Six Questions to Ask When Looking for a Letting Agent

Fed up with self-managing your buy-to-let and want a top-notch professional to do it for you instead? Here’s how to find the best letting agent in your neighbourhood.

So, you’ve decided to get a letting agent to manage your rental. You can’t wait to hand the burden of regulatory red tape and admin over to an expert but are faced with a dilemma. With so many agents out there, how do you find the best one?

The last thing you want is … Continue Reading…

The Anti-Valentine’s Day Guide

If you’re a hopeless romantic, look away now. In this three-minute read, we look at why Valentine’s Day isn’t romantic at all and how you should spend it instead.

Love is in the air… and every shop window, every restaurant, down every supermarket aisle and even in petrol stations (for those partial to a wilting bunch of flowers). Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day. The ultimate ‘holiday’ designed to make you miserable.

Whether you have a significant other or you’re a smug singleton (honestly, … Continue Reading…

Buying a Property This Year? Here’s What You Need To Know

If 2023 was the year you were going to buy a new home, it’s fair to say that the gloomy news headlines might have you rethinking things a bit. Is it the right time to buy? Should you rent instead? Should you move in with your nearest and dearest and hope they don’t mind?

It’s a tricky one. But when the housing market is rockier than a Bon Jovi concert, you might feel more apprehensive than usual about investing your cash.

In … Continue Reading…

Managing a Property Portfolio: Tips to Save You Time and Money

How do portfolio landlords deal with the multitude of tasks and mountains of red tape that come with managing several properties? Read on to find out.

Owning a portfolio of rental properties can be a great way to earn income and build up a tidy nest egg for the future. But be warned: you can’t afford to wing it.

If you’re disorganised with deposits, rent payments, inventories and maintenance, you’ll wind up out of pocket.

And if you don’t keep up with the … Continue Reading…

Need to Sell Your Home in an Uncertain Market? Read On

One minute, the housing market is at an all-time high, the next, newspapers are warning it will plunge faster than a block of concrete in a swimming pool. Finance bods and property experts love to talk up a crisis, but what’s the reality for those wanting to sell?

Well, it’s quite simple: the best way to sell your property in the current market is to bag yourself a trusted, reliable estate agent to do the hard work for you.

In this quick … Continue Reading…

Deposit Deductions: What Landlords Should Know

The end of a tenancy agreement can be stressful for landlords. You need to make sure the property isn’t vacant for long and there may be a need for repairs and maintenance. Then there’s the deposit release process and decisions about whether you need to make any deductions.

Landlords have a bad rap when it comes to deposits. Many tenants think they have made unfair deductions or that their landlord is wrong to keep anything back.

Thankfully, services such as the Tenancy … Continue Reading…

Interior Design Trends of 2023

If you’re thinking of freshening up the interior of your home this year, here’s a list of what’s trending on the design front.

Are you planning a mega makeover in 2023? Or perhaps you just want to make some modest changes to breathe new life into your home? Whether your project is big or small, here are some design ideas to inspire you.

Warm colours
Many people are ditching the all-white minimalist look (it’s tricky to maintain, especially if you have a young … Continue Reading…

How Landlords Can Avoid Falling Prey to Scammers

Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to make a fast buck, often leaving landlords out of pocket or caught up in messy legal disputes.

Read on to learn about the most common scams targeting landlords and how to protect your rental property.

Falsifying documents
The wonders of technology mean it’s much easier these days to make convincing fake ID, and doctor payslips, bank statements and references. As a result, landlords could be duped into taking on a tenant who isn’t who they claim … Continue Reading…

How to Turbo Charge Your Productivity

If you’re feeling sluggish after a few weeks back at work post-Christmas, here are some tips to boost your productivity and give you more of that most precious commodity – time.

Did you finish up in 2022 feeling knackered and overwhelmed by your never-ending to-do list? If so, you’re not alone.

According to a study in the journal Nature, most people say they feel persistently “time-poor – like they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them”.

And … Continue Reading…

Selling Your Property? The Questions to Ask Before Accepting an Offer

Accept an offer from a fast-talker or a faffer, and your hopes for a speedy property deal could be scuppered. Here’s how to choose the right buyer.

When it comes to property transactions, we often focus on the long list of questions buyers want answers to.

What’s the local area like? Where are the nearest good schools? And what about the boiler, electrics, water pressure, broadband and energy ratings?

A good agent will be able to deftly answer all these queries without pausing … Continue Reading…