Buy to Let Tips and Advice from Letting Focus and David Lawrenson

I found something on the Internet that I had written a few months ago for Kate Faulkner’s site over at Designs on Property and thought it would be good to put in on the last blog of the year as the advice still makes good sound sense and should really be the first principles for anyone new to buying property to let out. So, here they are - my top ten tips for buy to let.

1. Buy into the right location. Look at areas that are getting or have just got faster transport links such as Folkestone in Kent or regeneration money such as Elephant & Castle in London. Also, look for areas where new employers are moving in or existing employers are hiring workers. There is lots of information on all this on the Internet and the publication Estates Gazzette, available in most libraries, has lots of news on planned regeneration. Do your research.

2. Use today’s weak market to make “hard ball” offers at below the asking price. If the vendor won’t play, simply walk away and make a cheeky offer somewhere else.

3. Buy the type of property that is in demand from tenants and for which there will be a strong resale market when you eventually come to sell. Ask letting agents for their view of what type of house is in demand locally.

4. Read up and understand your legal responsibilities as a landlord. Get my book – still the UK’s top selling property title.

5. Try to build up a deposit of at least 25 per cent to allow you access to the best mortgage rates.

6. Carefully check all prospective tenants’ references to avoid the “tenant from hell”. If your agent does this for you ask to see the references they obtained. Don’t fully trust to an agent until you have worked with them for a while and they have aerend that trust.

7. Treat tenants as you would like to be treated.

8. Keep all receipts and invoices and have a good administration system.

9. Have a sense of humour. You’ll need it from time to time.

10. If you need advice, make sure it is independent advice and not provided by someone also looking to sell a property or finance package to you.

Happy New Year to all you LettingFocus.com blog readers.

MORE ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS AND WHAT WE DO

LettingFocus.com is the home of landlord information.

Hi, I’m David Lawrenson.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
At LettingFocus.com, we help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical 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.
Unfortunately, in the UK today, property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “good advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.
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 a corporate level, we also provide consultancy for banks, local authorities and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord facing or buy to let product strategies. We also write for property websites and are regularly quoted by the media.
We have written articles for numerous publications including The Independent, The Telegraph and quality landlord websites.

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Buy to Let is not Dead says David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com

Come to Our Next Evening Property Event in London Evening
I’m afraid the public have a very warped perception of buy to let which is to some extent a direct result of the way the media has reported it.
Clearly there has been a true story about how various property clubs and developers persuaded hapless new would-be landlords to invest in flats in massive developments consisting of hundreds of other me-too flats.
At the turn of the millennium tapping this new investor class was an easy way to raise money to finance the development of many an identikit block. The promoters churned out smart marketing brochures which neatly tapped into the UK public’s hunger to “be in” on the buy to let boom and to make money as easily as other landlords already had in the mid to late 90s.
Of course, far too many of these flats were built and sold to too many would-be landlords and with not enough tenants around wanting to rent them the prices of the flats and the rents have since been flat at best or falling at worst.
Naturally, the media have (eventually!) rightly picked up on this as a story - in some cases a bit of fraud was involved on the new builds too to spiece it up - and it has coloured the public’s perceptions of the returns that can be made from residential letting.
The reality is, however, that the typical landlord of whatever size has none or very few new build flats in their portfolio. They also often have a low loan to value on their mortgage borrowings and are therefore often able to access extra funding relatively easily if they need to in order to snap up the bargain properties that are increasingly now appearing.

FALLING INTEREST RATES
Right now they are also enjoying the fruits of falling interest rates and relatively strong demand from tenants (although this has been tempered somewhat recently by a rise in the amount of stock due to many accidental landlords who are letting their property as they cant sell it.)
And demand from tenants will stay strong as long as mortgage lenders demand high deposits and high product fees from first time buyer mortgages.
Longer term, a demand for a more flexible lifestyle will also increase the demand for renting.
Certainly, house prices are falling but many landlords, both large and small, are in property letting for the long term. And as long as they are generating cash on their existing property portfolios they will be happy. Many are now using that better cash flow to dip their toes in the water to buy cheaply – if you don’t think so, just go to any auction room.
True, things look very dark today but the credit shortage will eventually end and when it does there will be lots of money chasing very little available property - a direct consequence of the lack of new house building today.
And with the ability to set off interest against rental income and reasonably generous CGT breaks residential property looks a good bet from the tax perspective too.
Come to Our Next Evening Property Event in London Evening of 18th March

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ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com - the landlord and property letting advice experts. Read More Articles on Property by David Lawrenson.
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 and property speaker - and I run the well known property investment blog that you are reading now.
Come to Our Next Evening Property Event in London Evening of 18th March
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 a fee to anyone looking to buy property for themselves or to let out. I can 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 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 2009. This blog is updated once a week.
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SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING - HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN BUY TO LET from DAVID LAWRENSON

Sadly, I’m afraid there is still no sign of my book becoming widely available in WH Smiths or many other parts of the high street any time soon (or what is left of the high street after the credit crunch.)
So, yes, I know it’s daft, but until my publishers rectify the situation, if you want the UK’s top selling property and landlords book you are still best off getting it on line at Amazon, Play.com or some other on line retailer.
And it's cheaper on line than going into a shop, which given that you are reading this online, I guess you probably know anyway.
And you can of course buy it here (plus any other DVD's CDs or books you fancy) at our site which links straight through to Amazon and their ludicrously low prices. Just click Buy Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let.
Meanwhile, I feel there is another property book in me. And yes, I’m open to offers.
Also, we are also keen to develop LettingFocus.com as a business proposition.
Don’t worry we are not planning to “sell out”, but, hey, we have got to pay the bills too - and this site and this blog does now get a lot of traffic.
So, if you are good marketer, who understands the net and its potential - and critically if you have good financial backing and experience - we would be pleased to hear from you.

PROPERTY MARKET HAS AN ICY BUT EXCITING FEEL TO IT
Predictably enough the big freeze has bought the usual travel chaos to London.
In SE London, where I live, I have seen hardly any gritting lorries or snowploughs despite lots of advanced warnings from the meteorologists.
And at the school my kid attends, one of the teachers was – with some glee – attaching a note announcing that school was closed. Can’t the teachers walk to the school?
And, yes, as I write this, I find the school is shut for a second day despite the fact that all the public transport is finally running.
Just as well then that the private bakeries and dairies and some small shops somehow fought through the massive (joke!) 5 inches of snow to bring bread and milk to the capital.
All good fun!
But these freezing conditions bring out the Viking hunter in me and so this week is special because it is the first time in 5 and a half years that I have set out to buy another property in the capital.
For the last five to six years prices in London have been way too daft but I have just had an offer accepted and here we go.
It feels risky. It feels dangerous. It feels like mortgage fees are toally exorbitant. And they are.
But I think the price I have negotiated looks good and is fair to the vendor.
Let’s see how it pans out.
A word of warning though.
If you are looking to get a bargain you should ignore prices on websites like Rightmove. Too many properties are sitting on sites like Rightmove which have been on the market for ages. They are overpriced and provide no guide at all to current prices.
To find a bargain stay close to your local estate agent and tell him you are ready to move fast if the right deals come up. Give him your mobile number and keep in touch with him often as you won’t be the only person out bargain hunting.
Then when you get the call from him, go and do a viewing and say Yes or No quickly and don’t mess him about.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com - the landlord and property letting advice experts. Read More Articles on Property by David Lawrenson.
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 and property speaker - and I run the well known property letting and investment blog that you are reading now.
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 a consulatancy fee to anyone looking to buy property for themselves or to let out. I can 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 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 2009. This blog is updated once a week.
WANT TO BE KEPT UPDATED WITH OUR LATEST BLOGS?
It’s easy.
If you are on the home page of our blog, go to the bottom of any post, and click on “LINK TO THIS POST” to bring up the page for a specific post, then hit END …and on the right you’ll see “Site feed.”
If you are already on a specific post page, just hit END and you will see the site feed.
You then just copy the link that comes up into your News Reader or News Aggregator. Even a non techie like me managed to do all this.
Please note if you have a website & are thinking of reproducing material here - that’s fine but we DO require the full links shown in each blog to be included, including also the links in this section. The full article including all links must be available to ALL VIEWERS of your site and not restricted to members.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
Please Contact Us button at our main site http://www.lettingfocus.com/ if you have any queries about this.

Don’t Czech this out says Overseas Property Expert Lawrenson of LettingFoucs.com

I’m just back from a nice week in Prague.
Prague was a city I had considered buying in a few years ago.
But according to Czech friends there is quite a land grab going on and it is quite easy to get land to build on. This is certainly the case in Cernosice 10 miles or so to the south west of Prague where lots of new stuff had sprung up since I was last there.
Why can this be a problem?
As I always say, the first thing when looking to buy anywhere and this is especially true when buying abroad is to check out the availability of land to build on.
Why? Well if land is easy to acquire then there is little to stop lots of new developments springing up - and the supply of that new stock will always act as a constraint on property prices and rental levels.
Another thought that was very top of my mind at 130am at Stansted as I waited in an interminable queue for immigration & after suffering a 3.5 hour delay at Prague airport is to think about how you will manage something far away. Will you want to or HAVE TO visit often to check out your investment and sort out problems?
After our experience last night with “NotEasyJet” and the shambles that passes for Stansted Airport (Note to BAA – please sort this mess out!), the interminable delays in getting to and from places abroad is another reason why I would definitely think twice about buying abroad unless it looked like a really good investment in the first place.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson a buy to let experts 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 speaker and 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 help for landlords
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 overseas 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.

Treat tenants softly softly sometimes says David Lawrenson of Letting Focus

Sometimes it pays to treat tenants softly softly says David Lawrenson of lettingfocus.com
I look after a couple of properties in Kent for people who live abroad ad let them out.
This has given me quite an insight into the mindset of other landlords
One of the things I always say, (and I have a good letting agent friend to thank for this) is, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
What do I mean by this?
This example will explain all….
About 6 months ago one of the landlords (despite my advice) came over rather heavy onto a rather prickly and potentially difficult tenant.
The tenant, who had been in occupation for a few years, said we was going to leave soon and to protect his position, decided to withhold the last months rent.
She had always paid the rent on time – for 3 years.
Her justification for withholding the last months rent was because there was no inventory when she moved in.
The landlord admits he was remiss not doing an inventory (not advised by me back then, I’m afraid!).

Tenant Concern
Well, to some extent, I can understand the tenant’s concern and I guess some other landlord may have withheld her deposit in the past. So, as a result, she’s not trusting landlords anymore
Having met the tenant and been inside the property a year after she moved in, it was my view that the property would probably be left in a good condition when she left.
So, no need for the landlord to get heavy.
But get heavy he did and immediately gave the tenant notice for non payment of rent along with a shirty letter.
That was a mistake.
The tenant got cross and left the place in a mess.
This could have been avoided by a polite letter requesting the rent. The tenant would have left in due course and I’m pretty sure in this case that the landlord would not have been left out of pocket.
The message is, sometimes it pays to take a deep breath.

Foxtons and the OFT
On another matter, I see the Office of Fair Trading are claiming against letting agent Foxtons under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.
The OFT consider that their agency contract requiring landlords to pay a fee if the tenant continues in occupation, even if Foxtons is no longer managing the property, are unfair.
They are also objecting to a clause requiring the landlord to pay commission if the tenant purchases the property even where Foxtons play no part in negotiating the sale.
Foxtons claim that these clauses are fair and are continuing to use them.
The OFT have therefore issued proceedings in the High Court for an injunction to prevent them using them.
It will be interesting to see how this goes.
As I have said before, landlords should pay a fair up front finders’ fee to letting agents –which should be at least 10% plus VAT - and strike out any renewal fees unless the agency actually does some work to earn them.
In other words, don’t be mean. If you are, it will only tempt agents into trying to make a living by inflating other charges like renewal fees.
If you need more advice on property management or buy to let property in general please ask 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.
Buy the new edition here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Successful-Property-Letting-Right-Plus/dp/0716030195/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203933977&sr=1-1
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 below market value. 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/

My next London property investors networking meeting is on March 12th. 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 2008. This blog is updated at least twice a week. Permission must be sought before using the material in the blog.

Are service contracts for boilers worth having asks Lawrenson of Letting Focus?

Are service contracts for boilers worth having?
Probably not -if you know a good gas man just use them when you need them
But if you must take out a contract, here are the key things to check….
First, check if there is a cap on call outs. Some cheaper policies limit the number of times you can use them in a year.
Second, check whether your boiler is covered. Some policies won’t cover boilers over a certain age and few cover anything which is over 15 years old. Other polices won’t cover certain models
Third, find out how much parts and labour is actually covered. Whilst it’s OK to have free labour for an hour, most plumbing and boiler jobs take over an hour to do, so it’s better to opt for a policy that has an unlimited amount of labour included as standard.
Fourth, once repairs are done, are they guaranteed and if so, for how long.
Fifth, what’s the call out window? Will you (or your tenants) have to wait in all day or is the booking slot narrower? Powergen says it offers a two hour time slot but most providers only operate on AM or PM and AM often means 8AM-2PM!
Sixth, how quickly can they come out? CoverHeat say they can get someone to your property in 24 hours or 2 hours in a real emergency. However, what happens if that service promise is broken?
Seventh, is there an excess – i.e. do you have to pay the first X pounds of any call out?
Then, finally what’s the cost?

British Gas
British Gas charges £290 a year for HomeCare 200 but Valliant Boiler’s own cover is £168 and has no annual limits on call outs.
But are any of these products worth it or a waste of money?
Well, they do give some reassurance but there are lots of exclusions on what’s covered, so read the policy carefully.
Also, there have been many instances when the service provider was found out during cold periods when claims have been high.
For example, in 2005, the Guardian newspaper received numerous complaints from readers about British Gas’s service. There were cases of missed appointments including also examples of engineers sneaking up to houses and putting notes through letter boxes saying they had called then they hadn’t.
British Gas says its problems are behind it but it did not fare too well in USwitch’s recent customer satisfaction index.

Rogue Gas Engineers
Another criticism that’s been made is that given the low cost of these services, providers are over-keen to bump up profits. There have been stories of rogue engineers working for one of these providers who will say a boiler cannot be repaired because the part is no longer available. This allows him to then sell in and install a new boiler and make a good profit. However, some customers who have sought a second opinion from their local trader have found that the part is readily available after all.
If you need more advice on service contracts for boilers or buy to let and property investment in general please ask me. I’m David Lawrenson from landlord experts firm http://www.lettingfocus.com/

ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
We are LettingFocus.com - the property experts and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property book for the last 3 years.
What’s unique about LettingFocus is that I offer independent unbiased
property investment advice covering property investment and letting because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business I am not linked to a property company, developer, agent or bridging loan financier.
I can tell you where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy, how to buy property at a low price, how to make sure you get tenants who are going to pay the rent and how to manage a rental property to make money.
I can also comment on “No Money Down” Schemes and “Buying Below Market Value” methods too.
I can answer most questions on letting property because I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.

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Sub Prime Crisis: Shop Around for the Best Mortgage Rate But Be Prepared to Pay More If You Need To Re-Mortgage says Letting Focus

For quite a while now we have known that all was not quite right across the pond in the US mortgage market.
Over zealous brokers and lenders have been recklessly advancing heavily discounted mortgages to people on low incomes and no assets.
These loans are known in the market as “sub-prime”.
Once the loans came to the end of their discounted period, many of the borrowers - who it is fair to say, were not among the most financially astute – couldn’t meet their new higher repayments and the lenders who advanced the loans look very shaky.
And it now appears that much of this lousy debt business has been repackaged and sold on as what’s called securitised debt and bought by lots of other financial institutions – cue big falls in the share prices of the banks on this side of the water and around the globe.
Unfortunately, even mainstream interest rates could be set to go up as the credit squeeze really starts to hit. This is because, as a result of the credit crunch, the banks have increased the cost of lending among themselves to the highest rate for nearly nine years. (You can see this from the 3 month LIBOR rate (The London Inter Bank Offer Rate - which is the rate at which banks lend among themselves.))
This now stands at 6.74%, almost 1% above the Bank of England Base rate.

Mortgage Lenders
Mortgage lenders with no branches and hence access to retail savings will likely be the most affected in the short term and the most likely to hike rates – indeed some alreay have.
Lenders who use funds from their own balance sheets rather than securitise their loans and sell them into the wholesale market will offer the better deals.
The message is - shop around for the best mortgage rate - and if you have ever missed a loan or card repayment before expect to pay more for your mortgage too because lenders will be tightening up their criteria now.

ABOUT US
We are LettingFocus.com and I’m David Lawrenson, the author of “Successful Property Letting” - the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.
I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years.
At LettingFocus we offer independent unbiased information for buy to let investors and landlords as well as one to one advice covering all aspects of being a landlord and investing in property.
In a market place full of poor advice, unlike many in the still largely unregulated buy to let and property “advice” business I am not linked to a property company, developer, estate agency or bridging loan provider.
As such I am able to give unbiased independent advice on where to buy (which areas), what type of property to buy, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. I can also explain how to reduce the risk of getting a bad tenant.

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For our NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors click here: Landlords Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT OFFERS for landlords too, Click here: Services and Products for Landlords to see our Landlords Resources (Useful Links) page. (Selling services to landlords and property investors and have a national coverage? You could be a partner, please get in touch!)
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting
ONE TO ONE CONSULTING click here: Property Consulting
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS from past customers click here: Testimonials
BUY THE BOOK click here: Buy the Book at Amazon
THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
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Join a Landlords Association says David Lawrenson of LettingFocus.com

If you aren't in one you are missing out on lots of information, good advice helplines, discounts on products and services and much more.
Amazingly only about 10% of landlords are thought to be members.
The cost is typically about £80 per annum and it's well worth the money.
The best three are National Landlords Assocn at http://www.landlords.org.uk/, the Residential Landlords at http://www.rla.org.uk/ and National Federation of Residential Landlords at http://www.nfrl.co.uk/
All are excellent. Join one today.

CHECK OUT OUR SITE LETTINGFOCUS.COM:

THE HOME PAGE OF THIS BLOG click here: Blog
THE HOME PAGE OF OUR MAIN SITE click here: LettingFocus Home Page
ONE TO ONE PRIVATE CONSULTING click here: Property Mentoring
NEXT SEMINAR AND NETWORKING EVENT for Landlords and Property Investors:
Next Property Investing Seminar and Networking Event
We have GREAT 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
For general info on our SEMINARS AND CONSULTING click here: Property Seminars, Networking Evenings and Consulting

TO READ PAST CLIENT TESTIMONIALS – both commercial and private click here: Testimonials
BUY “SUCCESSFUL PROPERTY LETTING” click here: Buy the Book at Amazon

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 OUR WEBSITE?

ABOUT US

LettingFocus.com are experts on landlord issues.
Hello, I’m David Lawrenson. I have been a landlord and property investor myself for over 25 years and am author of “Successful Property Letting” – which has been the UK’s top selling property and buy to let book for the last 3 years.

We help landlords and property investors make money in property by coaching them in ways that work, which are ethical and which involve minimal risk.

At LettingFocus we pride ourselves on giving independent unbiased buy to let advice for property buyers and landlords both on a one to one mentoring and coaching basis as well as through occasional group seminars.

Property syndicates and property advice in the UK is still largely unregulated and what counts as “advice” is too often more about making the promoter money than giving useful information to the investor.

With no link to property firms, developers or bridging loan providers, at LettingFocus, we can advise on where and what type of property to buy for investment, when to buy and how to buy property at a low price. We also show you how to manage tenants properly and in ways that take up as little of your time as possible.

We also do consultancy and write for companies such as banks, local authorities, property websites and social housing providers – helping them with their landlord or buy to let product strategies.

SELLING STUFF TO LANDLORDS – YOU COULD BE A PARTNER ON OUR AFFILIATE PROGRAMME. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!
Copyright of Blog: 2007 David Lawrenson