Property Advice

Refurbishing your property can have a multitude of benefits from boosting profits to securing tenants more quickly. However, before you crack on with the actual refurbishment you will need to sort out your finances. Is your broker FCA regulated? Are the experienced in sourcing renovation finance? Who will be overseeing the project? These are the sort of things you will need to consider when financing a refurbishment job. You will also need to calculate the various costs of labour and materials, know the time frame and understand any planning and building control requirements.

Property, like anything, can be affected by your personal circumstances. You may therefore be in a situation whereby you have to sell your home quickly due to a change in your life situation but, you will still want to do it properly through a reputable company. Are you selling to a professional buyer with cash? Who should you contact if you're struggling with mortgage payments? Whatever you do, don’t panic if you need to sell quickly, make sure you do your research and contact the right people for advice, avoiding those who will try to take advantage of you, by lowering their offer at the last moment.

If you're ready to move up the property ladder for the second, third or even fourth time there's still no room for complacency. Research needs to be done as the buying and selling process is changing and you need to be well prepared for the legal process as well as ensure you have covered your costs properly. This guide will help you work out how much it will cost to buy and sell? How many agents should value your home? Should you accept an offer before making one?

Patience is most certainly a virtue when it comes to sorting out the legals for your first home purchase. You should organise a legal company prior to making an offer, compare a few different firms to make sure you get the one which most suits your needs and know the total fees (not just headline figures) you will be charged. This guide will explain how to choose a legal company and the steps they will take on your behalf. Make sure you have the details of your legal company ready to give an agent when you make an offer on a property.

As you will know not all mortgages are the same so you need to find the right one to suit you and one of the best ways to do this is to work closely with a mortgage broker than knows which lenders to approach and while will meet the criteria you need, as well as hopefully offer a suitable mortgage rate. Getting the right mortgage is a key step to securing your first or next property, so read this checklist to make sure you know what questions you need to ask.

Lots of people think they can’t afford to buy when they can and it’s all about making sure you know what to do and when. Local property research is key, so ignore the headlines on property prices and checkout what it’ll cost you to buy locally – or as near to where you’d like to live as possible. This guide explains the key things first time buyers need to know from help saving for a deposit, getting your legals in order and ensuring an independent survey takes place are all vital parts of buying a home…and remember don’t just budget for moving costs, budget for the costs of living in your new home too!

Many landlords keep things like beds or spare sofas etc, just in case. So if you need to secure them safely, it’s worth having somewhere to keep them that’s safe, dry and free of damp and mould! Read this checklist as all storage areas are not the same, so it’s worth making sure you have the right place to keep your fixtures, fittings and furniture.

If you decide to chase rent arrears, the first job is to calculate how much the tenant actually owes you. If your tenant is still in the property check if the arrears are just an oversight or whether the tenant needs financial help. If the latter, you may be able to help them claim any relevant benefits, which in turn will help them pay you your rent. Knowing whether to serve a Section 8 or 21 notice is essential and part of a legal expert’s job to do so. If you are short of time or haven’t done anything like this before, use a legal expert to go through the right procedures and consider using a tracing agent.

Evicting a tenant is never a nice thing to do and should be a last resort, but if you have to do it, it still needs to be done and done properly. For example, you need to be clear why you are evicting the tenant and make sure that it is for a valid reason and you can legally evict them as your own paperwork needs to be in order too. If you don’t, you may end up starting the eviction process, go to court only to find out that you’ve made a mess of the paperwork and have to start again. Read this guide so you have a good idea in minutes of what to do and who can help you.

Is your tenancy an 'Assured Shorthold Tenancy'? If so, your tenant’s deposit has to be protected in a government approved scheme. If you are a tenant, you should check that the deposit has been protected by your landlord or agent within 30 days of starting the tenancy. They should give you specific information such as a copy of the government’s ‘How to Rent’ guide and copies of certificates, or you may not be able to evict them. By protecting a deposit in one of these schemes it means that an impartial adjudicator will sort any disputes at the end of the tenancy and work out how much and if any money needs to be deducted from the tenant’s deposit.