History Repeating Itself
Always, always, always ask for references before taking on any tenants. If
you are using an agent to locate your tenant, make sure that you see the
references that they have obtained. After you have asked for a reference,
make sure you take the references up and that you verify they are genuine.
Whilst this may be seen to be overkill and it may be tempting to speed the
process up by ignoring references, fail to do so at your own peril. Problem
tenants can often be found to have been troublesome in the past, so do your
research and save yourself falling into the same trap as those before you.

Planning for Perfection
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I am often asked what a lot of different terms mean in the
property investment field.  After every seminar, workshop or speech there
is always someone asking what ROI really means or what Gross rental really
means. I thought I would compile a list of common property investment terms.  This
list also forms part of the Property Investment Profit System (P.I.P.S.) which
is a great course which you
will purchase here.

Property investment terms

Gross Rental

Monthly or annual rental income you can expect to obtain from your property.
For example, £600 per month or £7,200 per year. Multiple monthly
rent x 12 to get annual rental.

Net Rental

Monthly or annual rental income, net of all expenses. These can include management
fees, service & maintenance charges, repairs, buildings, contents and tenants
insurance, inventory charges, allowance for replacement of furniture if furnished
and so on. Typically you can expect to lose 15 to 30% of your gross rental
on an unfurnished property to various fees.

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What are REITS?

REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust and was officially launched on
the 1st January 2007.  Like any other investment trust they offer benefits
to both the company and the investors.

Benefits to company

Companies who have converted to becoming an REIT will benefit in that they
will not have to pay capital gains tax and corporation tax (double taxation).  90%
of the untaxed income will have to be distributed to investors and a one off
charge, around 2% of total portfolio is payable to the treasury.

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Buy off plan for huge profits

This is the type of headline which lures people in to buying property off-plan.  Whilst
off-plan buying can be very lucrative it has to be done with care and you will
have to ask certain questions of yourself and the builders involved.

What is off plan buying?

Simply put it is looking at the builder’s plans of the house and buying
a house before it has been built.  Generally you pay a 5 – 10 %
deposit of the agreed price. You may have to wait anything up to 18 months
before the completion of the house.  In the 18 months you can expect the
house value to have gone up. 

According to DTZ
Residential 60 % of houses bought in England and Wales were off-plan.  It
can be a good way to get on the property market ladder and a good way to
get on the property investment ladder.

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A lot of people have asked me how I got started with investing in property and why I started the P.I.P.S course.

So here’s a brief biography, together with a few of
the events that shaped my life and my
learning that in turn shaped the creation of P.I.P.S.
I’ve always been an entrepreneur and came from an entrepreneurial family.
My parents
were in the retail trade and I recall standing in their shop selling jeans
more than 40 years
ago.

On leaving University I trained as a Chartered Accountant
with Touche Ross & Co
(now
Deloitte & Touche) in London. I never wanted to be an accountant, but felt
that an
Accountant’s qualifications would sustain me in my business career.

I left immediately after I qualified and started a retail
business. I built a chain of shops
through the 1980’s selling art and making picture frames. Even then I
was aware of
property investment – I purchased my first commercial freehold from being
a leaseholder
of one shop. And in the second half of the 1980’s I invested in property
with my brother
and I started developing property in London.

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Low Cost Airlines Drive Property Boom Abroad

When it comes to determining the next boom area in Europe, a good place to look is at the growth areas for low cost airlines. Transport is one of the vital deciders when it comes to cheap property prices. Take a look at the figures if you are not sure!

European market

Buying property across Europe has grown considerably, in recent years. This is down to many factors, including the willingness of the British to make investments abroad, greater need to secure individual pensions and the growth of the European Union. However, one factor that is often overlooked, but is fundamental to the growth of the property market, is the increase in the number of destinations served by low cost airlines. Read the full story

Popularity: 6% [?]