It has been featured in the news recently that Birmingham is the latest UK city to be hit by a rather large shortage of rental properties. It seems that there is extremely high demand for rental properties in the West Midlands city.

Thus, one can conclude that it has never been a better time to be a West Midlands landlord. With so many tenants hunting for a rental property, you would be sure to receive interest in your property, provided you market your property appropriately of course.

London was the first city to experience a shortage in rental properties, with most landlords stating that they were receiving too many tenants that they simply could not accommodate for.  The shortage of rental properties has not gone unnoticed however with the government implementing the Affordable Homes scheme. The plan is currently to build a grand total of 80,000 new homes over the next four years. The scheme is worth £1.8 billion and will provide for the ever increasing demand for affordable homes.

In the meantime, the rental sector is gathering pace as buy to let is looking an ever increasingly attractive choice. The economic crash sent ripples through the buy to let sector and many landlords fell flat on their face at the time, however, with rental demand currently through the roof, and property prices currently stable but low, landlords around the country will look to purchase new properties and rebuild their portfolio. Also, with the return of lenders towards the end of last year, funding has also picked up.

Figures have also recently been released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders to reveal that in the second quarter of 2011 buy to let loans increased by 21% to £3.5 billion. From April to June, there were 32,000 buy to let loans taken out, this is the highest number, and value, since the end of 2008.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents has also stated that 74% of respondents to a landlord survey they conducted said that they received more tenants than they had properties available.

Improving demand has meant that buy to let has taken up a bigger share of the mortgage market and, Capital Economics has also suggested that 17.2% of all homes will be privately rented by 2015. That’s a staggering number of landlords that will be looking for landlord insurance quotes!

John Heron, Managing Director of Paragon, has stated that one in five homes will be from the private rented sector by the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, many have warned that the industry must remain vigilant against bad practices that were rife during previous boom periods many years ago.

Recently, I came off a fixed rate mortgage deal only to find out I had been transferred onto a DIFFERENT lender’s standard variable rate and was paying a massive 4.54% OVER BASE on my monthly repayments!  I was pretty shocked as the SVR of the original mortgage was just 2.14% over base. The mortgage repayments seemed reasonable and the rent was still covering the monthly mortgage payments so it took me a while to notice this. I had my original BTL mortgage with a specialist BTL lender who has since been wound up. All their mortgages were ported onto a prominant Midlands based lender.

I wonder how many people are in the same position and are paying way too much on a mortgage without even realising due to low base rates. I decided to speak to my broker immediately and found that there were much better products on the market that I could remortgage onto saving me £100’s in the process. Could you be doing the same?

If you want to find us to review your portfolio with a view to saving you money click here to contact us directly and we’ll be in touch.

We will be running a monthly Portfolio Surgery session, where our brokers will go through your properties and see if there are any areas where you can increase your cashflow through refinance. We will also be answering any questions you may have on all areas of personal finance – tax, insurance, mortgage finance.

If you are coming to the end of a tie in period on a mortgage here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1.     Check when the end date of any term is due, make sure you leave at least 3 months before the end date to review your options;

2.     Check with the lender what rate of interest you will be paying once you come to the end of the deal.  If higher you need to plan in advance. If lower you need to consider what to do with the extra cash flow. Savings, pensions or repaying mortgages could always be options. How about an offset on your residential home and pay the additional money into that pot. You can still have access to your money but it saves you interest on your own home. If you reinvest into a pension, there is tax relief available or you may like to top up your ISA, providing you tax free flexible savings.  All actions need to be done tax efficiently;

3.     Ask the lender what new products they can offer you;

4.     Check the market for current market rents as they could have risen and any lender will base lending on the market rental income.  It may also be time to increase the rent on your property;

5.     At the same time make sure you review your buildings and contents insurances and any other direct debits associated with the property, one can easily neglect these and they can impact cash flow, so make sure all property costs are competitive.

Please see our daily updated rates table by clicking here and/or contact us and we will be in touch to organise a portfolio surgery session.

Please see an interview with Gary Murphy of Allsop – one of the leading auction houses in the country – where we discuss recent sales patterns; the ongoing popularity of auction buying; impending base rate rises; auction stock level predictions; getting the best deal possible in the current market; dealing with negative equity; placing the right guide price when selling; conditions of sale and recent emerging issues that investors should be aware of.

1) As we approach the half way mark of 2011, how have auction sales been bearing up? Allsop has been weathering the storm particularly well. Our residential sales are averaging 86% success. At the approach to the half way mark in 2011 we have raised £127.3m from 3 sales (796 lots, average lot size £160,000). The industry average is 67%.

2) Why do you think that auction buying has remained so popular during the turbulent market witnessed in te UK in recent years? Auction sales, when prepared correctly, offer buyers value for money. Lots should be available to buy at their published guide prices. (Less reputable auction houses may mislead bidders by quoting guides at levels lower than reserves). This is in contrast to private treaty marketing where asking price levels often reflect the aspirations of the seller rather than a realistic price to the buyer.

Buyers do not like to waste time or money investigating property that is overpriced.  The method is entirely transparent and of course binding on the fall of the hammer. The process is final and leaves no room for renegotiation of the price after auction.

3) Are you expecting your auction stock levels to increase when the base rate eventually rise? We may well see an increase in the levels of distressed stock coming to market as borrowers struggle with increasing mortgage payments, yes.

4)  How can buyers in the current market obtain the best deal possible? Make sure you do your homework so that you’re not surprised by anything after your purchase. For example, instruct a surveyor to do a full structural survey to ensure that you’re advised of any hidden defects such as subsidence or rot. Ask your solicitor to fully investigate the legal title and report on any problems such as restrictive covenants. And make sure that you have adequate funding to support your maximum bid. Unforeseen problems could turn a good deal bad.

5) What advice would you have to the significant amount of landlords that are currently in negative equity and would really like to sell? Think seriously about auction sale to get you out of a tight spot. Waiting for values to recover to boom time levels is not a realistic option for those who are steadily sinking further into difficulty. Often it’s better to cut your losses and move on. Look at the financial future of your property assets carefully and honestly.

6) Whilst the general view is that general values have been relatively flat for most of 2011 – for those that are selling, what would be your advice on placing a guide price at auction currently? Seek the best advice in the market…and follow it. Guides and reserves have to be modest to attract buyers. Once competition has been generated to the maximum, the auctioneer will have the best chance of extracting the highest price for you from the room.

7) What should a vendor look out for in the conditions of sale? There are so many banana skins. Make sure you don’t step on one!  Look out for…

• Penal buyers’ fees. Some sellers are known to charge up to 5% of the purchase price;
• If conditions refer to other documents such as planning consents or leases, make sure you obtain copies and read them;
• Some sellers may impose a clawback clause on sites. You may have to pay more to the seller if planning consent is obtained at a later date;
• There may be outstanding arrears of rent or service charges for which you the buyer may be responsible.

The list is endless. It’s always best to ask a solicitor to guide you. If he/she gets it wrong, at least you have someone else to blame!

8)Similarly, are there any issues that have emerged recently that buyers should be aware of ?

• Watch auctioneers who quote guides below reserves to entice buyers. It’s contrary to RICS guidance and a criminal offence under the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991;
• Money Laundering is a hot topic and buyers should remember that cash deposits are not acceptable. Although auctioneers are not required to verify the buyers’ identity (only the sellers’), most do so as good practice. So remember to provide the necessary documents at the sale;
• Fixed charge receivers are increasingly prevalent as auction vendors. Often the information available to them is quite limited at the point of sale. The onus of due diligence by the buyer should not be under estimated in these cases. If you’re concerned about the information available, you must either accept the risks or withdraw from the bidding.

9) What would be your recommendations if a lot doesn’t sell? Always make an offer. You never know!

Needing very little introduction, Sarah Beeney’s reputation as a genuine expert in all aspects of property ownership is unquestionable.  With a number of varied business interests – including a TV series, an award winning property portal and a popular dating website – her dedicated and strong work ethic has made her a household name and a positive figure representing the property industry as a whole.  Please see an interview below where we talked about what Sarah has been up to; the future effects of base rate rises on the property market; protection against negative equity; acquisition strategies; buying at the right price in the current climate; buying to sell; lease options; the growth of the Tepilo brand and the online vs. offline estate agency debate…

We last spoke to you about a year ago – can you give us a bit of an update of what you have been up to? It’s been quite a year really.  Tepilo.com has gone from strength to strength and we’re delighted at the inroads we’ve made into the property sales and lettings market. Mysinglefriend is still matchmaking thousands of couples and I’m always thrilled at the success stories. Rise Hall is now up and running as a wedding and events venue and my latest series Beeny’s Restoration Nightmare was shown on Channel 4 in November and January.  I’ve been filming another couple of series recently, one for the BBC and one for Channel 4 and hope they will air over the summer.   The boys have also been keeping me busy, now aged 1, 3, 5 and 6.

In terms of your own strategy – how have things changed since prior to the recession? Looking at Tepilo, we launched the business in the recession, so we’re fairly sure it’s quite recession proof. People will always need to buy, sell and let properties, but saving on all the fees is preferable, especially so when things aren’t going so well for people. The strategy hasn’t changed much, and we’re pleased with the rate of growth and adoption.  You do have to be aware in general that disposable incomes are lower and the volume of transactions will in general decrease when times are hard, but things won’t stay like this for ever – so it’s about riding out the storm.

When base rates rise sooner or later – how do you think they will affect the property market? It’s a good question. I think it really depends on when they rise and by how much, but it’s going to have a big impact. It’s sad, but we are a nation with huge debt, and those who have over-borrowed will face some real problems and I suspect repossessions will be rampant.  We might count our lucky stars that the banks haven’t continued to lend in the same fashion as they used to, although this has been hard on buyers, it’s saved many of them from borrowing at rates they may not be able to afford – the days of 5x salary are certainly over.

How do you think current property owners (particularly those in negative equity) can protect themselves as best as possible in what could well be turbulent times ahead? I don’t think we will see the huge drops in house prices that some are predicting, so hopefully negative equity won’t be too bad – I think we’re bouncing along the bottom of the market at the moment, and there won’t be much change for some time. It’s obviously preferable to ensure you reduce your borrowing as rates rise, and also look around for the best rates on your mortgage and other loans.

What do you think are the best acquisition strategies at the moment? I don’t think now is a bad time to buy. But I think there is a lot of speculation over interest rates, which will have an impact on your strategy. The cities seem to be holding out best in terms of value, particularly London, but high-end country homes are also in high demand at the moment. With less people making it abroad, the holiday let sector is still very strong too. I suspect with low finance availability and people struggling to get on the property ladder, the buy to let sector may be back with a vengeance for those that can afford to set themselves up there. The rental sector is stronger than ever.

With low levels of sales, how can investors be sure that they are buying at the right price? Have a look at the trends, in most places prices have only fallen by a small amount, and are mainly static. A property is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, so just make sure you are realistic.  Look at the rental income generated from nearby properties and make sure that with a worst-case scenario that would still cover a mortgage at higher rates. I think if you are buying to keep the property for the long term, prices will be back on their way up before too long.

Is buy to sell in the current flat market a particularly risky investment methodology? Yes, I wouldn’t be brave enough to take the gamble at the moment. It depends on the area and so on, but it’s not the best time to be taking on the markets in that way. I would only look to buy as an investment with a view to keeping the properties for at least 5 years. The mass demand for each property we had at the top of the market just isn’t there right now.

Can you provide some tips for investors to follow who are considering buy to sell? You just need to be very sure in what area you look to buy. It’s a real gamble betting on an increase in prices in the next year, but if you can stick to city based or high end country properties, you might just be able to pick up a bargain and make a small gain, but it really is risky right now.

What are your thoughts on placing lease options on property? I think lease options have had quite a rough ride in recent years and don’t have much respect right now. They fall in the same bracket as BMV companies in many peoples eyes and haven’t got the best reputation. However the concept does work, you just need to make a credible option for buyers and regain some trust. I would think demand for this in future years might well increase with the current financial situation.

What are the plans for Tepilo for the short, medium and long term? Now we’ve built a solid start to the site, we’re slowly starting to monetize the site, which so far seems to be going very well.  We are looking at international and commercial options, and are also considering enabling advertising for agents – there’s been really high demand for this. We have a service directory launching which enables our users to find property related services as and when they need them. We also have some big marketing initiatives and are excited about the next 12 months.

What are your thoughts on the debate over the diminishing role of the high street estate agent – do you think they still have a role moving forward as more sites such as yours come to the forefront? There will most probably always be high street agents. The traditionalists among us just won’t be comfortable selling online, but we are growing all the time as people hear about the great results and the ease at which people are selling and letting –more and more people are giving us a try. In the US over 40% of properties are sold privately reportedly, so we’ve some way to go, but we don’t see any reason why Tepilo shouldn’t be the way forward.

With a UK property market considered to be at one of its relative lowest points for decades, the hunger for investors to build their portfolios is ever-apparent.   One potential acquisition strategy – that is often overlooked due to perceived misconceptions – is to look into properties that have been left empty by previous owners.  Please see an interview below with chief executive David Ireland of the Empty Homes Agency with whom we discussed current levels of empty properties in the UK; the effects of the recession on the situation; the housing deficit; the government’s response; what steps can be taken to investigate an empty home; seeking legal advice; available grants for renovating empty properties; getting advice from local authorities; the organisations’ campaign for council tax relief as well as a very worthwhile conference worth attending on May 23^rd:

1) Can you explain what the essential role of the Empty Homes Agency is? Empty Homes is an independent charity. We help people create homes from empty property and campaign for more empty homes to be brought into use, for the benefit of those in housing need.

2) How many empty properties are there in the UK at the moment? At the last count there were 650,000 empty homes in England, of which 287,000 were privately owned properties empty for longer than 6 months

3) How is this figure measured? The figures come from local councils’ yearly returns made to central government – the last figures relate to April 2010.

4) Are these figures likely to increase – bearing in mind the ongoing turbulence of the UK housing market? We do not expect to see a significant increase in the TOTAL figure as there is still underlying demand for housing, and government is doing something to tackle the problem. However we do expect that some individual areas will show increases. For example locations where Housing Market Renewal (“Pathfinder”) projects were operating: these have now been halted and many thousands of properties previously earmarked for refurbishment or demolition are now left empty and abandoned with few ideas of what to do about them. The effect of these abandoned areas may well spread beyond the immediate Pathfinder areas as local housing market confidence is hit.

5)  Do you think there is a shortage of housing in the UK and, if so, how large to you see the deficit as being? This is always an interesting question. You could argue endlessly about how much housing really is needed for the country’s current and projected population, but that implies you can or should measure what each person actually “needs”. In reality, you cannot calculate housing shortages so easily. There is certainly a shortage of housing in some areas, but taking the country as a whole the shortage argument is questionable.

6)  Has this figure worsened as a result of the recession? Figures for empty homes did go up for a few years then came down. Amongst the causes of this, we would not put the recession at the top of the list. What has had more of an impact on empty property was the surge in investment purchases during the “boom years” 2004-2007, where some developments took place in response to investment demand instead of occupiers’ demand. With the result that – especially flats – were sold to investors anticipating capital gain. In that period not enough attention was given to validating what the rental income flow would actually be – you could blame this on slack lending policies, speculators, or over optimism, but it is going to take a few more yearsr for the effect of that period to work its way through.

7) How do you feel the government is handling the issue? Obviously, the current “austerity” period will have an impact on the public sector’s ability to invest in housing. However the coalition government has introduced some welcome measures specifically to tackle empty homes. Notably, the “New Homes Bonus” – which is designed to encourage the provision of additional housing by giving councils a cash reward – this is being calculated to include bringing empty homes back into use. So, if an area sees a reduction in the number of its long-term empty dwellings this will count for the bonus just as much as building a new house will.

8)For property professionals and landlords that are reading this and come across a empty house that could be potentially renovated – what steps would you recommend? A common problem with empty property is the obvious one – that the owner may not be easily traceable or may not be interested. For this reason we have worked closely with local councils over the years – they have the information and, if necessary, the powers most likely to open the door to getting the property back into use. We provide a lot of information and guidance on the processes for tackling empty homes on our website www.emptyhomes.com, so that would be a good place to start before contacting the council or trying to make progress yourself. With the introduction of the New Homes Bonus, if you can go to the council with a proposition to bring a block of empty properties back into use they ought to be really supportive, as you could be earaning for them a cash bonus!

9) Are there any other obligations / risks that people looking into acquiring an empty property should look into? In dealing with an owner of an empty property, they should, like anybody else, have proper professional and legal advice.  Once you can get round the table with an owner of an empty property who is interested in seeing their property sold or renovated, then it should not be much different from dealing with any other property project – there will be all sorts of different issues coming up to be resolved. You might be find an owner who is largely disinterested in the property and the details, and is just happy for someone else to sort it out for them.

10) What about grants for renovating empty properties – how easy are these to access in the current climate? The picture varies considerably around the country – each local council sets its own policy for how much – if any – support it can give to bringing empty property back into use. We have put links for grant information at most English councils on our website www.emptyhomes.com/usefulresources/grants.html.  Where a grant is given, this will often be accompanied by a condition that the property is made available after the work to someone from the local housing waiting list.  There is another significant benefit for owners who are refurbishing empty property – which is not so widely taken up as it should be. This is the VAT concession for building works on property empty for more than 2 years, where the rate is reduced to 5%, or if it has been empty for 10 years or more then the VAT rate is Zero. The details of this can be found in HMRC’s VAT Notice no 708. This ought to be a real incentive for property professionals to tackle empty property.

11) Is there advisory assistance available from local authorities?  How pro-active are they, from a general perspective? Most local councils are keen to get empty property back into use – some come at it from the perspective of environmental health – where nuisance and damage is being caused to neighbouring property, and others see it as an element of their strategic housing work to improve the supply of affirdable housing in their area.  Some councils like to act as a enabler or broker by putting  owners of empty property in touch with local builders or developers who can do necessary refurbishment work. Many Councils provide advice and guidance for property owners either in booklet form or on the websites. The actual numbers of people in councils focussing on empty homes will be quite small – a group of district councils may some share one person between them  – so don’t expect an unlimited ability to drop in to a council to discuss the general position.

12) Can you explain a bit about your campaign on the payment of council tax on empty properties? Relief from Council Tax on short term empty property is quite rightly allowed, but we do think that giving an ongoing discount for an empty house removes one of the few incentives which might encourage owners to do something about re-using the property. Empty homes can become an increasing burden on public sector expenditure through anti-socail behaviour, vandalism, damage to adjoining property, so there seems little justification for giiving relief from the council tax?

13) Can you please let us know about the up and coming event that the Empty Homes Agency are hosting? The National Empty Homes Conference takes place in central London on 23rd May 2011. The focus this year is on new initiatives to make use of empty housing – both short term and longterm solutions, there is a fantastic range of speakers bringing hands on and practical experience of working on empty homes projects, as well as experts who will explain the new government policies affecting this work. It will provide a good opportunity for private sector operators to network with practitioners in local councils and not-for-profit housing providers.  Full details are on our website: Empty Homes Conference 2011.

The Mortgage Trust has returned to lending with the launch of a range of buy-to-let products that are only available via intermediaries.  The brand is part of Paragon but stopped lending in February 2008 and is now being relaunched by the firm.

Products include a two-year tracker at 3.99% and a two-year fixed rate deal at 4.99%, both of which are for remortgage customers only, available up to 75% LTV, have a fixed fee of £999 and come with free valuation and legal fees.

John Heron, director of mortgages at Mortgage Trust, says: “Mortgage Trust is extremely well regarded within the intermediary community and has an excellent reputation for catering for simple buy-to-let cases.

“By utilising technology to a much greater extent in the application process via mton-line.co.uk, we will be giving an initial lending decision in minutes. This will deliver a quicker and more efficient process for intermediaries and their landlords.”

Heron adds the brand will be focused on what is known for, that is catering to landlords with less complex needs who own four to five properties, while Mortgage Trust will be expanding its range of products in due course.

Mortgage Trust’s deals are available for buy-to-let applications on single self-contained properties, rental calculation is based on 125% at 5% and applications must be successfully completed by June 24 2011.

Please see our regularly updated mortgage calculator and please feel free to contact us at info@psinvestors.co.uk for more information about this and other buy to let products.

This is basically the first stage in securing a mortgage product. It is where your basic personal details are inputted onto the lenders system so that they can check that you are credit worthy of obtaining a mortgage. It is also the stage at which they also assess if you meet their lending criteria for the product you are applying for.

Lenders have their individual systems and this is why it is important not to rush into doing this without obtaining advice as applying for a decision in principle will usually result in the lender credit scoring you, which means that a ‘footprint’ can be left upon your Experian and Equifax credit reports. ‘footprints’ can actually lower a credit score if you have too many, therefore you must not rush into obtaining a decision in principle without seriously considering the lenders criteria.

A qualified mortgage adviser will be able to assist you appropriately once they have taken all the necessary personal details from you. Remember the higher your credit score the higher the chances of being accepted for a mortgage.

In order to help your adviser recommend and apply for a mortgage on your behalf it is advisable to have certain documents easily accessible as it will help speed the process up:

(i)  If you are already an investor and have a portfolio of properties then you should have a spread sheet of your properties, listing the following:

• Property address;
• Property description: house, flat, no. beds, freehold, leasehold etc., age, any special features. ( if you have a previous valuation report that will help);
• Date purchased;
• Purchase price;
• Current value;
• Current mortgage outstanding;
• Current mortgage product, end date and payrate;
• Current mortgage payment;
• Current rental income;
• Current market rental (if you don’t know the current market property or rental values, now is the time to find out from a local agent).

Remember for any application, purchase or remortgage, the lender will instruct their surveyor to value the property as part of the application process.  They will use local market information and their experience to decide what values will be put on the report sent back to the lender. It is therefore worth researching into past property sales and local market rents before you submit an application to enhance the success of any application. The main reason many BTL applications fail to convert successfully is due to the property valuations being overinflated by clients at the decision in principle stage. You therefore need to be certain the figures your broker is working from are accurate as it will only enhance the chances for successful application and completion and also prevent unnecessary ‘footprints’ on your credit file;

(ii)  Your passport.  Your adviser will need to take a copy of this and the lender may require a copy as well, which the mortgage adviser has to sign as being a true copy. if they cannot see the original it may be worth getting your solicitor to sign it. Other professionals can also sign it and your broker can advise you on this;

(iii)  Proof of address. A recent utility bill or bank statement showing your name and address, dated within the last 2 months would meet this requirement. If you have lived at your current address for less than 3 months, then you will need to also have similar documents for your previous address;

(iv)  Last 3 years accounts. Lenders have differing income requirements and its worth knowing what your net figures are. Now is the time to contact your accountant if you don’t have the figures or documents.  If  income is derived from employment then please store payslips and p60s and file accordingly. Lenders may want to see the last 3 months;

(v)  Proof of any deposit. Lenders may want to know the source of this and see a bank statement showing it in your account.

Applying for a Buy to Let mortgage can only be straight forward and easy if you and your broker are prepared. Lenders have the right to ask for any documentation they feel is necessary for their internal and regulatory procedures. Therefore having the above documents available will ensure your application can successfully complete in a short a time scale as is possible.

To find out more about how you can realistically obtain buy to let mortgage finance in today’s challenging climate, please email us at info@psinvestors.co.uk and we will be in touch within the next 24 hours.  ***Also see our daily updated mortgage calculator by clicking here.***

ZOE CAIRNS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Hi I´m Zoe Cairns, Mortgage Broker and Social Media Trainer.

A little bit about me… I started as a Mortgage Broker about 4 years ago, a year into broking the recession hit and I starting to panic about where the next piece of mortgage business was going to come from. So I started to experiment with Facebook a well know Social Media Networking site, and from learning different strategies and techniques I started to build a community of followers (property investors) which generated a great deal of leads.

From Social Media I set up Networking Pink (Property Investors Networking Knowledge) which was a networking platform for property investors which become very successful and was also a source for even more potential clients for my mortgage business leads.

In February 2008 I left the company I was working for and setup on my own “Zoe Cairns Financial Services”, and due to the industry becoming quiet in 2010 I started to teach businesses, property investors and professionals how to use Social Media to take their business to the next level!!!

I have over nineteen speaking arrangements this year at local business events, and property networking events covering Social Media Marketing.

Social Media is important for landlords and property investors as it really helps with their google rankings, online presence and to share their knowledge and expertise as a property professional.

By being online and building their presence they can really make some great connections with key centres of influences that can provide them with the property leads and clients they require. Its not just the networking aspect is the building the presence and sharing the key knowledge and information they know about property and how they can help individuals in awkward situations.

I have worked with a couple of investors in Kent (Doug Ponsford and Mesud Sali) who I helped produce a video which was uploaded to youtube and was tagged in the appropriate way. It was to generate a tenant buyer. After a week the video was on the first page of google out of 76 million results!!! Was a successful video and generated the investors a good amount of monies.

With any Social Media site you can get spammed with information that may be  not to your interest, but the key to this is don’t join groups and friends that are not in the same industry or market as you, and also set up another email address other than your personal email so your not receiving all the spam through your personal email. Also make sure you have changed your notifications in your account settings on Facebook to make sure you are not receiving notifications for everything!! You can also do this for Twitter as well.

With over 90 million users, LinkedIn is a popular networking website and, as well as the Property Investors / Developers Forum, there is a great section called “Answers” where you can really use your property knowledge and expertise to answer property related questions other LinkedIn users have asked. So this is where you can potential find key connections and referrals.

There are many FREE tools for Social Media that property investors and professionals can really utilise. They can use these tools to select their target followers and areas in which they are investing. They can also use them to automate all of their tweets, status updates, following users etc. Time leveraging is really important and there are many Social Media tools out there that you can use for this.

For continued education I have many products and services in which property investors and professionals can take advantage of. I hold Social Media hands on training workshops,  online mentoring products consisting of step by step video tutorials, one to one mentoring and much more.

To find out more about my products please visit www.zoecairns.com

For all readers of this article I can offer a 10% discount on any of my products / training.

To Your Successes

Zoe Cairns

Tel: 01474 350690

Mob: 07931971249

Email: zoe@zoecairns.com

Web: www.zoecairns.com

Now a household name, the Rightmove property portal has now become the first point of call for the large majority of the nation’s house buyers and sellers.  Launched in 2000, the company is now listed on the London Stock Exchange and recently attracted attention as being one of the only sites on the planet that Google pulled out of competing with due to its well established presence.  We were therefore very grateful to be able to ask some questions to Miles Shipside – the company’s commercial director – who has had an integral role in bringing the company to where it is today.  We focus on how the company has grown over the last 10 years; maintaining its strong position; 2011 plans; searching for investment property; quality control; what makes a successful property advertisement; the overseas property market; the Rightmove property index; the role of the web in the future of buying / selling property and estate agency fees.

1) As the most popular property search portal in the UK, why do you think that Rightmove has got this position? The old process of visiting agents or relying on their mailing lists or newspaper adverts was inefficient, costly and frustrating and with the growing advancements in internet Rightmove was able to produce a new model for property searching. Our website has always been driven by ease-of-use, up-to-date data and more properties than anyone else. From the beginning we worked harder and were more focused than other websites on getting these things right. As the site grew and these things became important to people searching for property we began to stand out and were the site that agents and home-hunters wanted to turn to first. Today we continue to grow with over 800m pages served in January this year (a record for us) and an 82% market share among the top 4 property websites.

2) How are you ensuring that this is maintained? We invested strongly in advertising, particularly in television – which remains very important to us. We also invest heavily in adding new features to the site to keep making the home-search process as easy and manageable as possible. As part of this we resist having any external advertising and annoying pop ups in spite of being offered lots of money, ensuring the user experience stays good. Another key part of our success is making sure we employ bright and passionate people.

3) What are the plans for 2011 that property investors can look forward to? That would give our competitors advance warning, but we keep striving to improve. Draw-a-search was a great example from 2010, enabling users to sketch out their own search area on a map rather than just rely on postcode districts. The comparable information is a big winner with investors, helping decide what’s a good buy and what returns are feasible and we are improving all the time in the sales data and market reports we provide. Mobile and social media are also two areas which we consider key to our growth. In the social media space we are developing a site called Rightmove Places which is a social community website that will enable anyone to share views on their local areas or topics of interest. This should give investors a forum to raise topics as well as check out other people’s comments on what an area is like. We are also looking to improve out suite of mobile products including changes to our iPhone app which have has been a big hit with people who need to stay in touch with the property market and check out new areas on the move.

4)  For those who perhaps need a bit of a refresher or have not used the site before for such purposes, how can Rightmove be used to effectively search an investment property? There are three options under the ‘House Prices’ area of the site which serve as a great tool for property investors:  (i) Find Sold Prices which uses Land Registry data to provide analysis of what homes have sold for in the areas you are interested in; (ii) Price Comparison Report which factors in currently listed properties and sold prices to give you a picture of what a property may be worth; (iii) Market Trends allows you to map out price performance over time in your chosen area.  As well as these feature Rightmove is unparalleled as a search tool in the current property market, both in terms of number of properties listed (on average we listed around 90% of homes currently for sale) and searching options meaning you can filter by things like auction properties and various house types.

5) What kinds of controls are put in place to ensure that properties advertised are genuine ones? Where relevant, advertisers have to comply with the Property Descriptions Act, Estate Agents Act, Ombudsmans Schemes and other criteria about accuracy specified in our terms and conditions. There are a few rogues in every walk of life but we hope the fact that all advertisers warrant to us that they will comply with these elements of consumer legislation that are under the jurisdiction of local Trading Standards gives a high degree of accuracy and compliance.

6)  What would be your tips for successful property sales advertisement that will attract viewers? Great quality of photos, and several of them, whether the property is large or small. The photos and the words used in an advert must help the target audience seeing it think they would consider living there. It must stir the emotions as well as present the facts. We also provide a range of website products which can help boost performance, for example Premium Listing properties receive 34% more views and 21% more enquiries than standard listings. These products can be arranged via an estate agent advertising that property.

7)  And the same would go for a property to rent? Yes… tenants are not buying the place so the inside quality of finish is more important than an outside shot that lacks a wow factor or is the same as all the others in the area. However, tenants are staying longer as they cannot get mortgages so easily, so again they need to feel like the place they rent is a home too.

8)  Can you talk a bit about your overseas section – its history and plans for the future? Rightmove’s Overseas division first began advertising overseas property in 2004. Since then we’ve grown to average over 1.4 million searches a month for property by Brits looking to fulfil their dreams of a property abroad making us one of the biggest overseas portals. The credit crunch impacted the entire industry hugely in 2008/2009 with entire segments of buyers disappearing almost overnight.  Casual investors looking for quick returns combined with easy availability of money were never a recipe for long term success. It’s easy to forget that throughout the bubble years, there was always a core of lifestyle buyers looking for long term property to enjoy. That core is a lot more visible now that the short term investors have deserted the market. For 2011 we think the market won’t grow massively in terms of transactions, but the transactions times and buying timescales will slowly begin to fall again as people become more comfortable and economic conditions settle down. We expect to generate a lot more sales for those advertisers prepared to invest in developing good relationships with buyers in 2011.

9)   In terms of the index you provide, you state asking price averages (not sold values) – do you think that this is a particularly accurate way to measure trends, particularly in the current market place? Time has proven that new sellers asking prices are early indicators of where sold prices are heading. The sold indices price movements actually track ours, but a few months later. However, all are useful as long as you understand the different timeframes they operate in and their sample size is big enough. We measure 90% of the market, which means we have a far more significant sample size than mortgage lenders for example who are basing their stats on the number of mortgage-purchased properties they have received.

10)  What would be your advice for people researching local house price patterns at the moment? Set up an alert on Rightmove to see what’s new coming on and then see what is selling quickly and what hangs around or gets reduced. Do the same on for sale boards you pass regularly, and pop into agents and talk to them.

11)  What are your thoughts on the debate of web property portals overtaking estate agencies in terms of how people will buy and sell houses in the future?  Are the high street estate / lettings agency going to be a thing of the past as we move further into the digital age? Personal service and local knowledge from local agents combined with the ease and power of the web. The two used well by local agents seems to help them deliver a good service that helps them get the best of both worlds and attract more customers. Conversely, agents that do not perform well in both will be under pressure. A flash High Street branch is a good advertising hoarding, but it is important it can be seen by lots of motorists and passersby. If not, a more secondary location saves money that can be invested in service and technology to win business that way.

12)  The main off-putting factor we see as property investors when selling, are the fees that agencies charge – when comparing them to advertising your house on the net, the costs are significantly lower.  Would the agencies have to drop their fees in order to be able to compete? Compared to much of Europe and the USA agency fees are low. However, service has to be good otherwise sellers will resent paying anything. It is the largest transaction of many people’s lives, so 1% to 2% of the transaction is worth it if the agent advises you on presentation and makeover, presents a property fantastically, promotes it in all the right places, and negotiates the best price achieved available in the marketplace at the time.

This month sees a number of interesting products on the market.   Please be aware that products and rates quoted may not still be available at the time of application:

• Kensington have announced a product linked to a mortgage club so you need a broker to submit it but it’s a 2 yr fixed at 5.99% at 85% with a 2.5% fee.  They are the first lender to come out with an 85% product with a competitive rental income of 120% at the product payrate.  The individual needs to have a min income of 30,000 for this product and they will accept one years accounts.  Advances up to £350,000, min property value £90,000. Not for first time buyers. New build max lending 65%. Min age 25. Interest only allowed;

• If you are looking for a product with no tie ins, then TMW are offering a 2 yr tracker at 70%LTV with a 3.5% arrangement fee and rental income of 125% at 4.99%.  TMW do not require neither a minimum personal income nor a proof of income, most nowadays require £25,000. Tracker product clients also have the ability to switch anytime onto their fixed product range with no penalty, so for those wanting to make the most of the low tracker rate but concerned that rates may rise this could be a lender suitable for them;

• TMW also have a range of products for first time landlords, however do note that the landlord must be a residential home owner;

• If you are looking for assistance with the mortgage fees, BM Solutions are offering a 4.2% 1 yr tracker product with a 2.5% arrangement fee, £500 cash back and a refund of valuation upon completion. BMS now have a restriction of 3 BTL properties and a lending cap of 2 million across the whole of the Lloyds TSB group which doesn’t tend to make it favourable for the existing portfolio client however for those that don’t their range is competitively priced and the 4.2% tracker quoted above has a competitive rental calculation of 125% at 4.2%;

• For those who have properties in the south of England, Cambridge BS could be an option. They have 2 products, the lowest being a 3.99% 2 year tracker with a 3.5% fee, using the payrate at 135%. However they require applications to be submitted by paper and lending is restricted to certain southeast regions;

• For off plan and unusual property types, Natwest continue to be reliable, offering a 4.99% 2 yr tracker with a £1999 fee. They do however restrict lending to 70% on this product and with a rental calculation of 125% at 6.9% it can be viewed as fairly limiting.

To find out more about any of these products and speak to our resident broker, please email us at info@psinvestors.co.uk and we will be in touch within the next 24 hours.  Please subscribe to our newsletter to the left to receive our monthly property investors factsheet.