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Landlords, property owners & agents

 

Do you need a marketing strategy to let your property?

Let your property via this web site quickly.

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Your Advert Here!

Just £100 for a full 12 month listing. Less than £2.00 per week! You are purchasing one designated advertising space at www.intercity-accommodation.co.uk for twelve months. Your listing will be made live immediately and again whenever you have a vacancy. There will be no limit to how many times your listing can be made live during a 12 month period. As well as receiving enquiries from house-hunters surfing the net and visiting our site, we will also drive potential tenants your way every day by prospective tenants calling you direct. These people are actively looking for a property just like yours..

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Call 0113 2302303 or 4

 

 

Management

Intercity Accommodation has been established since 1980. We do not sell properties nor do we sell any financial products. Consequently our experience of the letting market and knowledge of the Housing Acts 1988 & 2004 is not diverted in any way. Our levels of service are maintained by our policy of strictly limiting the numbers the numbers of properties managed at any one time.

Since 1980 our occupancy rates have averaged at over 90 percent per annum with prospective tenants currently being referred to our offices by the Housing Advice Center, Leeds City Council, the Tourist Board and the Trading Standards Department to name but a few. A judicious allocation of our annual advertising budget attracts a sustained level of enquiries throughout the year.

Many people are renting properties for the first time and there may be questions that are particular to your circumstances that you need assistance with, or perhaps you simply want a general outline of our industry or a certain point explaining a bit more. Please do not feel that by asking questions that you are wasting our time. You may in fact be highlighting an issue that has not occurred previously thereby helping us to avoid any similar confusion in the future.

Investing in real estate is a great way to increase your wealth through capital appreciation. However, if you are interested in buying and renting residential properties there are several things to consider. Being a landlord can be extremely stressful and expensive if you have managed to invest in property which has not been well maintained. In this article, we will discussion the benefits and risks of renting out residential real estate.

One of the biggest benefits to renting property is that it is very lucrative. Not only are you making an income each month you also possess a real physical asset which is quite different then owning stock you will never be able to see or touch.

Many people just are not comfortable owning something they can no see. In the recent decades, many people have decided not to invest in the stock market and place all their money into real estate. Who could resist! With rapidly increasing prices, high demand, and almost no risk – the benefits are obvious.

Rental real estate gives you a monthly income. Property also increases in value and your capital appreciates each year. Real estate is one of the few investments that do extremely well in time of increase inflation.

Remember, rental real estate can also be purchased with borrowed money and this is called leverage. For almost no money down an investor can own and rent a large residential property like condos or apartments. If your rental properties cost you more then you received in income from them, the profit is tax free. Once there is equity in your residential property, you can apply for a home equity loan and use that money to invest with.

There are also several risks associated with rental properties. First and foremost you are liability for any injuries which take place on the property. If a visitor breaks a finger in a door, you have to pay for it. Not only that but you are subject to lawsuits which will be suing for not just the injury but emotional distress. This is why it is extremely important that all of your properties meet government building and living standards.

There are always unexpected expenses. Apartments flood, walls get cracks, and foundations leak. They are all your responsibility. On top of that you have to deal with tenants. Ninety percent of your tenants will be great people who mind their own business but the other 10% will make you want to rip your hair out.

In case you are the owner of a property that you wish to rent to an interested prospective tenant, you have to decide which would be the best way to make your rental property most appealing to potential renters. Real estate agents support that there are several ways in which this can be done.

- There is always the solution of furnishing your rental property. Many landlords decide that this is the best possible way to increase the rental agreement on their property and if they do have furniture in excess, it is actually a convenient way to store them and make profit from their use by the tenant. In case this sounds like something you would be interested in doing, you have to make sure that your rental property is in excellent condition and that the phone jack on the wall and other appliances are in perfect shape.

- There is also the option of partly furnishing your property. This method will appeal to renters who are interested in finding a house that is not packed with furniture that do not match and that they want to bring in some of their own. But it is always a good idea to offer a nice quality couch, bed, mattress, drawers and kitchen appliances. Nice looking furniture will make your property much more appealing to potential renters and will help you securing the rent you wish to receive every month.

- Do not forget that your property has to be shown to its potential residents clean. Everything has to be as clean as possible and especially the kitchen appliance, cupboards along with the bathroom have to be in great shape. Consider hiring a professional team to do the cleaning and remember that in most cases, providing a clean apartment is among your responsibilities as the rental's lawful owner.

- Repair ceilings, kitchen cabinets, existing wallpaper, closets and doors. Make sure your contractor will take care of your bathroom damages and ask him to replace the bathroom tiles that have been damaged by the previous tenants or owners. Installing a new bathroom curtain and brand new hooks can further assist your efforts of renting it at the price range you have in mind.

- Repaint with the right light colours the walls of the residence and get rid off difficult to handle paints.

- Increase the existing lighting and replace old blinds with bright new ones.

- Take care of the things the previous owner or tenant has left inside the house and if you are thinking of using some or all of them to furnish the house make sure you write down what you are leaving in there and what type of furniture are missing and your tenant will probably request you to supply.

- Shampoo carpets and for deep cleaning that helps reduce the allergens and the odours caused by dust mites, pollen, dust and pet dander. It generally advisable to deeply clean your carpets so as to brighten and deodorise their surface.

If you're still waiting for the perfect time to buy investment properties, stop because you'll probably find yourself waiting year after year for that time to come. Over time the real estate market will go up and down, but you can still make money no matter when you decide to invest. You don't need a crystal ball to try and predict the future to make it big in real estate. Don't think that you need to time the market perfectly, because you don't. With a few simple strategies, you can make big money investing in real estate even if your timing isn't perfect. Buying Wholesale Properties One thing you always want to do, especially in a cold (slow) real estate market is to get a really good deal on every property that you invest in. You want to be able to sell you're the property below the current market value and still make a nice profit. People are always buying houses, even in cold markets. As an investor you basically always want to buy property at wholesale prices and then sell it at or close to retail prices.

Buying property at wholesale prices as an investor needs to be the norm. The better deal you can get when you purchase your investment, the more money you'll make when you sell it. You want to find yourself bidding low on several properties at a time until you're able to find someone ready to sell fast and cheap. If you are not able to get a house that you like at a great price, don't get discouraged. One rule is to never get personally attached and fall in love with an investment property, remember this is just business and it's not personal.

In both hot and cold markets you'll be able to find people who need to sell their property fast and well below market value. There are a lot of occurrences that will put people in a situation where they need to sell fast, divorce, bankruptcy, maybe the owner needs to move into a nursing home and there are many, many more. All of these events are common and can occur to just about anyone, which is why it shouldn't be that hard to find these types of situations.

Rent Out Investment Property If it's not such a great time to sell your property, then why not look at renting it? In real estate, a slow sales market does not mean a bad or slow rental market. You should be able to find a tenant and get just as much rent as you would in any type of sales market. It just might make sense to rent your property until the sales market improves. The tenants rent should cover all of your expenses and the whole time you'll be paying down your mortgage.

So, you should make money renting out your property three different ways. 1. You are paying off your mortgage over time 2. Your making a monthly cash flow 3. Your property value will increase over time

So don't get bogged down about what type of real estate market were in today and what direction the market is going in tomorrow. Find a great deal on an investment and go for it. Just do it, if you make a mistake you'll be a better investor by learning from what you did wrong. You'll be further ahead by going for it than someone else who is waiting and trying to time the market perfectly.

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Many people are looking for ways to increase their retirement income. For most of these individuals, their homes are the greatest asset. A large section of the aging population has failed to plan effectively in order to have sufficient savings at retirement. They now are looking to their real estate to supplement their retirement income.

Real estate values are very unpredictable, especially now with the decrease in the real estate bubble. Prices are falling in some cities and flattening in others. It will take some planning to get the most from selling your real estate to supplement your retirement.

Be Realistic. To plan effectively, you must be realistic about the price you may get for your home. Real estate is an up and down market, so you should assume a traditional real estate market for valuating your home, with gains in value equal to the inflation rate. At retirement, you will have the same purchasing power you currently have. If gains in real estate values are better than the inflation rate, then you will have more. Just don’t count on it.

Get the Most from Your Real Estate. People used to work hard to pay off their mortgages for homes they planned to raise their children in and retire. Since 1989, the number of people 65 and older with mortgage debt has nearly tripled, adjusting for inflation. Making payments on real estate in retirement years will deplete your savings and retirement income faster than any other expenditure.

There are three reasons to pay off your real estate mortgage — (1) decrease expenditures in your retirement years, (2) use the mortgage interest rate that you will save to increase your retirement savings, and (3) build more equity, in case you need it as income on which to live later. Paying off your mortgage is a good thing to do, regardless of what the real estate market is doing.

Downsize Your Home. If you are living in a home that is larger than what you need, do not hold on to it for sentimental reasons. Selling the larger home for a smaller one can: (1) give you a smaller mortgage payment than you currently have, or (2) purchase a smaller home outright with no mortgage. It also means less physical upkeep by you, as well as less maintenance and repair costs in the future during retirement. Please keep in mind that there will be selling, moving and new home renovation costs that must be deducted from the sale proceeds.

Sell the Extra Real Estate. If you have a second home or vacation real estate that will not be your retirement residence, you may wish to sell this extra real estate now, putting the sale proceeds into your retirement savings. You can put the mortgage and annual upkeep payments for this property into your retirement savings, too.

Reverse Mortgages. Though these products have been around for some time, we are hearing a lot about them lately. Such mortgages give you 50 percent or more of your home’s value with no mortgage payments, which are collected by the lender at your death or if you sell the real estate.

Beware! Reverse mortgages should be used only as a last-ditch effort at survival. The interest and fees added to your mortgage debt can be very costly. If you must consider a reverse mortgage, here are a few smart tips:

• There are only a few reverse mortgage products now on the market, but others are coming soon. So, wait two or three years to garner more options and possibly better products.
• You must be 62 to qualify for a reverse mortgage loan, but wait as long as possible to take such a loan. The younger you are, the smaller the loan and higher the cost over time.
• Check out all of the products on the market and get independent financial counseling on the best one for you. They may look the same upfront, but the number of years and the loan value differ greatly between products, as well as the costs over time.
• Do not buy into the hype! Mortgage brokers receive a large commission on these products. If you feel you are being pushed in this direction, check out other lenders.
• Plan ahead. If you move and sell your real estate, the lender receives all that is due on the reverse mortgage from the sale proceeds. This could actually leave you in a worse financial state.

If you would like a rental valuation, please contact us by clicking the icon in the top left, or by clicking here: email now!

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Intercity Accommodation are letting agents in Leeds. We have a selection of houses to rent, as well as professional and student flats. Our managed properties in Leeds are located in various areas in Leeds depending upon availability.
Our web site is edited daily and includes property for professionals, professional house shares, student flats, and flats and houses to let in Leeds.

In addition to the above services, we also offer full management, `let-only` and `advertising-only`for owners & landlords. Property investments can be sought & acquired for investors. For more information on our investment opportunities, contact our Headingley Leeds Office, Tel.: 0113 2302303 or 2302304. 

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