Should you buy before the stamp duty increase?

On 1st January 2010, the stamp duty threshold changes. So is it worth you completing before the end of the year? As a result if you complete on a home for £175,000 before 31st December 2009 you won't pay any stamp duty and from January 2nd (no-one will be working on New Year's Day!) you will pay 1% x £175,000 = £1,750 to the government in stamp duty land tax.

Read my thoughts on the stamp duty changes here ....

How to buy via an Estate Agent

Many people complain bitterly about estate agents. Some of the complaints are valid, some really aren’t fair. If you want to successfully buy through an estate agent it’s essential that you understand what information you give them, how to ensure they want to sell a property to YOU and that you know when an agent is telling the truth – and when they might be telling some porky pies!

Read my easy to follow guide to ensure you get the best service from estate agents!

Now IS the time to Build your Own Home!

Come on, 5 million of you watch Grand Designs when it’s on, yet only 15,000 people a year make the effort to build. Reasons given for not building are mainly ‘I can’t find a plot’ or ‘I can’t afford it’ or ‘I don’t want to build it myself’. Well the credit crunch has taken all of these reasons to NOT build your own home away!

So if you think you can't afford it or find a plot - read on to find out how you could build the house of your dreams!

HIPS – when will the politics stop?

I feel sorry for anyone dealing in HIPs. The idea is sound, have as much information as possible about a home before you make an offer, this way less sales are likely to fall through after the offer stage. But, even before they were introduced, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) mounted a legal objection, which was overcome. Now there is a major battle on with the Conservatives determined to scrap them if they come into power. Not only have they become a political football between Labour and Conservatives, they are also a dividing the property 'industry experts'.

Read on to find out what current HIPs arguments are raging ...

What to consider when investing or buying property overseas

Many people just ‘fall’ into buying property abroad. Either they go to a show and like the look of the fancy developer photos and get sucked in by the patter of the clever salesmen (usually ex time share sales people!) or they go on holiday, meet someone in a bar, get invited to a ‘free’ event and with little due diligence hand over tens of thousands of pounds. Don’t let this happen to YOU!

To ensure this doesn't happen to you, read my essential guide to buying a property overseas.

Thinking of Renewing your Home Insurance?

Let's face it, we all hate renewing our home insurance and when the renewal notice lands on the doormat, it's just not a very exciting thing to have to do! So how many people actually take the time to search for the best deal, and look at all the small print that relates to the dos and dont's of insuring one of the most valuable assets you own and all your prized possessions?

Find out how you can save some money on your insurance ...

Many would be interested in how to go about buying and selling property on for profit

Buying and selling property for a profit used to be ‘easy’. Through the millennium you could buy a property and be guaranteed it would make money in a few years and in some cases, a few months. Some people (and mortgage lenders!) seemed to think house prices would continue to rise, others warned of a housing bubble, but didn’t seem to be able to accurately predict when it would burst.

However, burst it did, starting in the States and hitting the UK very hard. The recession appeared to start in the property sector and within months we saw sales drop by 50% prices fall by 20% from a 2007 peak. Rental income which normally rises when house prices fall, has suffered with year on year falls of 5% or more, voids have increased as have tenant rent arrears.

To find out more, read on .....

When and How you should Sell your Property Investments

When investing, most people concentrate on the ‘deal’ they are getting and whether it works in today’s market. However, since the property price falls of 2007 left many investors who wanted to cash in for their retirement in dire straits, and with the demand and supply of property likely to change in the future due to demographics, it’s essential to have a good idea of when is the right time to sell your investments.

Read on to find out when and how you should sell your property investments ....

Why you Should Diversify your Property Investments

When it comes to property investment, many people start with ‘what they know’. This means buying a property, renovating it and then selling it on at a profit, or buying a property then letting it out.

However, once you have some property investment under your belt and before you look to do ‘more of the same’ then it’s worth making sure that your next investment(s) work in good and bad economic conditions, perhaps deliver a return at different times or in different ways to your existing investments.

So what does your property investment deliver at the moment? Not sure and want to find out more?

What should you do differently in the current economic climate?

With the difficult economic environment we are in and new rules that are likely to apply to property investment from a financial perspective, means that ‘doing the same thing’ may well not work now, or even in the future when the market picks up. For example, while the property market is in the doldrums and price growth (despite news reports) are not really rising; making money from renovation is incredibly difficult to do.

So find out what you should do differently in the current economic climate ......

First time property investor: Where do you start?

When you are a first time investor the whole process is incredibly daunting. On one hand you are a bit like a first time buyer again – very excited about the investment adventure you are about to take, on the other hand, you are about to enter an unregulated market that can as easily lose you your life savings as it can make you a property millionaire!

Here are our top ten first steps to take to help you work out what you need to do to help make sure your first time investment is a success.

What’s Going to Happen to House Prices in 2010?

It’s a nervous time for many people involved in the property market. So nerve wracking in fact, that many of the companies that normally predict what’s going to happen to property prices in the next 12 months – haven’t!

The problem for many forecasters at the moment is that few expected the property market to stabilise this year, many thought prices would continue to fall (not us though!). However, not only have prices stabilised, we are even seeing small price rises in some areas where demand is higher than supply. Add into the mix that the economic predictions are also giving confusing messages, with some saying we are heading out of recession while others are saying this is just a blip and we will fall further into recession over the coming months.

READ ON on to find out who is giving forecasts for 2010 property prices and beyond, and are they likely to be accurate?

Have you checked your Property Portfolio will Deliver what YOU Want?

Most people just decide ‘I’ve got a bit of cash’ and then ‘I’ll buy a property’. Next thing you know, you’ve got a ‘bit more cash’ so you ‘buy another property’. Then you’ll say, ‘I’ve put my money into property for my pension’ or ‘I’m leaving the kids a property portfolio’.

If this is you, let me ask you a question – have you actually worked out what your portfolio is worth and whether it will deliver what you want eg a pension? Or what tax your kids will pay to inherit the portfolio you’ve left them? Have you ever checked with an Independent Financial Advisor or Wealth Manager whether your portfolio can be protected or will deliver to you in your retirement?

If not, then now is the time to do so – don’t leave it for a few years, you never know what will happen. Sorry to be ‘doom and gloom’ but things happen that are out of their control, people get sick, lose their job and then lose their home or homes in the case of property investors. It’s happening to people now and now is your chance to make sure it doesn’t happen to you!

Follow my Top Five Tips to Ensure your Property Portfolio Delivers what YOU Want!