Page 880 – Property118

Property business pre-nups can stop family feuds

9th May 2012

Money and blood often don’t mix – which is why so many families go to war over their ‘fair share’ of cash. With so many wealthy business people and celebrities drawing up marriage pre-nups, perhaps the time has come for property business partners to consider the same deal.

Tenants quiz landlords over permission to let

9th May 2012

Let to buy landlords who move and rent out their home because they cannot sell the property are finding more tenants want to confirm they have a mortgage lender’s permission to rent. More letting agents are demanding sight of written confirmation of permission to let from banks and building societies – especially if corporate tenants […]

Get into High Gear with Gearing

9th May 2012

Using Finance to Increase your Returns After recently attending local property networking events it still amazes me that investors think it’s a good idea to buy properties for cash. Firstly, the financial returns are less when a property is purchased for cash. Secondly, it means a large amount of cash is tied up for six […]

Bill Gates CEO Microsoft

Spotlight on our Editor Jack Phillips

9th May 2012

It’s been just over a year since Jack joined our team, initially as an intern placement via the University of East Anglia. Jack had just completed a Degree in Media and needed to get some work experience on his CV. The plan was for Jack to be with us for just 13 weeks but we […]

From the Makers of Strongbow

Property Values vs Interest Rates

8th May 2012

A question that came up in conversation this evening whilst in the car on the way back from my fiancée’s offices was “which will rise first, interest rates or property values?” Have you ever asked yourself this question? I know what you are probably thinking, “haven’t you got anything better to talk to your fiancée about”, right? Well […]

£85,000 ‘missing’ as letting agent traded fraudulently

8th May 2012

Fraud investigators uncovered a ‘missing’ £85,000 from a failed letting agent that ran into financial problems after the supervising franchise closed. Peter Swatton, 55, admitted fraudulent trading at Mold Crown Court, where he was jailed for 36 weeks suspended for two years, ordered to spend 300 hours on community work and to pay £600 costs.

Impact of Human Rights on Evictions

8th May 2012

Regular readers of the Daily mail will no doubt have a healthy disregard for “human rights” or “yuman rites” as dubbed by their esteemed columnist Richard Littlejohn. As a regular reader of the Property 118 blogs, I notice that there have been two recent columns relating to the impact of “human rights” on evictions of […]

Confidence in housing market is falling, say estate agents

8th May 2012

House price confidence is dropping away as prices fall and buyers melt away, according to estate agents. One in five estate agents reported drops in April as hopes for future price rises hit the lowest level this year, and some expect property values to keep falling says the latest housing market survey by the Royal […]

Property118 Landlords Newsletter – Issue 113

4th May 2012

This week’s edition features Julie Ford looking at the rise of virgin landlords and Ben Reeve-Lewis delves deeper into his Tenancy Relations Officer role. There is also news of buy to let mortgage changes, an update on the government and insurance companies stand off and a round up of landlords in court.

Buy to let shines as mortgage lending slumps to 40 year low

4th May 2012

Buy to let lending was the only bright point in a year when mortgage lending slumped to the lowest levels for almost 40 years, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Landlord loans were up 40% in the year with advances of £14.1 billion against £10 billion a year earlier, says the CML annual […]

Three Landlord Articles Hit Google Page 1

4th May 2012

In the last 24 hours we’ve published three landlord articles containing stories submitted to us by our readers. A Google Search of the phrase “Landlord Stories” put’s them all on page one and they all feature in Google News too. I’ve decided to share my secrets for Internet Popularity by creating an Online Masterclass – […]

London’s cheapest home is a £41,000 boat

4th May 2012

A garage hitting the market with a staggering £525,000 asking price in upmarket Knightsbridge, West London, has prompted a look for the cheapest homes for sale in the capital. For homeseekers looking to buy outright, the cheapest home for sale in London is a one bed renovated houseboat in the Paddington Basin is on the […]

More Landlord Stories from Ian Cahill and John Maynard

4th May 2012

Thanks to Ian Cahill and John Maynard for submitting these Landlord Stories. For details on how to submit your landlord story please click here. Ian Cahill’s Story – CD’s, Tigers and yet more Tigers “I had a buy to let house which I let to two tenants(co- habiting) and the man collected CD’S and the woman collected […]

David Dahill tells his Landlords Story

4th May 2012

Thank you to David Dahill for sharing his landlords story and for being the first to respond to Mark Alexander’s offer to share the stage. For details on how to submit your landlords story please click here. “I have been a landlord for the last 21 years and was having the horror stories conversation with […]

Buy to Let Calculator - Landlord Resources

All change on the buy to let mortgage front

3rd May 2012

Co-Operative Bank buy to let mortgage customers can breathe a sigh of relief as the wholesale scrapping of interest only loans does not include buy to let borrowers. The bank’s specialist property investment subsidiary Platform will continue to offer interest only deals to landlords.

HMO landlord pays £13,000 for ignoring repair order

3rd May 2012

A shared house landlord who ignored council orders to upgrade his property was ordered to pay more than £13,000 in fines and costs by magistrates. A team from Selby Council swooped on the house in multiple occupation (HMO) following complaints from tenants.

Pets are not a landlord’s best friend

3rd May 2012

With former homeowners being forced back into the rental market, The Association of Independent Inventory Clerks has warned landlords to either be prepared for pets or look for the signs of undeclared pets. Most landlords who do accept pets will increase their deposit, but many landlords won’t rent to tenants with pets at all. Tenants […]

Landlord stories – what’s yours?

3rd May 2012

Many of the best read articles on Property118 are landlord stories, what’s great, what’s hot and what’s not. This is probably because we all know deep down that it’s far better to learn from other peoples experiences and far cheaper than learning from our own mistakes. I’ve realised that sharing my strategies and my positive […]

Landlord hopes sink over buy to let flood insurance

2nd May 2012

The likely results of losing flood insurance are sinking-in to landlords with at risk property as much of the country lies underwater and weather forecasters predict even more rain. Great swathes of England are coping with the deluge -and the heavy rains have highlighted just how many homes and businesses are in danger of flooding.

Landlords claim Titanic captain haunts buy to let home

2nd May 2012

Buy to let investors Neil and Louise Bonner are selling the childhood home of ill-fated Titanic skipper Captain Edward John – amid claims the house is haunted by him. Tenants have reported a series of spooky events in the house, including a mysterious kitchen flood and an icy chill in the dining room.

Landlords ready to sink more cash in to buy to let

1st May 2012

Landlords are still purchasing more buy to let homes, according to research by a mortgage lender. Property investors piled cash in to buy to let in the first three months of 2012, adding an average 1.8 homes to their portfolios, says Paragon Mortgages.