How Do I Know If These Property Growth Forecasts Are True?

Here’s a trick many property companies promoting off plan property use.
What they will do is sell the first few five or ten units at a low price to get initial finance in. Sometimes these units are sold to other companies that the builder has a “close relationship” with.
Of course, the next lot which is being sold to the public is marketed at a higher price.
They are then able to use the fact that the price “has gone up” in their marketing literature and that investors should “get in quick” before they miss the boat.
Watch out for this trick, which is especially common in property abroad.
We are having a summer break from the blog for 14 days. See you again about the 7th August.
To find out more about how I can help you, take a look at landlord expert consultancy Letting Focus. I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling buy to let book and which has also been Amazon.co.uk’s top selling property title for the last 6 months.
You can read more of my property investment expert thoughts and details of my networking, advice, one to one telephone consultancy and landlord seminar and mentoring programme on the website http://www.lettingfocus.com
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007

Some mortgage lenders are now charging interest in advance

Is there no end to the mortgage lenders desperate attempts to squeeze money out of borrowers to make up for ever lower headline mortgage rates?
In previous blogs you will know how I have commented on how so called “arrangement fees” have gone ever higher. They are now so ridiculous that the lenders have now dropped the term “arrangement” when referring to these fees - possibly for fear of being done by the trade descriptions people.
I have also shown in past blogs how you can save money on mortgage lenders’ rip off valuation fee by going straight to a surveyor for a valuation or survey and also, how, by making a simple call to your lender you should be able to reclaim previously unfairly high arrangement fees.
But still the lenders come up with ever more smart ways of making money.
I have just realised that my lender now deducts interest in advance, rather than in arrears. They put this sneaky change in around June 2005.
How much extra did that clever idea make for them I wonder? Quite a lot, I suggest.
To find out more, ask me, David Lawrenson from landlord expert consultancy Letting Focus. I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling buy to let book and which has also been Amazon.co.uk’s top selling property title for the last 6 months.I’m a speaker, I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog and am a media commentator on the residential property market.
You can read more of my property investment expert thoughts and details of my networking, advice, telephone consultancy and landlord seminar programme on my website http://www.lettingfocus.com./
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we are unbiased and independent, because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.

How Can I Sell My Property or Get It Let Quickly?

One thing you can try is to have an open day when you get would be buyers or prospective tenants round.
Keeping a house tidy for viewings by potential buyers can be a real pain.
Washing up, putting away toys, chucking old papers and anything else that detracts from having the house looking like a show home just has to be done.
And if you are doing viewing on a let property where the old tenants are still in situ, keeping a place tidy can be a real pain for your tenants too.
Most landlords don’t want to be bothering their tenants every evening and whilst some tenants may be kind and make an effort to tidy up the first night, they are under no obligation and after a few evenings will probably come to see the effort as being just too much.
Therefore there is a lot to be said for having an open house day where potential tenants or buyers can come round altogether.
The open day is actually an “open hour” (or two hours for bigger houses) and they usually take place on a Saturday with the big advantage being the sense of competition between the viewers that is engendered.
With an open viewing you can really make the effort to have the property looking at its very best as it will be seen by a number of interested parties.
You can offer viewers some wine and nibbles and try to give them a sense of the lifestyle that they will be buying or renting into.
Of course, it helps if the property is a good one and reasonably desirable. Also, it helps if the market is buoyant and there is lots of demand from would be purchasers or tenants.
If parking is a problem, an open day may not be a good idea. Always make sure that prospective viewers know where they can and cannot park as you don’t want to fall out with the neighbours. If getting there by public transport is possible, have a sheet prepared and email this to them with the journey options and times.
If your existing tenants are still in situ agree the open hour time with them. They may want to be out of the house at the time which is fine, but if you want to move things around to better present the property, ask them first.
Having less people around can in itself help to “de-clutter” the house and give an added sense of space.
However, if there are just one or two tenants and they can be relied upon to rave about the house, then it may help if they are around and viewers will appreciate the possibility of asking them questions about the property and the local area; questions that you may well struggle to answer.
Don’t do the open house too early if you have tenants in situ. Some tenants can struggle to get up on a Saturday and their best intentions of tidying up and clearing away the old pizza may fade in the bright light of the morning.
All prospective viewers should be checked out. Don’t feel guilty about asking for a land line number and always call them back to confirm the viewing. Don’t let people wander out of sight. Follow around discreetly (which means if you have a busy open house you may want a few people to help you) All valuables should be put away out of sight, just in case.
Ideally, space the viewings about 15 to 30 minutes apart as you don’t want too many people at once – just enough to create a sense of demand and competition.
To find out more ask us at the property investment and buy to let advice consultancy Letting Focus. I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling buy to let book and which has also been Amazon.co.uk’s top selling property title for the last 6 months.I’m a speaker, I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog and am a media commentator on the residential property market.
You can read about my networking, advice, telephone consultancy and property investment seminar and mentoring programme on my website www.lettingfocus.com.
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we are unbiased and independent, because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.
If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad.
Copyright Lawrenson 2007

Do I need tenants to pay a reservation fee to reserve my property?

You definitely need a tenant to pay a reservation fee to reserve your property.
After all, if it's three weeks time before they are supposed to sign tenancy agreements and move in, they could just change their minds - leaving you high and dry and with a period when the property was potentially empty. You will have to start advertising again - and it may take another three or four weeks to get someone else who is suitable.
For that reson, I always ask for a 3 week reservation fee which tenants sign to acknowledge that if they change their mind and do not go ahead, or cannot pay the rent and deposit on the agreed move in date, they will lose that money.
To find out more about my property investment consultancy Letting Focus just go to www.lettingfocus.com I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling buy to let book.
I’m a speaker, I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog and am a media commentator on the residential property market. You can read more of my my networking, advice, telephone consultancy and landlord advice programme and landlord seminars at my site.
We are unbiased and independent, because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.
If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad.
Copyright: D Lawrenson 2007