What can self-managing buy to let landlords do to improve efficiency and protect themselves …. and under what circumstances should they seriously consider outsourcing the letting and management of their properties? I’m not a particularly well organised person when it comes to paperwork etc. probably because I don’t enjoy it. For that reason I choose […]

Buying a tenanted property can have many advantages, immediate cashflow being an obvious one. However, you need to be sure that you are not taking on another persons problems so below are some of the questions we recommend you to ask the seller.  1) How many tenant changeovers have there been in the last 5 […]

OnboardPro are one of our latest sponsors here at Property118 and I think you will really like what they have to offer to increase the efficiency of the Private Rented Sector. Their cloud-based software combines the full pre-tenancy process into one efficient system guiding you step-by-step through the tenant move-in process.  Tenants can complete applications […]

I recently wrote about a scenario where I had 60 viewing requests and 19 viewings in one day.  Great you may think, and yes it was 🙂 Demand was high and two people even ended up offering me £75 pcm over the asking price. HOWEVER, the first couple failed referencing due to having three months […]

Property118 IFA partners HD Consultants won a podium finish in their first venture out to the Business MoneyFacts awards held last night. Howard Reuben, the Principal of HD Consultants, and his team won 3rd place “Commended” Buy To Let Mortgage Broker of the Year 2015. Howard said “recent trade press report there are about 16,000 […]

New member reporting in, I’ve been a landlord for 8 years now and I’ve got 4 flats and a couple houses. The last purchase I got planning to build new so doubled my money ( gogo permitted development rights 😀 ) so I’m now looking at my next purchase as I’ll have a good size […]

So far this year we have taken many hundreds of calls to our free member helpline, asking us about the new rules for smoke detection in the private rented sector (PRS). Changes came in well over a year ago in Scotland, via the “Repairing Standard”. Our member factsheet on this topic is one of the […]

I have a leasehold basement flat which is within a block of four flats. The freeholder of the block recently notified me of their intention to sell the freehold and will soon be initiating the formal process by offering the freehold to the tenants before selling on the open market.  I would appreciate your advice […]

I have already served a Section 21 notice which hasn’t expired yet.  If in the mean time the tenant then becomes 2 months in rent arrears, can I then serve a Section 8 also ? Also, if I can presumably serve both notices, if the expiry date of the section 8 comes up first, can […]

I’m looking for advise from anyone regarding the most cost effective way of transferring deeds into joint names.  We started out our buy to let business 5 years ago, with initially 3 properties and at that time put the deeds for those three houses into my wife’s name for tax purposes. 5 years later it […]

Almost buried on page 51 of the Budget Red Book the Chancellor gives a very brief outline of his intention to prevent the Private Rental Sector from stopping tenants being able to sublet. This document states: “Support for the sharing economy 1.193 The government wants to ensure that Britain is the global centre for the sharing […]

I obtained a possession order for 2nd January 2015 and applied for warrant for possession immediately as tenants refused to leave. I have been waiting for the bailiffs to carry this out since then, and have had no messages from them despite emailing them and calling(no answer). The court says it can take 8 weeks!! […]

In our flat we have a card that we have to top up for heating our water which is provided by a third party service called Insite Energy.   We top the card up £25 at a time which usually last just under 2 months but since the new year we have noticed that it […]

I have a tenant who text me on 17th March to say she would be moving out by the weekend as she couldn’t afford the rent any more. I told her she had to give one months notice. She said she didn’t have any money. I said I could take it out of the deposit. […]

I am planning to buy a buy to let property for the first time and need advice. I have found a 1 bed flat at a decent price (£5k less than similar properties). It is a converted flat in an old 1910 built house, which has 7 more flats. All flats are on leasehold and […]

We are a family of 3, working professionals in the Luton LU3 area.  We have to move in a rush because the long term let we signed up to with an agent 18 months ago has been rudely and abruptly ended before we have had the chance of even finishing unpacking. The agency did not […]

YOU can now insure against being gazumped for just £59.99, Home Buyers Protection Insurance repays any fees or expenses incurred if your buyer pulls out of a sale.  Anyone who has ever been gazunmped or had a purchase fall through on them for reasons out of their control will know how frustrating and expensive it […]

The Ministry of Justice has proposed to charge 5% of the value of the claim to all court cases worth more than £10,000, which it estimates will bring in an extra £120m a year. A further consultation has also opened on extra charges for possession claims and general applications in civil proceedings. Possession claim fees […]

A few weeks ago I was invited by estate agent John Savage to record a series of podcasts as bonus editions to his Property Battlefield project.  If you don’t know what a podcast is, three examples of my ramblings highly professional insights can be found below, just click the play buttons. I have to apologise […]

I am contacting you on behalf of my in-laws. They have recently signed a tenancy agreement with an estates agent who at the time of the interview was verbally advised that pets were allowed. They have a jack russell and a cat. On moving in they have heard from their neighbours that there is a […]

I have some properties with tenants that will need to be sold in next couple years.  My thinking is if I sell with tenants in situ I will be selling to a small subset of aggressive investors. If I have empty properties, sure there is no rent coming in but I then can appeal to […]