Property Blog [ Page 8 ]
Why Do People Appear On Property Ladder?
05 Dec 2007 / Sarah Beeny / 10 Comments
I think i’m a little confused, care to help me out? I watch Sarah Beeny’s Property Ladder religiously. I think it’s a great show, even though I spend most of the time with my mouth open, eyes covered and my skin crawling. Let’s face it, the show is about stupid people developing property, for the [...]
The Basics Of Interest Rates
04 Dec 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again (until I’m blue(r) in the face), a mortgage can ultimately determine the success or failure of a property investment. My point being? It’s imperative that you understand how mortgages work so you are able to get the best deal available on the market, without getting wool [...]
Capital Transaction Vs Trading transaction
03 Dec 2007 / Tax And Property / 0 Comments
Buying property seems to be the easy step when it comes to property investment, and relatively speaking, so is selling property. However, it goes without saying that you don’t want your profits eaten up by the taxman, and that’s when selling property can be a little bit complicated. In principle, I always recommend getting a [...]
Carpet vs Wooden Floor
30 Nov 2007 / Property Development / 4 Comments
Wooden flooring has become the cornerstone of modern style for many homebuyers; they’re an extremely sought after commodity. It’s not surprising; they look great, they’re easy to maintain, and they have the potential to make an ordinary room standout with a bit of contemporary style. For those reasons buyers do favour wooden flooring over carpet [...]
DSS Tenants And The Shitty Council
28 Nov 2007 / DSS Tenants / 19 Comments
I’ve decided it’s not worth getting involved with DSS tenants because of the incompetence of the local council (or at least my local council). They are so stupid and unwilling to help landlords that they make me want to rip my beautiful eyes out with a blunt spoon every time I have to deal with [...]
Sell A Property And Benefit From Taper Relief
26 Nov 2007 / Tax And Property / 5 Comments
27/11/2007 EDIT: From the 6th of April 2008 Taper relief will be abolished. Chancellor Alastair Darling announced that taper relief will be abolished, and will be replaced by a flat 18% tax rate. Following the abolition of taper relief, when any such loan notes are redeemed or otherwise disposed of after April 5, no taper relief will be [...]
Using A Property Company To Save On Tax
25 Nov 2007 / Tax And Property / 7 Comments
As far as I’m concerned, the biggest drawback to buy to let investors is the huge tax implications. You could potentially end up paying a massive 40% of your profits because of capital net gains. That’s a lot of lost profit (politicians may disagree- but who cares?). There are many reliefs and deductions you can [...]
The Importance Of Remortgaging
22 Nov 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments
I personally believe that the quality and suitability of a homeowner’s mortgage is the second biggest factor that will ultimately determine the success of a property investment, especially with buy to let investors; the biggest factor being the market condition. However, you alone can’t control the market condition, but you alone can play a key [...]
Investing With Friends And Family
21 Nov 2007 / Property Investment Tips & Info / 0 Comments
Flying solo on a property venture can be a scary concept because the responsibility falls onto one person’s head- YOURS. Let’s face facts; it’s a lot easier to sleep at night knowing that if shit hits the fan, the shit will fall onto multiple overalls. However, it can also be heartbreaking to split the profits [...]
Will A Loft Conversion Add Value?
18 Nov 2007 / Property Development / 3 Comments
With the dramatic increase in house prices it’s no surprise that people aren’t able to afford upgrading to bigger, more suitable homes. A lot of families are finding themselves in situations where they need more living space as their families are growing. As a solution, people are starting to build upwards- converting lofts into suitable [...]
How Do You Get An Estate Agent To Stop Calling You?
17 Nov 2007 / Property Comic Sketches / 4 Comments
The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Selling Property Privately
15 Nov 2007 / Selling Property Tips / 0 Comments
There used to be a time when the natural step for buying or selling a property would involve approaching an estate agent. That was yesterday and today’s a different day. Today there’s a new generation of internet entrepreneurs making it increasingly easy for vendors and buyers to go down the private path. As more and [...]
Long Term Investors Shouldn’t Fear A Crash
14 Nov 2007 / Property Investment Tips & Info / 1 Comment
One likes to watch the casserole slowly stew, while the other likes to barbeque the fillets on full heat. That’s the difference between a short and long term investor. Both can potentially be a satisfying meal, but the short-term investor is looking to get satisfied a little quicker while the long-term investor is happy for [...]
My Tenant Left Without Paying Bills
12 Nov 2007 / Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues / 5 Comments
One of my “problem” tenant’s vacated one of my properties after being evicted, but she left behind unpaid gas and electricity bills. The bills totaled to approximately £200. This particular tenant had already cost me money (eviction fees, the rent she failed to pay..etc), so there was no way I was going to part with [...]
Should I Offer My Property As Furnished Or Unfurnished?
09 Nov 2007 / Marketing & Finding Tenants / 0 Comments
The gaudy 70′s carpet has gone, the hideous net curtains have been dumped and the flaky woodwork has been repaired. The house is perfect and you’re feeling proud. But it’s empty. So what do you do? Do you leave it empty so your prospective tenant can see what floor space they have to work with [...]
Struggling To Find Tenants? This is The Guide For You
08 Nov 2007 / Marketing & Finding Tenants / 2 Comments
Are you struggling to find tenants? It’s a common problem a lot of landlords have and it can be extremely frustrating because the longer a property remains unoccupied the more costly it will be. It’s not rocket science, the more viewings you take, the greater the opportunity to find tenants. Use multiple methods of advertising [...]
Golden Rules For Property Development
07 Nov 2007 / Property Development / 2 Comments
Property development is becoming increasingly popular, especially in a cooling market. Profit margins are becoming slimmer for straight flipping (buy to sell without development) so people are starting to look for properties in need of a little TLC to make that extra fortune. It’s still frustrating to witness inexperienced developers fall into the most basic [...]
Calculating Your Profit And Loss
06 Nov 2007 / Landlord Money & Saving Costs / 7 Comments
Buy To Let is a business, period. Anyone that has a property on the rental market is running a business, regardless of how dislocated they are from the project. I know a lot of Landlords don’t see it as a business, but rather a long term investment which just ‘works’ on its own accord. While [...]
Listed buildings
03 Nov 2007 / Property Investment Tips & Info / 0 Comments
Are you interested in buying a property that is listed or do you own a listed building and are unsure what it all means? Here’s a quick guide for you. What is a listed building? If a building is listed it mean it is protected because it is deemed important in some way, usually in [...]
I Can’t Afford My Mortgage Payments
30 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 2 Comments
Coming to terms with the fact that mortgage payments are no longer realistically possible to maintain is an extremely important step to take. People see it as “defeat”, and it’s never easy to admit defeat, especially when you have a fighting spirit. But don’t think of it as “defeat”, think of it as “surviving” Giving [...]
Using Credit Cards To Pay Your Mortgage
29 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 1 Comment
I recently read a report on The Guardian, which said that more than a million householders have been using credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent. The data was gathered by a new survey published by ROOF, Shelter’s housing and homelessness magazine. For many people trying to keep a roof over their head is [...]
Check Behind And Under The Furniture
26 Oct 2007 / Buying Property Tips / 0 Comments
I was browsing through the moneysavingexpert.com forums and I found a, dare I say, humourous thread about vendors leaving behind bad surprises for new owners. I shouldn’t laugh, because I genuinely do feel for the lady in distress and everyone else that shared a similar story. Moving home is stressful enough and i’m sure the [...]
Crossover Leases
25 Oct 2007 / Property Investment Tips & Info / 0 Comments
What is a crossover lease? A crossover lease is when two people live in the same building, but have their own flat. Essentially, a building with two seperate flats. Each homeowner has a lease to the flat they own AND the freehold to the other flat in the building. They are commonly used with maisonettes. [...]
I Received An Email From Sarah Beeny’s Business Partner
24 Oct 2007 / Sarah Beeny / 9 Comments
I received an interesting email yesterday, which was supposedly sent by Sarah Beeny’s business partner, Amanda Christie. Before I discuss the matter further, I’ll show you the email: Email: mailamanda@yahoo.com Dear Sirs, I represent Sarah Beeny, as her business partner. We would like to give you one opportunity to cease using her name in the [...]
I Reduced My Mortgage By 15k And Saved 30k
23 Oct 2007 / Project 2- Reducing My Mortgage / 2 Comments
I Raised My 15k (Plus More) to complete my “15k project” a while ago, 10th September to be precise, but as already mentioned, I’ve been unsure about what to do with the funds. I wasn’t sure whether to invest more money into another property, or do as initially planned, which was to use that 15k to [...]
Changing Mortgage Repayment Method
22 Oct 2007 / Mortgage Stuff / 0 Comments
Most mortgage lenders allow a borrower to change between interest-only and repayment methods at any point during an exiting policy. For example, if you have an existing mortgage policy that is interest-only, you can change it to repayment and visa versa. The actual process of switching is pretty straightforward; it’s not like completely remortgaging. You’ll [...]
Credit Card Calculator
17 Oct 2007 / Landlord Money & Saving Costs / 0 Comments
I previously put up a Mortgage Calculator; but because a lot of people have been paying their mortgages with credit cards, I decided to go one step further and put together a Credit Card calculator. This card calculator will let you see how long it will take to pay off your credit card. Additionally, if [...]
How The Main House Price Indices Gather Their Data
16 Oct 2007 / House prices And Interest Rates / 0 Comments
Indices are statistical measures of change in the economy or financial markets. Here’s a list of the main house price indices, and how they individually retrieve their statistical data. Land registry The Land Registery report quarterly and gather their data from the actual sale prices paid at completion. Adjustment: no seasonal adjustment. Financial Times (FT) [...]
Things I Hated Hearing From My Tenants
12 Oct 2007 / Ranting Landlord / 2 Comments
Every landlord has a list of things they dread hearing from their tenants; the list usually consists of requests from tenants that are completely inappropriate or require effort from the landlord to execute (we’re a lazy breed). Here’s a few lines i’ve heard from my tenants that I didn’t (and still don’t) want to hear: [...]
Taking In Lodgers- “Rent-A-Room” Scheme
11 Oct 2007 / Marketing & Finding Tenants / 63 Comments
Ever considered taking in a lodger? A lodger can be a great way of generating income; many thousands of people earn extra income in this way. To start with, I’m going to list a few of the perks and pitfalls for accommodating lodgers: The positives of taking in a lodger most obviously, it’s a great [...]
I Hate It When My Tenant Calls
10 Oct 2007 / Ranting Landlord / 5 Comments
Whenever I see my tenant’s name flashing on my mobile phone screen, I know it’s not good news. Granted, it rarely happens, but when it happens, I panic. When does a tenant ever call baring good news? “Oh, Hey Landlordy, just calling to thank you for providing this wonderful roof over my head at a [...]
One Year To Pay Off Your Mortgage
07 Oct 2007 / Sarah Beeny / 2 Comments
It’s a new property show presented by the one and only Sarah Beeny. It’s broadcasted by Channel 4, Saturday evenings. The show is a documentary series following British people attempting to make substantial profit from investing and developing property outside of the UK so they can pay off their mortgages. It’s a 6 part series, [...]
Glengarry Glen Ross
07 Oct 2007 / I Dislike Estate Agents / 0 Comments
Have you guys seen this movie, “Glengarry Glen Ross”? It’s a classic. Anyone intesteresed in property sales, especially estate agents, should check it out. Actually, it’s generally a solid watch for absolutely anyone. Well, anyone that doesn’t take offense to swearing. Fuck you. The film is about four estate agents (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed [...]
Increasing Your Tenants Rent
04 Oct 2007 / Landlord Legal Obligations/Issues / 1 Comment
Trying to increase the rent with an existing tenant is always a tough issue to tackle. Here are the common problems that a landlord faces when considering the subject of an increase in rent: Fear of confrontation The suggestion may force the tenant to vacate May cause future tension in the tenant/landlord relationship Is the [...]
Estate Agent Uses A Poor Choice In Picture To Market A Property
03 Oct 2007 / Selling Property Tips / 0 Comments
Here’s how Foxtons recently marketed one of their properties… Just a friendly reminder, when you’re marketing a property, make sure pay attention to detail.
I initially started this website because I wanted to document my every step from property idiot to property landlord,
in hope that people would find my site and help me along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.
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