Oral tenancy agreements

Tessa at Landlord Law frameworks how you can create a tenancy in a purely verbal agreement without a written tenancy agreement.

Very few experts would recommend landlords that this was a good idea for various reasons that and Tessa frameworks and the chances are that this options will probably be lost at some point.

It has been proposed on a number of occasions to make written tenancy agreements mandatory by the last Government.

But for now landlords and tenants are still able to make their word their bond.

Read the full post here

Free tenancy agreements

Guru is still buying

Property Hawk has consistently warned landlords about taking advice from so called property gurus who charge them to give advice about where & what to buy rather than doing it themselves.

Well here's one buy-to-let guru who is doing it and doesn't need to offload dodgy deals to make ends meat because he's rather good at property investing having predicted the property crash & selling. He's now buying again.

In particularly Andreas Panayiotou advises landlords to focus on yield. He suggests landlords should be targeting a yield above 7%. He is buying in London, so anywhere outside the capital this means they should add on at least 1 or probably 2% to that.

Does anybody else think that Andreas resembles a Greek Michael Schumacher or have I just over done the espressos this morning?

Landlord insurance - instant quotes

Find your next rental property through auctions

Building up a rental property portfolio is a time consuming and expensive endeavour, so it is worth exploring alternative avenues that could potentially save you money. After recent economic hardship the opportunity arises where landlords are able to take advantage of low house prices and find a new buy to let investment at a reduced cost. Auctions are the best way to reduce your initial investment costs, build your portfolio quickly and save thousands on a property’s market value.

There are a number of auction houses across the country, specialising in both residential and commercial properties, which hold regular auctions for thousands of properties each year, ranging from listed buildings to small urban apartments. Properties that go up for auction may be in need of renovation, or the vendor may require a quicker sale than can be offered through a regular estate agent; whatever the reason, there is always the opportunity to get a bargain investment when buying at auction. As the purchase process is shortened and you are not waiting for a chain to complete, it gives you the opportunity to turn around the property much quicker and start receiving a rental income sooner.

When attending a property auction you need to be prepared so that you can move quickly; making sure that you have your buy to let mortgage in place or ensuring that you have the cash funds available at the time of purchase is paramount to making your purchase at auction successful.
Many landlords are now turning to auctions as their next, or first, step in the world of rental property, tapping into a valuable resource that can save you both time and money. By participating in your local property auction you can watch your portfolio grow as your investment costs reduce.

Third of properties see price chop

A third of all properties for sale have seen their price cut as the uncertain outlook for the economy & higher supply of houses on the market hits home.

A survey carried out by the property portal Zoopla has seen a third of the properties listed on their site cut at least once since they were first marketed for sale.

The highest average price reductions were in Rotherham, Manchester and Barnsley, where average asking prices were discounted by 7.1 per cent. In real terms this is the equivalent of a £9,500 drop in asking prices in Rotherham, a £11,400 drop in Manchester and a £9,000 drop in Barnsley.

Price reduction and more realistic pricing is good news for landlords looking for a bargain. I was browsing web aggregator Property Snake the other day. It appears that there are loads of properties where sellers are starting to realise that they have to get real on price to sell.

Have a look at this bungalow where the price has been reduced 50% since first being listed.

Landlord insurance - direct quotes

Diary of a slum landlord

Many newbie landlords were drawn into property investing by the allure of being a successful property investor. Fast cars...glamorous yachts.....endless wealth power & of course sex appeal.

There is another side to renting property. The bottom end. This is not about renting to sharp suited young professionals or nice cosy teacher types. This is about letting property to the bottom end of the market. Those tenants stuck on benefits & no where to go. It's dirty, shabby, but can be highly lucrative.

In his own words Graham* owns a substantial portfolio of property in the north east, and says he's been letting to tenants on benefit for donkey's years. "It's like being a second hand car dealer," he says. "The mark-up is high, but it's the shitty end of the stick."

So for some landlords prepared to roll up their sleeves & get down & dirty 'where there is muck there's brass.' For me........I'll stick to my nice middle class tenants & leave that very lucrative side of the business to some other landlord.

Read Claer Barrett's highly illuminating article in Investors Chronicle

Landlord insurance - price beating portfolio discount

Consumer code for offplan buyers

Are you a landlord buying an off plan property?

Well if so you will be protected by a new code of practice for those buyers reserving a property after April 1st this year. The code applies to off plan property covered by both NHBC & Local Authority certified properties.

To find out more about the code of practice have a look at the website.

Landlord insurance - instant quotes