1. Please introduce yourself. Say a bit about yourself and your company

I’m David Lawrenson, owner of property consultancy, landlord advice and buy to let information website, www.LettingFocus.com

I’m author of the UK’s top selling property book, “Successful Property Letting – How to Make Money in Buy to Let” as well as being a landlord, media commentator, consultant and the landlord blogs at www.LettingFocus.com/blog.html and www.LettingFocus.com/blogs

Primarily my main role is acting as a consultant to a range of businesses that have products and services for landlords.  I help them improve their buy to let and landlord facing products and services.

My main clients include banks (buy to let mortgages and insurance), local authorities and housing associations (setting up private rented sector access schemes) and property portals such as Rightmove, though I do work in other sectors too.

As well as my corporate work, I also find a little time to help private investors as a property coach and mentor.

I don’t charge corporate rates to private landlords but I show property investors of whatever level of experience how they can make money in residential property investment and buy to let using ethical methods that actually work and without taking undue risks.

2. How did you first become involved in property?

I have been a landlord for 24 years. I started when I bought a 2 bed flat and let the other room out. It paid off all my mortgage and I figured this was a good way to make a living and more fun than my day job.

3. What do you think is your greatest achievement so far?

It has to be my book. It has sold 25,000 copies in the 4 and a half years to date and has been the UK’s highest selling property book for 3 years running now.

I think people like it because it is up to date (we have had to revise it many times to keep up to date with all the changing legislation the government keeps chucking at us) and it is honest and doesn’t make any ludicrous claims that you can be a millionaire in a few months like lots of other books do.

I also enjoy all the consulting work I have done to date – whether it is doing 5 figure contracts for big firms or the government or just small half day consulting jobs for private individuals. I enjoy it all and no, I don’t miss being a wage slave and working for someone else one bit.

I also like being a good landlord and looking after my tenants. Most stay a long time so I guess I’m doing something right.

4. Do you or your company have any exciting plans for the future?

Not really. I will just keep on keeping on doing this because it is what I like.

Since I have moved my consulting to do more business to business work, I have become very busy especially with work from banks who want to improve their buy to let lending products and local authorities who want to do more on private rented sector access schemes.

The public sector is surprisingly open to new ideas. Some of the banks are still too arrogant to figure that they have to give a landlord more advice than “here is a £200K mortgage, now off you go.” But I’m working with some of the more forward thinking banks right now to give their buy to let borrowers a lot more help and advice and to improve the knowledge of their customer servicing and sales staff as well as what is on their websites for their customers. This should “change the game” as far as buy to let mortgages are concerned and it will definitely cut my clients’ arrears rates.

Plus, I’m always looking for new property investments for me.

5. What do you think are the greatest problems facing the private rented sector today?

Some regulation can be misconceived and badly targeted.

Take landlord licensing in Scotland. It has all cost a great deal of money and yet loads of landlords letting property remain outside the scheme (despite the risk of fines).

It was supposed to drive out rogue landlords, and yet, the number of rogue landlords driven out by the scheme is pitiful.

When you look at it, it is just a tax on good landlords and I guess it gives some civil servants a job administering the scheme.

6. What do you think are the greatest opportunities?

Too many landlords today don’t understand how letting to people on benefits works.

This is a growing area that can be very rewarding providing landlords know what they are doing.

7. We have a new government. What would you like them to do for the private rented sector?

I’m going to upset some corporate clients here, but here goes.

The government could start by re-reading Julie Rugg’s report that they commissioned, where she said that the small private landlord is doing very well (the private rented sector has grown from 8% of all housing stock in 1988 to 15% odd now).

Then they could ask themselves why they want to dole out tax breaks to big property firms and city institutions so they can make investing in the private residential sector or “build to let” work for them financially.

I ask the government why the big firms should get special tax breaks.

I would say that if they can’t make buy to let work without special treatment then maybe they should not be in the game at all.

Instead, I would suggest the government should look at the oligopoly that exists in buy to let mortgage finance and sort that out and get buy to let mortgage rates and fees down.

If they do so, the small landlord can start buying more property very well.

Also, why regulate buy to let mortgage finance when it patently obvious that it is the activities of some property clubs and bad advisers that needs regulating.

8. Do you use social media (blogs, twitter, LinkedIn etc)? What place do you think it has in the future of the property industry?

I have spent ages learning about and implementing search engine optimisation but of the social networking stuff I only use Twitter (and only because it is quick to do). My Twitter site is www.Twitter.com/LettingFocus.

Apart from that, I’m not convinced of the benefit of the rest of the social networking scene to my consulting business – whether we are talking private landlord clients or big organisations.

Despite the claims of some social networking advocates I know, that most organisations don’t consult Linked in or the like when they want to hire an expert on landlord products or indeed any other sort of expert for that matter.

9. What is the most important lesson you have learned during your time in property?

Buy the right property in the right place and in the right location (especially where transport improvements and regeneration are actually happening)

Make sure you check out tenants carefully or make absolutely sure your agent has done this for you.

There are great letting agents out there and there are ones who, frankly should not be in business at all.

In case you have the latter, you have to keep them on a short rein and fully check the references of any tenants they get for you. (I hear from so many landlords who got a tenant from hell through a duff letting agent!)

Then treat tenants well and have a very robust system when they come to leave to reduce the chance of disputes.

10. What advice would you have to someone thinking of entering the property industry today?

Read my book.

And don’t listen to the many scam merchants in the piranha invested property advice pool – remember property investment advice is still largely unregulated.

*****
Thanks for your wise words David. And I can vouch for the book being a good one, well worth getting, whether you are a new or an experienced landlord. Click here if you want to buy it..

1. Please introduce yourself. Say a bit about yourself and your company

My name is John B. Corey Jr., and my company name is Chelsea Private Equity.

With the formal bits out of the way, let me tell you a bit about my past and how that shapes my future.

I started investing in real estate in California in 1983. I was a new software engineer working at Hewlett Packard. Like many of my co-workers, the idea of investing in property was attractive as it was all about the numbers. In software you are building solutions to fit a business requirement and otherwise inventing the future. More so when the software you are creating is a product the company sells.

With real estate you look for ways to put a deal together. You study the numbers as they are and you make projections for how they could be. You see the glass as being half full while many times the seller notices the half full glass.

Jumping forward, in 1994 Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) moved me to London. SBC was a Swiss retail bank plus a global investment bank. After a reverse take-over SBC became today’s UBS. I worked for the bank for five years and then spent time at few more investment banks. I also ran the software development function at Egg as an interim manager and did some work at Royal Liver in Liverpool.

My UK investing activities kicked off in 1994 but nothing all that serious happened until 1999 as I was too busy with my day job to really dive in to the UK property market.

These days I spend time advising clients on their property portfolios, I work on joint venture deals and I am overseeing the development of an iPhone application. The ‘app’ will let investors be more effective when evaluating a BTL deal.

2. How did you first become involved in property?

The detailed version of the story is I read a book called “Nothing Down” by Robert Allen. A few weeks or months later there was a free evening seminar advertised on TV. If you went to the meeting you would receive a free cassette tape. Yes, it was a while ago; back when home study meant books and tapes. At the end of the meeting there was an up-sell. If you signed up then and there you could attend a two day course for $495. As I was very willing to sign up I found myself driving to a hotel in San Francisco on the following Saturday and Sunday so I could attend the training.

Not knowing anything about ‘analysis paralysis‘ I took Monday morning off from my day job and walked down to the nearest real estate office (estate agency in the UK). By that afternoon I had a ‘exchanged’ on a ‘nothing down’ deal for a detached three bedroom house. As I had been renting a bedroom in a large house with some fellow engineers I figured I could buy the place and rent out two bedrooms. I was soon the owner of a home where my month cash outlay was less than what I had been paying to rent a room in prior house.

3. What do you think is your greatest achievement so far?

Doing my first two deals. It was only later that I realized how much of a difference it made to get out there and take action. Put another way I did not consider it an option to sit on the fence. Being unable to pull the trigger was just not part of my make up. I calculated the downside and figured I could manage the details. Living in a house with others had been a way of life thru university and my first two years of employment. How hard could it be to send in the mortgage check and sort the maintenance?

4. Do you or your company have any exciting plans for the future?

Yes, but I would have to kill you if I told you.

My background is in technology. Many companies in Silicon Valley operate in ‘stealth mode‘ while they get a few things in place. You want to have an impact when you reveal your plans and when you launch the product. It should be noted that I spent a year working for Steve Jobs so I understand a bit about the Apple magic in terms of product launches.

That said, I can offer a peak behind the curtain if you promise not to tell anyone.

I find that the typical UK BTL investor learned their trade during one of the best markets ever for investing. Prices were rising and lenders were pouring money into the hands of the borrowers. Then we had the credit crunch. A number of investors were unprepared for what it really takes to run a self-sustaining real estate business. The days of refinancing to pull out equity every year or two are over for a while.

Given the above I find that BTL investors are pretty bad when it comes to the numbers. Or they are great at adding up some of the numbers while totally missing some others. What happens is a false sense of what break even is and what it takes to weather the market ups and downs. I know one investor / adviser who fails to remember difference between cash flow and profit. Many businesses in lots of sectors have gone bust by confusing the two.

I aim to raise the bar; to set a more professional standard. I have spoken to some lenders to identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that should be monitored and reported. As the saying goes, this is not rocket science. Watching the right KPIs is similar to driving with your eyes open. You must be able to see the road in front of you while still monitoring the gauges and dials that provide the feedback as to how everything is operating.

The commercial real estate sector in the UK and the US operates this way. The US residential investment sector is also pretty good in terms of KPIs. Maybe the UK BTL sector can step up.

5. What do you think are the greatest problems facing the private rented sector today?

Two things:

It is a rather new sector having largely been born in 1996. Many of the smaller investors are still learning their trade. Quite a few run a good operation. That said, there is still a sizable portion who are focused on landing deals for the least deposit possible and not optimized for the ongoing cash flow. Grabbing the tiger by the tale and then not knowing what to do with the now angry tiger is one way to put it.

Second, and much more important is the political climate. As investors or SME businesses, the sector is rather fragmented. The public perception is any investor is somehow part of the landed gentry and that we are oppressing the tenants. The government statistics tend to say otherwise but the perception is a landlord needs to be placed more and more under state control. Landlord registry, councils being able to view sharers as living in an HMO and other recent ideas or changes are examples.

I am a believer in the right level of regulation. Not too much and not too little. There does need to be standards. For example I am rather supportive of tenant deposits being protected as the deposit is the tenants money up until there is a valid claim from the landlord. With that said, there is a tendency for elected officials and some groups to advocate for more regulation rather than implementing and using what is already on the books.

It is funny how the government sponsored reports and surveys almost all say that something like 93%+ of all tenancies end as agreed with no dispute. Something seems to be working so why the rush to introduce more regulations?

6. What do you think are the greatest opportunities?

To be more professional and to build scale during the credit crunch. The best deals come from motivated sellers. Credit crunches produce a lot of motivated sellers. A credit crunch also eliminate the dumb buyers who pay over the odds to secure a deal. The froth is blown off the market, lenders return to more sensible lending and people no longer believe property always goes up. There is time to evaluate a deal rather than rushing before someone else snaps it up.

7. We have a general election coming up – what would you like to see in the winning parties manifesto as regards the private rented sector?

On this topic I defer to the NLA. Working with government or opposing government takes a lot of time and money. The best way to gain leverage is to represent a group of voters. An individual voter is not going to be listened to as one vote makes no difference.

By being a member of the NLA a UK landlord / property investor has a team to lobby the government and to monitor the situation before changes are imposed.

8. Do you use social media (blogs, twitter, LinkedIn etc)? What place do you think it has in the future of the property industry?

Understand I come from a technology background. I have a degree in computer science and I studied Artificial Intelligence at Stanford while working in Silicon Valley.

I use most of the things people know about and a number of other tools/services that the public is yet to discover.

I started as a real estate investors when cell phones were bolted inside a car, when answering machines were device with a tape, many offices did not have a fax and the web had not been invented. Emailing pictures was not done and desktop video did not exist.

The tools that are available today speed up connections. You can get recommendations, you can refer people, you can research a topic and contact the expert. The fundamentals are still the same in terms of knowing your business, building trust with your customers, vendors and partners and delivering projects on time.

Most of today’s social media is nothing more than a different way to share or talk with others. That said, social media makes it a whole lot easier to find people of like minds. Much less need to use the local person if there is someone down the road who has superior expertise and skills.

9. What is the most important lesson you have learned during your time in property?

I will give you two.

First, you can be lazy. It is a long game rather than a way to get rich quickly. For the average person you only need to find a great deal every year or two and then hang on to the deal. This is not a sprint. How quickly you find a deal is not critical to your success. It might be emotionally more rewarding to see rapid progress but it is not required. Ten deals you still own spread over twenty years is better than almost any public or private pension.

Second, time will be on your side if you let time get to work. The sooner you buy the first property the sooner time can work its magic. Most of the gain in the residential sector comes from appreciation that is fundamentally tied to underlying or long term inflation. Housing is a good inflation hedge. If you own a property for 20 or so years you will likely find it is worth more. If, at the same time, the debt has been paid off by the tenant you win a second time. Inflation drives up the value of the asset and someone else goes to work to pay off the debt. The tenant gets a good deal as they get a place they can call home without the full cost and hassle of ownership. Win win.

Time is on your side if you make a decision and buy that first property.

10. What advice would you have to someone thinking of entering the property industry today?

Start simple. Buy a house to live in or buy a house that you rent. Just keep the deal simple. If they have never purchased a house before there is a lot to learn without trying to make it more complex. With the second purchase you can raise the bar slightly and learn a few more things.

Focus on keeping what you buy unless you have proven you cannot handle being a landlord. In that case I would suggest you become a partner with someone else. The greatest benefits occur over the long term so try and avoid the short term, buy to sell (BTS) model. With the exception of developers BTS just does not work well as there are high friction costs associated with the constant buying and selling (stamp duty, time spent, fees & commissions).

*****

Many thanks indeed John for your thoughtful and insightful answers,  which I found fascinating, as I am sure many others will too.  I wish you all the best for your undisclosed plans  (which I daren’t ask about now …)

1. Please introduce yourself. Say a bit about yourself and your company

I edit Landlord & Buy to Let magazine and organise trade shows for the private rented sector with my team at Accession Exhibitions & Publishing Ltd based in Macclesfield.

2. How did you first become involved in property?

I launched our first PRS event in 2006, which is also the same time I purchased my first investment property, a small commercial unit in Stoke on Trent purchased through my SIPP pension and then rented to my business until we relocated in 2007.

3. What do you think is your greatest achievement so far?

Becoming a father, our first child Arthur was born in September last year. Everything else pales in comparison. However, from a business perspective it would have to be the culmination of all our activities in the private rented sector over the last four years. Building our trade shows and magazine from scratch has been exciting and rewarding, its not just about the business, we helping build a community of landlords.

4. Do you or your company have any exciting plans for the future?

I am not sure I should be announcing this yet, but since you ask, we are moving our spring show from Olympia to Excel in 2011. We will have more space to play with and plan to expand our offering accordingly. Also, we are moving Landlord & Buy to Let magazine’s frequency from bi-monthly to monthly in September, our sector is moving so fast it needs a monthly independent trade title more than ever.

5. What do you think are the greatest problems facing the private rented sector today?

Government ignorance and interference.

6. What do you think are the greatest opportunities?

There are thousands of experienced landlords out there who have been unable to expand their portfolios due to the credit crunch. As the flow of lending increases, these landlords will fuel the recovery of the housing sector and provide professionally managed, flexible housing to meet demand. A new breed of more experienced portfolio landlords will emerge.

7. We have a general election coming up – what would you like to see in the winning parties manifesto as regards the private rented sector?

A promise to listen to landlords and recognise the important role they play in the economy and society. They say there are up to a million landlords in the UK, however, we still lack political power. Its up to us to unite and demand a fair deal for landlords and our customers – the tenants.

8. Do you use social media (blogs, twitter, LinkedIn etc)? What place do you think it has in the future of the property industry?

A very timely question, I am taking a long hard look at social media and how it can support our business and industry. Use of these services to create groups of like-minded people will explode in 2010, we should all be using at least one of them. I prefer Linkedin for business and facebook for pleasure, but don’t yet understand the point of twitter… give me time on that one.

9. What is the most important lesson you have learned during your time in property?

Having purchased my second commercial premises at the peak in 2007, it to be that timing is everything, however, as I have a long term tenant and don’t plan to sell this one for a long time, it should work out in the long run.

10. What advice would you have to someone thinking of entering the property industry today?

Buying your first investment property is likely to be an emotional decision, it is exciting and its OK to enjoy the experience. But don’t be rushed in and don’t get carried away other opportunites are always around the corner. Never stop researching, there is always something more to learn.

*******

Many thanks for your wise words Oliver. Don’t forget everyone that you can contact his company at their web-site www.landlordshow.com. You can also sign up there for the magazine, which is worth doing as it is very good and free!

Mortgage advice for Buy to Let Landlords

The recession has not appeared to have greatly dented the buy to let market but where does the novice landlord stand if the tenant doesn’t pay their rent and as a consequence, they can’t pay their mortgage?

The so called ‘Sub Prime’ lenders can be very quick off the mark to recover their money when there are mortgage arrears and have been widely criticised and in some cases penalised for being too keen to use possession instead of working with their borrowers to find a solution.

Back in October 2009 the Financial Services Authority imposed a penalty of £2.8 million on major mortgage lenders G Mac and ordered them to pay a sum of £7.7 million in redress to complainant borrowers in relation to their conduct with their customers. The decision has heavily influenced proposed changes being brought in by the FSA to protect borrowers from unreasonable practices of mortgage lenders. (you can see the final G Mac notice at www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/final/gmac_rfc.pdf).

In the Financial Services Authority’s ‘Mortgage Market Review, published in January 2010 it states

“The findings from our thematic reviews demonstrated that firms were often too quick to take repossession action, focussing too strongly on recovering arrears without reference to the borrower’s individual circumstances. In addition, some firms explored very few forbearance options before taking legal action against borrowers. We observed these poor practices across the mortgage market, though it was more prevalent among the specialist lenders and third party administrators”. (4.6)

What should they be doing?

The Mortgage conduct of Business rules / Mortgage Pre Action Protocol

The 2 main tools that should help a borrower in mortgage arrears are the Mortgage Conduct Of Business rules (MCOBs) and the Mortgage Pre Action Protocol (MPAP).

The over arching aim of both instruments is that possession should only be used as a last resort, after all other avenues have failed. There are a range of what are known as Lender Hardship Tools, that should be explored before a lender applies for a possession order.

The MPAP was brought in back in November 2008 but by October 2009 it was evident that adherence to the protocol was patchy and inconsistent so for all mortgage possession claims initiated after 1st October 2009 lenders must produce for the court a new form called an N123, which details their actions before possession.

Lender’s behaviour

It has to be said that some lenders are very good at negotiating and exercising sensitivity and a generally helpful attitude to borrowers in difficulties but in my experience the majority fall well short of that standard, sometimes behaving in an obstructive and evasive manner.

This behaviour has not escaped the attention of the FSA and their Mortgage Market Review proposes changes to the MCOBs to tighten up things like excess and unfair charges being levied on borrowers in arrears.

Lender hardship tools amount to what is termed ‘Forbearance’ on the behalf of the lender. At present the MCOBs relating to forbearance are guidelines only, which means that even if a borrower in trouble offers a certain deal or arrangement to the lender, they are not obliged to accept it, however the Mortgage Market Review recommends changing these guidelines into rules.

Protecting yourself from possession

In response to the recession the government has introduced high profile measures such as the over hyped but in reality, under effective Mortgage Rescue Scheme and the Home-owners Mortgage Support package but these are not available for buy to let mortgagors.

As we saw above, at the moment negotiating forbearance is a bit of a lottery. The worst lenders don’t give anything away and will ask you to make an offer without hinting at what they will accept.

Making an offer to your lender

Remember you have to offer something that amounts to a reasonable plan of action, you will be wasting your time if you just ask them to allow you time in the hope that your situation might improve. Similarly asking them to allow you not to pay while you chase your tenant for their arrears is not a strong argument.

• They can extend the life of the mortgage, which will reduce the monthly payments you make.

• They can grant you a payment break of a short period and tack the missing payments onto the end of the mortgage.

• They can reduce monthly payments for a short time

• They have the power to freeze charges and fees while you get yourself back on your feet.

• Where there are arrears but you have made regular monthly payments of say 3 or 6 months you can ask them to Capitalise the Arrears, which means to swallow them up into the mortgage as a whole.

Some lenders have strict lending covenants which may prohibit them from capitalising the arrears but if so you can ask them to exercise their discretion in accordance with a case law of Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society v. Norgan 1995 which is a case where the judge allowed a borrower’s appeal against possession on the basis that if the arrears could be paid off during the life of the mortgage then that measure of forbearance should be allowed.

Always bear in mind that your contract with your lender is a 2 way street, you are their customer and it is strictly business. They can modify their deal with you in pretty much any way they choose as long as you have a sensible financial arrangement to propose.

If your lender takes you to court for possession it is wise to check both MCOBs, particularly rule 13, and the MPAP to see if they have covered all recommended pre actions before applying for possession.

If you try to negotiate with your lender but hit a brick wall each time or if they keep rejecting reasonable proposals and keep pushing for outright possession then you could file a complaint to the FSA itself for unfair treatment – remember the FSA ordered G Mac to pay some £7.7 million in redress to disgruntled borrowers and the FSA’s enforcement division are currently investigating 6 other firms on similar grounds and while you are lodging your complaint with the FSA let your lender know what you are doing, it might just be the leverage you need.

Ben Reeve-Lewis

About Ben Reeve-Lewis: Ben was the Tenancy Relations Officer for Lewisham Council for 11 years, prosecuting landlords for harassment and illegal eviction. Now he is a freelance housing law training consultant with a more balanced approach, delivering housing law courses for the Chartered Institute Of Housing, Shelter etc. His aim now is to help the housing world work as a interdependent system that benefits all

My second ‘Notable Property Person‘ is Kate Faulkner, a well known property person, particularly for her books for the consumer organisation, Which and her association with Channel 4. Here are her answers to our questions:

1. Please introduce yourself. Say a bit about yourself and your company

I live and breathe property both at work and home and I bring a refreshing change to the property market by offering practical, down to earth advice that really helps people carry out their property projects successfully. I write daily on property, and help people successfully carry out their own property projects via my own website: www.designsonproperty.co.uk and blog: Facts Not Headlines. I have written six property books, including four for Which? (Buy, Sell, Move House; Renting and Letting; Develop your Property and the Property Investment Handbook) and articles for magazines and newspapers as well as appearing on TV, and radio.

My property experience is part personal, having bought, sold, renovated, rented and invested in property and business. I have also worked in relocation, launched the National Self Build and Renovation Centre in Swindon, set up a property portal, carried out part exchanges on behalf of developers and worked in lettings and carried out contracts for property investment companies and specialist property market research for social housing.

My business www.designsonproperty.co.uk is a portal for anyone to find out how to carry out property projects and access the very best property services from legals (such as Tessa!) to property tax or even an electrician.

2. How did you first become involved in property?

My brother, sister and parents all bought in the summer of 1989 and then my brother and sister both went into negative equity and mum and dad’s house dropped in value. I decided I didn’t want to be in that position, so started to research hard to find properties at a discount in areas that would grow in value. After 10 years of working with Unilever and the likes of Sainsbury I decided to transfer my business skills to work in property full time, set up a property portal and a business growth consultancy for property companies.

3. What do you think is your greatest achievement so far?

It’s hard not to say getting the National Self Build and Renovation Centre fitted out and launched. It’s certainly the biggest thing I’ve ever been involved with being built as it’s 67,000 square meters. I am very proud of the Centre and the fantastic team I worked to secure the monies to fund it.

4. Do you or your company have any exciting plans for the future?

Yes we do! We are about to launch two new services. The first is a comprehensive, independent ‘Buy to Let Pack’ for investors who are about to or want to run the best BTL business. The second service provides people with a choice of the best services we can find from mortgage advisors to tax and EPC providers.

5. What do you think are the greatest problems facing the private rented sector today?

• Not all properties will grow in value over the next 5-10 years.
• Lack of understanding by mortgage lenders of who are the ‘safe bets’ to support during the credit crunch.
• Too much, and some ridiculous, legislation by the government eg ‘trip advisor’ style website for tenants to rate landlords
• Property investment clubs taking people’s money upfront with the promise of making people millionaires within months on ‘no money down’
  or properties supposedly at 25% below market value.

6. What do you think are the greatest opportunities?

The market is set to double in the future, so demand will be huge. However you need to buy the right property in the right place to take advantage of this.

7. We have a general election coming up – what would you like to see in the winning parties manifesto as regards the private rented sector?

• No more regulation until the government can implement what it’s already introduced and the current legislation actually impacts on rogue landlords
• 100% clarity on the legality (or not!) of no money down deals
• Independent ruling on additional licencing
• Ruling that all BTL landlords must have independent financial advice and specialist property tax advice
• Ruling that mortgage advisors must be specially trained in BTL
• Tax breaks for landlords that are signed up to the local authority landlord accreditation scheme

8. Do you use social media (blogs, twitter, LinkedIn etc)? What place do you think it has in the future of the property industry?

I do, but we are very careful not to let it take over our lives. Our Blog and Twitter is used to distribute our own daily articles and I like LinkedIn from a professional perspective. I haven’t quite got my head around the role of Facebook, but I’d better be quick as apparently more people used it than Google in the States! I think Q&A forums for landlords and tenants are great, but not ones where you can be too personal and ones that aren’t run by professionals. It would be great if it they could be used to better educate tenants (and some landlords) on how to make sure tenants use good letting agents and landlords rather than rent from rogues.

9. What is the most important lesson you have learned during your time in property?

That there is no ‘one property market’ there are thousands, so property price reports and media headlines on them should be ignored. Also no one property project is the same. Property is complicated stuff and you need expert help to do it well.

10. What advice would you have to someone thinking of entering the property industry today?

Get to know the ‘good guys’ who think it’s good to abide by the law and see property as a long term investment, not a ‘think yourself rich’ scheme. There are so many jobs in the property industry from relocation to self build, agency work, surveying, part exchange, new build, refurb etc you can have variety for the rest of your life. I love the property industry and have tremendous respect for most of the people in it, I just wish the media would start reporting the ‘good news’ stories about property professionals rather than treating them like second class citizens.

If anyone wants to email me a question about any of the above, we run a free Q&A service, just email: enquiries@designsonproperty.co.uk

*******

Thank you Kate.  There are some very interesting points there.  What do readers think?  If you have any thoughts, please do leave a comment.

Kate Faulkner’s Books: For those who are interested in buying Kate’s books, here are some Amazon links:

• Buy, Sell and Move House (“Which?” Essential Guides)
• Renting and Letting (“Which?” Essential Guides)
• Develop Your Property: A Complete Guide to Managing, Building and Funding Home Extensions (“Which?” Essential Guides)
• The Property Investor’s Handbook (“Which?” Essential Guides)