My Property Mentor Blog

How To Stop UK Banks Calling In Commercial Loans

Roberta — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:39:24 +0000

Whilst we hear plenty in the news about residential property market woes, we hear very little of the suffering going on in the commercial market. I read a recent article about two investors who had taken out a commercial loan to fund a hotel development.The…

How To Save Money In and Around the Home

Roberta — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:08:16 +0000

Whether or not the Great Recession is over, it never hurts to do a fiscal check up, just to make sure you are on track to achieve your financial goals. A fiscal check up can help you save some money and focus your resources on…

FSA Says Sale And Rent Back Is Officially Dead

Roberta — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:03:04 +0000

So it seems that SARB – otherwise known as Sale And Rent Back is officially dead. Thank heavens this trend, which hopped over from Australia and the US, is no longer with us. The FSA has stated that; Most deals were either unaffordable or unsuitable…

Might Tenants Finally Start Caring About EPCs In 2012?

Roberta — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:51:29 +0000

Might tenants finally start caring about EPCs in 2012? The birth of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) was unexciting and confusing. EPCs became compulsory for rental property in October 2008. The EPC came in two forms: an ‘A’ to ‘H’ rating graph which had to…

Twitter-20 Things I Hate About You

Roberta — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:09:47 +0000

I don’t normally write about social media on this blog, it’s a property web site after all However, the other day I woke up to a flood of spam and other stuff on my Twitter account which just made me want to rant. So I…

Doorway Sleep Out Project Helps Homeless-A Personal Story

Roberta — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:53:57 +0000

This blog is written by Darren Leighfield and is about his own personal experience of being made homeless. We are posting this blog to show support and raise awareness of a great project for the homeless. _________________________________ Just over 10 years ago, I was homeless.…

Foreign Property Buyers Increase For High End Sales

Roberta — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:54:47 +0000

If you follow the property press releases as I do ( purely for entertainment reasons, obviously) then you can’t help but have noticed the huge increase of foreign property buyers seeking to buy high end property. You may be forgiven for thinking this is all…

BBC Speaks About Pitfalls Of Residential Lease Options

Roberta — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:47:28 +0000

Some of you who read this blog regularly will remember the debate around the use of lease options on residential property which we commented on way back in September 2009, again in November ’09 and lastly in January 2010. Recently the BBC have finally taken…

London Councils Could Fine For Olympic Short Term Lettings

Roberta — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:10:31 +0000

The regulation fiends are out in force again. Landlords and regular folk in London who seek large potential short term profits by renting out homes during Olympic season this year could be in line for a large fine of up to £20,000, due to a…

Guest Blog:Oxfam’s Grow Campaign

Roberta — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:41:46 +0000

One in seven people goes hungry every day. One billion people. These are the figures from Oxfam’s latest scheme, the Grow Campaign, which seeks to fix the broken global food system. Drought It is an ambitious campaign from the charity, which is aiming to tackle…