Basements and Cellars
Many property owners are guilty of leaving these dark, cave-like spaces unused and in a terrible state. What people don’t realise is that basements can add tremendous value to a property, especially if it’s properly converted.
Tag Archives: Property
Utilities being cut off
Utilities being cut off – It’s a phenomenon that many of us will have considered, but few have actually had this happen to them. Many months of unpaid bills; letters from water companies, then suddenly a call from your tenants saying they have no water. Having your water cut off can be more than just a nuisance. What can you do to rectify the situation where tenants are not paying their bills?
Friday Five – Viewing a property
When viewing a property, it’s essential that you ask the right questions. Make sure you’re in the right frame of mind for the visit and are alert, this is a huge investment and mistakes will be costly.
Property Renovation – How to Buy a Wreck and Make Money
Property Renovation – Buying a property to let always involves an element of risk. The rental market might falter, bringing down your monthly income. Mortgage interest rates might go up. Tenants might not pay rent on time. When you buy a property that needs a lot of work or conversion before you can let it, the risks grow. The cost of renovating a property nearly always turns out to be higher than the original builders’ quotes, as until work is started, it’s impossible to tell […]
No-Smoking in your property?
No-Smoking in your property?
Any experienced landlord will know that post-tenant clean-ups can be a real challenge, especially if you’re doing it yourself. Certain parts of the house can get extremely dirty, especially if they are rarely used. Getting kitchens and in particular, ovens cleaned may even require costly professional work (getting an oven professionally cleaned costs around £60-80).
The worst of all cleaning nightmares is smoke. Removing the odour and stain of smoke is one of the most challenging cleaning tasks, so it is important that […]
Letting a Property Abroad
With the UK property market struggling and mortgages difficult to come by, buying a property overseas to rent out might seem like the perfect way to own a home and to make some income. It can be, but like anything in life, it has its risks. To do well in the overseas property market, you need to put in some careful planning and calculation, rather than getting carried away with the romance of owning your own little piece of paradise.
Why would anyone buy a house on a flood plain?
Why would anyone buy a house on a flood plain?
The recent downpour has caused severe flooding in many parts of the West and South West of England, and many people asking may very well ask the question: ‘why would you buy a house in an area you know is prone to flooding?’ Surely the knowledge of flood history (easily obtained) would put off any buyer in their right mind, especially considering that property prices are not much reduced as well as the fact that many […]
Solve housing crisis by building on land
housing crisis – The Planning Minister Nick Boles has stipulated that there needs to be more development of open land to ease the housing shortage. To construct on a further 2-3% of English land would put an end to the housing problem for some time to come.
Being an Accidental Landlord
Being an Accidental Landlord – Around half of the UK’s landlords only own one property. Many of them probably didn’t buy it with the intention of renting it out to others, but bought it as their own home. Perhaps they then found that they couldn’t sell a the price they needed, but wanted to move, and so ended up renting out one home in order to be able to rent out another. Others may be couples who want to live together, but each have a […]
Friday Five – Energy Saving Tips
Winter is coming and we’ve been warned of yet another price hike in our energy bills, so here’s our Energy Saving Tips. We’ve thought of just a few ways in which you can dramatically increase your home’s energy efficiency and save money in the long term. A lot of this may be intuitive but there should be some useful tips here. This may be especially important too, if you’ve got tenants with an all-inclusive contract.
5 – Cooking
Cooking uses a lot of energy especially if you’re […]