Rental Guarantee – Easy Money or a Scam?

‘Rental guarantee’ sounds almost too good to be true! Buy to let investors dread the insecurity of wondering what, if any, rental return they are going to make on an annual basis. But, with rental guarantee, this is no longer an issue. You might well ask – what’s the catch?

Lack of understanding

It seems like an obvious choice for investors wanting security of rental income, for a set period of time; however, very few people actually take full advantage of these rental guarantee schemes. Understanding exactly what these schemes entail and just what is expected from the owner are the main reasons that many of the schemes are under-utilised. Investors are wary of these types of financial offerings and as such will sometimes steer clear through lack of knowledge rather than lack of desire. Don’t let this be you! Make sure you understand the facts and that you are able to make the most out of these schemes.

Rental guarantee is something that is seen largely as available for foreign properties, with France being one of the main leaders in this area, although other countries are now joining in on the action. Further, most regions witnessing a large number of new build properties, now offer at least limited choices when it comes to rental guarantee.

The theory behind rental guarantee

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Devil is in the Detail – Securing your Tenancy Agreement

Once you have embarked on a buy to let investment, you will be, hopefully, looking to let the property out as quickly as possible. Part of letting out the property will involve making a tenancy agreement. Don’t overlook the importance of this vital document, or your investment could cost you dearly.

Protecting your property

A vital part of making money out of buy to let investments is the let part of the deal. By letting out a property, an investor will hope, at the very least, to cover their own costs and many will be able to obtain a solid annual return from their investment. Generally, buy to let investors are looking at ways of financing the property so that they can benefit from price and market rises, over the years; rental income is merely a vehicle to allow this to happen.

Whether you are looking at rental as a way of increasing your monthly income or a way to finance the long-term gain, one thing is for certain, you will need a tenant.

Tenancy agreements can be extremely complicated a Read the full story

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Equity Release – A Good Way To Fund Investment Property

Investors are always on the lookout for new and better ways to make their
money work for them. There’s a lot of hype surrounding equity release,
but what does it really mean and is it really a good way to fund a growing
investment property portfolio?

Key forms of equity release

Equity release takes two key forms. The first is the one that we see advertised
on the television at an alarming frequency and is aimed at older households
that want to gain from the value in their property by releasing some of the
cash without actually selling. Effectively, they are selling part of their
property in return for a cash lump sum. Interesting as this may be, it is not
really what we mean when we talk about equity release for investment property.

The equity release that we are looking at as property investors is a little
different. Here the idea is that you may have bought a property for a certain
amount and over a period of time, through the growing market or through renovation,
the property has increased in value, by say £20,000. By approaching your
current mortgage company to increase your mortgage by £20,000 you will
then be releasing some of the equity in your house to pay the deposit on another
buy to let property, and so the chain continues.

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Selecting Tenants – Top Tips for Buy to Let Investors

Choosing the right tenants can make or break your property investment. A good
tenant will ensure regular returns on your property, a bad tenant could not
only cost you dearly financially but also prove extremely time consuming and
stressful. Here are some top tips to get it right!

A few things to consider

Consider, initially, how you are going to find your tenants. What sort of
tenant are you looking for? Are you looking for students, or professionals?
Are you looking for individual sharers or family groups? Whilst these decisions
will be based largely on the type of rental property you have, it is important
to consider your target audience when advertising and when vetting your potential
tenants.

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First and foremost, it is important that a landlord realises that it is illegal
to throw a tenant out of a residential property, either by force or by harassment.
It is also illegal to use methods such as cutting off essential supplies, like
gas, water or electricity. Having established this, the next step is to consider
on what grounds you can evict a tenant and how this should be achieved.

Grounds for eviction

1st Procedure

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Ex-Council Property – A Sound Investment?

With limited financial resources, an ex-council property can seem like the
perfect solution. However, is buying an ex-council house a worthwhile investment
for budding property investors, or is it simply a money pit that is more hassle
than its worth?

House prices are on the up and, despite many doom and gloom merchants fearing
the worst, it seems that the market is going to continue to rise over the long-term.
With this in mind, it can be difficult to raise the necessary money to finance
your property investment plans. Some of the cheaper properties are ex-council
houses and it would seem that these, in many instances, offer good value property
with decent rental and capital returns. So what’s the catch?

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Popularity: 7% [?]