7 Common Landlord Mistakes

Wed, 16 May 2012 2:55:57 +0000

With so many favourable articles of late proclaiming the positive merits of investing in buy to let properties, a novice landlord might be forgiven for thinking that owning a rental property is an easy way to make cash.

Hotel Room Investing

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:39:07 +0000

Hotel rooms remain a popular investment opportunity. You buy a hotel room, it's let out and you and the hotel share profits. As part of your due diligence, ask these questions...

Unpaid Tenants' Water Bills - Could Landlords Be Made Responsible?

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:02:41 +0000

Under the terms of the new Flood and Water Management Act, landlords could soon be liable for their tenants' unpaid water bills. This change in policy has come about because of increasing numbers of people absconding from rental properties without settling their water bill and the government is proposing to make it compulsory for landlords to supply information about their tenants -- or become liable for the account themselves.

Key Phrases at Property Auction

Wed, 09 May 2012 8:46:41 +0000

Guide Price Range Each lot will usually have a guide price or, more likely, a guide price range. For example, '£150,000 - £170,000'. This figure normally refers to what the auctioneer thinks the lot will sell for at the event but can occasionally refer to their perception of the property's current market value.

What Expenses Can I Claim?

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:01:14 +0000

This article is intended to give a quite comprehensive checklist of expenses incurred by a landlord that can be claimed for Income Tax purposes in a normal property rental business. The list doesn't cover every conceivable expense but hopefully should give the reader a useful guide - with some tips and warnings about common pitfalls along the way.

Surge In Landlord Buying Activity

Tue, 01 May 2012 1:19:47 +0000

Independent research commissioned by specialist buy-to-let lender Paragon Mortgages has revealed that property acquisition activity remained strong in the first quarter of 2012. The report, produced by independent researchers BDRC Continental, showed that during the last three months landlords increased their portfolio size by 1.8 properties. In Q1 2012 the average portfolio size was 10.8 properties, accommodating 1.3 tenants per property.

HSBC Survey How to Sell your House Quickly

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 3:52:34 +0000

HSBC state: "Householders wanting a quick property sale should worry less about cleaning windows and buying fresh flowers, and spend more time repainting the front door and replacing old gates, according to new research."

Why Invest in Hotel Rooms?

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:02:43 +0000

Over the last few years we have seen far more people looking to invest in property, and some alternative property investment opportunities. Many people have been looking for alternatives to their pensions or their savings accounts which are not giving them reliable returns, but do not necessarily want the hassle of becoming a hands-on landlord.

Rental Income Accounts

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:18:45 +0000

Landlords, keep your finger on the pulse Introducing the "Pulse Report" from G&P, Chartered Accountants, a premium service for landlords - a must see if you own rental properties.

London prices hit new high

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:34:03 +0000

Rightmove state "Property is coming onto the market in London at record asking prices this month, at an average of £9,785 higher than the previous all-time high set only last month. New sellers in the capital have put up their asking prices every month so far in 2012, with prices now up by 6.9% in the first four months of the year."

Buying Off Plan

Wed, 16 May 2012 9:30:06 +0000

With less and less new build starting and many new developments on hold over the last 2 years, this has exasperated the shortage of new housing required in many parts of the UK.

Lagos Lags Behind

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:01:16 +0000

Growing at some 2,000 residents every day without any broadly led housing policy in place – the pressures facing Africa’s fastest growing city are much cause for concern.  It has even got to a stage where new arrivals to the metropolitan region of Lagos are reportedly having difficulty in finding slum accommodation – resorting to live under bridges or other public areas until more “permanent” shelter options become available.

Sterling near three and a half year high on Euro

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:04:18 +0000

Sterling has moved up again on the Euro since last week’s blog. The Pound has inched close to a three and a half year high at times throughout the past week meaning that we start this week at a rate of 1.244 on the Euro as the Pound moved up by 0.79 percent overall on the single currency – something that you might want to take advantage of if you have a Sterling to Euro transfer to book.

UK investors show greater interest in buying properties abroad

Thu, 10 May 2012 4:08:38 +0000

Update on market over last month UK investors show greater interest in buying properties abroad Spanish Islands sees increase in UK Expats New low USA interest rates for foreign buyers Property market in South America goes from strength to strength Commentary

Sterling soars on Euro after French and Greek elections

Tue, 08 May 2012 10:09:25 +0000

The Pound has now hit a staggering 22 month high on the Euro. We start the week after the bank holiday, with Sterling at a mid-market rate of 1.239 on the Euro as the past week’s elections in Europe drag down confidence that the necessary austerity measures will be implemented to stem the European debt crisis. This is fantastic news for any property investors needing a Sterling to Euro transfer who may want to consider booking transfers in at these rates – some of the strongest we have seen for two years.

Brazil’s Property Market - Recent Expert Commentary

Tue, 08 May 2012 9:40:08 +0000

As well as exploring a range of issues related to Brazil’s global economic position, a recent conference held by the University of São Paulo Real Estate Centre saw some commentary made with regards to the current position of the country’s housing sector – some of the salient points of which have been highlighted below:

Pound maintains high despite UK return to recession

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 9:23:46 +0000

If you need a strong Pound for any upcoming transfers, you’ll be more than pleased to hear that the Pound is still soaring – now at nearly a two year high on the Euro, as well as the strongest it’s been on the US Dollar for eight months. This means that we start the week with Sterling at a mid-market rate of 1.227 on the Euro and 1.626 on the US Dollar. Don’t forget it’s possible to book exchange rates in advance of your transfer using a forward contract, so please do get in touch with me if you’d like to discuss securing the current rates.

Brazil Property Bubble - The Latest Debate

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 9:22:26 +0000

Despite many of the leading agencies and developers already reporting drops in 2012 sales volumes, it is arguably still premature to affirm that the Brazilian house price crash is well underway considering the convoluted and inefficient data collection methodologies used to measure the market.  Nevertheless, there continues to remain some who are adamant that no such event is occurring nor will happen in the foreseeable future.  One of them is Claudio Bernandes, civil engineer and president of the São Paulo Housing Union (Secovi-SP) whose comments made in the Folha newspaper were compiled on the Capital Social site besides the contrasting views of William Eid Júnior, finance professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (translated below):

Double Dip Recession for U.K

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 2:16:57 +0000

Special Mid-week report GDP numbers just released indicate that the UK economy has entered into a technical recession, contracting 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012. The Pound fell against the majors on the back of this release and market expectation appears to indicate this release will weigh heavily on Sterling throughout today’s trading session.

Pound at twenty month high before GDP figures this week

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:15:21 +0000

The pound has propelled yet further to an impressive twenty month high on a basket of other currencies. This includes a move up by 0.65 percent on the Euro over the past week to a mid-market rate of 1.221. It has also strengthened by a huge 1.75 percent on the US Dollar to a mid-market rate of 1.611.