Come late September and early October, everyone will want their boilers serviced, or tenants will be trying to turn them on and discovering that no heat is coming through. The autumn is a busy time for gas services and the services of boiler engineers are often in demand. Your tenants will be quick to complain if the boiler isn’t working when they want to heat the house, so why not get in early and do the necessary checks now or at least get an early boiler service booked in before the rush?

It’s also a good opportunity to get the pipe work checked and ensure that the radiators in your properties are all working well. Blocked air in the pipes can cause problems once the heating is back on – radiators may stay cold, be only partially warm or there may be all sorts of odd rumblings and noises in the pipes. They’re all issues that tenants typically come running back to you for help with sorting out, but you could avoid this by taking care of maintenance now.

If you are booking a boiler service, don’t forget to agree a suitable time with your tenants first. A service doesn’t normally take too long, but they will want to be prepared and know in advance when it will be. If you have a gas boiler and gas fire, then it’s also a good chance to get a gas fire serviced too. The property will then be fully functional and ready to handle all heating needs when the weather turns cooler.

* Do your research

Before you commit to using the first company you find that offers packaged property deals, do your research. Search the Internet, check websites, ask for recommendations amongst other property investors and read the small print.

* Do the maths

One of the key benefits of buying a packaged property deal is that you’ll save money. Before you commit to a deal, do the maths and check the figures really do add up. If there doesn’t seem to be much of a saving, or discount, then you may want to look elsewhere.

* Speak to the company

Your instinct and gut feelings are often really useful for determining whether a company is legitimate or not and offering deals that really are good, but you can back this up by phoning up and speaking to them. If a company doesn’t have a number for you to call, tries to fob you off, or doesn’t seem happy to answer your queries, then alarm bells may ring.

* Be wary of paying the full fee upfront

Check what fees the company are asking for and be wary if they expect you to pay the whole fee upfront. It’s very acceptable to pay a sourcing fee, which may include legal and purchase costs, but paying a large, full fee upfront is risky.  To this end, HBF Investments now offer a reduced £3K upfron fee versus the usual £5995 fee  -please call for further details

* See the property before you buy

Whilst it’s possible to buy packaged properties without ever seeing them first, when it’s your first time buying this way, or first time using a company, it can help put your mind at rest to see the property before you part with your hard earned cash.

If there’s no option to do this, and the company are reluctant to let you view the property, then you may want to think again.

* Be clear about the terms and conditions

A good company will clearly present their terms and conditions, so make sure you read them and take them in. To be fully keyed up, it helps to know exactly what your obligations are and what will happen if for any reason the deal doesn’t go through.

Some visitors attending the 2012 Olympic Games in London, especially those travelling from abroad, are already beginning to suss out available rented accommodation in London. In response to demand, landlords with properties in the areas around the main Games venues in south east London are marketing their properties and pricing them for the event.

Landlords are even reporting being offered prices 250 to 300 per cent more than their usual fees to let their properties during the Olympic Games and the rental prices make interesting reading.

A one bedroom flat in Greenwich, which would normally be about £1,229 a month is available to rent during the Games for £1,692 per week.

A three bedroom property in Stratford, east London, close to the Olympic site, which usually rents for £1,800 a week during the holiday season, is being let for £3,500 a week during the Games.

In Blackheath, a minute from the entrance to Greenwich Park, which is hosting the equestrian events, the owners of a five bedroom house are trying their luck with acquiring £10,850 per week rent during the Olympic Games.

Luxury properties with additional features, such as a swimming pool or gym, can command much higher prices.

If you’ve got a property in the London area and want to cash in on the Olympic effect, then now is definitely the time to give it some serious thought!

The survey by RICS, which uses data obtained until the end of January 2011, found that tenant demand has been steadily accelerating since late 2009. Although there has been a fall in the supply of properties to let, there has been very strong demand from tenants, which has resulted in rental fees and rental yields increasing nationally.

The strongest increases are reported in London and the South East, as expected, but they’ve also gone up in the North and North West too, which will be good news for landlords and property investors in those areas.

Interestingly, tenant demand over the surveyed period continued to increase at a greater rate for houses than flats, adding further emphasis to the idea that investing in houses at the moment is a good move.

In terms of the type of tenants taking up lettings, RICS found that new lettings to private individuals rose to 72% and lettings to companies rose to 7%. The number of lettings to students dropped to 5% and the share of social tenants remained about the same at 10%.

Many property investors who are buying property for investment purposes intend to rent it out, either on a short or long-term basis as renting a property can provide a good return on an investment. For anyone who’s going to have tenants living in their property, it’s essential that you produce an inventory first, before anyone moves in.

An inventory is a detailed list of everything that you supply within the property and needs to be completed by all landlords, whether you’re letting the property on a furnished, part-furnished or unfurnished basis.

The inventory is useful for tenants, as they know what is and isn’t included in the property, but it’s also very important for you, the landlord, as it helps you keep track of items that are missing, damaged or have changed when tenants are leaving. The inventory can be used as evidence for tenant deposit claim issues and a copy should be signed and kept by you, your tenants and a letting agent from the start of a letting period.

As well as details of particular items in the property, it’s also useful to use the inventory to make a note of serial numbers, models and manufacturers of electrical and household goods, plus details of any existing scrapes or damage to items.

For more details on the importance of inventories, read our previous post, on how to create an inventory for your rental property.

Check out the other posts in our A to Z of property investment:   

A is for Appreciation – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/03/18/a-to-z-of-property-investing-a-is-for-appreciation/
B is for Buy-to-Let – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/03/26/a-to-z-of-property-investing-b-is-for-buy-to-let/
C is for Contracts – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/04/16/a-to-z-of-property-investing-c-is-for-contracts/
D is for Deals – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/05/13/a-to-z-of-property-investing-d-is-for-deals/
E is for Experience – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/05/31/a-to-z-of-property-investing-e-is-for-experience/
F is for Freehold – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/06/28/a-to-z-of-property-investing-f-is-for-freehold/
G is for Goals – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/07/a-to-z-of-property-investing-g-is-for-goals/
H is for Home Improvement – http://www.investment-properties-for-sale.co.uk/2010/10/a-to-z-of-property-investing-h-is-for-home-improvement/

The average speed of broadband in Britain is 6.86Mbps (megabits per second), but despite this, speeds can vary considerably depending on location. The slowest speed in Britain, for example, is in the village of Farningham in Kent, which only gets an average of 1.30Mbps. Although it might not mean much to you, when you consider that it would take someone 12 hours to download a film in Farningham, compared to an hour or so in high speed areas, the frustration does become apparent.

A survey by ISP Review found that nearly 75% of people would be put off a property if it didn’t have access to high speed broadband and over half would be prepared to pay more if it had fast broadband.

With more people working from home and the Internet being such a huge part of our everyday lives, property experts are beginning to recognise that broadband speed does matter.

A well known property website is teaming up with BT to list broadband speeds alongside all the other standard property information they provide on their listings, so perhaps considering the broadband speed your properties offer may be a useful new addition?

For once there was some encouraging news for first-time buyers, who are to be helped on the property ladder by a shared equity scheme and £250m fund. First-time buyers in households earning less than £60,000 will be offered interest-free loans to help them get a foot on the ladder and buy a new-build property.

Since 2008, it’s been increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get that break into buying property, so this could eventually help take some of the strain off demand for rental housing.

Although benefits from this may seem unlikely for landlords, the void is not going to be filled immediately, it will only apply to new builds and there should still be a strong demand for rental property. Industry insiders believe that if this move helps aid the recovery of the market, it could have a positive knock-on effect for other areas of the property world.

George Osborne’s budget made the announcement that the government will begin to look at introducing easier ways for property owners to convert commercial buildings into residential properties. The idea behind it is that it will help increase the number of new homes in the UK, helping to ease the shortage of sought-after housing. This could well be good news for property investors and landlords, as it opens up more potential for creating rental properties.

Not everyone is convinced that the government have thought it through though, and some people are concerned that the plans could be damaging in areas where local councils don’t think new homes are required. This is one issue to keep an eye on though, to how the plan develops further and the scheme that is eventually introduced.

There was also news on the much-debated stamp duty front, with the government revealing that it will reform the stamp duty land tax rules that apply to bulk purchases and crackdown on stamp duty land tax avoidance schemes. In the autumn, they also plan to announce their review of the stamp duty relief scheme for first time buyers.

1. Use the services of an expert company

If you’ve never bought a property at auction before and want to ensure you get the best deal, with no hidden costs, then it’s well worth using the services of an expert company, like HBF Investments. They’ll hold your hand throughout the process, doing all the hard work for you and ensuring you get the property you want, at the price you can afford.

2. Get finance arranged before the auction

One of the important aspects of buying property at auction, as opposed to through an estate agent or seller, is that you’ll need to get your finance properly sorted out in advance. If you don’t have the money available to pay for the property, then you could end up being fined.

3. Stick to your auction property budget

It’s beneficial to go to a property auction with a clear idea in your mind of exactly how much your budget is. If you want to have a bit of leeway, in case bidding is fierce, then set yourself a strict upper limit. When a bidding war erupts, it’s all too easy to get carried away with bidding, then regret the price you’ve paid later. If your ultimate aim is to make money on your property investment, then getting the right price is essential.

4. Do your research before the property auction

It’s essential to thoroughly do your research before you attend the property auction. That means checking out the properties you’re interested in by reading the particulars, visiting the building, checking the small print and legal issues so that you know exactly what is, and isn’t, on offer.

All too often people make the mistake of not researching a property, then bidding on what seems like a good lot, only to discover later that it’s not what they thought.

Land comes up for sale on a regular basis, both via land agents and estate agents, and at auctions. Prices vary depending on the type of land being offered, whereabouts its located in the UK, whether it’s in the town or country and the prospects it has for the future. If you choose carefully and buy wisely, land can certainly prove to be a good investment.

Like any property purchase, it’s advisable not to rush into a land purchase without doing your research first. If you’re thinking of using the land, either immediately or in the future, for a building project, then you’ll need to find out if there are any restrictions in place that would prevent you from building on the land.

It’s also worth finding out if anyone else has ever successfully applied for planning permission or had it turned down. Some land may even come with planning permission granted – but be aware that you could end up paying as much as 10% extra if this is the case. If you have entirely different ideas as to what you want to do with the land and don’t want to take up suggested plans, then you may be better off finding land without pre-accepted plans attached.

The first thing most people think about is to build a house or flats on any available land, but there are other useful projects that you could consider too. If the land is in a town or city, and especially if it may not be suitable for putting a residential development on, it’s worth considering whether you could use the plot to build one or more garages instead.

Garages and parking spaces are often in huge demand, especially in towns and cities, as we’ve explored previously. Building one or more decent sized garages would obviously be a lot cheaper than building a property, so you’ve less outlay to worry about, and if you consider adding basic facilities, it could double up as workshop space too.

Both garage sales and garage rents can bring in a decent amount of profit and a good return on your land investment. If the location is particularly desirable for garage lets, then renting it out could be a better return in the long run than selling it on.

So, if you fancy something a bit different, don’t mind some hard work and have ideas of your own to explore, it may well be worth giving a second thought to land investment.

Winter Property Problem: Loose tiles

Loose tiles can occur at any time of the year, but they’re often made worse by heavy snow, rain or wind. If roof tiles are already loose, or if there’s particularly bad weather that knocks them out of place, then tiles can slip down the roof or even blow off.

Where tiles get dislodged, they can leave areas of your roof vulnerable to even more damage, increasing the risk of damp getting inside your property. If tiles blow right off the roof, as well as getting broken and not be suitable for re-using, their fall can damage other things. In the worst case scenario, someone could get hit by a falling roof tile, a vehicle could get hit or it could even end up causing damage to another area of your property.

In order to help reduce the risk of loose tiles, it’s a useful part of your winter property MOT to check the roof tiles on your rental properties. In the case of homeowners, they may be more aware of when tiles are beginning to become loose, but tenants are far less likely to notice.

If you’ve not got a head for heights and have no desire to be up a ladder, then it’s an ideal job for a maintenance team to tackle and, if loose tiles are found, they could be replaced immediately.

When the heavy snow, rain or gales do arrive, and your property MOT is complete, you can relax with the knowledge that the roof of your rental property is well prepared to deal with what it may face.