Home Buyers Show - Leave Your Cheque Book at Home but Take Your Brains

Well, the home buyers show starts tomorrow at London’s Excel. It’s a must for anyone looking to buy property or invest at home or overseas.
For me the last few days have been hectic too, trying to bat away lots of requests from websites and others wanting to film me or use my material for free. (The answer’s “No” by the way.)
I’m also getting an email a day from some vendors ahead of the show. (As you know, I like to keep my communications more occasional – I’ve always figured that people know where I am and what I offer.)
If you come to the show, please try to catch one of my seminars – there is one on Friday at 330pm, Saturday at 1230pm and Sunday at 1030am.
Here’s a word of warning , though.
Lots of the vendors at the show are good and the majority of them are pretty straight. However, keep in mind the fact that most make their money from selling property or providing financing for it.
So the extent to which they will give you unbiased advice –and explain the downsides of any property investment or finance deal they are offering is going to be a bit limited.
For unbiased advice, go and search out the likes of the government “bods” in the guise of the Communities stand. Also, check out the landlords associations too.
And don’t miss the Property Investor News people (Stand 980) – I’ve always found Richard Bowser’s mag tells it "like it is".
You may also find me near that stand from time to time, selling copies of my book.
So, come down, take your brains and some cash for coffees but leave your cheque book at home.
http://www.homebuyer.co.uk/seminar.asp
Back to main site: www.lettingfocus.comCopyright: David Lawrenson 2007

Buying a House Close to a Good School Used to Cost You, But Not For Much Longer (Plus a “Bit of Politics”)

Parents have long paid out big money to buy properties near a decent school. But this may be about to change.
Brighton Council have now bought in a lottery system whereby children’s names will go in a hat and the school you go to is decided by lottery.
Why?
Well, the idea seems to be to stop middle class parents buying property near a good school and thus leaving the other schools without some of the best talent.
The government seems keen to adopt this approach countrywide shortly and if they do, it will have a big impact on prices close to good schools which will no longer command a premium.
We know all about this from personal experience, as the only decent boys’ secondary locally is 20 times oversubscribed, making it the most oversubscribed state school in the whole of the UK. Nice!
So, in the next few years, we either have to go private (ignoring my own political principles) or move to somewhere with more decent state secondaries - which is just cheating in a different way.
Of course, the exodus of families from cities like London to rural spots with good schools is massive and the lottery system won’t stop this one bit.
One thing that would help would be to force private schools to accept one third of pupils on merit or face losing their charitable tax status. (Bit of politics)
Why not come to see me speak at my seminars at the Home Buyers Show in London this Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Details here: http://www.homebuyer.co.uk/seminar.asp
Back to main site: www.lettingfocus.comCopyright: David Lawrenson 2007

A Guide to Tenancy Deposit Schemes - Part Three

Can you ignore Tenancy Deposit Schemes?
No, you would be wise not to ignore the new rules.
Landlords letting under Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England and Wales who take deposits will have to tell tenants which scheme they are in within 14 days of receiving a deposit.
The penalties for not doing so are very tough.
For example, if a tenant finds out his landlord is not in an authorised tenancy deposit scheme he can apply to county court to get his deposit back.
The court can also impose penalties of three times the deposit amount which the landlords would then have to pay to the tenant!
Also, if a landlord isn’t in a scheme or fails to give tenants details about the scheme, it will not be possible to regain possession using a section 21 notice - the not so aptly named “accelerated possession procedure.”
Any exemptions? There is no TDS scheme for lets in Scotland or Northern Ireland (though both countries have more wide ranging HMO schemes and in Scotland all landlords must be registered too.)
In England and Wales if you have a company let, let rooms in your own home or if the annual rental on the tenancy is in excess of £25K you will also be exempt from TDS too.
More on TDS will follow in subsequent posts.
For Parts 1 and 2, see earlier posts on this blog.
Why not come to see me speak at my seminars at the Home Buyers Show in London this Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Details here: http://www.homebuyer.co.uk/seminar.asp
Back to main site: www.lettingfocus.com
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007

Dig Around in the Stats to Find Which Area is Hot and Which Is Not

Serious investors should be getting regular reports from all the main house price indices.
Sure, there is lots of stuff that’s on line these days – most is based on the land registry data -so you can look at an area and see if the house prices in that area have gone up, down or sideways.
Sites like upmystreet.co.uk also add in lots of other bits of useful data - so you can see crime figures, school performance and the like for a particular area.
But there is a lot to be said for getting on the actual mail list for stats and press releases from the likes of the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Nationwide, Halifax and Alliance & Leicester. They all produce great stats and press releases.
Have a dig in the detailed stats – there is some amazing and useful information that you can use when you are assessing an area to buy into. Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007
Back to Main Site: www.lettingfocus.com