House price surveys are nonsense – and do not offer anything other than an indication of the value of a non-existent ‘average’ home. Deciding which survey to trust is easy – none of them. Depending on your loyalty, according to the Halifax and economists Academetrics, the average house price for September floats somewhere between £162,096 […]

Click on the link below to view examples of sales now being completed in the Orlando area for the long term rental market. These are not holiday homes but could be! Values have crashed to 50% below what you would have paid 4 years ago. Florida property examples.

The best laid Tory plans to boost inheritance tax (IHT) thresholds to £1 million after the election were shelved as a result of pressure from the Lib Dems when forming the coalition government. That means IHT limits are stuck at £325,000 for the life of this Parliament – probably until 2014.

The latest house price surveys confirm what everyone already knows – house prices are stuck in a rut and mortgage finance is drying up. The latest house price figures released by the Communities and Local Government Department show prices were still 8.3% up for August 2010 compared with August the year before.

Landlords can smooth out disagreements with tenants by offering them a free guide that explains the rights of both sides on issues that provoke upsets. The guide gives step-by-step answers to some of the most common problems – like what happens to a deposit, deciding who is responsible for paying for damage and repairs and […]

It was 1992, we were at the tail of the property crash of the late 80’s and early 90’s. I was still cutting my teeth in the market of providing commercial finance broking facilities to property investors. The phrase buy to let would not be invented for another four years and the internet was in its infancy. […]

Buy to let mortgage rates are steadily falling while the number of lenders is increasing. BM Solutions is the latest lender to cut buy to let mortgage rates – by between 0.31% and 0.45% on a range of loans. The intermediary-only lender has trimmed rates to bring products in line with those offered by other […]

Property investors are witnessing a shift in the housing market that will affect people’s attitudes to buying and renting homes for generations to come. The truth is already out there – it just takes some thinking to join the dots. Housing minister Grant Shapps has told the nation that Britain cannot afford another boom-and-bust house […]

Perhaps one of the Worlds most spectacular property market crashes of recent years has been in the areas surrounding Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. However, has the hype that drove properties to ridiculously high values reversed to the point where this market is now trading at values massively below where they should be? What opportunities does […]

Britain’s largest private residential landlord is celebrating that the firm’s portfolio of 13,000 properties is outperforming the market. The £1.6 billion portfolio is owned by Northeast based Grainger Properties. Grainger made a decision to invest in low value homes that needed refurbishment, mostly in London and the South East, discounting the view that new build […]

Ministers may consider including residential investment property in self-invested pension schemes (SIPPS) that would lead to a major pension industry shake-up for buy to let landlords. Representatives of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have met with HM Treasury to discuss the change.

Many property owners are confused over whether they should declare the money they earn from letting. Here’s a list of some of the most common misconceptions about making a tax return: The tax rules only apply to buy to lets, so I don’t have to declare any rent I earn from other property

British taxpayers are vying with those in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands to pay the highest rates of tax in Europe. Top rate taxpayers here also suffered the largest tax hike in the world when rates soared to 50% for those earning £150,000 a year or more in April, according to a report by accountants […]

Student landlords and shared house investors planning and licensing rules face scrutiny under a second legal challenge – this time by local councils. The rules are already facing High Court review after landlords in Oxford decided to take on the city council over plans to take up tighter planning and licensing controls.

Two out of three investment fund managers intend to put cash in to commercial property in the coming months. Many still see commercial property as a good investment although they expect portfolio values to stand still or fall during the next three to six months.

Gifting property to families or loved ones without triggering a cluster bomb of taxes is never simple. Take two sisters who inherited a property from mum and dad. One of the sisters lives overseas and has no children while the other lives in the UK and has a son with a young family who need […]

Cashflow is simply defined as regular income. Positive cashflow is when income exceeds expenditure and you make a profit. So that’s important right? Of course it’s important, but are you in complete control of your cashflow position?’ might be a better question. The truth is there are some things you can’t control. You can’t choose […]

We’ve recently embarked on a new initiative to provide Estate Planning advice to people who need it most, whilst at the same time supporting charities that support families who are affected by the devastating news none of us want to hear but most of us experience at some point in our lives.

Mike Woodfine, Director of The Money Centre, comments on how, through outsourcing at a cost of £225.60 a month, he didn’t need to recruit a replacement HR Manager and reduced overheads by almost £40,000 a year and at the same time empowered our Management Team.

Capital allowances are mind-numbingly complicated and even confuse some accountants, but making the effort to unravel obscure tax points can save some property investors paying thousands of pounds in unnecessary tax. This tax reducer is especially important to anyone with: Furnished lets or holiday lets in the UK or overseas

Buy to let lender Paragon is jumping back into the landlord mortgage market to fill the hole left by Lloyds Banking Group tightening up borrowing terms. Landlords can expect to see more jockeying for position in the market with new products and lenders coming to the fore as Lloyds have left a massive whole in […]