Property Investing All-In-One For Dummies, UK Edition E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 920

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Whether you are renting out part of your home, or investing in a property, this guide to the constantly changing market and its laws will prove to be invaluable. Whether you've inherited a home you now need to rent or you're aiming to become a property tycoon, this friendly guide is your road map to success.

Leseprobe

Property Investing All-In-One For Dummies®, UK Edition

by Roy Barnhart, Colin Barrow, James Carey, Morris Carey, Robert Griswold, Gene Hamilton, Katie Hamilton, Jeff Howell, Tony Levene, Don R Prestly, and Jeff Strong

Edited by Melanie Bien

Property Investing All-In-One For Dummies®, UK Edition

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd The Atrium Southern Gate Chichester West Sussex PO19 8SQ England

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Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-470-51502-0

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Melanie Bien is associate director at independent mortgage broker Savills Private Finance. Before joining SPF at the end of 2004, she was personal finance editor and property writer on the Independent on Sunday. She has written about buy-to-let for a variety of national newspapers, magazines, and Web sites, and written several books and pamphlets to accompany television programmes on property makeovers and design, buying, renovating, and selling property.

Melanie also has first-hand experience of renting out property, owning, and managing six buy-to-let properties in conjunction with her brother and parents. She lives in East London.

Roy Barnhart is a lifelong do-it-yourselfer and former professional building and remodelling contractor. He enjoyed eight years as Senior Building and Remodelling Editor for two national home improvement magazines in the USA. As a freelance writer, editor, and consultant, Roy has contributed articles to more than a dozen home improvement magazines, including Family Handyman and House Beautiful. He has also contributed to four books.

Colin Barrow has an extensive background in European property and works across a diverse range of related industries. He has researched most international property markets and has first hand experience of buying, building, developing, and selling over two hundred properties in overseas markets. He has written a score of books on property and other wealth creation matters including the best-selling Starting a Business For Dummies.

James and Morris Carey, known as the Carey Brothers, are experts on home building and renovation. They share their 20-plus years of experience as award-winning, licensed contractors with millions nationwide through a weekly radio programme in America, daily radio vignette, syndicated newspaper column, and comprehensive Web site (www.onthehouse.com), all titled ‘On the House’. Morris and James continue to own and operate a successful home remodelling and construction firm, Carey Bros., and have been named to Remodeling magazine’s Hall of Fame Big 50, which recognises top achievers in the industry. They’ve also been honoured as one of the nation’s top 500 companies by Qualified Remodeler magazine.

Robert Griswold earned a Bachelors degree and two Masters degrees in real estate and related fields from the University of Southern California’s School of Business.

Robert is a hands-on property manager with more than 20 years of practical experience, running Griswold Real Estate Management. He hosts a weekly radio show, and has written for the Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, and San Francisco Chronicle. He has twice been named the No. 1 Radio or Television Real Estate Journalist in the Country by the National Association of Real Estate Editors in the US.

Gene and Katie Hamilton have been working on houses and writing about home improvements for over 30 years. They’ve remodelled 14 houses and write a weekly newspaper column entitled ‘Do It Yourself . . . Or Not?’ which appears in newspapers across America and on Web sites. The Hamiltons are authors of 16 home improvement books, including Home Improvement For Dummies, Carpentry For Dummies, Painting and Wallpapering For Dummies, and Plumbing For Dummies. They’re the founders of www.HouseNet.com.

Jeff Howell is a qualified bricklayer, university construction lecturer, and chartered surveyor, with 30 years’ experience in the building industry. He writes about building and DIY for a variety of British newspapers, magazines, and construction trade journals, and appears regularly as a guest expert on TV and radio. His Web site is www.ask–jeff.co.uk.

Tony Levene is a member of The Guardian Jobs & Money team, writing on issues including investment and consumer rights as well as on taxation. He has been a financial journalist for nearly thirty years after a brief foray into teaching French to school children. Over his journalistic career, Tony has worked for newspapers including The Sunday Times, Sunday Express, The Sun, Daily Star, Sunday Mirror, and Daily Express. He has written seven previous books on money matters including Investing For Dummies and Paying Less Tax For Dummies. Tony lives in London with his wife Claudia, ‘virtually grown up’ children Zoe and Oliver, and cats Plato, Pandora, and Pascal.

Don R Prestly is a former senior editor for HANDY Magazine for The Handyman Club of America, as well as a former associate editor for Family Handyman magazine. In addition to his nearly 20 years of writing and doing home improvement projects, he spent several years as a manager for one of the Midwest’s largest home centres.

Donald Strachan is a journalist and copywriter. His articles have appeared in the Sunday Telegraph, Independent on Sunday, Observer, and Sydney Morning Herald, among others. He edited Job Hunting and Career Change All-in-One For Dummies, and co-authored Frommer’s The Balearics With Your Family and Frommer’s Tuscany and Umbria With Your Family.

Jeff Strong began creating sawdust at a very young age while helping his father, a master craftsman, build fine furniture. An accomplished woodworker, Jeff has designed and built countless pieces of furniture. He is the author of Woodworking For Dummies.

Publisher’s Acknowledgements

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Steve Edwards

Content Editor: Nicole Burnett

Commissioning Editor: Samantha Clapp

Compiled by: Donald Strachan

Text Splicer: Helen Heyes

Technical Editor: Tom Entwistle, www.landlordZONE.co.uk

Executive Editor: Jason Dunne

Executive Project Editor: Daniel Mersey

Cover Photos: Getty Images/Image Source Black

Cartoons: Ed McLachlan

Composition Services

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Layout and Graphics: Elizabeth Brooks, Carl Byers, Carrie A. Foster, Stephanie D. Jumper, Christine Williams

Indexer: Ty KoontzPublishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

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Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

What You’re Not to Read

How This Book Is Organised

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Book I : Housebuying Basics and the Law

Chapter 1: Step One: Getting the Most from Viewings

Finding Suitable Properties

Arranging a Viewing

What to Look for During a Viewing

Asking All the Right Questions

Decision Time

Chapter 2: Making an Offer

Making an Offer

Avoiding Being Gazumped

After Your Offer Is Accepted: Let the Conveyancing Begin!

Arranging Your Finances

Arranging a Survey: The Full Monty or the Bare Minimum

Exchanging Contracts

Completion

Chapter 3: Going, Going, Gone: Buying Property at Auction

Pros and Cons of Buying at Auction

Getting Started – Action to Take before the Auction

The Day of the Auction Dawns

Chapter 4: Conveyancing for Buyers and Sellers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

The Offer Has Been Accepted: Let the Conveyancing Begin!

Finding a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyancer

The Role of the Buyer’s Solicitor

The Role of the Seller’s Solicitor

Dealing with Problems Arising from the Survey: Advice for Buyers

The Final Contract: Vetting and Signing

Exchange of Contracts

Completion

Chapter 5: Buying a House in Scotland

Becoming an Owner-Occupier

Getting the Order Right: Finance First

Finding a Solicitor

Finding the Perfect Property

Found the Property? What to Do Before You Make an Offer

Making an Offer

When Your Offer Is Successful

Chapter 6: Researching European Markets

Researching from Home

Doing Hands-on Research: Rest, Recreation, and Reconnaissance

Narrowing Down Your Choices

Book II : Finance, Tax, and How to Organise Them

Chapter 1: Getting a Mortgage

How Mortgages Work

Choosing between Repayment and Interest Only

To Fix or Not to Fix?

How Your Deposit (or Lack Thereof) Affects Your Mortgage

Negotiating the Maze: Where to Find the Right Mortgage

Self-Certification Mortgages for the Self-Employed

Miaow! Cat-Mark Mortgages

Buyer Beware: Things to Watch Out For

Not Forgetting the Not-So-Little-Extras

Completing the Mortgage Application Form

Problems Getting a Mortgage

Chapter 2: Financing with a Buy-to-Let Mortgage

Making Sure You Can Afford to Buy a Rental Property

Buy-to-Let Mortgages

Renting Out in Order to Buy Again

Chapter 3: Saving Tax on Your Bricks-and-Mortar

Paying Stamp Duty Land Tax and Council Taxes

Avoiding Capital Gains Tax

Avoiding Income Tax for Landlords

Advanced Tax Avoidance Tips

Chapter 4: Using a Company to Hold Your Property

Understanding the Pros of Using a Company

Spotting the Cons of Using a Company

Setting Up a Property Company

Placing Existing Property into a New Company

Chapter 5: Recordkeeping and Financial Management

Organising Your Files

Maintaining Property Records

Taking Care of Business: Rental Property Accounting

Chapter 6: Financing Abroad

Moving Money Around

Getting a Mortgage

Buy Off Plan

Book III : Renovating a Property

Chapter 1: Renovating Wrecks: Property in Need of Work

Can You Stomach Renovation?

Finding Your Wreck

Calculating Costs and Setting a Budget

Using a Surveyor

Buying a Listed Property

Chapter 2: Dealing with Damp

Is a Fungus Amongus?

Preventing Moisture from Building Up under Your Property

Chapter 3: Installing Kitchen Cabinets

Gathering the Right Tools

Marking Reference Lines and Mounting Locations

Hanging Wall Cabinets

Adding the Lower Level: Base Cabinets

Chapter 4: Installing Worktops and Sinks

Gathering the Right Tools

Installing a Worktop

Installing a Sink and Taps

Installing a Ceramic Tile Worktop

Chapter 5: Out on the Tiles: Tiling in Kitchens and Bathrooms

Choosing Your Tiles

Preparing for Tiling

Cutting Tiles

Fixing Tiles

Grouting

Finishing Off

Chapter 6: Heating, Ventilating, and Insulating Your Property

Looking After Your Central Heating

Ventilation: Letting Your House Breathe

Upgrading Loft Insulation

Chapter 7: Flooring: Keeping a Leg Up on Foot Traffic

The Subfloor: A Solid Base

Hardwood Flooring

Replacing a Wooden Floor

Ceramic Tile

Sheet Vinyl Flooring

Carpet

Silencing Squeaks

Chapter 8: Painting and Finishing

Preparing to Paint the Exterior of Your Property

Painting the Exterior of Your Property

Painting the Interior of Your Property

Book IV : Becoming a Buy-to-Let Landlord

Chapter 1: Decision Time: Managing Yourself or Hiring an Agent?

Managing Your Rental Yourself

Exploring Professional Management

Chapter 2: Preparing a Property for Tenants

Coming Up with a Plan to Handle Vacancies

Preparing Your Rental Property the Right Way

Inspecting Safety Items

Using Outside Contractors

Chapter 3: The Big Three: Rent, Deposits, and Tenancy Agreements

Setting the Rent

Coming Up with a Fair Deposit

Using a Tenancy Agreement

Chapter 4: Advertising and Showing Your Property

Developing a Marketing Plan

Understanding the Importance of Good Advertising

Looking at Your Advertising Options

Advertising without Discriminating

Showing Your Rental Property

Chapter 5: Safety, Security, and Insurance

Taking Security Precautions

Addressing Environmental Issues

Handling Hazardous Materials

Cover Me, I’m Going In! Making Sure You Have the Insurance You Need

Book V : Managing a Tenancy

Chapter 1: Selecting and Screening Your Tenants

Establishing Tenant Selection Criteria

Verifying Rental Applications

Notifying the Applicant of Your Decision

Avoiding Complaints of Discrimination

Chapter 2: Moving in Your Tenant

Establishing the Move-In Date

Meeting with Your Tenant Prior to Move-In

Setting Up the Tenant File

Chapter 3: Collecting and Increasing Rent

Creating a Written Rent Collection Policy

Dealing with Rent Collection Problems

Increasing the Rent

Chapter 4: Sweet and Sour: Keeping Good Tenants and Dealing with Problem Ones

What Tenants Want

Renewing Tenancy Agreements

Recognising and Responding to Common Tenant Problems

Exploring Alternatives to Eviction

Evicting a Tenant

Chapter 5: Moving Out Tenants

Requiring Written Notice

Giving Your Tenants a Move-Out Information Letter

Inspecting the Property’s Condition at Move-Out

Handling Special Move-Out Situations

Book VI : Selling Up at a Profit

Chapter 1: Selling with a Pro: Getting the Most from Estate Agents

The Role of the Estate Agent

Wanted: An Honest and Competent Estate Agent

Making Sense of the Contract

Checking Up on Progress

Taking Your Business Elsewhere: When to Give Up on an Agent

Complaining about an Estate Agent

Chapter 2: Going It Alone: Selling Your Property Privately

Setting the Asking Price

Advertising Your Property

Handling Viewings

Dealing with Offers

Chasing Prospective Buyers

Under the Hammer: Selling at Auction

Chapter 3: Creating the Right Impression

Ensuring Your Property Is Irresistible

Salesman’s Tour Part I: Assessing the Impression Created by Each Room

Salesman’s Tour Part II: Getting the Outside Ready

Chapter 4: Negotiating a Successful Sale

You Don’t Always Get What You Ask For: Negotiating the Price

Contemplating Offers

Not All Buyers are Equal

Taking Action When You Aren’t Getting Any Offers

Chapter 5: Selling in Scotland

The Preliminaries

Picking Someone to Sell Your Property

Handling Viewings

Receiving Offers

Entering the Home Straight

Completing the Sale

: Further Reading

Introduction

Hello! Welcome to Property Investing All-in-One For Dummies, your launch pad to realising your ambitions in the wonderful world of bricks and mortar. Buying a property is one of the most wallet-draining and stress- inducing things you’re ever likely to do in life – and as a property investor you might go through the process more often than most – so the more clued up you are in advance, the better prepared you’ll be when a great investment opportunity comes along.

About This Book

Property Investing All-in-One For Dummies gathers information on the key areas you need to be aware of as an investor – housebuying, finance, tax, renovation and property improvement, becoming a landlord, managing tenancies, making a profit, and the law. This book is your one-stop shop for information about taking on the property market and making sound investments through buying, selling, renting, and renovating. Think of this book as your first important investment.

We’ve written this book in a way that we hope you find useful, easy to work your way around, and fun to read. You’ll wear many different hats as a property investor – researcher, buyer, advertiser, bookkeeper, handyman, landlord, salesman, and others besides – and this book is overflowing with advice and information to help guide you along through all those roles.

Property Investing All-in-One For Dummies draws on information from these other For Dummies books (published by Wiley) that you can refer to for greater detail on the subjects we cover here:

Buying and Selling a Home For Dummies (Melanie Bien)

Buying a Property in Eastern Europe For Dummies (Colin Barrow)

DIY & Home Maintenance All-in-One For Dummies (Jeff Howell)

Paying Less Tax 2006/2007 For Dummies (Tony Levene)

Renting Out Your Property For Dummies (Melanie Bien and Robert Griswold)

Conventions Used in This Book

To make your reading experience easier and to alert you to key words or points, we use certain conventions in this book:

Italics introduces new terms, and explains what they mean.

Bold text is used to show the action part of bulleted and numbered lists.

Monofont is used to highlight Web addresses, showing you exactly what to type into your computer.

Foolish Assumptions

This book brings together the essential elements of knowledge that are essential for understanding the world of property investment. As a consequence, to keep the book down to a reasonable number of pages, we’ve made a few assumptions about you (we hope you don’t mind!). Maybe you’re someone who is:

Harbouring great ambitions of becoming a property tycoon but have yet to take the first step

Looking to rent out a second home but don’t know where to look for advice

Lured by the potential rewards of becoming a buy-to-let landlord but unaware of the legalities involved

If any (or all) of these assumptions accurately describe you, or if you just want to gain a better understanding of the world of property investment, you’ve come to the right place!

What You’re Not to Read

You can read this book whichever way suits you best. You can go from cover to cover, or hop, skip, and jump through reading the sections that interest you the most. You can also glean plenty of information from this book without reading the sidebars (the grey boxes) – the detail in our sidebars is interesting but not crucial to understanding the rest of the book’s content.

How This Book Is Organised

We’ve divided Property Investing All-in-One For Dummies into six separate books, and this section explains what nuggets of information you’ll find in them. Each book is broken into chapters tackling key aspects of property investing and the things you’ll need to be aware of. The table of contents gives you more detail of what’s in each chapter, and we’ve even included a cartoon at the start of each part, just to keep you smiling.

Book I: Housebuying Basics and the Law

Book I is the one most people will want to start with, and takes you down the long and winding road of buying a property to start with. This Book helps you navigate the tricky waters of viewing properties, making offers, buying at auction, and conveyancing, and takes a look at researching European property markets.

Book II: Finance, Tax, and How to Organise Them

Practically no-one escapes the tax inspector’s net, and this Book is designed to help you get your taxes right as a property investor. Here you can also find help in working out which mortgages work best for you, and some handy hints about being a good recordkeeper.

Book III: Renovating a Property

Book III is primarily about carrying out work on your property yourself, but offers advice on when to consult the professionals, too. When undertaking serious renovation work, many things need to be considered. This Book shows you the way.

Book IV: Becoming a Buy-to-Let Landlord

Leaving no stone unturned in preparing to become a landlord is the aim of Book IV. The chapters within outline the different things you need to do to prepare yourself and your property for this step. It’s never too early to start planning, and this Book aims to give you a head start.

Book V: Managing a Tenancy

This Book provides you with the nitty-gritty about having tenants in your property. Finding the right tenants is key, and maintaining a good relationship with them is important, and this Book overflows with information about how to do this. We give you information, too, on what to do if things go pear-shaped.

Book VI: Selling Up at a Profit

To realise the value of your investment, going about things in the right way when it comes to selling up is vital. If you’re not sure whether to use the services of an estate agent or go it alone, or how to go about presenting your property in the way that will be most likely to bring about a successful sale, this Book can help you to get it right.

Icons Used in This Book

When you flick through this book, you’ll notice little icons in the margins. These icons pick out certain key aspects of personal development:

This icon highlights practical advice to get our personal development methods working for you.

This icon is a friendly reminder of important points to take note of.

This icon covers the boring stuff that only anoraks would ever know. You can safely skip paragraphs marked by this icon without missing anything vital, or you can read it and improve your wealth of knowledge even further!

This icon marks things to avoid in your enthusiasm when trying out personal development skills.

Where to Go from Here

This book is set up so that you can dip in and out of it in a number of ways depending on your situation. If you’re most interested in tenancy agreements (for example), head straight over to Book IV, or if you need information about how to negotiate the sale of a property, check out Book VI. However, if you’re not sure which type of help you’re most interested in, or just fancy an overview of the entire subject, turn the next page and get stuck into Book I.

Good luck to you in your property investment adventure!

Book I

Housebuying Basics and the Law

In this book . . .

T his book walks you through the process of buying a property. From knowing what to look for when viewing a property and how to follow up on making an offer, to conveyancing throughout the United Kingdom and overseas, this books helps to get your property investment plans rolling. What are you waiting for?

Chapter 1

Step One: Getting the Most from Viewings

In This Chapter

Deciding which properties are worth viewing

Working out the best time to view a property

Knowing the questions to ask and how to interpret the answers

Mike Leigh’s film Career Girls captures the best bit of the house-buying process – poking around other people’s homes. One of the main characters is looking to buy a place in London. Instead of viewing flats within her price range, however, she prefers to look at glamorous pads well beyond her budget. She may not be able to afford them, but seeing how the other half live is far more entertaining.

True, viewing properties can be fun, but, more importantly, it’s a vital part of the buying process. You can’t make a decision about whether you want to buy a property by only looking at a picture or reading a description. You have to have a good look round and ask the seller various questions and thoroughly research the local rental market if you intend to rent the property out.