Over 22,000 subscribers

Click here for the full Newsletter

See previous issues at: Newsletter Archive

Welcome from the Editor:

Welcome to the November 2007 issue of the LandlordZONE Newsletter

It’s not all doom and gloom, though you might think so reading some parts of this Newsletter and the press this last week.
But to the contrarian investor it’s times like this that present real opportunities—as John D Rockefeller said—buy straw hats in winter. Markets always overreact and there will undoubtedly be some real bargains to be had when property is no longer a topic of popular conversation.

Established landlords know how to weather a storm like this because they know their markets, they know how to manage tenancies, they keep costs under tight control and they have kept their borrowing within sensible limits. Some will even be fortunate enough to strategically pick up bargains and grow their portfolios over the coming months and years.

If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself in difficulties there just two options: (1) pull all the stops out to meet those mortgage payments and see it though by marking personal sacrifices, or (2) cut your losses before you lose it all.

Just to cheer us all up the Landlord Show will be held 6th December at the NEC Birmingham with a record number of exhibitors and registered visitors.

I shall be giving a seminar on “Selecting Tenants & Managing Tenancies” [in good times and bad] so don’t miss it.

Tom Entwistle, Editor, LandlordZONE.co.uk

Dark Clouds Looming, but there are Opportunities as Well!

This edition of the LandlordZONE Newsletter looks at the services that Auction Houses can offer for those who are looking at disposing of properties and also those perhaps looking at adding to their portfolios.

Modern economies need credit like we all need oxygen—to sustain growth and property -whilst governments and central banks must juggle interest rates and money supply for control.

But when these things get out of hand these institutions are still, it seems, quite impotent, at least in the short term.

Writing in 2005 (Crunch Time for Credit) author Edward Chancellor says: “The credit bubble that has developed in the UK and US economies over recent years is unsustainable and has 'badly corrupted' the economies of the two countries, with potentially serious destabilising results… [the] Housing markets look particularly vulnerable”. Quite prescient at the time.

The Bank of England is now worried that slowing growth and rising inflation pose risks to the UK and the global economies (Inflation Report November 2007)

Despite the markets expecting 3 cuts in interest rates by this time next year, a general slowdown now looks inevitable.
It’s unlikely these cuts will reduce borrowing costs significantly, if at all, as further tightening of lending criteria will continue, following the so called Credit Crunch...

Read the FULL Newsletter to find out more...

Cover4LetProperty.co.uk specialises in insurance for residential and commercial landlords. By inputting simple details of your property or portfolio just once onto the Cover4LetProperty online quote form, you can access up to five quotes instantly.

An initiative by Award Winning Landlord Mortgages. The service is very flexible and provides effective property management at a fraction of the cost of traditional Letting Agents.  

Landlord Manager V2
Visionbase software Limited have been producing property management software since 1995 and are therefore one of the older established software products producers aimed specifically at landlords.
The latest version of Landlord Manager, which has just been announced, uses a simple user interface to allow you to record property income and expenditure for any number of properties. With numerous drill down facilities, reports and graphs you can easily track the progress of your rented property. Other features include a Rent Centre that will track your tenants and their outstanding rents, Tax Returns, VAT and a Sage compatible file to give to your accountant - www.landlord-manager.co.uk

Save £££’s. Buy at discount property auction - DiscountPropertyAuction.co.uk can save you thousands on your next investment property,  No new builds. Buy direct from the homeowner, Buy vacant properties & sell and rent back, Online auction site. Outbid fellow members, Numerous properties. Independent valuations. Click here to visit www.discountpropertyauction.co.uk now. Join now and pay no joining fee and get your first month free!

Business Accountz is for Sole Proprietors, Partnerships and Limited Companies and is ideal for service based businesses such as Landlords and Property Investors. Unique one-click VAT Return. No confusing jargon. Fast and dead easy to use. Mac OSX 10.4+, Windows Vista/XP, Linux. Pro version available Summer 2007 adds Stock Control and Multi-company. 

Property Investment – the easy way !  We offer the following services: *Discounts of 15% - 20% with typical savings of £25,000 on each purchase. *New build properties from major developers. *Low deposit down deals. *Specialist Mortgage Brokers & Solicitors. *Our ‘Ready to Let Service’ – furnishing packages. *Appointing the letting agents. *Continuing support with your property after purchase. Crimson deal with all of the day-to-day issues involved in purchasing your property, so you truly are an armchair investor. www.crimsoninvestments.co.uk

Landlords - Advertise your properties quickly and easily, for just £5 per property per month. (Discounts are available for bulk uploads and long advertising periods).
• Include images, maps, features, pricing, contact details, and more
• We display performance reports and track the enquiries made by students about your properties
• 1000s of emails are sent by our student visitors to landlords on our site everyday.
• Over 5000 student landlords already registered and using our site. 

Manage your tenancies effectively, keep up to date with new legislation and protect your investment. But where do you find all the information to help you gain maximum benefit from being a landlord? The Landlord Show gives you access to all the advice and support you will ever need.
Or call the bookings hotline on 0800 321 3028  www.landlordshow.info

A rent deposit guarantee scheme that was launched in April 2003 and has ensured that over seven hundred households have entered into Private Sector tenancies.
Our aim is to assist families who are deemed capable of maintaining a Private Sector Tenancy by providing an rent deposit guarantee and in-borough housing benefit ‘fast-tracking’.
We have been working hard in partnership with private landlords and lettings agents but due to the increased popularity of the scheme we have a growing number of applicants which are currently outnumbering our portfolio of available properties.

Advertise your property to let Landlords' properties are showcased to millions *(as below) of tenants through DLSD's specialist Letting Agent program advertising landlords property on Rightmove, Findaproperty, Propertyfinder, Primelocation, Fish4, Hotproperty, Letalife, Rentquick, Letmatch and over 220 local websites throughout the UK. 

Property Tax Portal was founded in September 2003 by Amer Siddiq who is the managing director. Amer, a former IT professional and property investor himself, is supported by a team of highly qualified tax professionals. They produce the respected Landlords Property Tax Manager Software and now run regular Tax Seminars for Landlords and Property Investors. The website is packed full of useful information and products to help minimise your tax payments.  

An independent property mortgage and property finance web portal. The site contains all the help and investment finance information you should ever need to guide you through the process of successful property investment and securing competitive property finance. 

Successful Landlords know that Tenant Screening is "the" most important task when letting property. Tenant Verifying - doing credit searches and tenant referencing is the core of the tenant screening process.  Nice Car, Nice Suit, Nice Chat... No Rent!  Don't take chances - have those tenants checked out professionally!