“Rodney, you plonker!” The often and mostly unfairly derided Rodney Trotter from Only Fools and Horses in the most part at least tried to look into things a little. His brother and lead partner Del Boy on the other hand was a gung-ho! risk-taking and frankly dodgy (if loveable) businessman. Whilst … [Read more...]
Maps: Where cheap property prices & cheap commuter train lines meet
One of my favourite film series is The Matrix, where our hero Neo seeks to uncover the system of deception within The Matrix to expose the truth. Here today we have another type of matrix - where the three variables of house prices, commuter travel times and train fares overlap to form a 3-way … [Read more...]
Find a decent trader
Done a refurb? Had a repair? Extended or converted a property? If yes, then chances are, you like me, will have probably followed one of these courses of action at some point: 'phone a friend', 'Googled it' or thumbed through Yellow Pages. There are other ways though... Probably the best way to … [Read more...]
Property Research…Online
Some useful pointers here about basic desk research on a property location to help with area-based investment checks In addition to the items listed, we could also look at recent comparable sales (e.g. via Rightmove or Zoopla) and rental figures (again Rightmove could help but even better is to … [Read more...]
Get-rich-quick property seminars make a comeback
"A fool and his money are soon parted" The shame, red face and embarrassment will subside quickly but the longer-term consequences, especially financial ones can quite literally last a lifetime. There are good guys and there are bad guys out there; so how can we tell the difference? Here is … [Read more...]
Landlords beware: five common financial traps
Most of these 'financial traps' are common sense; perhaps with the exception of #3... #1 Setting the rent too low or too high #2 Failing to monitor arrears #3 Attempting to self-manage a property #4 Neglecting maintenance #5 Inadequate insurance As for #3, appointing an agent does carry a cost … [Read more...]
Property shows, courses and seminars – are they worth it?
This is a sensitive subject. On the one hand, education is absolutely vital to be successful in property inesvting. Not only in the tangible aspects of investing such as the responsibilities of being a landlord or the economics of yields, return on investment and the like but also some of the … [Read more...]
Commuter towns set to roar…don’t miss the train!
As investors we should be looking to target rental areas which will produce decent overall returns - a combination of rental income and capital growth, coupled with good rental demand and at an affordable cost of entry. There is much talk of the London property market and many investors swear by it … [Read more...]
Property Club Scams…and how to avoid them
Giving our hard earned savings to a shark can get us bitten and I have spoken about this recently. But we could also get dragged off a cliff by a well-meaning property businessman through bad business decisions, incompetence or just bad luck as well if we are not careful. At face value it does … [Read more...]
Live the dream as a property millionaire…caveat emptor!
Live the dream! But first take heed...Caveat Emptor... I have seen Raj, the main speaker at the event profiled in this article before, I previously attended an Inside Track seminar on property investing and paid a tidy sum for the privilege to do so but did not proceed to invest with them. The … [Read more...]