Thinking of buying a house to let or rent

By Andrew Sutton

Introduction A lot of people consider buying a house to let , there are many reasons in the UK, especially before the recent recession. The recession though has forced many unlucky people into rental accommodation. So if you have the money to invest now may be the time. This article though is about some of considerations you should be thinking about before making those first steps.

Finding the right house. Finding the right house really is down to you, but some property management companies can do it for you. Again depends how much you want to be involved.

Some obvious advice would include: Is the house right for renting ? meaning does it have expensive fittings that would cost a lot to replace if broken. Is the area a common place for renting , i.e students ? If you did need to sell the house quickly, could you ? Does the house need renovation before you could start renting it out, is it ready to go ? People renting are not looking for a place forever, it is properly a stop gap for while.

Engaging a property management company ? Now you maybe thinking how hard can it be, surely renting out a house is just a case of keeping one eye on the property and make sure the rent gets paid. My advice would be unless you are very determined or have experience of handling the public then consider a property management company. They deal with all the awkward side of tenants and you collect the money.

A good company should offer the services shown here, amongst others: Initial rental valuation Arrange safety checks Accompany viewings Check References Estimates for repairs and refurbishment Collection of rent each month Inspections (reports on request) Regular Contact and Updates Service of Notices Insurance claims dealt with Receipt of Damage Deposit in cleared funds Final Inspection at the end Tenancy Agreement

The 'No hassle' factor does come into play and it only means a little lose in fees. It's like the old story 'if you have time and no how, if you don't then leave it to the experts'.

Some things you have to do, some are law and some aren't ? Energy Performance Certificates - improving the energy performance of buildings. As of October 2008 all buildings, whenever they are built, sold or rented out, will require one. The EPC provides 'A' to 'G' ratings for buildings, with 'A' being the most energy efficient and 'G' being the least, with the average to date being 'D'.An EPC is part of a series of measures being introduced across Europe to reflect legislation which will help cut buildings carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

Property Maintenance When such a repair is reported by the tenant, you or the property management company will assess the repair. Based upon the inspection, you will need to repair or get someone to repair. Maintenance problems may occur at any time, day or night and to any property. It may be necessary to carry out general repairs on your property from time to time.

Please remember that it is in the interest of your property, your investment, to ensure that these repairs are carried out efficiently and quickly. Lets hope repairs won't occur very often.

Buildings and Contents Insurance The policies available may cover a full replacement value for possessions buildings, (Subject to terms and conditions of selected policy). Are you aware that you might have inadequate Buildings and/or Contents Insurance?As you are letting your property you current insurance may be void if there were ever to be a claim. You will need an insurance which is designed for tenanted properties housing professional, working, DSS or students.

Gas Appliances The records of checks including any repairs are to be kept by the landlord or the landlords agents (which ever is carrying out the letting) for the tenants to see upon request. You are therefore legally obliged to have all the Gas Appliances in the property or properties you are letting out checked for safety and bought up to standard by a qualified engineer or company. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations Act 1994, any person (Landlord) who is letting (Renting) properties must maintain all Gas Appliances and have them checked for safety by a CORGI Registered engineer or company at least once every twelve months.

You should note: It is in your own interest that you ask to see copies of this certificate beforehand to ensure that they are properly qualified to carry out the checks. These requirements are by current British Law. You are therefore allowed to use any company or engineer of your choice to carry out the safety checks provided that they are CORGI registered and can provide certificates.

Summary Now if none of the above has put you off and hopefully it hasn't then good money can be made from renting property. Make sure you get good advice from the right people, all people will have a point of view on renting, but the right advice for you is what you need.

Andrew Cambridge writes articles for Investment opportunities , as well as many other money websites. He has many articles published on the internet. What interest him about Lettings in peterborough is that so few websites offer good impartial information. - 23210

About the Author:

The writer Andrew Histon has written lots of articles for investments. Lettings in peterorough is where Andrew is based.

Forex Trading as Investment

By Albert Schmidt

Advertisements for investing in Forex are everywhere. You can see them on TV, on the Internet, magazines and newspapers. Everywhere you go you will find someone telling you that Forex is a good way to make money. But is Forex market is so profitable as they describe. More importantly is it safe to invest your money?

Trading on foreign exchange market is a way to make money by taking advantage of fluctuating exchange rates. Therefore an experienced trader can make a lot of money when he buys a currency pair that is about to rise and selling it afterward. Therefore it is like trading on the stock market.

It is entirely possible to make a mid-term or long-term investment in some country's currency if you would be expecting the currency of that country to rise or fall in a predictable manner. But most people don't follow this advise and commercial ads promise you different things. Many traders hope to make small profit by opening and closing the trade for short period of time.

Some traders open a trade and close it within very short period of time. It may last even a few minutes. Trader who trade during the news can open a trade even for a few seconds. These people need to watch market closely to identify the opportunity to open or close the trade.

Making money with such techniques became available to general public only with the development of internet technologies. Now brokers have the ability so serve many client with considerably smaller funds than before. Therefore now anyone can open a trading account using just a few hundred dollars.

Before committing you money you should first learn to trade profitably. There are many systems that can help you to trade currencies successfully. Using automated trading systems also an option that became popular.

You should start out in Forex trading having realistic goals otherwise you may be disappointed. First you need certain skills and knowledge to survive in Forex market. Second you need to have self discipline. Skills and discipline can be learned and developed if you don't have them however it does take time.

Other people begin foreign exchange trading simply because they enjoy the challenge of trying to increase their starting fund. If they make profits, they may later become serious traders, but in the beginning it is almost a game. This is fine if you like taking risks and can afford to lose a few hundred dollars if things go wrong.

Big world political or economic events can significantly influence the value of the currencies in completely chaotic way. For example events like 9/11/2001 had a great impact on US dollar value. Therefore you should always trade with stop loss in order to prevent losing money in case of such events. However traders must accept the risk of losing money. It happens sometimes but with the right strategy the gain will outweigh the loss.

Investing in Forex can be lucrative, at the same time if you trade currencies it involves risks. Therefore it can not be called completely safe way of investment. Therefore you need to acquire self discipline and skills before you commit your hard earned money. - 23210

About the Author:

Albert Schmidt has been in the field of Forex Trading for a few years by now. Visit his blog about Forex trading where you can find answers to the rest of your questions about how you can learn to trade currencies.

Using Interest Rate Differentials as Fundamental Trading Strategy

By Ahmad Hassam

Any forex trader knows that interest rates are an integral part of investment decisions and can drive the currency as well as the stock markets in either direction. FOMC rate decisions are the second largest currency market moving release behind the unemployment figures.

The impact of interest rate changes not only have short term consequences but also have long term consequences on forex markets. One Central Banks interest rate change decision can affect more than a single currency pair in the interrelated currency markets.

In currency trading, an interest rate differential is the difference between the base currency interest rate and the counter currency interest rate. In the pair, EUR/USD, EUR is the base currency and USD is the counter currency. The interest rate differential for the EUR/USD pair will be the difference between the Euro interest rate and the US Dollar interest rate.

Understanding the relationship between the interest rate differentials and the currency pairs can be very profitable for you as a forex trader. In addition to the Central Banks overnight interest rate decisions, expected future overnight rates as well the expected timing for the interest rate changes can be crucial to the currency pair movements.

The reason why this is profitable is that international investors like big banks, corporations, hedge funds and institutional investors are yield seekers. They actively keep on shifting their funds from the low yield assets to high yield assets.

Interest rate differentials are considered to be the leading indicators for currency prices. London Inter Bank Offer Rate and the 10 year government bond yields are usually used as leading indicators of currency movements.

Lets take an example, suppose the Australian 10-year government bond yield is 5.25%. The US 10-year government bond yield is 1.75%. The yield spread in this case would be 350 basis points in favor of the Australian Dollar.

Suppose the Australian government raised its interest rate by 25 basis points. The 10 year Australian government bond yield would also appreciate to 5.50%. Now, the new yield spread is 375 basis points in favor of AUD. The AUD will also be expected to appreciate against USD.

The general rule of thumb is that when a yield spread increases in favor of a certain currency that currency is expected to appreciate against other currencies. This information should be very important for your trading. Use the data available on Bloomberg to keep track of currencies in the currency pairs that you trade. - 23210

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading and swing trading stocks and currencies. Learn Forex Nitty Gritty. Read about Trend Forex System. Try Netpicks Forex Signal Service.

Exchange Traded Funds And Why They Are Valuable

By Chris Channing

An exchange-traded fund is a type of security that is traded, much like you would trade a normal stock. In fact, they are commonly compared to the common stock you are accustomed to, since they share many similarities. In the end, ETF trading has much more benefit to take advantage of.

With fewer taxes, you would be able to keep more money into your investments. Unfortunately this isn't valid in trading your average stock options, but is with exchange-traded funds. ETFs, like other stocks, must fore-go a taxation on capital gains. The difference is that with an ETF, you are able to delay the taxation until the end of your fund's life, meaning you can keep your money in your investment longer.

The level of flexibility you gain by trading and exchange-traded fund is greater than what you would be able to do with regular stock. ETFs allow for trading to commence at any time of the day, and not just within the operating hours of the stock exchange. This is excellent news for investors who always like to have constant control of their investments they maintain.

Brokers all agree that the exchange-traded fund is a great method of investing your money, and just as easy as you would trade any other stock. ETFs are not the easiest to understand in how they are developed, but trading them is done just like stock you likely already have in your investment portfolio. It's recommended you give them a shot, and not be intimidated by something you aren't familiar with until you have tried it.

If you tend to specialize in a certain area of knowledge, such as the real estate industry, you will be glad to know that ETF trading encompasses many subjects. In fact, ETF trading isn't only for stocks- it can be for actual real estate, gold, and other assets that have a sense of liquidity to them. This will broaden the amount of possibilities you have in trading in a market you have done the most research in.

ETF trading is still a risky business, regardless of the clear benefit they offer to a trader. It is still recommended that you obtain the proper investment broker to aid you in the process of learning more about ETF trading and the processes it entails. Published materials such as books can also help you in the quest for taking advantage of ETFs while they are still relatively untapped.

In Conclusion

Trading ETFs can be tough for beginners. There are several online newsletters available that coach you in the basics, and it is highly recommended you sign up for a few just so you are more familiar with how they work. - 23210

About the Author:

Learn more on simple ETF system and ETF timing.

How are Stock Prices Decided Upon?

By Robbin Carols

When you buy stocks, you have two ways to make money. You can make money through dividends that the company pays for each share you own. For example, they might pay 25 cents per share each quarter. Dividends are not guaranteed, though.

The other way to make money is through capital gains. This means that you have bought the stock at one price and then sell it at a higher price. The difference between the price paid and the price sold is your capital gains.

When someone buys shares of stock, they do so in hopes of profiting through capital gains. High dividend paying stocks are often sought after by retirees who are looking for a stable source of income.

Stock prices have to increase if you want to make capital gains. Stock prices vary from day to day, so how do you know that it will go up? What makes stock prices change all the time?

Do you remember the principle of supply and demand that you learned in your high school economics class? It is a basic term that explains the change in stock prices just as the change in prices of any other goods or services.

An increase in supply with the same demand will decrease the price. An increase in demand with the same supply increases the price. The price changes depending on whether and how supply and demand change.

With stocks, if a lot of people want to buy a particular stock and not enough people are selling, they will have to raise the price to accommodate for it. If there are more people looking to sell than people willing to buy, they will need to decrease the price to get people to buy.

If you understand how this works, you can better understand how to make money with stocks. You want to buy stocks that you think a lot of people will be buying in the future so that the price goes up. - 23210

About the Author:

Do you ever ask, "how do stocks work?" Don't stay confused. Find out how stock prices change from day to day.