Landlord Mistakes: Five Major Buy-to-Let Bloopers and How to Avoid Them
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteMaking mistakes is a part of life: many can be laughed off, but others are more serious. And for landlords, there can be legal and financial consequences for getting things wrong. When we're asked to take over a rental home by...
Is Your Home Performing? Unlocking the Secrets of Your Rightmove Results Report
By Rachel OllingtonWith more than 9 out of 10 buyers searching for a property online, the way your home appears on websites like Rightmove and Zoopla directly impacts your chances of a sale. But the portals are more than just pages and pages of...
Replacing a Sharer: Our Guide to a Swift, Smooth and Legal Switch Between Tenants
By Phillippa Baillie-WhiteHouse shares are a great way of maximising your rental income, and they cover every kind of tenant, from university students to high-earning professionals. Inevitably, a housemate will leave at some point as their life evolves....
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...