Tag Archives: Property

The Bleak Truth about Mortgages

Posted on 16th November 2012

The Bleak Truth about Mortgages – We the mortgage situation was bad, especially for first time buyers, but we didn’t know quite how bad. There is an increasing gap between those who have a property (and property insurance)and those who haven’t and are aspiring. Getting a mortgage 5 years ago was easy. Now, not so, and not only do you need to prove you have a steady income, but you also need a hefty deposit to secure anything (decent or not), especially in London. The […]

Dealing with natural emergencies

Posted on 7th November 2012

Dealing with natural emergencies – Its tropical cyclone season, the season of hurricanes and typhoons (the Pacific name for a tropical cyclone). We’ve heard the stories from Hurricane Sandy which was downgraded to a sub-tropical storm. Back in England however, we’re left with a slight drizzle of rain and are generally less likely to encounter disasters such as Hurricanes, earthquakes and so on. There is still however a natural risk – what should you do to protect your property?
Heavy rains and storms
The most common property […]

Decorating Your Rental Property

Posted on 5th November 2012

Decorating Your Rental Property – When you buy a new property to let, the chances are it will need a little TLC to get it looking its best and ready to rent out. The better your property looks inside, the more appealing it will be to your market, meaning higher rents and less risk of void periods. But does it all have to be magnolia walls and blue carpets? Or is there a little more room for invention?
Know your market
Tenants do generally want relatively neutral […]

Hurricane Sandy Insurance Excesses

Posted on 2nd November 2012

Insurance Excesses – We’ve all been watching closely as Hurricane Sandy hit the US East Coast in the last week, causing loss of life and tremendous devastation. There may however be some slight relief for the thousands of property owners hit as the Hurricane was in fact downgraded to a “Post-Tropical Cyclone” before hitting the coast.
Why does this matter?
The fact that the Hurricane was downgraded means that homeowners may not have to pay out the same excesses (or deductibles) on their property insurance as would […]

Property Websites Freed up

Posted on 31st October 2012

Property Websites – Today, it was announced that restrictions which have previously stopped home sellers from advertising their properties online are to be lifted. There will no longer be the thousands of pounds forked out to estate agents. This sort of commission, it is said, will be driven down substantially as the new initiative allows sellers to sell online.
Currently
The current laws are set out so that anyone hosting private property sales online have had to be treated as estate agents thus being liable for property […]

Benefit Changes: Could they affect you?

Posted on 29th October 2012

Benefit Changes: Could they affect you? If you are a private landlord renting to tenants on housing benefit, you are likely to be affected by the government’s changes to the benefit system. Change is taking place that will mean that many tenants will find their benefits reduced, and that benefits will be paid to the tenant rather than directly to the landlord.
This could mean that tenants struggle to meet their rent payments. Landlords are already suffering from record levels of tenant arrears, with around 10% […]

Improve your house or pay off your mortgage? The Landlord’s dilemma.

Posted on 24th October 2012

Improve your house or pay off your mortgage? The Landlord’s dilemma.
Some of us find ourselves in the fortunate position of having a bit of spare cash to hand. Should you spend this spare cash on home improvements or paying off a portion of your mortgage thus reducing monthly payments? If money is a problem, you may want to consider none of these options and it may be best to save any spare cash you have should you need it at a later date for replacing […]

Reasons to Become a Landlord…and Reasons Not to

Posted on 22nd October 2012

 
Reasons to Become a Landlord…and Reasons Not to
Being a landlord can mean many things. It can be a way of covering a mortgage on your own home, or it can be a full-time profession. Some people fall into becoming landlords through circumstances, while others set out to build their own property empire. However you get into it, being a landlord can be both frustrating and rewarding. How do you know if it’s for you? Read on for reasons why you should, and why you shouldn’t, […]

The Future of Buy-to-Let Lending

Posted on 19th October 2012

The Future of Buy-to-Let Lending
It’s difficult to tell whether the Euro crisis has reached a stage where everything has calmed sufficiently to allow headline writers a period of rest, or it’s got to the stage where the intricacies of the package required to save the currency have become so complex they’re just not worth publishing, but either way, we have reached something of a financial plateau in the UK. Indicators aren’t improving, but with Christmas well on the way, things aren’t necessarily getting worse. However, […]

PVC double glazing – Good or bad?

Posted on 17th October 2012

Double glazing has become a staple of properties since the 90’s, and in the 2000’s virtually every British home had double or even triple glazed windows installed amongst rising energy prices and concerns of global warming. These have traditionally come in white PVC and aluminium frames. Older white PVC windows can however suffer photodegradation and go yellow when exposed to exposed to sunlight and start to look very tatty indeed.
Wood alternatives
Double glazed windows can also be made out of wood and is generally considered the […]