Buy-to-Let Rate Hikes: Expert Options if You're a Landlord Facing Higher Mortgage Costs
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteIf you’re a landlord with a fixed-rate mortgage nearing the end of its initial term, you’ll only be too aware of the coming increase in your monthly repayments. Back in October 2021 and 2018, two and five-year buy-to-let fixed...
Accepting a Guarantor: The Essential Checks You Need to Make, and When to Say No
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteFor some landlords, the very mention of guarantors can ring alarm bells. But they're written into more tenancy agreements than you might think, and needing one isn’t necessarily a sign of problems ahead. Even well-paid...
Empty Promise: Turn a Vacant Spell into a Brighter Future for Your Benfleet Buy-to-Let
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteAn empty rental property doesn’t have to be a downer. In fact, having some time between tenancies gives you the chance to optimise your investment's rental yield, sales value, and future popularity. That said, vacant homes do...
Spread Your Lets: Is it Time to Diversify Your Lettings Portfolio?
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteAlthough long-term lettings to professional tenants are easily the most hands-off way of being a landlord, they're not your only option. So having previously covered renting to families, attracting high-income earners, and even...
Rigorous Referencing: The Secret Sauce for Trouble-Free Tenancies and Peace of Mind
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteGiving someone the keys to your rental property is a big deal, and you want to be as sure as you can be that whoever you choose turns out to be reliable, trustworthy, and trouble-free. For complete peace of mind, a thorough...
Buy-to-Let Booster: Five Ways to Raise the Return on Your Rental Homes
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteIs your buy-to-let as profitable as it could be? Many aren’t. There’s often more mileage in a rental home than many landlords realise, and some of the checks you can make to determine whether your property is a peak performer...
Accurate Valuations: How Do You Know You’re Getting the Right Price?
By Rachel OllingtonPrice is everything when selling your home. It doesn’t matter where you live, what you live in or what condition it’s in - if the price is wrong, you’ll be out of pocket or stuck where you are. Accurate valuations are...
Furnished Lettings: Could You Boost the Income of Your Rental Property by 21%?
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteTo furnish or not to furnish? That hasn’t been the question for as long as we can remember - it’s been unfurnished all the way. Nonetheless, the subject comes up in conversation every now and then, and a recent Zoopla article...
Grand Designs: How to Use Planning Permission to Boost Your Home’s Value
By Rachel OllingtonHow do you feel about adding thousands to your home without making a single improvement? One of the magic words in property is ‘potential’, and getting planning permission to increase the amount of accommodation is a great way...
Millennial Landlords: How to Help Your Child Build Their Own Buy-to-Let Business
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteImagine if your child was already financially independent by the age of 25. How proud would that make you feel? With the UK’s massive housing shortage, rents are being pushed higher and higher. This means more private landlords...