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Property Investing Checklist for Landlords

For potential property investors there is a huge amount to take on board before making their first or even subsequent property investments. This is why it is critical that they take on board all the factors needed to completing their property investment in order to ensure that they avoid the potential property investment pitfalls. I have prepared a property investor checklist for landlords and property investors to work through.

1. Firstly a property investor needs to understand the risks that they are taking in investment property. Property investment has always been a great long-term investment but there are risks.

2. Landlords should generally avoid investment clubs and certainly paying large membership fees

3. A landlord should remember that buying an investment property is not like buying a home. Property investors should focus on the likely returns from the investment when deciding on which one to buy.

4. A property investor should carry out a full investment appraisal before deciding and committing to a development.

5. Landlords and property investors need to be clear about what type of tenants that they want to attract before even attempting to start their investment property search.

6. To find an investment property, investors need to consider all the potential avenues to tracking down investments. Landlords should be pro-active and use the latest internet sites to obtain information and details about potential properties.

7. Landlords looking for a potential investment bargain should consider buying a BMV property. BMV properties can be found at property auctions. Landlords need to be careful that they are not caught out by the provisions of the 1986 Insolvency Act when buying a Below Market Value (BMV) property from a distressed seller.

8. Landlords buying off-plan should ensure that they are really getting a discount if they have been promised one by the developer. The best way to do this is to check out the local property information to find out if the investment property bargain that they have been made to believe.

9. Property investors need to have decided on what type of property to buy. This is going to be one that appeals to the needs of the type of tenant they are targeting and also be able to achieve a landlords long-term investment returns.

10. Once a landlord has found a potential investment property they need to negotiate hard to secure a good deal. Remember the adage that a property investor makes their profit when they buy not when they sell. Always view as many potential investment properties as possible and put in low offers for any that might meet a landlord’s investment criteria. That way one or two might be accepted and a landlord can then make their ultimate investment decisions based on these offers.

11. A landlord should ensure that they obtain the best buy-to-let mortgage advice and products to ensure that they cut financing costs to the minimum for the duration of the investment. This generally means avoiding expensive one off charges and fees and ensuring that landlords source buy-to-let mortgages with the lowest APR (Average Percentage Rate).

12. A landlord should ensure that they understand fully what they need to do to let out their investment property and also the responsibilities they have in letting out their property and the regulations that govern the letting of residential property.

13. Landlords employ all the ways that they can to cut their costs in order to maximise their returns. These include managing their investment property themselves and also ensuring where possible that the investment property remains let thereby avoiding the curse of the void!

14. One of the key ways a landlord can maximise their returns is to find techniques that minimise the amount of tax a landlord pays on their investment property.

Chris writes for propertyhawk.co.uk a site dedicated to UK landlords and property investment. Including free online property management software and free tenancy agreements.

Property Investing Checklist for Landlords / Author: Propertyhawk

Occupation: Property Investor
Property Hawk is a site aimed directly at UK Landlords. The site incorporates free property management software that enables landlords to track all their financial data relating to their portfolio. It allows users to print Free tenancy agreements and other forms FREE FOREVER. The site generates a real time rent book for each property as well as calculating a landlords tax liabilty. The service is totally free to use at www.propertyhawk.co.uk

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Buying Property for Cheap with Miami Foreclosure Listings

With the housing market in a slump and property values still falling in many areas of the country, it can be a very difficult time to get involved in a real estate purchase. There’s no certainty that any purchase you make now will have the same value as time goes on, wince no one knows where the market is going to go. However, buying homes through Miami foreclosure listings can solve this problem and allow you to get great investment value upon purchase, since they allow you to buy for below market prices.

Most buyers are unfamiliar with Miami foreclosure listings. Since they’re sold by lenders through special auctions and sales, real estate agents don’t have a chance to profit off advertising them, so generally they are a bit more under the radar than open market properties. But, since they are sold as repossessions, the chance for savings is huge, as most properties found through Miami foreclosure listings end up going for anywhere between 10 and 50% off market value.

Buyers are having no trouble finding Miami foreclosure listings these days either, as the market for them has grown exponentially in the past few years. In the past year alone, the volume of Miami foreclosure listings has grown by 98%, and many of these properties are new developments. In terms of quality, selection and price, you won’t find a better market for foreclosures anywhere in the country than in Miami.

Whether you’re looking for apartments, houses or even commercial properties for businesses in South Florida, Miami foreclosure listings really are the way to go. One of the easiest way to find them is to use an online listings service, like ForeclosureListingsNationwide.com. This service can be especially helpful, since they also provide step by step instructions on buying, as well as tips on how to find and buy the best valued homes out there.

Philip Smith has been educating buyers on the finer points of Miami Foreclosure Listings purchase at ForeclosureListingsNationwide.com for over four years. Click here to visit and read more advice on buying discount real estate.

Buying Property for Cheap with Miami Foreclosure Listings / Author: philipsmith

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Victims Unwilling To Pursue Personal Injury Claims

One of the most important things to do after having had an accident, or if you have experienced a personal injury of any kind that is not your fault, is to find yourself a good personal injury solicitor. However, new research has revealed that potential claimants have many negative perceptions about such solicitors and are loath to pursue any kind of legal recourse.

Law firm Russell Jones and Walker looked into the UK’s attitudes to personal injury compensation claims, and the results showed that a substantial majority of the population believe pursuing a claim is too expensive and time consuming. Other reasons given were more worrying.

Other grounds that were cited for not wanting to proceed with legal proceedings included the emotional cost of pursuing a case, and difficulty in finding good legal advice. An underlying reason behind the reasons may also be the perceived perception of claimants- who may believe their own debatable bad press-that of being nothing more than ‘money grabbers’. This perception could prove to be a barrier, with claimants believing that if they take a stand they will be labeled or made fun of. With claimants often viewed as ‘money-grabbers’, this further deters people from taking a stand for fear of being labeled or derided.

This last concern unfortunately was borne out by research done earlier in the year by the Leadership factor with respondents. They asserted that claimants are financially motivated rather than unfortunate victims-this does nothing to dispel the unsympathetic view of claimants as a whole.

Time and expense was another major reason why claimants decide not to bring a case, this coupled with the negativity associated with bringing compensation claims, is shutting out victims who have been hurt from getting the compensation they deserve.

A wider campaign needs to be started to educate the public on the broader benefits of taking legal action and to this end Russell Jones and Walker is calling for other law firms and claims management companies to communicate the procedures involved in a more clear fashion. To this end, the education of the public needs to delve deeper into what exactly makes up a claim. It is not just about the money. Costs of rehabilitation, loss of future earnings, psychological trauma and of physical changes to property are all factors that can hurt claimants in the long run more than just the accident that has occurred.

Saurav is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

Victims Unwilling To Pursue Personal Injury Claims / Author: Saurav Dutt

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EU To Help Employers Who Look After Workers

The EU is planning to reward employers with tax deductions if they maintain good workplace safety records and lessen the number of accidents at work. In addition, they could also win more government contracts. The five-year strategy was mooted earlier in the year by MEP’s in Strasbourg and as far as the UK is concerned, Gordon Brown now has to report back to the European Parliament on how it will implement the policy.

On the other hand, those firms with poor safety records with be punished with tougher sanctions. The aim of the policy is to reduce workplace accidents by a quarter over five years. Recent figures from The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health showed that one person dies in the EU every three-and-a-half minutes in a workplace accident. The stringent sanctions that are planned are an ideal way to hold employers accountable for not being rigorous enough with health and safety regulations at work.

Whilst the new EU policy has good intentions, the regulatory bodies in charge of monitoring companies need to err on the side of caution in preventing companies twisting the figures to show themselves favourably. Some of the smaller/newer member states may not be as willing to follow the rules quite so rigidly. For instance, they might under-report injuries and ill health to augment their performance record. This might also apply to small and medium-sized enterprises as they are particularly exposed to the financial risks posed by absentee workers, accounting for 82 percent of all occupational injuries and 90 percent of all fatal accidents.

The changes will have an obvious benefit not just for employees but for employers who can reduce the chances of a personal injury suit being filed against them. In preparation for the UK’s report to the European Parliament, many organisations can already begin to implement changes to improve safety at work. For example, in training the employer should ensure that learning exercises simulate most reliable the real job activities. In this case trainers can include role-playing, this can stimulate employee participation.

Particular attention needs to be paid to disabled workers and vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, young and ageing workers. Additionally, the accident rate among temporary agency workers was shown to be very high. Arguably, they lack training and awareness of either their rights or the risks involved in their work.

Saurav is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

EU To Help Employers Who Look After Workers / Author: Saurav Dutt

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Personal Injury Solicitors Affected By No Win No Fee

In the past ten years the advertising of personal injury solicitors by insurance companies featuring mundane accidents has become unavoidable. Everyday minor injuries such as whiplash, slipping or falling are constantly on our television sets.

The message these adverts try to portray is the following: you can take legal action to right a wrong with very little risk of incurring costs. By simply dialling an 0800 number you can be well on your way to a healthy cheque as well as exacting retribution on a careless employer or branch of government. The age-old stereotypes of hiring a solicitor where the claimant’s first port of call is a dusty office over a shop is long gone out the window.

What has caused this relatively dramatic change? The most likely answer seems to be conditional fee agreements (CFAs), or no-win no-fee deals. These were first allowed for a range of court cases in England and Wales in 1995, with Tony Blair’s government in 1998 deciding to extend these to all civil cases, with the exception of action in the family courts.

At the time, then-minister Geoff Hoon said: “No-win no-fee conditional agreements will result in better access to justice. Access will be given to the many people who fall between those who are very rich or those who are so poor that they qualify for legal aid.

“In future, the question of whether one gets one’s case to court will no longer depend on whether one can afford it, but on whether one’s case is a strong one.”

The 1999 Access to Justice Act, which came into force in April 2000, drastically increased the attractiveness of no-win no-fee deals as judges could make the losing side shoulder the extra costs associated with conditional fee cases. These are the “uplift” fees charged by solicitors, an increase on normal fees to compensate for the possibility of loss and therefore no fee, and the insurance premiums paid to protect against the other side’s legal costs in the event of defeat.

In addition to these policies, legal aid for personal injury cases was also abolished, making a conditional fee agreement many people’s only hope of justice.

The changes in the law have fuelled an enormous amount of negative press stories about the legal industry, particularly in its most reported sector, personal injury.

Headlines like “Legal ‘vultures’ are making £2m out of the NHS each week” or “Compensation culture is killing equestrianism” or “Compensation culture wrecking small firms” comprise a large part of the media’s focus.

The suggestion is that grasping lawyers vastly inflate their fees for no-win no-fee cases, leading to a drain of public funds.

Martin Bare, outgoing president of the Association for Personal Injury Lawyers, denies this. “There is no gravy train. The perception arises because people don’t think that for the cases that you win, there’s another that you lose, for which you get nothing.”

Lawyers blame this public perception of the compensation culture at the door of claim management firms. Typically, these are not staffed by solicitors, and instead act as middlemen, passing clients on to lawyers. The changes to the law made it desirable to advertise their services on television.

“That then gave them a model where they could afford to bombard you and me with endless advertisements,” says Mr Bare. “That is what makes people believe that there is a compensation culture.”

However, the statistics of personal injury claims do not necessarily back up the idea of a compensation culture. Cases involving accident and disease are notified to the Compensation Recovery Unit of the Department for Work and Pensions, as part of efforts to recoup disability benefit and NHS treatment costs from the party responsible from the injury.

Sofia is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.

Personal Injury Solicitors Affected By No Win No Fee / Author: Sofia Abasolo

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