Buy to Let Mortgage Fraud by David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com. Plus, the case for Letting Agent Regulation.

Well what a year that was.
Not for a long time (since the Great Crash of 1929 in fact) have so many financial institutions made such a muck up of the economy.
Amazingly some bankers, such as John Varley of Barclays, think that WE still think they know enough to listen to their predictions on stuff like houses prices.
Well, I have long since stopped listening to these guys, preferring instead to look at property price fundamentals and reality.
But I’m amazed that other financial journalists report the predictions of senior execs at banks as they have proved so hopelessly inaccurate over the last few years.
And on that topic, full marks to Rosalind Renshaw writing in the Residential Landlords magazine who flagged up how wrong financial institutions were with their predictions on house prices last year.

REAL DEALS ON HOUSES AT LAST
Over the last few weeks the estate agents that I am pals with have started to contact me with real mark downs on London property.
These mark downs have at last started to make house prices in the capital look sensible (You may know from previous blogs that I have not bought in London for 5 years as I have considered prices far too silly.)
In London, I reckon we are now only about 8% away from the bottom for LEADING INDICATOR house price indices such as that from the Nationwide and Halifax (which are of course based on surveyor valuations. Expect ASKING PRICES to fall at least another 20%)
In the rest of the country there is much further for house prices to fall as reality has still to catch up in many places. For example, a close pal in Rochdale reports that asking prices there have barely budged downwards. In areas like this the correction is coming soon and anyone thinking of buying in such areas would be advised to sit on their cash for a while longer, I think.

LETTING AGENTS NEED GREATER REGULATION
This year, as I have predicted in the FT and Daily Telegraph, many new landlords will have a very negative experience of letting at the hands of a rogue letting agent. The full article is here: New Landlords Risk Financial Penalties - "Financial Times" (There is also a longer piece on all this in the pre-Christmas “Investors Chronicle” where I am quoted extensively.)
Good letting agents, of whom there are many, have long called for greater regulation of their industry.
I predict that 2009’s experience will prove that there is a really urgent need for more regulation because many “reluctant landlords” will fall foul of rogue letting agents.

PROPERTY FRAUD IN BUY TO LET
In my next blog I will look at how the buy to let boom allowed what looked like legitimate property transactions to be turned into fraud and how genuine buyers and dim mortgage lenders lost fortunes in the process.
I’ll explain exactly how the shady property deals were constructed and how some conveyancing solicitors, mortgage brokers and surveyors helped frauds to take place through negligence and incompetence.
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ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com - the landlord and property letting advice experts.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting” which for the last 3 years has been the UK’s top selling property book - Buy Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let.
The new edition is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on sale and rent back.
I’m an expert freelance property writer, property speaker and I run this well known property letting and investment blog
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I provide general property letting advice for anyone looking to buy property for themselves or to let out.
In my work as a consultant I help private individuals with any aspect of buying property or buy to let. What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we are independent property investment advisors 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.
We simply give one to one unbiased advice and are often asked to evaluate other property investments.
In my corporate consulting role I also advise banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice and property training programme at my website.Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
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Don’t believe the doomsayers on house prices – but it could be a rocky ride says Lawrenson of Letting Focus

A few of the clients I have consulted with are right now buying property to let. Some of them have asked me if they should now re-negotiate on the price they offered.
My response is “it all depends on what is happening in your local market” – however in general my answer would be to say “No”, just as long as you got a good price in the first place.
No wonder they are spooked.
It seems that doom and gloom really is all around us in the media at the moment and the press seem to be doing their best to talk up a house price crash.
The editors of Money Week, The Sunday Mail property section and the Daily Telegraph are all especially gloomy on house price prospects. Only David Smith at the Sunday Times (who writes a new small but fascinating section in their Home supplement) seems ready to offer a counter view.
If you have read my other blogs, you will know that I think that providing the government does not end up being forced to put up interest rates too far (by more than 1% above current levels), then I don’t think there will be an across the board big fall in house prices.
Part of the reason that I don’t think there will be a crash is that don’t share the view that houses are currently as unaffordable as some commentators think.
For example, I note that the Council of Mortgage lenders stats on affordability of mortgages (see the site at http://www.cml.org.uk/) shows that the % of average mortgage borrowers’ incomes that is accounted for by mortgage interest is currently about 18% - and falling.
Looking at this data on an historical basis, we can see that from 1980 to 1985 this figure was occasionally above 18% (and often above 15%) without there being a major fall in house prices. (The big fall, of course, came later in 1990, when due to rapidly rising interest rates, this measure hit a massive 27.1%)
Clearly, we now have a different picture today from that which prevailed in the early 90s. Back then, interest rates went up very high very fast as the government of the day struggled to keep the UK in the ERM.
Today, we have a serious credit strike by the banks which accounts for the weak housing market.
It’s my view that a combination of rising earnings and a lack of new house building (the lowest new house building starts since 1945 has just been recorded) will together act to keep house prices from falling off a cliff –though I expect falls of about 3% - 7% from here until the end of 2009.
At some point within the next 2 -3 years the mortgage markets will unfreeze. At that time the slow rate of new house building starts will have translated into a shortage of property on the ground.
And the combination of increased earnings and lack of property to buy will push house prices upwards.
This scenario all assumes we don’t see the government lose control of the economy leading to rises in unemployment and interest rates. Such a scenario would lead all bets on the future direction of house prices to be off (including my own).
But hey, investing in property is not a risk free game. If it was then everybody would be doing it – and many would be making a mess of it – as we have witnessed in the scandal where novice investors bought off plan over supplied new build flats fin inner cities from property clubs.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of landlord consultants lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling property investment book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert freelance property journalist , property speaker and a well known buy to let blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords advice
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property investors networking programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer property coaching because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an 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 and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
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I’M STILL NOT INVESTING IN FLATS BY DAVID LAWRENSON OF LETTINGFOCUS.COM

At present all the talk is about the credit crunch and falling house prices and as usual with the press, the “headline grab” often obscures the finer details.
In reality, there are huge differences between the relative performances of different property types.
Even before the credit crunch took hold, government figures showed that between the year 2000 and 2007 the shortage of family houses led to detached homes doubling in value while the prices of new flats went up by just 18%.
The reason for this huge difference lies in the planning system which allowed or forced - choose your verb depending on whose side you are on - the UK’s developers to build too many flats and not enough family sized houses.
There has also recently been a smattering of TV programmes about how some novice buy to let investors lost money by investing in some of the many me-too-identikit-city-centre-new-build flats mainly in parts of northern England and the English midlands. Often these were flats they had never seen but they were somehow encouraged to by them at seminars hosted by property companies who persuaded them that they could not lose.
However, with too many of these flats being built and not enough tenants to go round, rents have been flat at best and prices, particularly for the identikit flats in large developments have been falling very heavily just at the same time that re-mortgages at decent rates have become very hard to find.
In some cases flats are now coming up at auctions at over a third less than what the investors paid and auctioneers report they are awash with repossessed flats many of which are not even making their auction reserve prices.

THE TYPICAL LANDLORD DOES NOT HAVE MANY FLATS
However, the novice investors who bought into such properties are actually a long way from what constitutes the typical landlord. For example, a survey last year by Mortgage Trust found that 77% of landlords have no new build in their portfolio at all. With landlords’ average loan to value around 60 percent and with landlord professionals (with more than five properties) owning 97% of the buy to let stock the typical landlord is not hemmed in by falling rents or lacking access to finance to build his portfolio further as the media would have us believe.
My own experience is that most professional landlords prefer bread and butter houses in established residential areas. And that’s not surprising, given that the lender, Paragon recently reported that rents on flats were up 6 per cent in the past 12 months but terraced house rents jumped by a whopping 20 per cent.
The same survey also showed that gross rental yields on terraces are 6.9% compared with 5.7% for flats. With an increasing number of families renting, the added space and flexibility that a house with a garden gives, is something that landords know will continue to be in high demand from tenants.
Figures from ARLA also show that about half of all buy to let investors expect to increase their portfolios over the coming 12 months and the vast majority of investment landlords said they would not sell if house prices should fall.
The facts are that smart landlords are investing. They know financially stretched sellers will listen to low ball offers and that rents will continue to rise fast as first time buyers are either unwilling to invest or unable to get mortgages. And, whilst the credit crunch means that these landlords now need to find at least 20% of a property’s value to get a decent mortgage deal, since many of them have lots of cash available from their existing portfolios that’s not a problem for many.

GIVEN THE BIG FALLS IN PRICES OF INNER CITY FLATS, COULD THEY BE WORTH ANOTHER LOOK AT TODAY?
But could the identikit flats being sold off cheap at auction today represent good value for buyers - whether landlords or for people buying for themselves?
For me, the answer to this just comes down to simple local future demand and supply. If there are many more flats about to come on stream in your area then avoid them like the plague.
At my consultancy, about 18 months ago I advised an investor client of mine with a large number of flats on a single huge development in Manchester to sell his portfolio because Manchester had given the green light to yet more flats in his local area - a fact that was easy to establish by just looking at the local authority’s website.
If there is not a problem with future supply, then maybe these flats could just be a good investment in the long term. However, all too often these identikit flats are full of short terms tenants and absentee landlords. And with no one around to push the managing agents to maintain the properties properly, they are often in a very poor state of repair and destined to become the poor ghettoes of the future.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson a landlord advisors lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title: buy the UK's top selling property investment book
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert freelance property journalist and property speaker a well known property blogger and I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords advice
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property investors networking programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer property investment mentoring because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an 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 and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week. Permission must be sought before using the material in the blog.

Falling House Building Starts and Rising Rents is Good News For Those Who Buy Today says Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com

Just today, we have seen the most pessimistic RICS survey of the housing market ever.
The new Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) study found that the market is in its worst state for 30 years after a record number of estate agents reported falling property prices.
RICS said 82 per cent of estate agents in the UK had seen a drop in prices since the start of the year, with just one per cent reporting a rise. The ratio is the worst since records began in 1978, and means that the housing slump is even more widespread than during the crash of the early 1990s.
From reading these figures, it is my view that we are some still way off the bottom, possibly as much as 18 months off (though how far away the bottom is will depend upon on what other skeletons the banks have in the closet that they haven’t “discovered” or owned up to yet) This will all determine how long the resulting dearth of credit will last.
However, I would urge you to look at what is happening in your local area very carefully as it may differ very much from this national picture. As professional investors know, not all areas are the same. Some offer potential and some offer a potential to lose a lot of money.
Meanwhile, rents are rocketing outside the oversupplied new build buy to let ghettoes
I have just successfully pushed through some chunky rent increases on my own buy to lets.
In some parts of south east London where I have a few properties rents are up by well over 15%, but I have kept my increases some way below that because my tenants have been with me a while and I value that commitment from them plus I know I can trust them to pay the rent and look after my properties.

Fal In New Building Starts
At the same time as house prices have fallen, the lack of house buyers has resulted in a big fall in house building starts which are down 10% on a year ago. These figures are likely to get worse still as house builders twiddle their thumbs waiting for someone to come into their show homes, if only for a chat about what was on Corrie last night.
It all means that when the credit freeze finally unfreezes and the lenders start falling over themselves to lend all over again, there is going to be an even greater shortage of property that the new mortgage money will be chasing and when that happens prices will I think really take off fast.
So my simple message is this: It is hard to call the actual bottom of the housing market.
So look around you, make cheeky offers on property purchases and once you have the property you can enjoy strong rental growth. The capital growth may have to wait, but it will come and when it comes, it will come fast.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson a buy to let and landlord expert from lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title: buy the UK's top selling property investment book
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value. I’m an expert property investment speaker and a well known property investment blogger and I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog, a number of columns in the press and I can provide advice for landlords
Check out where I was recently featured in the Daily Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/24/cmbuy24.xml&page=1
http://propertyclub.telegraph.co.uk/Page/View/222
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property investors networking programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer independent property coaching because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an 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 and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week. Permission must be sought before using the material in the blog.

The signs say GO for house buying – just don’t tell the journalists, says Lawrenson of Letting Focus

House prices are down for the fourth month running according to the Nationwide. Their latest figures show a 0.5% drop in the month of February which leaves houses prices up 2.7% on an annualised basis
Just a word of caution, though, February 2006 was a strong month for houses price rises, so maybe that 2.7% growth figure looks a little worse than it is.
But notwithstanding that observation, it is clear that house prices are cooling a bit.
And as further evidence, the Land Registry has reported that the number of houses sold in November was 20% less than in November 2006.
Mortgage availability continues to get tighter too. As I sort of predicted in the last blog, other lenders have followed the Nationwide’s lead and are raising the amount that borrowers need to put in when they buy a property.
So, whilst, loans over 85% are still available they come at a much higher mortgage interest rate.
Of course, commentators who love to hate buy to let say, “Aha, all those landlords will have their come-uppance too from the new mean mortgage lenders”

Landord Default Rate is Low
The only problem (for these commentators) is that according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders buy to let borrowers still has a lower default rate overall than other mortgage loans, so landlord investors have not actually been hit as hard as ordinary residential borrowers by the tightening of lender’s criteria.
However, there has indeed been some tightening in buy to let lending – mainly on rent to interest ratios and on lending to borrowers who have a less than perfect credit history.
So, if you have a track record of investing in property and / or you have a good credit history and access to 20% of a property’s value, these are very exciting times.
Why?
Well, as lenders get meaner with who they will lend to, this is what will happen….
First, less people will be able to get mortgages to buy property
Second, the 1.4 million people have to re-mortgage this year may well end up paying a higher mortgage rate -and they may choose to sell their properties and rent instead.
Third, the tighter conditions and fewer buyers will cause house prices to slide - though this may not happen in earnest until around May. I predict house prices will be about 5% lower in December 2008 than they are now
Fourth, these conditions make it a great time to be in the market and buying property.
Why?
Because in a weak housing market, vendors will listen to offers and you will be able to get property at a good (i.e. low) price.
And because I think this year will be so good to buy property, I will be busy doing just that.
For that reason, and because of the demands of my consulting work, this blog will appear now just once a week.
However, we will endeavor to keep it as informative as ever.
If you need more advice on property investment or buy to let investment in general please ask me.
About Me
I’m David Lawrenson from property investment advisors http://www.lettingfocus.com/
I’m the author of the buy to let book “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” the UK’s top selling property title.
I’m an expert on property investing for profit and a well known property freelance writer and I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a property investment blog, a number of columns in the press and run a landlords advice service.
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services.
You can read more of my property investment blog and details of my networking, advice, buy to let networking programme at my website http://www.lettingfocus.com/
Come to my next London landlords networking.
Click here for details: Property Investment Advice
What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer independent property mentoring 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 and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.Copyright: David Lawrenson 2007. This blog is updated at least twice a week. Permission must be sought before using the material in the blog.

Real House Prices for Free Without The Hassle says LettingFocus

Trying to find local house prices for the street where you want to buy?
Very irritatingly, I've found that most places now either charge or you have to register with the site - and then get bombarded with emails for ever more.
However, there is still one site that's free and simple to use and you don't have to register either. It's the site at http://www.houseprices.co.uk
I like it because it is relatively free from advertising and dead easy to use too.
Simply go there and shove in your postcode and you'll see all the prices local properties have sold for, simply presented.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson.
I’ve been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.
Primarily, I work as a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the media.
I have written articles, guides and documents on letting property and property investing for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and for quality landlord and property websites.

Services for Private Landlords
For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one to one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

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Houses Are Going Up Faster Than Flats - You Heard It Here First

It’s nice to see that my argument at the Home Buyers Show that prices of terrace properties are going up faster than flats in many areas has been confirmed by none other than the Halifax in a press release that was widely picked up by the newspapers and TV.
Here is the link to the Guardian article on the story.
http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,2030291,00.html

Link to interesting article: Accidental Landlords

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.
I’m David Lawrenson, a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.

Services to Businesses and the Public Sector

Primarily I am a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.

For example, I help banks improve their buy to let mortgage lending practices and I help housing association / local authorities find private landlords (private rented access schemes, local letting agency models etc.)
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the broadcast media.

Services for Private Landlords

For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do just two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.

We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one-to-one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars.
With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it.

We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring

NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event
We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords
TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME.

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!See our TWITTER PAGE: http://twitter.com/LettingFocus

Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2007.

This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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Housing Statistics- Dig Around 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.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.

I’m David Lawrenson, a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and author of “Successful Property Letting” – the UK’s top selling commercially published property book for the last 3 years.

Services to Businesses and the Public Sector

Primarily I am a consultant to banks, local authorities, social housing providers and other organisations – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies and services.

For example, I help banks improve their buy to let mortgage lending practices and I help housing association / local authorities find private landlords (private rented access schemes, local letting agency models etc.)
I also write for property websites and am regularly quoted by the broadcast media.

Services for Private Landlords

For private landlords and other investors in the private rented sector, we do just two London seminars each year.
We also find some spare time to help landlords and property investors by coaching them in how to make money in the private rented sector using ways that work, which are ethical, fair to tenants and which involve minimal risk to the investor.
We pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice on either a one-to-one mentoring / coaching basis or through our occasional group seminars. With no links to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment and when to buy it. We also show you how to manage tenants properly.

AT OUR WEBSITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog

THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page

For general info on our CONSULTING click here: Consultancy and Seminars

ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTANCY click here: Property Mentoring

NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investment Seminar and Networking Event

We have OFFERS on a range of services and products for landlords too; click here including landlords insurance, tenant referencing, tenancy agreements and more: Services and Products for Landlords

TO READ CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials

BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon plus anything else you fancy at Amazon.co.uk

To JOIN our Free QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER simply send an email to david@LettingFocus.com - Please note we WILL NOT send spam or sell our mailing list to advertisers!

IF YOU HAVE A SITE WHY NOT LINK TO THIS BLOG OR TO OUR WEBSITE?
IF YOU SELL SERVICES TO LANDLORDS, YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME.

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!

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Copyright of Blog: David Lawrenson 2007. This blog is updated roughly once a week usually on a Monday or Tuesday.

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