the leverage effect. It goes too far in the context of this post to explain this, but the gist is as follows:
Leverage when renting
If you calculate 100% of your own money for a house with an expected return of 10%, you can use a mortgage to achieve more return. This is riskier than paying everything yourself, but the earnings can be higher. For example, if you only pay 50% yourself and the bank also pays that percentage at an interest rate of 8%, your return increases to 12%.
Due to the leverage, the 10% return becomes 12% and you also have less own money in the house, so you can (in theory) buy 2 houses for your money. When renting to expats , the return can sometimes be higher.
Budget
You can buy a house in our country from 50,000 euros to a few tons or more. It is less easy to rent out an expensive piece of real estate because the target group is simply smaller, but that does not mean that it is by definition wrong. If your budget is a few hundred thousand, several homes can sometimes be smarter (in terms of return) than 1 large house, although you then have to deal with several tenants. Most people first test whether renting out a house is something for them by starting with 1 house, and later possibly expanding it if they like it and they have even more ‘unused’ savings.
Scatter
According to one guru it is smart to spread your risks between real estate/investment and savings and according to another guru, spreading is a sign of uncertainty. I leave the choice up to you, but what is usually often advised: keep something on hand for unforeseen circumstances. Most people keep at least 10 to 20 thousand euros in free savings that they do not need immediately. This is a reserve pot for unexpected expenses on your own home / car / unemployment, etc. and the higher this pot, the more peaceful you sleep.
Location, location, location
Just like with an owner-occupied home, the location of the house is the most important thing. This applies to all types of rental, although the target group is important. With student room rental you want to be close to the station, education and center and with more expensive apartments private parking is very important. At a holiday home you want to be close to entertainment, in the green or super central.
Good place
We could fill a book about this, but you probably already know what a good place is in your area. The latter is important, by the way, because you prefer to rent out a home near your own home or office. After all, you know what a good location is and you are nearby if there is something in the future. Research also indicates that the vast majority of people in their own hometown invest in ‘buildings’/rental properties for these reasons.
Alternative investments
Your alternatives are of course infinite, but these are the most chosen alternatives to ‘make money from your money’:
- Investing, chance of a much higher return but also much lower. Many advisors / sellers
- Gold/silver/oil/other commodities, in times of recession quite a lot of people flee to (assumed) securities such as gold and silver
- Bonds, low return and relatively low risk
- Saving, almost risk-free (under 100,000 at most banks)
Where to buy?
Buying a house for rent is not much different than buying a house for yourself. In addition to the location and rentability, the basis of a good return is of course a low purchase price. This can be done via Funda / ZAH / private sale / bank sale, etc. By the way, when you sell a rented home , you have a bit more to pay attention to.
To search
Some experts are clear in their advice when buying a rental property:
- The purchase largely determines the total return (direct and indirect)
- Negotiate hard and be willing to say goodbye to the house you had in mind at the wrong price
- Rather compare 50 homes without buying 1 than 2 and buy 1 immediately
Solid
You do have to pay attention to ‘vandal-proof’ of the property because rickety door handles, stained glass and other historical elements will sometimes easily (accidentally) destroy the landlords. Despite the fact that you can agree on everything about it, you always have ‘hassle’ with it, so a new construction, solid new apartment with a base, sturdy plastic Bruynzeel kitchen and sturdy and cheap taps and sanitary facilities will help you reduce costs.
Rental income
You discover the rental income by checking your competition’s advertisements online and physically. The bandwidth of rental income/rental prices is approximately 5 to 30 euros per m² of floor space. It is good to agree on a nice high rent, but it is also very important to already consider the rent increase and, if necessary, record it.
Rent increase
Your big advantage lies in the rent increase that you either agree in advance or can determine entirely yourself. The government certainly has an opinion about this, but if you record this increase for rent, you are in a stronger position and with many home rent buyers, the current tenant will also want to pay more more quickly.
Rent furnished
When you rent out a house or apartment furnished, you often get a slightly higher rent of 10 to 30%. You also determine your target group with this, because an ex-pat or recently divorced person will be very attracted to this. Damage to the interior of the home is always a discussion afterwards and you can prevent this by properly recording the condition with photos and video. In addition, you must be clear about what you see as an accepted part of usage damage. Scratches on a wooden table happen, but scratches on leather should be limited. In addition, you should in any case make photo and video recordings to be able to determine damage to fixed parts in the house, such as on plastic frames or dormer windows or floor.
Carpeting
At the end of the tenancy agreement, the tenant is obliged to return the house to the same condition and to hand it over to the landlord. This often means that the floor covering must be removed, or have it removed .
outdoor space
An outside or storage room naturally gives a higher rental income than a home without these advantages.
Risks
You have several risks, but finding a tenant is your biggest risk in my view. I have rented out several houses and the most difficult part is finding a ‘good’ tenant. But what is a good tenant?
- who rents the house for a long time
- Someone who pays the rent on time
- Someone who doesn’t call/email and ‘nag’ about every little thing. (Can he replace a broken bulb himself?)
- No noise pollution
- Prefer no pets
Other risks
- Depreciation home
- Vacancy (is the same as finding that tenant)
- Payment arrears
- Discussion about rent (and being sued)
- fire damage
- Water damage
- Other damage
- Discussion with residents around the home Damage to home (house itself or contents)
- Rent protection
homeowners’ association
Take a good look at the conditions of the VVE and what they write and think of tenants. Most common points are:
- VVE discussion about resident
- Nuisance by the landlord (especially difficult with active VVE)
- Pets
Rent protection
This last point of the protection of tenants is enormous in our country and a risk for you if, for example, you want to free up money by selling. For that reason, the current tenant really does not always have to leave and then you have a rented piece of real estate that you have to see to sell. Regardless of whether this is allowed, your target audience of buyers is suddenly only a few percent of that of an unlet home. Your contract should contain a clause in this area that is also legally valid (later).
Service costs in rent or not?
A frequently asked question is whether you should charge the monthly service costs of 50 to 300 euros per month separately, or have them brought in, or whether you should include them in the rent in an opaque manner. My personal opinion is that you should preferably have the tenant pay the service costs himself so that he or she also (often) has the hassle with that energy company, internet, VVE, etc. Even if you are strictly legal owner and contact person: that person benefits greatly from having gas, water, electricity and internet access and discussion with all people in the same apartment block is often not pleasant for that person.
Incidentally, service costs often consist of:
- Gas
- Water
- light
- VVE costs (if any)
Sometimes additional costs are added to the service costs:
- Cleaning common areas
- wash windows
- Elevator costs
- internet
- Concierge
- etc
Contract
The contract must be crystal clear and you must ensure that exactly your requirements and sanctions are clearly stated and have it formally signed. Take the time for a sound contract and take advantage of this for as long as the contract lasts.
Buy and rent an apartment
House or apartment
The choice for a house or apartment is quite personal, but also depends on:
- Location: a village usually asks for a home as a rental investment, because who wants to sit in an apartment in a green environment? An apartment in a city is much more accepted. More about renting out an apartment .
- Center versus suburb: A suburb also requires a (larger) ground-bound home
Speed
The speed of rental is important and many people want to live in a center and that will only increase because many people (young people) like to be free and want to take the train more often and love city life.
As a landlord you have to worry less about an apartment, because worries about garden maintenance, burglary and theft are much smaller in a high apartment than in a terraced or semi-detached house.
However, you can also achieve excellent returns on a land-bound home by making a good offer for tenants if there is sufficient demand in a neighbourhood.
Incidentally, you can of course also look at the rental of garages / business space / retail properties, etc.
Target audience
In the target group selection, you actually already determine the rental period to some extent. Roughly speaking, you can distinguish the following target groups:
- Young people who can’t afford a home
Buy and then rent out
You see: when buying and then renting out or renting out your own apartment, there is quite a bit to consider. Do you now choose a couple or singles? A couple is often calmer and has more budget to easily pay the rent every month. In addition, they are more sensitive to insistence to actually pay and more amenable to reason. You can also simply reach them more easily if you need them for an appointment etc. The disadvantage of a couple is that they often have more time to give you ‘fuss’ with their rights and your obligations. They think that the stairs should be safer, the rent should be lowered, etc.
How to rent?
Nowadays it is also very simple to put your home for rent via various platforms. This rental flash is a good example .
Rent subsidy limit
If you achieve a nice return with the price of the house below the rent subsidy limit (approximately 710,= per month), you have an extra advantage. Tenants can then receive housing benefit, making it easier for them to pay for your apartment (or house) and therefore less likely to end up with rent arrears. They will also stay longer because if they grow to the need for a larger home, they will want to extend that period a bit because they ‘still receive a nice rent subsidy’. View the information from the government about rent allowance / housing benefit .
tax
When making a major decision such as buying a home for rent, you will of course weigh all the ifs and buts. You do this, among other things, by orienting yourself online (here) but also by submitting this to your own tax and tax adviser. Perhaps you are overlooking something or your situation is so specific that a completely different choice is much smarter. We name a few.
wealth tax
You also have to pay wealth tax on a home since it is not your owner-occupied home. Payment with private or business money does not matter.
Buy private or business
The preference for buying a rental home for private or business purposes depends on your situation. If you have money in the bank, private can be more interesting, but you should always discuss this with an experienced advisor. The advantage of buying privately is that you don’t have to pay profit tax on any capital gains on a later sale. In addition, you do not have to deal with VAT and VAT payments.
Rental home as an investment
With these tips you will gain insight into the potential return of a home for rental. You never have certainty, but that’s what saving in the bank is all about and if you have an idea of the possible rental income and costs of the renovation, you already know a lot more before you start negotiating with the seller.
Long term investment
Buying a second home is a long-term investment. You should be able to do without the money you put in for a longer period of time.
Renting and renting out other things
Renting and letting is not only interesting for homes. With other home items is interesting as you can see in a couch lease , boxspring lease , coffee machine hire and rent solar panels ).
