On the one side this is great news for homeowners as it means that they won’t have to pay at least £500 to create them, but on the other, this pack actually contained some really valuable information for property investors…

Sure Energy Performance Certificates will still be available – despite their terms of issuing being relaxed – but other important documentation will be lost.

Take these for instance:

• Sale statement – contains all your basic property info such as whether your potential property investment is a freehold, leasehold or commonhold and why it is being sold
• Evidence of Title – these are documents from the Land Registry pertaining to who actually owns the property
• Standard property search – planning decisions and road proposals, your properties drainage capabilities and water services etc

Admittedly, many of the optional HIP documents are also incredibly useful when homeowners decide to use them i.e. Home conditions report, legal summary, environmental hazards searches (flooding) etc, but just looking at these 3 alone, it is easy to see that they are not a complete waste of time.

After all, whilst a homeowner may not want to pay for these searches/surveys on their own properties; this doesn’t mean that when they come to buy they wouldn’t mind knowing if the property has got structural problems or is located on a flood plain. The only difference now is, they will have to pay for these searches themselves on every property they are interested in buying – meaning they could end up paying out thousands of pounds before they even buy!

Part of me is still hoping that a compromise will be found by the time the Emergency Budget arrives on the 22^nd June; however I highly doubt it… For instance, if Scottish Home Reports are still considered valuable, why hasn’t the Housing Minister made a move to adapt their system for property investment? Exactly! They have no intention to…

Wendy xx

According to research by mortgage advisors John Charcol, more than 28% of the UK property market does not know the size or cost of their mortgage rates, whilst a further 50% doesn’t know when their existing mortgage deal is going to end.

And I have to confess that this figure worried me. How can you genuinely not know this information about your mortgage? It is the biggest debt you will ever have. No other will compare… Yet it would appear that many homeowners become clueless to this information once the deal is signed.

What is more alarming for me though is the number of property investors who are probably caught up in these statistics and who are losing out on the best mortgage deals in the industry because they don’t know any better.

The size of your repayments plays a fundamental part in influencing your positive cash flow. The smaller your interest rate, the smaller your monthly repayments will be. And the smaller your monthly repayments are, the bigger your positive cash flow will be after your payments have been deducted.

And it is not like this property information is not available. I regularly receive updates from my lender, roughly once a year, detailing how much I have paid off and what my mortgage deal will default to when my existing deal ends.

But it would seem that many homeowners and even property investors too are dismissing this information…

Now if you are reading this and cannot honestly answer the following, then I thoroughly recommend that you get your property documentation out and refresh yourself. You never know… you might be at a stage in your mortgage where you can switch to a better deal:

• What is the size/cost of your mortgage rate?
• How much do you pay in repayments every month?
• When does your existing mortgage deal end?
• What will your default mortgage rate be?
• What is the term of your mortgage?

Wendy xx

I thoroughly agree that there are landlords out there who abuse their powers over tenants and fail to fulfil their responsibilities. But the latest developments from the government feel more like an opportunity for tenants to ‘landlord bash’ than actually offer tenants better letting relationships…

Take this recent development.

Aside from giving tenants a Housing Hotline where they can seek advice against problematic landlords and the introduction of the National Landlord Register where tenants will be able to see how well prospective landlords maintain their properties. The government has also proposed launching a tenant dedicated website where tenants will be able to supply reviews on landlords and their property lettings – both positive and negative.

And it is here where everything becomes complicated…

Of course there will be genuine negative reviews from tenants against unscrupulous landlords who are at fault, but there will also be an influx of negative reviews from tenants who simply disagree with their landlords about issues which are actually law abiding.

All you need is to have one disagreement with your tenants and this website opens the doors to having your reputation tarnished for good! In some ways such a website could even make some landlords too scared to act on their legal rights in case their tenant tarnishes their name to the world.

It truly is a catch-22 where without the proper regulation this website could easily become a landlord bashing location which only works to drive bad landlords under ground whilst penalising law-abiding landlords instead…

May be it is just me and maybe I am viewing this all wrong, but I do strongly feel that this site could do more harm than good to the rental market where new tenants come to find a good landlord only to be painted a negative picture.

Wendy xx

Take this news story I read about this morning…

Over 6,400 property investors who own second homes in Cyprus may now be at risk of losing their land following the case of Linda and David Oram who have been ordered to give back their land to a Greek Cypriot refugee – all without any hope of compensation!

According to the article, this 5 year long case was initially sparked back in 2004 after Greek Cypriot refugee Apostolides went to the Nicosia Courts and put in a claim against the Oram’s land stating it was his and that he had fled it after Turkish troops invaded in 1974.

Now having been through the Nicosia Court, the European Court of Justice and just recently the Court of Appeals in London, all 3 Courts have ruled in favour of Apostolides stating that the land is rightfully his. As a result they have ordered the couple to demolish their second home; return the land; pay Apostolides damages and worst of all, pay him a monthly rent until the land is properly returned.

It is ridiculous to think about the number of cases which are now going to spring up as a result of this case. Especially as in all cases it is neither the property investors nor the Greek Cypriots fault, but those who took the land and sold it without checking its history in the first place.

According to UK and Greek Cypriot officials, more than 1,400 Britons are living on land which is believed to belong to Greek Cypriot refugees, whilst a further 5,000 are living on self-declared Turkish Cypriot land whose title deeds are held by displaced Greek Cypriots.

Add them together and that is a lot of property investors who could potentially lose thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pounds should they be taken to Court.

This case really goes to show, the importance of researching your property and consequently its land first before investing. No matter where it is located – UK or overseas – title deeds and land disputes can really mess up your investments if you are not aware of them when you invest. The outcome may not be as extreme as the Oram’s – who had to demolish their home – but you could still lose thousands of pounds unnecessarily.

Wendy xx

In the past, any homeowner looking to sell their property in Scotland would first have to advertise their property and give a minimum property price quote, before inviting buyers to put in ‘offers over’ bids.

Now what always used to fascinate me about this process was the fact that these quotes didn’t have to be accurate estimations. Using set guidelines, sellers could in fact set a minimum bid for their property which could cause buyers to place bids more than 25% above their original quote. Meaning not only could they benefit from guaranteed capital returns, but they could easily use this extra cash to invest in their property.

However, this has now all changed…

Following the introduction of the ‘Home Report’ last year – which are the equivalent of our HIPs – homeowners must now provide an accurate valuation price of their property, meaning they can no longer experience such sizeable returns.

In fact, Home Reports have impacted on their investment system so much that ‘offers over’ are rarely seen nowadays. Instead sellers are choosing to market their properties under an ‘offers around’ scheme which if they are lucky can generate them some capital, but nowhere close to what they were used to.

I have to admit, that this change to their property investment system has made Scotland a much more accessible location for property investment. Notoriously lower in price compared to properties in the Southern regions of the UK, all the myth – and overspending – behind this region has gone, making their system not that far from their own.

Even their ‘offers around’ is basically a similar version of our own general bidding system where the highest value is usually accepted by homeowners.

I can honestly say that I am thoroughly looking forward to getting stuck into the Scottish property market now it is less of a mystery.

After all, with average house prices of £155,691, and rental incomes of £907.63 a month (based on a 4 bedroom property), the returns far outweigh the investment cost.

Wendy xx

I was reading an article recently about a property investor who had to pay cleaning costs of up to £1,900 after their tenant left their carpets, walls and gardens in poor repair.

And the worst thing for her was, instead of having her tenants deposit to rely on to help cover the costs of these bills, her rental agent had already given the deposit back to the tenant – all without inspecting the property first – meaning she couldn’t prove they had damaged her rental property in the first place!

It is stories like these that make you really appreciate landlord resource websites which enable you to manage and control your own properties without the assistance of a third party i.e. a rental agent.

From structuring your assured short hold tenancy agreement to utilising an inventory form – which allows you to monitor the condition of your buy-to-let property and its contents during their entire tenancy – to arranging for a tenant guarantor to protect your rental income if your tenant can pay.

With the right forms, you can prevent such mishaps as the one mentioned above from ever occurring, and more importantly save yourself from ever having to foot the bill for your property manager’s mistakes.

Now this isn’t to say that all property management companies are bad. Over the years I have come across a lot of good quality providers who have done a decent job for my friends, but myself – I still prefer to manage my property portfolio myself.

Not only can I make sure – before they move in – that my tenants have got a good reputation, a strong credit rating and will treat my properties with respect. But I can more effectively enforce mine and my tenant’s rights when it comes to maintenance.

After all, the last thing you want is to be paying cleaning costs of over £1,900 on top of your other responsibilities.

If you are genuinely interested in getting a property manager, I recommend searching around and thoroughly researching them first. A general estate agent is simply not enough…

Wendy xx

Fortunately I have never had to go through this process myself, but I have had many close friends who through lack of tenants have lost their properties because they have not been able to afford their mortgages. Yet even they have never been subjected to the process where their property was repossessed without the interjection of the courts.

It is startling to think that lenders would go to such extremes to protect their finances when simple negotiations could easily help homeowners to begin making payments again. But according to an article I was recently reading this malpractice by lenders is more common than you imagine…

Currently is it within a lenders legal right to repossess and sell your property – without seeking either your agreement or the courts – should you fall into arrears of over 2 months.

Now you could arguably say ‘fair enough, you didn’t pay so you deserve to lose your property’, but under current rulings lenders are meant to seek all other routes possible before turning to repossession. MEANING repossession is only meant to be used as a last resort.

Yet, rogue lenders such as GMAX-RFC have supposedly repossessed borrower’s properties using this legal loophole time and time again.

In one legal case against them, a judge ruled in favour of GMAX-RFC after they sold the property of a borrower who had fallen into arrears – without telling them – before letting them get evicted by the new owner on the grounds of trespassing. Now I don’t know about you, but that is not only harsh, it is also extremely underhanded.

Thankfully, the government is now seeking to abolish this legal loophole to help protect homeowners. However what concerns me is how this loophole was ever allowed to happen in the first place?

Surely when creating the law, someone should have been able to spot the dangerous potential of this loophole when harnessed by the wrong lenders and write in clauses to prevent it happening. It scary to think how many poor homeowners may have lost their homes due to this loophole, when it could have easily been prevented by a court intervention.

Only time will tell whether or not more homeowners will come forward against these rogue lenders, but it definitely puts into perspective the need for greater awareness by homeowners of the laws which can work against them.

Wendy xx

You may remember the other week that I discussed Economists predictions which suggested that because of static property prices, the buy to let investment sector will grow in popularity.

However, I have also been hearing rumours which suggest that property prices are about to go into a double dip.

Now I don’t know about you, but these mixed reports are driving me crazy. For example should I keep investing in property under the pretext that property prices are not going to fall any further? Or should I believe these double dip rumours and wait for these property price falls to hit?

If you haven’t heard either of these stories I’ll quickly sum them up for you:

-          In the Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report they revealed that property prices are at risk of going into a double dip should banks choose to sell off £200bn worth of distressed properties. Not only will these sales reduce banks ability to give loans, but this sudden increase in properties for sale could disrupt the supply/demand balance.

What’s worse, should they do that, banks may be forced to sell off further properties, causing further price falls.

Now as a property investor, increased properties for sale (which are discounted) is great news as this means more opportunities to invest at a more affordable price. However the indecisiveness of these rumours is completely and utterly frustrating.

What is right? What is simple speculation? When is the right time to move and harness these property opportunities…?

The answer is: who knows? I for one have got no idea, but one thing I am certain of is that I will be paying closer attention to what is happening in the property market over the next couple of months.

Wendy xx

I was reading an article on HomeMove the other day, and essentially Rightmove have predicted that due to property prices becoming static over the last 2 months (dropping by 2.2%), properties put up for sale will almost halve in amount during 2010 compared to those put up for sale in 2007.

In fact, they believe because of the upcoming General Election – and the impact it will have on the economy and taxes – there will be less forbearance shown by lenders on those who have gone into arrears. Meaning there will be more forced sales and even more opportunities for property investors to invest.

Now you’re probably wondering how any of the information I have just revealed can help to make 2010 the year that professional landlords come into their own, but here are some other interesting facts that Rightmove let slip which might change your mind:

• These forced sales will be concentrated in lower income areas where demand from first time buyers has dissipated – due to their locations these properties will be priced at affordable, investable levels which will make their rental yields more attractive to property investors like you and me.
• Number of properties advertised for rent has fallen 15% in the last 6 months – now before you get worried, this drop in property advertisements has actually put existing landlords in an increasingly privileged position as new landlords have been frozen out. Why? Because they have not got the strategies or the contacts to access the limited number of buy-to-let mortgages.
• Properties bought by accidental landlords during 2009 have now been purchased – giving professional landlords a clear run with limited rental competition

It is true that 2009 was definitely the ‘Year of the Deal’ where if you had the right investments strategies you could easily invest and take advantage of 20%-30% discounts off property prices.

However, if we are to take seriously what Rightmove are suggesting then this drop in properties for sale combined with the reduction of property landlords means if you have got the know-how, the cash and the property portfolio, you can really wipe the floor in terms of profitability.

If you are interested, here is the article I found: http://www.homemove.co.uk/news/15-12-2009/year-of-the-professional-landlord-approaches.html

Not only are Google proposing to make their website free – thus helping estate agents to advertise their ‘properties for sale’ for no cost at all – but estate agents will also be able to list their properties in a layer on Google maps.

And with this little gismo on board, it will make it even easier for property investors like you and me to view these properties as we will be able to get a Street View of this property and all its listings.

How will this website impact investors?

Now I am not being callous when I say this, but I am quite excited about the prospect of having access to another property website.

Yes I kind of feel sorry for Rightmove, who currently advertises 90% of the properties which are for sale in the UK – within a day of this rumour being launched their FSTE fell by 10%. But what Google are offering is a property investment route which is free from the costs and complications of extortionate estate agent fees.

Instead you will be able to focus on picking from a huge database of properties that estate agents have willingly supplied because they don’t have to pay for advertising.

At the moment this is still all speculation, and Google are choosing to not comment on whether or not it is true, but considering the success of their Australian property portal and the fact that property experts believe it will be launched in 2010, it is hard not to get excited.

What have Rightmove got to say?

Rightmove supposedly are not concerned about this move by Google as they strongly believe Estate Agents are more interested in raising their brand awareness than getting more properties online. However I’m highly sceptical about this.

Think about it a moment… In the current economic climate, Estate Agents need all the help they can get to sell their properties and a free advertising portal is more than ideal when the majority of buyers/property investors are searching the web.

Either way, should Google go ahead with their plans there will be plenty of property sources to choose from. The question is though: who will win out?

Wendy xx