Kings Residential

In such a competitive market, searches for useful information about buying, selling or renting property are often diluted with spammy sites.

To help sift through some of this and get to the useful informative sites and blog posts about property, I’ve compiles a list of the best I’ve found.

• Up My Street - facts about where you live in England and Wales, including property prices, top GCSE and A-Level schools, Council Tax rates, crime rates.
• Land Registry - This is the Government run website which holds specific information about property is available from here for a fee. But they also show statistics on house prices for districts. You can for example compare the rise of house prices in Stockport to Cheshire.
• Share To Buy - They have some great information if you’re planning to buy a house with someone. They also have an outline for a contract to use if you’re buying with someone.
• First Rung Now - This has mortgage and property advice for first time buyers.
• Mortgage comparisons - MoneySupermarket and Motley Fool offer price comparisons from various lenders, but you can often get impartial advice from a mortgage advisor.

If you have any suggestions you would like to add, please add a comment and I’ll review, and update this list if appropriate.

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I have furnished my apartment that I am about to pass to my agent to market. Is a TV required and if I provide one will it get me more rent…?

In most cases, when an apartment is advertised fully furnished a TV is not usually expected. It is seen more of a bonus as most people have their own anyway. Depending on the property and its location a TV will sometimes help secure a tenant a little faster or may be a deal clincher as most landlords will not bother. If you are aiming at the more corporate client then their expectations are a lot higher and they will most probably ask for one as part of the deal. In these cases we can achieve slightly higher rents. It is advisable to state to your agent from the start that you are flexible and that should a prospective tenant request a TV then you are willing to provide one based on certain conditions. You could use this to negotiate a longer tenancy or slightly higher rent but be careful not to scare the tenant off. But remember, if a TV is provided and it breaks down you are obliged to fix it or provide a replacement.

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Darren Shaughnessy, Director Kings Residential, Estate Agents in Manchester  and Letting Agents in Manchester writes:

I have felt for some time that discounted rate mortgages are a very bad idea. They are great for the young career couple with a clear and definite salary incease path. It helps these people onto the house ladder earlier than they might otherwise have been able to. Where a clear expectation of substantially higher income coincides with the increase in the mortgage rate they continue to be able to afford the payments albeit now probably higher than market rate but because (in this scenario) this has been a carefully considered decision, it is probably not a decision that will be regretted.

 However, for most people who’s incomes remain fairly constant increasing just modestly each year, a discounted rate mortgage can be a long-term albatross. Luckily in the UK most mortgage advisors would look at projected income levels and advise against this if it was not appropriate but in the US this has not been the case and is the root of the current sub-prime lending crisis. Mortgage brokers have targetted the poorest and most vulnerable with the promise of low payments but not really emphasised that these low payments will turn into large (unaffordable) payments in a couple of years time. To make things even worse, by allowing these products onto the mass market they have artificially fuelled the prices of houses so that when the banks do foreclose on the mortgages in huge numbers they are left with a property that is worth far less than they lent in the first place.

For some, discounted mortgages can be great, for other they are bad. But the unscupulous brokers - they are just plain evil. The lenders however have just been plain  stupid. They have not asked questions and will be carrying huge dents in the profits as a result.

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Darren Shaughnessy, Director Kings Residential, Estate Agents in Manchester  and Letting Agents in Manchester writes:

 The BBC news website is running a very interesting article on the crisis in the USA.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7070935.stm

If you take a look at this I think most people will see that something pretty extraordinary has been happening in the US. Lenders have been lending money to people who were destined to default. They simply had no hope of being able to afford these houses in the long-term once gtheir initial short-term fixed rate expired and they returned to normal rates. The extent of the problem has been so great that in some neighbourhoods 1 in 5 houses have been repossessed.

Mortgage brokers and Independant Financial Advisors in the UK have been criticised for mis-selling in the past but the market is very tightly regulated now. The US scenario just is not going to occur in the UK. However, this does not mean that it will not impact the UK. Much of the sub-prime lenders have packaged up their poor quality sub-prime debt along with some better debts and sold them on, thus reducing their exposure but increasing the exposure to the purchasers of this debt. The purchasers are all large financial institutions and are based all over the world including the UK.

We keep hearing the phrase “Credit Crunch”. This refers to the fact that many financial institutions are becoming reluctant to expose themselves to bad debt and so are becoming more careful about who they lend to. This means less credit is available and inevitably that the price of this credit will increase.

What we should not presume is that because huge numbers of repossessions are occuring in the USA that the same will happen here.

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 My tenant has asked me to pay £124.99 for a BT line. Am I, as a Landlord really required to pay for the installation of a telephone line…?

This is totally at your discretion. Most short-hold tenancy agreements require the tenant to seek the landlords permission before any work is carried out on the property but I have never come across a landlord that has rejected the proposal. Some landlords offer to pay the full amount. Some offer to pay half. Unless the tenancy clearly states that you are obliged to supply a telephone line then the decision is totally up to yourself . You will probably only have to pay this charge once as it usually only applies to new properties that have yet to have a phone line activated. There is a moral argument that a landlord should pay it as the benefit remains with the property well beyond the first tenant but there is no obligation to do so. Our advice is to pay it in the interests of good relations.

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Darren Shaughnessy, Director Kings Residential, Estate Agents in Manchester  and Letting Agents in Manchester writes:

Price Waterhouse Coopers, the big five Accountancy giant said today that the housing market was only marginally over-valued when compared to average earnings. In their view ”a general cooling of the market was still more likely than an outright fall in prices”. This means that fewer buyers might be looking for property but there is unlikely to be a major downward shift in prices.

I reckon PWC they have been reading my blog entry from a couple of weeks ago when I predicted the same outcome.

 http://blog.kings-residential.co.uk/2007/10/21/uk-house-market-overpriced-says-imf/

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My agent mentioned a break clause. What exactly is this..?

A break clause is sometimes added to a fixed term tenancy agreement. This is usually requested by the landlord or tenant if the initial fixed term is for a year or more. A break clause will most commonly allow either the landlord or the tenant to give notice at an agreed interim stage.

For example, a 12 month tenancy may have a 6-month break clause which means that the tenant or landlord can give notice to terminate at the 6-month stage.  Notice cannot be given prior to this date nor can it be given after the break clause stage has expired. When timing the notice it is important to bear in mind how much notice is required and when this has to be served.  For example, some tenancy agreements state that one month notice must be given by the tenant to coincide with a rent due date. Notice just one day after the rent due date can equate to nearly 2 month’s notice because it is not effective until the next rent due date.  The notice for the break should be given to expire at the 6 month stage in this example.

Landlords normally must provide 2 months notice whereas tenants should provide 1 month notice.

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My current agents are saying that the current tenant will not allow access. The current tenancy ends in 1 week and I am getting worried I will not find another tenant quick enough. Can the tenant refuse access..?

The law states that a landlord or his agent must give the tenant at least 24 hours  notice in writing (unless there is an emergency). In most shorthold tenancies it states that the landlord/agent will require access for viewings once they enter the final month of the tenancy. In past experience the tenant will allows access if they are contacted over the phone as long as they are given 24 hours notice. Your agent should hold a spare key so that if the problem arises  the tenant is unable to refuse access as long as the correct procedure is followed.

It is also possible that the other agent is trying to hinder the new agent. But your old agent would never do such a thing would they?

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I am thinking of selling an investment property which has tenants in it. I have spoken to them about this and they are fine with it. Is there anything I need to consider here?

First of all I am glad that you have spoken to your tenants about this. Many landlords don’t and this can cause a lot of bad feeling and even cause your tenants to leave early. Unless it is written into their original contract tenants do not have to allow viewings and if the agent continues to do them against their permission that could amount to you breaking your side of the contract, which must allow them peaceful enjoyment of the property, and therefore not being entitled to rent! Since the tenants are happy with the arrangement make sure your agent has the tenants contact details and a set of keys / fobs. Ask your agent to give the tenants reasonable notice (at least 24hrs) and ask your tenants to keep the property tidy for viewings. Keep in contact with both your agent and tenants to make sure viewings are going smoothly.

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I have had to put my mother’s property in Stretford on the market as she has now moved into a home. I do not live locally to it and do not want it to start to look shabby. What do you think is necessary in this situation.

It can be a good idea to ask the local gardener to pop round periodically and keep the outside areas looking nice - kerb appeal is very important. Your agent should be able to visit the property periodically as agreed between you and inform you of any major problems that occur (leaks etc). It is a good idea to have the system drained down and gas supplies switched off (the buildings insurance often requires this if a property is left empty for a long period of time - check with your insurer). If you are really worried you could employ a cleaner for the inside but I would not think this would be necessary for the initial marketing period.

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