The main problems that tend to occur are block management disputes, deposit disputes and disputes over who is responsible for repairs etc.

At AA Property Services, Clifton, Bristol we try to advise landlords with impartial and helpful advice.

The most straight forward, invaluable advice that we will offer is simple and many would think obvious that is for all Landlords to not cut corners and do everything above board. Due to the age that we know live in there are many rules and regulations that have been put into place to protect both Landlord and Tenant.

For Landlords when they buy an investment property it is vital to make sure that you have a reliable management company in place. After this the next step is to make sure all the fixtures and fittings are in good condition.

You are now ready to rent out your property. For the sake of a couple of hundred pounds you cannot beat going through a letting agent. They (should!!) make it a stress free process for you. Your property will be seen by the widest audience possible and will be handled in a professional manner. If any tenants are interested in renting your property they will have to pay a holding deposit whilst they are fully referenced from employment, old landlord and down to there credit history you as a Landlord can rest assured that you have the best tenant possible in your new property.

On move in day they will be made to sign an in depth tenancy agreement along with an inventory of the property meaning all potential problems that you could come to face in letting out your property are virtually nullified by the tenants signing many legal documents.

By doing this if the worst case scenario was to occur and the tenants caused damage to a high magnitude the cost would now be fully their responsibility.

This is the main contributing factor where a letting agent can really help you. Therefore our best advice would be for the sake of a couple of hundred pounds us a professional letting agent for total peace of mind.

What is sell and rent back?

Although lots of people now use this option and its widespread use have helped this industry to grow in an amazing way but there are people who still no nothing about it. If you are also one of those persons, it is enough to know that it is an option where you sell your home to an investor and start living as a tenant in the same home. What it means it that you get the money you need without saying goodbye to your home sweet home.

Sell and rent back is a very good option to consider in all situations but there are few situations when it is hard to find an option better than this. For instance, in today’s housing crisis it is not uncommon to find yourself dealing with repossessions. In fact, when you will delve more into the details pertaining to housing crisis in America, you will find that almost all of the states are facing certain foreclosure and repossession problems. California is one of the states where you can find a lot of homes listed into the foreclosures.

Now, in this very situation it is essential for you to make sure that you don’t lose your home and that’s when you can consider the option of selling and renting back your home. This is the ideal situation to use the idea of sell and rent back as it can help you to be back on the road of your fiscal freedom.

It is also crucial to mention that foreclosures are one of the reasons behind the housing crisis in America. Actually, when people don’t become able to cope with their mortgage payments, there remains no other choice for them but to face the problem of foreclosure. After the foreclosure, people have to leave their home but that’s the primary reason of devaluation of homes in that entire area. It often contributes towards strengthening the housing crisis.

Actually, people don’t like to buy homes in areas with lots of foreclosed properties and value of home goes down in the entire area. But, in case of sell and buy back schemes you don’t have to leave your home and the value of homes in the entire area stays at the right level.

The bottom line is that the option of sell and rent back your home is good not only for you but for economy as a whole. So, don’t forget to consider this vehicle to stay away from repossessions and foreclosures.

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If that sounds appealing to you, then consider the fact that in addition to the tremendous yearly saving that even one or two hundred dollars per month in reduced housing costs may achieve, you are also investing what you do pay for housing into your finances, your future, and quite possibly the future of your children, rather than into your landlords pocket. Using government home grants to finance the down payment of your home saves you tens of thousands of dollars from the very start, and then continues to pay off month after month in cash savings, property value, and home equity.

Sound amazing? It is, yet this is absolutely and positively achievable by most American citizens who are willing to spend a few hours online performing a free grant search to locate the local government agencies in there are that award first time home buyer grants, grants for real estate, and government home grants. Thousands of American taxpayers qualify for this free unclaimed money, acquire enough home grants to completely finance the down payment of a home that is currently selling for far below the actual value, and come out ahead with a mortgage payment that is lower than their monthly rent. Not to mention the fact that this property is now theirs.

If you are tired of throwing your hard earned money away to live under someone else’s roof and have nothing to show for it, check into government grants for real estate today while the housing prices are low. You may just be building your picket fence tomorrow.

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Sofia Owners: Should you sell property in Sofia or rent it out?

Although the media love to bash Bulgaria and rile up negativity in its property market, the truth is that if you have bought anywhere within the city limits of Sofia you can absolutely resell or rent; there is a market, there are transactions and you do have options open to you. This brief article considers the pros and cons of either option whilst pointing out market movements that will either help or hinder an owner’s decision.

Key market movements for vendors – how lending has changed the appeal of your property.

We are now seeing pockets of recovery in Sofia property prices driven by domestic demand due to the recent release of handful of mortgages available only to Bulgarian nationals. These products are offered by both Bulgarian and foreign banks creating a significant trend largely considered to be the beginning of the recovery for the domestic credit market. How long it takes to get back to lending to foreigners is nigh on impossible to say. There is no doubt that the first time buyer market is quickly gaining pace again since the re-release of 90% loan to value mortgages and the return of commonly achievable applicant criteria. The market was at a stage of being exclusively dominated by cash buyers, who unsurprisingly would only buy with what they had available to them and in the bank, which resulted in only low offers being made by buyers, those vendors hard pushed to sell would have no choice but to accept them. We feel that demand fuelled by new mortgages, which were unavailable 6 months ago, would now result in sales prices of 5% higher in many cases.

We previously reported that the same banks who shelved mortgages simultaneously sucked up all available cash in the marketplace by offering sky high interest rates to savers, a form of quick and short sighted security. However, the better news for the property market and owners considering resale is these ‘high street savers rates’ have been progressively lowered over recent months from 11% to a current 6%, thus the ‘quick and easy secure cash deposit with high returns’ option is no longer as attractive to those with disposable funds. Without such quick returns being so easily available, the incentive to invest into the age old expected growth of ‘bricks and mortar’ is creeping back into the philosophy of those with cash as well as the regular earning and buying public.

Price guide for resale:

So far it sounds promising, however the nominal reality of actual prices might not paint such a pleasant picture by comparison to the slight upturn from a very extreme dip that we have just started to climb out of.

Naturally every area has its price, however a general rule of thumb is that your resale value will be 20-30% down from its peak 2007 price and you will struggle to resell at all if aiming for more than 800 Euros / sqm in the vast majority of locations (of course there are exceptions). The common demand that exists and results in actual sales and transactions not just offers and enquiries, is for around 650-750 Euros / sqm in the secondary zone residential areas such as Mladost, Lyulin, Ouvcha Kupel etc. At this level a mortgage can be acquired and a sale can be concluded. The banks want to lend only 20,000-45,000 Euros to an average employed couple, which will most likely buy that couple a good size 1-2 Bedroom apartment depending on their proportional injection of capital.

If you have paid 1600 / sqm in a more central location and were lining yourself up for a 20-30% hit only and sell for 1150 / sqm, unfortunately this upper end of the market doesn’t exist at this time and sales in this bracket seldom happen. The banks are not supporting this superfluous end of the market and as such you will find very few active buyers with cash ready to spend at these levels.

What is actually selling?

Our analysis shows that the current demand is largely focussed towards finished or BDS standard (unfinished internally) 1 bedroom apartment between 41,000-58,000 Euros. This is by far the most common request, usually from couples financially supported by their bank or their families. Any standard, regular or average new build 1 bedroom apartment in a non-central location that is advertised above 65,000 Euros simply fails to get attention, no matter of the size or aspect. The current reality is that the nominal cost of the property is more significant than the quality or the location. The bulk of demand operates under a glass ceiling of 55,000-60,000 Euros, for which there continue to be sufficient offers in the marketplace to feed the active buyers, who will continue to create and complete transactions as long as the banks keep lending at the current levels. Should we see this supply reduce or banks start to lend more freely, then the combined impact will force serious buyers into borrowing and paying more for the same properties, thus retail prices will increase. Whilst we can’t speculate on bank lending, we can see that there is no shortage of vendors feeding the Sofia resale market; as long as the supply of owners accepting of their losses continues the current state of the market will too.

Is it best to rent and wait for further recovery?

Whilst the currently achievable resale values might well be below what you originally paid, there is at least the very realistic option to rent and either profit or at least substantially reduce your ongoing monthly costs. Particularly in Sofia, it is commonly accepted that rental is now the only sustainable option whilst awaiting a breakeven point or a profitable resale buyer. It is commonly accepted that prices will again start to climb, our expectations are not by more than 3% per year for the next 5 years as an average, naturally we will be delighted if it is above and beyond this.

Key trends for all Sofia Landlords

New trends in tenants moving out of older 1960′s blocks and into new foreign owned properties has given rise to a small boom in the lettings market. Whilst thousands of newly completed units have flooded the market and pushed rates down through over supply, simultaneously many owners lumbered with properties that they ideally would want to resell quickly become ‘distressed landlords’ will to let for low rates to get someone in to cover their bills. Combined with the overall impacts of recession (reduced salaries, higher unemployment etc), these factors have caused rental rates to fall, which in turn has enabled and encouraged higher number of tenants to consider new build properties which are now affordable and were previously unachievable to them.

In effect, we have seen a wave of properties hit the rental market for a variety of reasons, rates have come down partly due to oversupply, landlord desperation and recession factors, which in turn have allowed tens of thousands of tenants to afford new builds for the first time. Unfortunately, the wave of properties is still much larger than the wave of tenants, hence the still disappointing rental rates.

Advantages of renting

The primary reason owners quickly decide not to rent is because of the necessary investment in furniture. However, as a company we offer to furnish Sofia apartments for free, then recoup costs from the rental income once tenants are placed. As a rule, we cover any cost associated to the apartment including heating systems, kitchens, furniture, minor repairs, lighting etc. It is our belief that you have paid for the apartment now the apartment should pay for itself. This mitigates the need for upfront cash and as a strategy has been responsible for bringing 82 new apartments to the market (at the time of writing), which would have certainly stayed empty otherwise.

The fundamental advantage of opting to rent is that it will generate a positive cashflow, which will at least contribute towards the ongoing running costs of the property / investment / mortgage etc. Whilst it is virtually unheard of for rental income in Sofia to generate profits that equate to acceptable annual Return on Investment rates (RoI), it is always far better than the alternative of no income at all. The net income will result in an RoI of perhaps 2-4% once rented (generally higher on smaller cheaper studios which are in demand and more affordable to the masses), whereas leaving it empty will certainly cost the owner in: annual property tax, annual maintenance fees, amenities bills, insurance often etc equating to an RoI of minus 2-3%. As such, the actual ‘cash in your bank’ difference between renting or not, for a regular 1 bedroom apartment, can be as much as 3,000-4,000 Euros / annum.

Conclusion:

The bottom line is that the market will not recover very quickly or very soon and as such an owners choice is to resell at the current values and take a hit on the price, or rent out the property and either accept a small profit each month or at least a notable reduction to their own contribution the mortgage / running costs every month. The alternative is to leave the apartment empty, which is understandable if you do not want to furnish, but makes no financial sense if you are waiting for better times to resell at a higher price and you are offered free furniture to enable you to achieve rental income. Our advice is to sell or hold out for 5years and rent it for that time to mitigate your loss.

Property consultancies act on behalf of any person or persons in the buying or leasing chain. That can mean a landlord, an occupier or an intermediary. Where landlords are concerned, a property consultancy is able to intercede to ensure that the landlord’s property is protected and fairly rented – and to resolve disputes with tenants lawfully. Where occupiers are concerned, the same kinds of services are offered but from the other end of the spectrum – so an occupier of property to rent London, or a company involved in an office rent London property, are able to call on expert, top level advice and even legal help in certain situations. Rent review is a common one: the property consultant, with its long term relationships with providers and owners of properties of all types, is able to ensure that a business tenant is paying a fair rent for the building it occupies.

Again, similar services are extended to property intermediaries – who can also end up out of pocket or poorly treated in certain disputes or property problems. Wherever the services of the consultant are engaged, it will work hard to ensure that its clients best interests are served: up to and including advising that client to accept its losses and end the dispute or problem before damages get any worse. The primary function of a property consultant is to get the best property to rent London or office rent London deal for its client. If the best deal in a given situation is actually to capitulate and walk away, the consultant will have no qualms advising just that. To a consultant with a huge amount of prior knowledge and experience, it can sometimes be obvious that finishing before any more losses are incurred is actually the best way. That’s invaluable advice to a company, landlord or intermediary who may otherwise fight on in a surely losing battle and end up ruined.

Industrial and commercial property is subject to a multitude of pitfalls and inherent dangers – so many, in fact, that the average lessee, landlord or intermediary simply doesn’t have the knowledge or experience to deal with them all. Using a consultancy in any property to rent London or office rent London problem is the only sure way of achieving the most satisfactory financial and legal result possible. The alternatives all involve going in blind and fighting battles that may be impossible to win. The only sure way of getting the best deal here is to use the top level pros – the consultants.

Many regions are covered in Costa del Sol property other than Marbella like Guadalmina, Estepona, Puerto Banus, Benahavis, San Roque, Calahonda, Sotogrande etc. Among all these Marbella property is the best of its kind. You will get many other facilities whilst renting a villa. The villa which you rent would be fully furnished and well equipped. You can even get the laundry facilities, servants, drivers, guides etc. You can manage all these according to your needs. Family holidays and couple holidays are the best time to cherish and enjoy, these times come rarely thus you should take full advantage when you are on your holidays.

The villas in Marbella property and Costa del Sol property are made very near to the golf courses and to the famous spots. You can rent any of those villas which are near to all the locations. Try to choose the Villa which is near to the airports thus it will be easy for you to board and leave the place. You can enjoy all your favourite watersports activity at these places and can have fun. You should once visit this wonderful beauty of Costa del Sol on this earth, it’s worth admiring and appreciating.