Property Investment Articles Index

Full List of all Articles Published

2011 ARTICLES
DECEMBER 2011
	Protect Your Buy To Let - Legal 4 Landlords 12/12/11 Private Sector Rental prices and rental yields increased in the three months up to October 2011, according to new research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The survey found that the number of UK property agents who reported higher rents had risen by 19% in the 3 month period. 15% more property agents also said that PRS rental yields rose between August 2011 and ...
	The Warren Buffett’s Investing Blueprint for serious 'Contrarian' Investors Only - Progressive Property 12/12/11 Buffett, at one time the richest man in the world, is the richest, most successful and high profile Investor living on the planet. So there's no better way to build your investment rulebook and blueprint that stands the test of time and virtually guarantees wealth (provided you stick to them of course) ...
	Portfolio Rescue Case Study - Matthew Moody 05/12/11 At Millennia Property we receive lots of calls each month from property investors who over the last five years purchased properties that haven’t cash flowed in line with expectations. In some cases, the investors bought several properties through pitches from slick sales people and never carried out the appropriate research on them! 95% of all property buyers in the UK work a full time job as most ...
	Buy to Let Caveat Emptor - Mike Clarke 05/12/11 Buy-To-Let investment in the UK is still unregulated, and the Latin phrase ‘Caveat Emptor’ – “Let the Buyer Beware” is a clear warning to anyone wanting to explore the current popularity of BTL investment. Nobody likes being ripped off, least of all property investors who are looking for the services of others. I keep reading headlines in the press, online blogs, investment forum threads and trade ...
NOVEMBER 2011
	Is Your Rental Property Safe? - Legal 4 Landlords 28/11/11 Being a landlord in the UK is a very desirable financial position that many people would like to be in. Some tenants even think that landlords are made of money, not realising that Buy To Let is a business. The landlord is a businessman and the property is his income source. Purchasing UK Buy To Let property and renting it out to tenants can be a fantastic financial investment, and many ...
	How and Where to Find Private Investors with money to Invest in You - Progressive Property 28/11/11 Following on from last weeks article ...Before you rub shoulders with millionaires, it is essential to know what you are looking for exactly. If you are looking for a chalk and cheese JV, or a business partner, it is not just about finding people with money. I have a whole host of content on striking chalk and cheese JV's ...
	Housing Benefit…. Are you ready for more changes? - Julie Ford 21/11/11 In November 2010 the government announced the controversial new cuts which were to be made to housing benefit we saw this come into force across the country from April this year. These cuts saw thousands of households in receipt of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) who pay rent to a private landlord facing losses of more than £50 a month. The decision was widely criticised by homeless ...
	How to structure a JV deal to overcome private investors objections & reduce their risk - Progressive Property 21/11/11 We all know that finance is THE BIGGEST objection for most people as to why they can't invest in property. With finance getting tougher, Joint Ventures is one of the best strategies to bypass personal finance and continue to build a property empire whilst others are scratching their heads trying to get BM mortgages ...
	Property Renovations - Jeff Bell 14/11/11 We’ve been investing in property since 2006, predominantly in the BTS area in Lincoln. In this article we’ll provide valuable content regarding the overview process of marketing for opportunities through to the sale of the refurbished property. Online - There are many different areas to find property deals in this current climate and with investors willing to work together more than ...
	Goals Vs Outcomes - Duane Alley 14/11/11 So many people I hear talking about or even teaching anything in relation to achieving goals tend to use these words "goals" and "outcomes" interchangeably like they mean the same thing. I am adamant they don't. When I'm working with Clients or Students I talk about both goals and outcomes as separate …
	Military to Jump Housing Queue - Julie Ford 07/11/11 Back in May of this year the government announced that housing for military families would be addressed under the Military Covenant this would include plans to give military personnel priority in the Governments FirstBuy scheme, where purchasers receive equity loans from the government and house builders, leaving them with a smaller deposit to find ...
	Lets Party! - Steve Foley 07/11/11 I have been asked to give a background on what I do & have done – I’m surprised that anyone would even be interested, however, readers may be surprised at ‘where I’ve been'! Last Tuesday - 1st November, I turned into an OAP & so a reflective moment is OK I guess – I’m always forward looking to the next event or deadline that I rarely have the luxury of time to contemplate on, what has ...
OCTOBER 2011
	Rent Arrears and Eviction - Sim Sekon 31/10/11 If you’re a landlord, it’s almost inevitable that at some point you will face the inconvenience of rent arrears or the unpleasantness of evicting a bad tenant. If you have been a landlord for any number of years, or have multiple properties, then those chances are multiplied. So, from day one as a landlord, make sure that you are ready and have plans in place and the information to hand to deal ...
	Finding the Deals - Fazal Ullah 31/10/11 Where are they and who’s got the deals? Well, let’s look at the people that fall into the category of ‘desperate seller’. Someone who has debts who may have put their head in the sand. They may have letters coming through the door or they may have the debt collection companies chasing them. They may have phone calls at ungodly hours during the night and day or calls at work ...
	Green Living is Here - Julie Ford 24/10/11 The new coalition Governments coveted Green Deal, which is an attempt to insulate British homes and reduce energy usage and costs has today, made it into the statute books as the Energy Act 2011 and is now law, the Green deal is set to be introduce in late 2012. The Green Deal, as it will be known, will revolutionise the energy efficiency of the nation’s homes, it will allow energy...
	Can You Make HMOs Work on Your Own - Matthew Moody 24/10/11 HMO’s can work well and HMO’s can also crash and burn. My aim is to ensure that you are one of the prior mentioned and that you invest in HMO’s safely, wisely and ethically. Buy in the right location! This is the first key point to cover – get it wrong and you risk your entire investment. I hear so many tales of investors who want to run a HMO in a village or a rural area – or worse yet are ...
	Is Your Home Insurance Ready for the Winter Chill? - Castle Cover 17/10/11 With winter well on its way, all homeowners should make sure that their properties are covered by home insurance before the changing weather conditions cause any problems. Obtaining home insurance from a reputable provider such as Castle Cover is not enough, homeowners must also make sure that their policy is sufficient to cover any losses that they may incur ...
	How to Correctly Gift Property to Spouses - Sara Laing 17/10/11 Property letting can generate a useful income stream for a spouse who has little or no other income to soak up the annual tax-free personal income tax allowance (£7,475 for 2011/12). However, property ownership needs to be arranged correctly to gain the maximum tax advantage. In England and Wales property may be owned by a couple as ‘joint tenants’ (where each party holds an ...
	Tenant Deposits; accidental landlord still clueless about law - Julie Ford 10/10/11 When the tenancy deposit scheme was introduced as law on 6 April 2007, it stated that all deposits taken by landlords, or their agents, from tenants on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) must be protected by a government-approved scheme, it was very much a new concept often not fully understood or backed by landlords and so the media campaign followed, we were bombarded from ...
	Property Title Fraud Costs Land Registry £26 Million In Compensation - Mike Clarke 10/10/11 The Land Registry is the UK Government department that records Land & Property ownership in England and Wales. Since 2006 it has been possible to obtain land certificates online, since then there has been a dramatic upsurge in criminals taking out mortgages on property they do not own, leaving the real ...
	Is it Really Possible to Recycle Your Cash in 2011? - Matthew Moody 03/10/11 There have been a lot of doomsayers lately stating that it’s not possible to legally leave no money in a property deal. Well, you’d probably be right if you are dealing in the residential market. But what if there was a way through a commercial bank to deal in both the residential market and recycle your cash again and again ...
	Court Eviction Process is Failing Landlords - Sim Sekon 03/10/11 A RADICAL shake-up of the county court eviction process is needed to help landlords get rid of problem tenants, according to a lettings industry specialist. Sim Sekhon, director of Legal 4 Landlords, is calling on both Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) and the Government to reform the way tenant evictions are handled in court. Sim said: “There is no consistency in the eviction ...
SEPTEMBER 2011
	Rogue Landlords; Urban Myth or Letting Reality? - Julie Ford 26/09/11 Since Channel 4 aired the Dispatches episode highlighting the appalling way some landlords run their properties, the media have jumped on the rogue landlord bandwagon with vengeance and the documentary has certainly stirred up new calls for mandatory licensing of landlords and letting agents. The housing charity Shelter has published New research revealing that rogue landlords are ...
	Universal Credits ... Err ...Make That Arrears - Mike Clarke 26/09/11 With 3.4 million Private Rental Sector properties in England, Private Rental Sector Landlords and tenants are being warned to protect themselves against scams. Landlords and Lettings Agents are pushing rents ever higher with demand for rented property exceeding supply, even though the number of PRS properties ...
	100% Mortgages Are Back And Here To Stay? - Alan Forsyth 19/09/11 There were several headlines last week announcing Aldermore bank’s new 100% mortgage launched last week aimed at first time buyers. Aldermore are one of the newer banks – only opening in 2009, and we have found them pretty refreshing to deal with. They are however taking no big chances on this product ...
	Repayment v Interest Only - Bobby Gill 19/09/11 This has always been a popular topic for property investors. Should they keep their payments low or high and build some more equity? Should they pay off their debt as they go along or pay it off at the end with the sale of their property? There are a few options to consider but what is best for you? Well only you know the answer to that but let me first give you some facts (or things I believe ...
	Pension v. HMO Properties? Where would you place the money? - Matthew Moody 12/09/11 Everyone reading this article is interested in their present and future net worth; that’s why we invest. The reason for choosing property is that we all know, in time it delivers stable solid growth and income. As the saying goes, it’s as “safe as houses”. The problem for many people though is they do not have enough ...
	Beware of Rental Scams - Mike Clarke 12/09/11 With 3.4 million Private Rental Sector properties in England, Private Rental Sector Landlords and tenants are being warned to protect themselves against scams. Landlords and Lettings Agents are pushing rents ever higher with demand for rented property exceeding supply, even though the number of PRS properties ...
	Riots - The Real Cost for Landlords and Tenants - Julie Ford 05/09/11 Exclusive! With the recent, well publicised riots, London has seen the worst arson and looting attacks since 1985 in Tottenham, Walthamstow, Brixton, Hackney, Peckham, Ealing, Croydon and Clapham Junction, but the violence has not been confined to the capital, spreading to Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham and even Bristol. It is estimated the riots have caused over £200millions worth of ...
	Advice on Buy to Let - Alan Forsyth 05/09/11 Whenever I am asked what area of property investing investors should go into, I almost always will say go for buy to let and will relate it to business. Many investors however still do not buy the correct property to fit the criteria they should look for. If you think of large businesses and how they measure growth and performance - they will continually talk about growing by either opening ...
AUGUST 2011
	Buying Fresh Air - Paul Gelder 30/08/11 Imagine if you bought a property and then realised that the person you bought it from didn’t own it and had never owned it! This type of fraud is rapidly increasing and often targets Landlords and other absent owners. The chances of this happening to you are growing and growing. This article will help you avoid becoming a victim ...
	Investing In Your Property Success - Connect UK 22/08/11 Connect UK is Britain’s leading organisation whose expertise is sourcing properties with real value in terms of yield and purchase price. With over 20 years property experience Connect-UK have supplied some of the UK’s most successful property investors by sourcing and supplying their most lucrative property investments. Literally 1000’s of property investors receive our list of investment ...
	The Quickening - Bobby Gill 22/08/11 Many of my Blog readers are property investors, business owners and I share this with them (and you) because I know they are also human beings with heart and souls. You don’t have to admit you believe the same but I know you do. You will find your approach to do business constantly having to evolve and change to meet the needs of the changing environment and marketplace. It’s not time to just upgrade but as one advert puts it, upgrade your upgrade!
	Using Lease Options to Create Your Financial Freedom - Mark Jackson 15/08/11 Lease options are powerful tools for creating financial freedom. What makes that statement true? How does that affect you? Please read on to find out more ... Tomatoes change with time. Green ones are toxic. Red ones are not. Timing is key. Imagine being able to harness that! ...
	Detroit House Prices Are Rising - Is Detroit To Be The Fastest Recovering Economy Ever Seen In Years?- Alan Forsyth 15/08/11 It is no secret to the rest of the United States and indeed the world that Detroit has suffered through the economic recession. It has been hit hard, mostly due to the decline of the motor industry that services so much of the region.
	Thinking of Investing in a High Cashflowing HMO Part2 - Matthew Moody 08/08/11 Last month we took you through the planning cycle of how we at Millennia Property turn a single let dwelling into a high cash flowing HMO. This month we will concentrate on how we mange the physical work of turning the humble three bed terraced house into the 6 bed HMO.
	Fraudsters Target UK Rental Market - Mike Clarke 08/08/11 UK landlords and tenants are becoming prime targets for identity (ID) fraud as personal mail posted through the door of rented property is stolen and personal details are being used for illegal purposes. Identity theft has become rampant around the world and protecting yourself is very important. If someone steals your identity it can take months or even years to clear up the financial mess they...
	Stop Fraudsters Selling Stolen Houses - Spike Reddington 01/08/11 Most people can’t believe their ears whenever Donna Jeavons tells her story.When she mentioned it to me, I too couldn’t believe it, so that’s why I felt compelled to ask Donna about the scam and write this article. Although Donna is dealing with a very stressful situation, she’s determined to bring some good out of her plight by launching a campaign to raise public awareness and help stop this happening ...
	Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance and Welfare Reform - Claire Turner Over the last year the government has announced significant changes to housing benefit (HB) and local housing allowance (LHA). The government’s own estimates show that the changes will result in an annual reduction of £2,745 million savings, made from reductions in housing benefit payments. The impact of these changes to housing benefit will affect private landlords and their tenants across the UK.
JULY 2011
	Is Your Below Market Value Property Search Structurally Sound - Connect UK There would seem many ways to seek out seemingly fantastic below market value property deals in today’s BMV market. However, who is working with you to source the best real value deals? And yes, we do literally mean ensuring that the roof on your desired property is not leaking or that the walls on your ‘bargain buy’ are not crumbling away! Of course, you will do your own due diligence ...
	Thinking of Investing in a High Cashflowing HMO? - Matthew Moody 25/07/11 Then this article is for you as over the next few articles, the Millennia Property team will show you how we convert properties that are yielding 6% - 8% into 15%-20% high yielding profitable HMOs. We will show you how we do it and how we make sure everything is covered – and the features that will give it that ‘wow’ factor… To make the most from a HMO we at Millennia property aim high ...
	National Achievers Congress Low Down - Bobby Gill 18/07/11 To be at the National Achievers Congress 2011 in London Excel was a great experience and a privilege. Not having been to many events/seminars in the last few months, this was one that I did not want to miss. With such World Class speakers and entrepreneurs in one place, it was the MUST attend event of the year! With such ‘Gurus’ in Peak Performance to Billionaires and the Best of the ...
	Investing During the Credit Crunch - Jim Vann 18/07/11 If you want to invest in property but are too scared of the credit crunch, then you should educate yourself more on the subject which will help alleviate some of the fears and concerns you are having. Even with all the bad news and media coverage, there are a lot of people still making money from property and in a bad market it is the perfect time to buy property well below market value ...
	So Will July be Your Month? - Alan Forsyth 11/07/11 Well that's the first half of 2011 completed! How have you done overall? Have you hit your goals? Were you 100% clear on your goals?? If you were not, and had not written down your goals it’s unlikely you will have achieved what you hoped to. Anyone that is successful in life will have clear goals and a clear idea of what they want to achieve. Whether it is success in sport or business, those that do ....
	c Is It Still Possible To Make £722 PROFIT & 11.5% Yield From One Property at 5% Interest rates? - Matthew Moody 11/07/11 The short answer is YES! The long answer is – it depends on what type of house you have, how you refurbish it – and more importantly – how you let it out! In this month’s article, I look at how you can make this happen even in today’s market and start on the ladder to property success. To begin with, you need ...
JUNE 2011
	Making Money in Property is Easy Just Like Losing Weight!- Alan Forsyth 27/06/11 For many people that consistently make money in property, or consistently keep their weight at their ideal weight it seems easy. You may not immediately see the correlation between the two, but there is a similar pattern to success in both. Both ways to succeed are relatively straightforward and yet most people get it wrong. If we take weight control first of all – over half of all Brits ...
	Illegal Does Not Mean Wrong - Bobby Gill 27/06/11 I am sat here looking through some banking contracts on a Sunday afternoon, traditionally a day of rest, as I need to get back to them on a couple of queries that they have not adequately answered. The solicitors keep quoting legal B.S. - allowing them to do pretty much what they want and do not care what is RIGHT. Morally the banks are as bankrupt as they were before they took YOUR ...
	Hands on Help for Ex-pat Landlords - Sim Sekhon 20/06/11 With so much uncertainty in the employment market and the bank’s current lack of lending for mortgages, renting is seen by many families as a more attractive way of putting a roof over their head rather than buying. The buy-to-let market is the most buoyant it’s been in generations. The knock-on effect is large numbers of small to medium private investors, including ex-pats with surplus funds, are ...
	Why Choose a UK Property Instead of an Overseas One - Ian Spencer 20/06/11 Investing in property has long been a rewarding way to make money from an investment, with property being able to offer both long and short term financial rewards. With so many aspects to property investment, it is vital you consider everything before making your purchase because the level of investment needed to build a property portfolio will often be quite substantial ...
	Are Lease Options for Me? - Mike Clarke & Mark Jackson 13/06/11 Many property investors who are struggling to obtain suitable finance are exploring the use of Lease Options to gain control of property for a small peppercorn fee and making arrangements for purchase at a future date. A Buy Now, Pay Later method of property investment. Lease Options have in fact been around for many years, proven to be a very effective investment method popular in the ...
	Laser Focus or Scatter Gun Approach? - Matthew Moody 13/06/11 This month, I’m going to look at something slightly different as I’ve found in our own business over the last four or five years that some of these tactics can really make the difference between succeeding and coasting. You may know this feeling. You’ve got a to-do list for the day but its not got the 5-10 items that most personal development or work-time specialists will advise you to do ...
	The Great Rip-Off:Tale of the Dead Donkey - Bobby Gill 06/06/11 The Banking Crisis Explained: Young Thomas bought a donkey from a farmer for £100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news. The donkey died.' Thomas replied, 'Well then just give me my money back.' The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I've already spent it.' ...
	Property Prices Down, Running Costs Up – Who Wants To Be A Landlord? - Mike Clarke 06/06/11 Landlords are reporting a significant increase in demand for rental property as many former home owners are attempting to get off the property ladder due to the increase in costs and stresses associated with owning and running a family home. Many former householders are seeking private rental sector (PRS) properties to the trials and tribulations of the current property market ...
MAY 2011
	Tax Freedom Day 2011 - Bobby Gill 30/05/11 When do you stop working for the Government and start to earn for yourself? Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year, when people in the country have finally earned enough income to pay for just their contribution of taxes. Remember taxation is involuntary and enforced with civil and criminal prosecution ...
	Portfolio Building - Alan Forsyth 30/05/11 The basic idea behind investing in buy to let, is buying a property that you will be able to rent out, to either get an income from or pay off any borrowing taken out against the property when you buy it, and then enjoy the mid-term capital growth. So where are the best places to invest in the UK for buy to let? Well as with any investment, you are looking for the strongest return on investment ...
	Does Shelter Think ALL Landlords are Rogues? - Bobby Gill 23/05/11 "Scams involving Landlords". "Shelter really do a good job showing 'Rogue' landlords taking advantage of vulnerable (desperate) tenants". With PR like this though, no wonder people think landlords are out to take advantage of tenants and are all unscrupulous. What kind of person would want to rent a property like this anyway, someone vulnerable or someone who didn't care and found it acceptable?
	Have Your Tenants Got Green Fingers? - Dave Lawrence 23/05/11 As a landlord, when you let a property, you hope that your tenants will treat your property with care and respect ensuring that, at the end of their tenancy, they return the property to you in the same condition they found it in when they arrived. You also assume that your tenants will not undertake any kind of illegal activity in the house. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case ...
	Setting Up a Letting Agent Business Part 4 - John Paul 16/05/11 One of the most difficult aspects of running a business is employing people. I have learnt some valuable lessons over the last few years, unfortunately, some of them the hard way. You can have all the procedures, policies and systems in the world but once you introduce people into it, there’s always a chance things could go wrong. Getting the right staff at the right time in your business cycle is ...
	If You Can't Keep Up With The Pressures - Mike Clarke 16/05/11 Owning and managing a property can be a tedious affair. Though you may feel proud of owning a property, the issues and matters related to the property never seem to end … they simply keep on accumulating! If you find property management and its issues going out of your hand, or you are unable to keep...
	Why Should I Invest in Student Accommodation? - Alan Forsyth 09/05/11 With more students going to university and college each year and an estimated 2.4 million students in the UK, and a huge shortage of accommodation, there is a huge opportunity to make large, passive income from investing in high quality student accommodation located in cities with prestigious universities. Currently there is insufficient supply of student accommodation, with only 23% of ...
	Who is Willing to Accept Your Lease Option Offer? - Mark Jackson 09/05/11 Lease options are powerful tools, but if you can’t find the sellers willing to work with you, and accept your option offer, you won’t benefit from them. How can you find sellers willing to accept your option offer? What is the key? Motivated sellers are similar to moths being drawn to a flame. What was once appealing and attractive has now become a trap. The emotional cost and energy spent ...
	Government Uses Blackmail to Lower LHA Rents - Bobby Gill 02/05/11 As well as lower DSS/LHA rents the Government is now using blackmail to get landlords to reduce their rents even further if they want to be paid direct. LHA was the way forward for landlords to get guaranteed rents but it seems as if the Government is putting the brakes on that too by making sure you are guaranteed much LESS!..
	Setting Up a Letting Agent Business Part 3 - John Paul 02/05/11 The most underrated part of setting up a letting agency is the training. Most people I know think that lettings is easy and that you can pick it up as you go along. Not many people realise exactly how hard it actually is, to keep up with all the legislation or best practices etc. I can understand WHY people think its easy and start up a letting agency. From the outside it doesn't’t look particularly ...

APRIL 2011
	Persistence - Simon Zutshi 25/04/11 It is such a shame that many people give up, often just before they get the success they desire. Unfortunately, we live in a microwave society where most people seem to crave instant gratification. I have seen this so many times. I meet investors who say they tried a particular strategy and it did not work for them. On further discussion, I usually find out that what actually happened was that they “dabbled” with the strategy, failed to get the results as quickly as they ...
	Have You Heard About Tax Liens? In the USA the various different states charge taxes to property and land owners for the provision of services such as garbage collection and road repairs. This is similar in the UK where local authorities charge us “Council Tax” for providing services. The HUGE difference is that under US Law if this tax is unpaid then the individual state can place a second charge against the offender and this ...
	New App 4 Landlords - Bad Tenants Beware! - Sim Sekon 18/04/11 Legal 4 Landlords launch the UK's first ever iPhone app for landlords! They have released a self-titled application for the iPhone (and iPod touch) that helps landlords and letting & management agents make sure they always have up to date information regarding any tenant that a landlord or letting agent may be considering taking on. The application gathers information on prospective tenants in the UK, and specifically, if they've previously been listed as tenants from hell ...
	The Seven Essential Elements of Option Agreements - Mark Jackson 18/04/11 Options are versatile and powerful legal instruments which are changing the way residential property is bought, held and sold in the UK. Put simply, options are written agreements that give the holder choice or freedom. Depending on the wording in the document, the owner gives exclusive freedom to buy, use or sell the property, or a combination of these freedoms. If the buyer chooses to ...
	White Collar Crime - Bobby Gill 11/04/11 Coming to a home near you soon? Or actually ask your friends and family because the white-collar criminals are likely already operating in your street lurking in the shadows! If you've got such stories about UK Banks, then write in and let us know - the last thing they want is people discussing their crimes in public even though they're spending the public's money and harassing those very same people! "Robo-signed documents, false affidavits and failure to notify defendants are just a ...
	Networking for Property Investors - Mike Clarke 11/04/11 There are currently over 60 property networking events of various sizes organised around the UK every month and there are new groups and events to attend every week. Attending property networking events gives new and experienced investors, landlords and property professionals the opportunity to meet and interact with like minded people in a friendly and supportive atmosphere ...
	How to Get More Deals With Less Effort - Simon Zutshi 04/04/11 One of the quickest ways to find BMV deals is to contact other investors who are already finding motivated sellers and ask them if you can have some of their leads that they are not interested in or ones that they cannot convert. This is one of the strategies I teach on my one day “Property Investing Quick Start” seminars, because it is a NO RISK method of you obtaining leads immediately at NO ...
	Setting Up a Letting Agent Business Part 2 - John Paul 04/04/11 The hardest part of any making any letting agent a success is getting the all important landlords. So how do you do it? How did we do it? How did we go from no properties what so ever to over 1000 in 2 years? Why did we buck the trend, and grow faster than any other letting agent in the country? Well, as I mentioned in the previous article we picked a niche. Our niche was LHA, very few people ...

MARCH 2011
	Tell Me Everything - Bobby Gill 28/03/11 Not only do the taxes you pay fund illegal wars, murder and death - but so now do the contracts that the Government use for clerical work. Below is an article provided by a contributor at www.PeacNewsLog.info on how you can fill in the details and stop Lockheed Martin profiting from your particular form. Remember to enclose the supplementary form that they may have forgotten to enclose ...
	Going Down ... New LHA Rates - Legal4Landlords 28//03/11 Below are the estimates based on the new weekly rates of housing benefit by each local authority. Named by the government as the 30th Shadow percentile they are a benchmark for the new lower rate of LHA to be introduced this April for new tenancies. The 30th percentile rule will affect existing tenancies in January 2012, when they will be applied to all existing claimants of housing benefit ...
	Got Milk? - Bobby Gill 21/03/11 Companies (that also includes Governments, Police and the Courts) only want to do business with you if they can get money out of you - otherwise they are not interested in what you have to say or think. The bigger they get, the more control they have and the lower your chances of talking to a real human being. Human beings are trying to communicate with one another - but are trying to be stopped by those in control. With Twitter and Google blocked in countries where there ...
	Hooray for Scotland - Alan Forsyth 21/03/11 One of our favourite areas personally to invest in, is Scotland! Why? The affordability is huge - over 80% of my buy to let properties are in parts of the country where prices are no more than 4 times the average salaries (why would I buy in areas where prices are 8-9 times the salaries, when I get houses at half this price and twice as affordable to the local market in the UK?). This then makes the rental yields twice as good generally ie around 8-10%! When I buy for buy ...
	THINK... It's Not Illegal Yet - Bobby Gill 14/03/11 Authority will have you think, what they want you to think - and that everything is OK. You can trust your Government, Banks, Police and Courts as they are there for you - not themselves. What a rude awakening everyone is in for (especially those of you who are already nodding and about to fall into a deeper sleep). WAKE UP! So what happened? The Credit/Debt Bubble and Bust - that's what!
	Is It Safe to Buy Package Deals? - Simon Zutshi 14/03/11 This is a question that I am frequently being asked as more and more people seem to be having problems when buying packaged deals. The answer is, as my friend and mentor, Dolf de Roos, would say...It depends! In this article I have been asked to share my views on how to minimise the risks of buying deals from other investors! My initial response is that it is always better for you to learn how to invest in property yourself, instead of relying on someone else to do it for you...
	Could Your Home be Stolen? - Bobby Gill 07/03/11 Criminals are taking advantage of changes in the law to transfer the ownership of land and property to themselves. They are easily able to do this because land certificates have been abolished and all property titles in England and Wales are published online. It is believed the problem was “substantial” and growing. By changing an owners’ address for official correspondence, a fraudster can take out a mortgage and even sell the property. Anyone owning an interest in property ...
	Finance is the Holy Grail - Matthew Moody 07/03/11 Once upon a time, there was a bank. It was called Mortgage Express. It decided that it would be a great idea to get into the Buy To Let market in a big way and launched BTL Mortgages in the late nineties shortly after the Assured Shorthold Tenancy was introduced. Investors flooded to the market place and many companies joined the band wagon. From the mid-nineties through to the end of 2007, both houses prices saw a huge surge in value (typically £100,000 was added to the average value of a house!) and finance was easy to get hold of ...

February 2011
	Murphy's Landlord Laws - Bobby Gill Have any of the following ever happened to you? This list could go on but I'm sure you get the idea... (Yes, most of them are true!) Who'd be crazy enough to want to be a Landlord? Tenants have at least one relative get sick or die per month, so they will just have to pay you later. If a tenant attempts to replace the washer in a tap, plan on replacing the taps and perhaps all the plumbing in the building. *When the heating breaks in mid-winter, it is always the boiler...
	Buying/Selling a Short Lease Property - Can I Extend the Lease? - Katie Cohen The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (“the Act”) enables most lessees in England and Wales to obtain a 90 year extension to the term of their lease so long as they have owned their property for 2 years. The process is initiated by the lessee serving a Section 42 Notice (“the Notice”) on ...
	Who let the PIGS Out? - Bobby Gill What the heck is happening in Europe and who's next...The Global economy is a mess right now, Governments want it one way, Banks another and the People... well you just watch the News right now - they have the final say! There's a lot of strange energy around right now, I'm sure you've noticed it even if you don't know what I mean - it appears negative but it's change for the best ...
	How to Set Up Your Own Lead Generation System - Richard Shepherd If you are into the lease option investment game seriously you need to establish an effective lead generation system to connect you with motivated sellers who would benefit from selling their house quickly or who would like the flexibility that lease options offer over the traditional forms of trade through estate agents. To establish a successful lead generation system you must first know your ...
	Beware: The Second Real Estate/ Property Collapse is Coming - Bobby Gill The US and UK Banks have been illegally foreclosing / repossessing property, by not even checking paperwork and worse still, by forging it - whilst being bailed out by the Government with your future as collateral. Is that right or fair? How come the overpaid Bankers and their pretentious solicitors fail to provide any copies of certified contracts or documents when requested? Maybe it's to hide fraud! And don't expect your MP or elected representatives to help - as the Government is busy enough trying to get money out of you for it's past mistakes and new ...
	Attitude is Everything - Simon Zutshi This is a slightly different article than the usual. Instead of talking about the latest investing strategy I would like to share with your something far more valuable. An understanding about yourself, that could help to make you truly successful (or not as you will see later depending on your mindset attitude and beliefs). On 6th May, 1954 Roger Banister was the first person in history to run a mile in under 4 minutes. Prior to this nobody thought it was possible. Doctors said that the ...
	How Long Does it Take to Establish a Property as Your 'Main Residence'? One of the most frequently questions a tax adviser gets asked is “how long do I have to live in a property before HMRC will accept that it is my “main residence” and thus exempt from capital gains tax when I sell it?” The question is fair but the answer is difficult... My own opinion is that there is no minimum period of time, and I give the example of someone who moves to a new city to take up a job and ...

January 2011
	The Difference Between Buy to Let Insurance and Landlord Insurance There has been a question that is repeatedly asked in the world of renters insurance for a long time now and it is one that has an easy answer but many people still don't seem to know it. The question that I am talking about is what is the difference between Landlord Insurance and Buy to Let Insurance?
	Setting Up a Letting Agent Business by John Paul Quite recently on the forums there have been quite a few threads on setting up a letting agent and to be honest it’s not as easy as everyone might think. I thought that it would be a good idea to write a mini series of articles as how we set up our lettings group and the mistakes we made, it will a full insight into how we have grown to the size we are and also what I would do different if given the chance again. Anyone can set up a lettings agency but it takes ...
	Pay Off Your Mortgage by Simon Zutshi In just 10 years from now, how would you like to have paid off your home mortgage in full and have secured a strong pension? Most people recognize that investing in property is one of the best ways to build your long term wealth for you and your family. Investing in property is not a get rich quick scheme. You do need to invest some time, money and effort but this will be the best investment you will ever make. One of best things about property is that ...
	Become Financially Free Through HMO Property Investment - Matthew Moody If you want to leave your job, improve your cashflow or just be comfortable knowing that every month you’ll be making a ton more money than ANY other property strategy out there, then follow my simple plan and start making money the smart way. 1) Determine how much money you need to cover all of your living expenses and any other luxuries you must have ...
	Would you Rather Buy in the UK or Ireland? - Alan Florsyth When we look at the current situation in Ireland and the lack of flexibility the country has in terms of reorganising their economy, it shows how relatively fortunate we are in the UK that we have not joined the Euro. The fact that the Bank of England firstly is independent, but more importantly can decide on interest rates has made a significant difference in the UK...
	Going, Going, Gone - Khalid Rashid Surelock provides the key to property auction success. Birmingham property firm now offers valuable auction benefits and a ‘fast and certain’ sale for their clients. Khalid Rashid is always looking to give his local clients the most comprehensive and professional service possible from Surelock Homes Limited, his well-established property management and lettings firm is based in Small Heath, Birmingham. With a solid background as a Chartered Surveyor ...
	Manage the Information and Influences You Have - Alan Florsyth What do I mean by this? Especially in a market downturn the media will really make a big thing out of any negative information without often fully understanding it or analysing it - as long as it gives them a powerful headline! A recent example is.... The media have generated headlines with the latest news from Nationwide with Sky News amongst others reporting that property ...
	One-Stop Landlord Support The Residential Landlords Association (RLA) is a subscription-based campaigning organisation providing a range of documents, guides, services and professional advice to landlords and letting agents in England and Wales. In recent times the RLA has grown in significance and importance. In addition to providing valuable services to members, it has a voice at local and national government levels. The RLA’s key functions are: Campaigning for fair, reasonable legislation ...

2010 ARTICLES

December 2010

	Beware the Perils of Investing Overseas What the glossy sales brochure doesn’t tell you and what the developer hopes you won’t find out… A true account of the perils and pitfalls that one of our readers encountered when buying investment properties overseas and how you can avoid falling into the same traps… You name it and it’s probably happened to me in the past 6 years. I’ve been there, seen it and got several blood-stained T-shirts ’s ...
	Weather the Storm The Coalition Government has made it clear that Britain is entering a new era of austerity which is likely to affect the spending and saving behaviour of millions of people. However, a little ingenuity can go a long way towards protecting you from the worst of it. In his June budget, the Chancellor, George Osborne, announced a package of spending cuts and tax rises designed to trim public borrowing by £40 billion a year with tax payers are being asked to make sacrifices worth ...
	Landlord Titters! Just for fun at Christmas, here are some funnies about us Landlords ... Will you please send a man to look at my water, it is a funny colour and not fit to drink. The toilet seat is cracked: where do I stand? "I can't pay my rent as my BMW is in the shop, and I cannot afford to pay for both." "I am sure I paid you -- YOU must have lost it." ...
	Maintain to Keep Your Insurers Happy It is important to keep your property in a reasonable condition. After all, your Landlords insurance will expect you to do so and any claim could be reduced or void if a lack of maintenance contributes towards a loss taking place, or being more severe than might otherwise be the case. But there are other reasons why this is important, not least of which is that well maintained and attractive properties can attract rents at the top end of the range for the type and ...
	Why Property Management Software is a Business Essential - Amer Siddiq You may be facing difficulties managing your multi rental units. It’s the same for all professional landlords when they’re starting out, the focus is on ‘property’. Little do they realize about the effectiveness of a software tool for UK property management. Be warned though, failing to see the bigger picture and failing to properly manage your property portfolio may lead to problems. Therefore, it ...
	Recession-Proof Cashflow Strategies - Matthew Moody In today’s market with capital values plummeting and costs seemingly doubling over night, it is crucial that you implement cashflow strategies into your portfolio. But what is cashflow and how does it impact me? At its very basic, cashflow is the money that you have left after all of your income has come in and all of your expenses have gone out. It can be very easy to overlook when things are ...
	Christmas Cheer and Tenants - Alan Forsyth As we get close to the end of the year and Christmas, and we think about buying gifts for our loved ones, I have been asked by a few investors do I send cards or presents to my tenants. My thoughts on my relationship with my tenants are: I want to keep a respectful distance generally with them, but also treat ...
	Turbo Charge Your Success! - Simon Zutshi It never ceases to amaze me how many people turn up to networking events to see what happens rather than having a clear objective about what they want to achieve from it. After all if you have taken the time to attend a network meeting surely you want to get a maximum return on time invested? In this article I want to explain how you can Turbo Charge the results you get when networking.
	How to Find UK Property Using Google Maps and Streetview Google Maps has been upgraded to include a new layer of results covering “hundreds of thousands” of properties for sale or rent in the UK. Replicating a service that has been available in Australia, the site allows users to freely view or upload links to UK properties for sale and see the results on a map. ..
	Beyond Lease Options - Richard Shepherd The last two years have seen the advent of lease options in the UK residential property market. Investors are extremely excited by having another tool in their arsenal that they can use to acquire and profit from property. But let’s take a moment to reflect on what they are:- An option agreement gives you, the investor a right to buy the property over a specific period of time. You can buy it if ...
	Attracting and keeping tenants through good property maintenance Aside from the property, we have found that a good relationship with Tenants is the key to a smooth-running tenancy. It is important that the Tenants should feel comfortable in their temporary home, and that they are receiving value for their money. Therefore a well maintained property in a good decorative order will go towards this, whilst also achieving a higher rental figure. Tenants are ...
	A Guide to Finding Who Owns an Empty Property - Rick Mobbs Finding empty property is a good way to buy below market value property. The property is often in poor condition and ripe for development. The owners may not be bothered with it, they may have forgotten about it, died or moved abroad. They may sell to you at a low cost as the least hassle way of disposing of it ...

November 2010

	Managing your Property with a Private Limited Company Many property companies, apart from very small concerns, are increasingly becoming limited liability ('limited' for short') companies. This has several implications so far as property development is concerned. Firstly, a limited company has a legal identity of its own, ie. it is a 'person' in its own right. It can own property in its own name. It can sue or be sued. It has a tax liability and similarly may benefit from certain tax advantages.

	Building a Business - John Paul Building a business is like writing a story, the best ones have a start, a middle and an end. The top writers always sit down and plan the story long before they start writing. How’s it going to start? Who are the main characters? What’s the relationship between them? and of course do they ride of into the sunset together?

	Property is a Game! - Matthew Moody Come what may, your fortune or losses depend on how YOU act NOW – not what John Smith down the road thinks about where the property market is going. In this article, Millennia Property tells us about how many investors are going wrong – and where the next opportunities may be.
	How to Decide on your Letting Price In renting your property, the asking price is critical in attracting potential tenants. Too low and you could lose hundreds of pounds, too high and nobody comes to view. It is easy to simply re-advertise an existing rental property at the same price as the last tenant was paying. However tempting this may be, it is best to look at your price again, and with the Internet we do not need a traditional ...
	Systems, Systems, Systems - John Paul Pretty much everyone who knows me, know I’m a huge fan of systemising businesses. Every business im involved in, whether it is property management, construction or investment is systemised as much as possible. Why? The answer is simple, to make it run easier for all concerned. Now that does not mean we don’t have problems and make mistakes, of course we do we are all human, but ...

Things Every Landlord Should Know
Whilst you know might be aware of many of these points, here is just a reminder of some key facts, based on the questions we get asked most frequently by landlords. Mortgage - If your property is mortgaged, you should obtain your mortgagee's written consent to the letting. They may require additional clauses in the tenancy agreement. Leaseholds - If you are a leaseholder, you should check the terms of your lease, and obtain the necessary written consent before letting.

How Important is Mindset?
I started investing in 1995 when I purchased my first home and rented out two of the rooms to friends to cover the cost of the mortgage. I slowly build my property portfolio learning the hard way, by trial and terror, making lots of mistakes but somehow managed to struggle through until I reached the point of financial independence at the age of 32. I am still learning and investing in myself which is the best investment, even better than property!

What to do with a Pub with NO Beer!
In the last few weeks I have probably had over 500 pubs pass through my email box, with ever increasing price reductions and tinted with a whiff of desperation. This has prompted some active discussion in the office and yes, down the pub, if this glut in the market offers any opportunity for residential rental investors. I know a couple of colleagues who have looked at buying a pub with a view ....

Get Paid 3 Times in the Deal!
If you'd like to have the right to purchase a property or even a piece of vacant land at some point in the future, but pay a price you determine today, you need to seriously consider using the pure option. The option agreement is really a very simple document that spells out in explicit detail the terms under which you could purchase a property. The beauty of the option is that you can decide today how much you're willing to pay for a property without having to pay for it or ....

October 2010

The Comprehensive Spending Review could spell trouble for landlords
The stereotype of a businessperson landlord would say they favour low taxes, smaller government spending and minimal interference from the state and we have some sympathy with that caricature. And with today’s Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), we have seen the biggest reduction in government expenditure since the Second World War and it pays to be at least a little circumspect ...

The Six Points That Define an Entrepreneur
Property can sometimes demand both an entrepreneurial mind and the necessary skill set to enable the shrewd investor to maximise the return they had calculated from each investment property. To succeed with investment requires the development of the right inner drive and level of determination, creative and innovative ways of thinking and being a bit of a risk taker.

How will future house prices go?
We keep hearing about a double dip, and concerns over house values. I actually look at how resilient house prices in the UK are. Unemployment has increased by 50% over the last 3 years, credit has been slashed, and yet house prices are only down around 10% from their peak!

Have We Really Never Had It So Good
The property press over the last week or two has been full of stories about how buy-to-let landlords have never had it so good. Tenant demand is at an all time high, BTL lenders have returned to the marketplace, and the collapse of house prices has to be good news for property investors. Doesn’t it? ...

Property Investor or Entrepreneur?
When I first started my journey into property in 2007/ 8 it was as a sideline to the demanding day to day commercial cleaning business I had set up with my wife 6 years previously. We worked long hours, covered many hundreds of miles around the North West every week and had to deal with clients who expected excellent service, high standards of workmanship and attention to detail. We worked hard ..

Refurbishing Commercial Property
The old RAFA club was a derelict and disused working mans club in Easington. It had stood empty for about 12 years and was a well known congregation point for the local chavs and a bone of contention for the local residents, which happen to be mostly of retirement age in the immediate area. The local residents had been trying for years to get something done about it, it was tired looking to say ...

The Biggest UK Entrepreneurs Event of the Year!
With high profile members and guest speakers, the Northern Entrepreneurs Super Conference is all about connecting with the right people. Creating connections with key players in the industry. It's about making yourself known in the marketplace as the best person to do business with ....

Energy-efficient Landlords Save on Tax!
With tenants now being given an EPC when they rent a new home, landlords need to start considering the energy efficiency of their rental property. Though it’s probably not yet at the top of a tenant’s shopping list, faced with two equally nice properties, energy efficiency can clinch you the deal. Heating your home ....

Action Plans Achieve Results!
If you want to source your own properties, you need to plan your marketing and negotiations. You can't expect home sellers to knock on your door and just offer their property to you! People who plan and prepare have a much higher chance of success so here is a 10 point action plan to remind you of what needs ....

So, you think you’re a salesperson?
As a private landlord, you wear many hats. One day, you’ll need the skills of an amateur psychologist, the next you could be a painter and decorator. A good working knowledge of the law, the tax system and accounting won’t go amiss either. But you’re also a salesperson, selling the idea of your property to potential tenants. It’s not always a responsibility that landlords relish but it is essential.

Home Repairs Provide Peace of Mind to Landlords
As a landlord, one of the key issues in ensuring satisfied tenants is keeping the fixtures, fittings and most importantly, electrical appliances in your properties in proper working order. A good relationship with your tenants is of the utmost importance to any landlord, and therefore it is crucial that the appliances you provide are maintained and function to the correct standard ....

September 2010

What Should the Government be doing about the Private Rental Sector?
If any private residential landlords were hanging on for a Conservative-led Government to radically overhaul housing policy and ignite a bonfire of red tape, they will have realised by now that they’re going to be disappointed. Several months into this new government have shown that whilst a coalition government is a novelty, it isn’t necessarily radical or fast-moving. Economic matters, and a zeal for cuts and austerity, have dominated the headlines .....

Getting the Best from Letting Agents
The relationship that landlords have with their letting agents is critical. There are good letting agents, some average agents and many poor agents. Getting the right agent will make the difference between a successful or a stressful investment. But how do you find a good agent, manage that relationship and make it work ....

Shelter Launches Campaign Against "Rogue Landlords"
Homeless charity Shelter has launched a campaign against what it’s calling “Rogue Landlords” – and is claiming that they’re far from being a minority. The charity has published a report stating that 90% of surveyed environmental health officers (EHOs) “who deal directly with private renters had encountered landlords ....

What are French Leasebacks?
Well, it is where you the Investor buy the freehold of an off-plan property outright, so you own the property. As with all new properties, the purchase price includes VAT, however with a Leaseback property the VAT is refunded back to you. As VAT in France is 19.6%, this either replaces, or significantly reduces ....

Do I Really Need to Count the Teaspoons?
If you let furnished or part-furnished property, an inventory is now an essential document to protect you, and your tenant, from lengthy and potentially expensive arguments further down the line. Once upon a time, landlords could choose not to bother with an inventory, or to keep them exceedingly brief: we once saw one for a bedsit that read, in its entirety, "bed; table; chair". But not any more.....

Optimum Rental Income
Renting out a property is an endeavour worth taking time and effort over if you want to benefit from the long term plus points. From making the property as appealing as possible to finding the right tenant, there are several factors you will need to take care of before you can be sure you are earning an optimum ....

What Benefit is there in Social Tenants?
One of the questions we hear from tenants most often is where can I find a landlord who'll let to tenants on housing benefit? As many as one in ten renters may be receiving benefit, so when these tenants represent such a huge proportion of the market, why do so many landlords state "no DSS" in their adverts – and are they right to do so? For some, it's because they have no choice ....

Buying a Letting Agent Business
I had known the owners for a good few years from when I used to trawl the estate agents for looking for property deals, as they also own a chain of Estate Agents. They had a great reputation of being ethical and professional and so did their letting agent business .....

August 2010

What first impression does your property make?
By Upad.co.uk. In the world of property advertising, bad first impressions don't just last; they will ensure that second impressions are never made. If you’re advertising your own property, make sure you can compete with the professionals. When a tenant performs a search on a lettings site, the results appear in a list with only ....

Tips for Novice Investors
By Jim Halliburton. Cash Flow - I was tempted to make this the only tip, perhaps because when I was writing it I was going through one of my regular cash flow crises, so important is it. Unless you can pay the interest and bills in operating your business then you will go bust. It is essential that you have sufficient reserves to ensure any expected contingency can be met. Three months running costs would be ....

Using the Internet to Enhance your Property Business
By Upad.co.uk. 92% of tenant searches start online. It’s astonishing how quickly internet searches have come to dominate the lettings industry. Online advertising is no longer a luxury. It’s no longer an add-on from your favourite high street lettings agent. It’s the future of lettings and the best way to find a tenant. But right now .....

Does it Stack Up?
One of the main benefits of investing in property is the significant capital gain you can make as your property rises in value over the long term. However, to benefit from the gain you need to make sure you can afford to hold the property in the meantime. Ideally you don’t want to have to support your property portfolio. Quite the opposite in fact! Your portfolio should support you financially ....

Picture Perfect
By Upad.co.uk. Did you know that rental ads with pictures get four times as many enquiries as those without? If you want to avoid the dreaded void and let your property quickly, there's no doubt that photographs are key. Tenants have told us that the living room is what they most want to see: unsurprising, as it's the room they'll spend the most time in awake. Next most important is the garden. Even if it's just a small terrace, outside space really adds to the rentability ....

Day to Day Marketing
By Raymond Moore, Nutcrackerclinic.com. If you want to source your own properties, you need to market yourself and your services. You cant expect a flood of would be home sellers to bang on your door or your phone to ring red hot without you letting your intended audience know of your existance. Here is list of marketing essentials and a few tricks ....

Are you Missing Out on Professional Tenants?
By Upad.co.uk. Recently a tenant asked; Did we have any flats with a room suitable for a home office? She’s a single professional web designer who mostly works from home: she wants a reception room to relax, plus of course a bedroom – and another room that’s just for work. We started wondering how a landlord would advertise that sort of property: two bedrooms, or two receptions? And then we realised the obvious: the landlord should really be calling it a property with a home office!

A Brief History of YPN
Up until 2 years ago I had been merrily buying a few properties all No Money Down and renting them out for a modest monthly profit. In April 2008 the party ended, the credit crunch hit and NMD largely went the way of the dodo. I had been attending a few networking events for a while and my business partner and I realised there were going to be quite a few people out there like us who were going to be scratching their heads and wondering what to next ....

How to Keep your Tenants Happy! - 10 Top Tips
By Upad.co.uk. Filling a void property quickly is important, but an even easier way to keep your property portfolio earning you money is to keep the tenants you’ve already got. In the UK, the average tenancy lasts for just 16 months; in London, that figure’s down to just under 12 months. Such a fast turnover is expensive for landlords; not only do you have the potential to lose rent between tenancies ....

Instant Cashflow with BMV Deal Packaging
It can be an endless struggle in the early days of your investing career trying to build relationships with estate agents, hoping they will give you first shout on the juicy 25%+ BMV deals that every Investor wants nowadays, or having to pay a sourcing fee from anywhere between £1000 - £5000 depending on how good a deal is. A common expression used among experienced Property Investors ....

JULY 2010

Avoid the Voids - EXCLUSIVE! From our Site Sponsor
Here are Upad’s top ten tips on marketing your property like a professional and minimising void periods. UK landlords lose nearly £4billion every year because their rental property is standing empty. And it’s not just loss of rent that hits their pockets: mortgages, service charges and utility bills still all have to be paid. If you want to make a success of buy-to-let ...

Dont Wait to Buy Land - Buy Land and Wait
The property market took a major hit during the recession and many investors saw the value of their portfolios drop month by month as values plummeted and banks almost completely closed their doors to new lending. Now all the signs are there that it’s heading for recovery. However it wasn’t doom and gloom for all property investors as those who invested in land saw values go up significantly.....

10 Tips for Investing in Commercial Property
If you are looking to buy commercial property for the first time, then it is essential to educate yourself on how to maximise the potential you get for your investment. Lots of businesses fail because they make the wrong decisions early on, and making a poor property decision can see you left in a hole of debt...

Landlords Insurance is a Cheap Essential
New landlords who are waiting out the property market by renting out their homes should make sure they have the appropriate insurance. This is according to one comparison site, which notes that landlord insurance can be bought for under £100. There are warnings for Landlords coming into the private rented sector ...

What are the Key Qualities to Look for in a Buy to Let?
Alan Florsyth says this may seem an obvious question with obvious answers, but it is well worth reminding ourselves of the key things to be looking for when choosing a buy to let property. What would you put at the top of the list? High rental yield? Or price secured below surveyed value? Or low ratio between house prices and income? Low Supply of similar properties? Or clear exit strategy? Or within 5 minutes of your home? Finance available, and borrowing rates? ....

Win the Buy to Let Battle
Any businesses are ventured into for the sake of making a profit. This is why a feasibility study is made essential before any investments are made. Whether it is a buy to let investment or any other real estate deals one gets into, the end goal is always focused on the whole venture being lucrative and financially successful. Although there is a great similarity between buying a home and renting it out, there is also a large difference between the two....

How to Side-step the Finance Drought
Over the last couple of years, BTL investors have found that short-term refurbishment loans have all but dried up. Now, the finance drought looks set to end as a revolutionary new funding product helps BTL investors to once again finance perfectly profitable BTL and BTS (buy to sell) opportunities…If you’re a buy to let property investor, you’ll no doubt have noticed that finance isn’t as easy to come by as it once was. As a result, if you’re anything like me .........

Developing for Profit
If you're new to property development and are trying to make cash by either selling or renting then you actually want to do some analysis particularly during this economic climate. Location, location, location as the TV show says is terribly vital particularly if this is your first property development. You need to have a good plan about the house market in the area you are thinking of buying.

JUNE 2010

LHA and Budget Reforms 2010 EXCLUSIVE!
John Paul gives us his opinions. The LHA has obviously been a target for reform in the budget and in my opinion about time. The following are the major changes, some good and some bad:From April 2011: Local Housing Allowance levels will be restricted to the 4 bedroom rate; The 5 bedroom rate is scrapped, so landlords with larger properties will be affected; A new upper limit will be introduced for each property size, with upper limits set at:.....

HMO Secrets EXCLUSIVE!
Matthew Moody tells us that the secret that most HMO property investors know is that the cashflow at the end of the month is double, triple or even quadruple the returns from a single let property.Taking a property and sub-dividing it into rooms means that instead of one income source, you can take advantage of multiple income sources from one house!....

Cashflow Strategies
Rob Moore and Mark Homer explain that given the choice, we'd all use other people's money [OPM] to invest or do No Deposit Down Deals and generate income Now as well as building assets for the future. But the reality in property used to be that you'd only really make decent income if you bought & waited for capital appreciation.....

Money in the Bank?
Anyone over the age of 30 will tell you that in order to have money for retirement, be that early or at the current age limit of 70 (yes that’s right 70!), we have to start putting money away in savings accounts or invest it so that we will have something to live on when we decide to give up working and retire. There is currently a problem with that - interest rates!

10 Tips to get your Property Rented
Having a property rented out is great – so what can you do to ensure that it gets rented out even faster?

Christinas Rant 3 - Did you use your Vote? EXCLUSIVE!
Christina Hine questions whether a new Government will actually reverse any of the recent inane legislation fired at the Private Landlords? Everything I have ever heard the Lib Dems talk about shouts higher taxes, higher taxes!..........

Are you a LHA Expert?
John Paul tells us that the word expert, tends to mean you know everything about your chosen subject and we are always learning and trying to improve ourselves as people and businessmen. The reason I get called the expert, I think, is that what I do works and I regularly take on the Local council and their decisions and win.....

Will your Portfolio Deliver What YOU Want?
Kate Faulker questions - Most people just decide ‘I’ve got a bit of cash’ and then ‘I’ll buy a property’. Then you’ll say, ‘I’ve put my money into property for my pension’ or ‘I’m leaving the kids a property portfolio’. If this is you, have you actually worked out what your portfolio is worth and whether it will deliver what you want eg a pension?

The Benefits of Selling or Renting Online
Millions of people hit the Internet for information. Internet, an international medium, has contributed to rising property prices by enabling even the smallest, cheapest properties to be advertised globally at low cost, therefore vastly increasing the number of potential buyers.

Auctions - Grab Property on the Cheap
Did you know that every year thousands of UK properties are sold at significantly below market value? The majority of these properties are released through property auctions where regular savings of between 10% to 40% are available to market value.

MAY 2010

Is the Credit Crunch Over?
Alan Forsyth has this opinion - Last week, a massive step was taken with a lender going back towards the higher LTV lending, with an 80% LTV product for buy to let. This is yet further evidence that the mortgage market continues to recover and with 2 lenders due to enter the market over the next few weeks, the future for buy to let investors is bright! ......

Now is the Time to Build your Own Home
In the midst of the struggling housing market, there’s an army of self builders who are busy building their way up the property ladder. Some housing pundits say that there has never been a better time to build your own home......

How Five Minutes and the Price of a Meal Out Can Get You the Best Possible Tenants...
Let’s face it, your buy-to-let investment, whether consisting of one property or a portfolio, is probably the biggest asset you’ll own… unless of course you can afford to purchase a collection of old masters!

How to Make Sure Your LHA Claim is Paid in 14 Days
John Paul tells us that once the Local Authority has received all of the information and evidence it requires from the Claimant, it must: Reach a decision on the claim within 14 days or as soon as reasonably practicable after that.....

Lease Options - Good Catch or Red Herring?!
People often send us deals dressed up as “tremendous” and lined up as “a great catch”, enticing and exciting to part with precious £££s ... But... you know what...? Mark & Wendy do

Property Network Meetings are a Waste of Time!
Is this what you think? Then think again…..Edwina Silver tells us that attending a number of property networking meetings being run up and down the country, can significantly affect your wealth.

Christina's Rant Part 2!
Christina Hine is back having a good rant about the Landlords’ Forum at her local councils’ offices... 'I should have been suspicious when I saw there was a high attendance of local Landlords, which is in itself unusual' ...

Current Trends in the UK Rental Market
Buy to let property owners have been hit hard during the recession. due to withdrawal of a number of BTL products which severely increased the cost of borrowing.

April 2010

A Rant Letter to an MP
Christina Hine shares her frustration ".....increasingly I have begun to feel discriminated against, stigmatised, penalised and categorized as a potential criminal just for being a Landlord......"

LHA Facts - Dont run a mile!
John Paul explaines that the mention of Local Housing Allowance should not make Landlords run a mile and that LHA is an opportunity to increase cash flow and produce rental yields that we haven’t seen for years, all you have to do is embrace it.

A Small Step for You, a huge leap for your bank balance!
Lyndon Forshaw tells us that for many BTL and land investors, developing for profit is a natural progression and that the potential profits can be truly staggering...

March 2010

Is Commercial Commercial?
Barry Danser gives us his thoughts on shops and flats

Commercial Property - To buy or not to buy?
Tony Newham helps us decide

February 2010

Are HMOs for you?
Matthew Moody shares some insight into whether HMOs should feature in your strategy in this EXCLUSIVE article

HMO Tax Issues
Arthur Kemp explains how HMOs have tax advantages

HMO Funding
Ian Flemming tells us where to get funding for purchasing HMO properties

HMO Hitch Hikers Guide
Claire Elliot explains how to achieve high yields with less risk and high occupancy and some simple facts

Top 5 Tips for Beginner Options Investors
Mark Jackson and Wendy Patten let us have their top tips

NMD Sinner or Saint
John Paul gives his thoughts on NMD

Networking Tips by Christina
Christina Hine, Founder of the Stansted Property Meet give us her tips

Should I Use a Sourcing Company?
John Paul shares his insights

January 2010

Why is Property Networking so Important to your Success Simon Zutshi shares with us his views on why we should attend Networking meetings

Networking in Scotland
Andrew McInnes tells us about Networking in Scotland

Property Options in Brief
Mark Jackson explains why the expressions “Purchase Option” “Lease Option,” and “Sandwich Option” are set to become familiar to investors, landlords and potential home-owners as the global credit crisis continues. Options are versatile and powerful legal instruments which are changing the way residential property is bought, held and sold in the UK.

2009 ARTICLES

Winter 09 Mortgage Market Update

How to Earn 5-6 Figure Profits from Land

How to Credit Check Tenants

Ignorance

Legislation

How Leverage & Gearing make you rich

Gas

Choosing the right landlord insurance

Top 10 Property Hotspots

House Price Decline Slows

Rent to Own Overview