The furniture you have inside a home is almost important as the property itself. It can mean the difference between comfort and elegance and squalor and discomfort. Everyone enjoys new furniture, but really nice furniture is often prohibitively expensive. Clearance furniture is the answer, so you can furnish your home elegantly at a reasonable price. [click to continue…]
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If you want to let out property then you may want to consider show home furnishings. Even if you intend to provide property unfurnished it can help prospective tenants to get a feel for the space and to imagine how their own furniture might look inside the property. [click to continue…]
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Surely the Loft Interiors team must have broken a world record in speed buy to let furnishing this week (if such a thing exists?).
Never ones to turn down a challenge, six of the Loft Interiors team zoomed over to Nottingham in our trusty vans to furnish 42 apartments in just two days at the Pictureworks development. [click to continue…]
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As a landlord, furnishing your property presents a puzzling dilemma about how best to maximise your return – whether to rent the property furnished or unfurnished. While providing furnishings for tenants may mean they are happy to pay increased rent, it needs to be compared with the time and effort you will need to spend managing the rental property and its furniture.
Renting a property furnished can sometimes increase the rental value by as much as a third, so this presents and important decision for landlords. Furnishing a property can increase the income received on the investment. [click to continue…]
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Given the recent turmoil in the world of mortgages and the property market you may assume that now isn’t the time to invest in a furnished buy to let property and let out to tenants, but that isn’t necessarily the case.
Actually there’s plenty of reasons why, if your circumstances are right, it might be a good time to buy. [click to continue…]
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Here at Loft Buy To Let Furnishings we specialise in providing heavy duty furniture that can stand up to the rigours of being used by tenants in rented accomodation. But what if you have students who put their homes through Skins-style parties? What furniture would be able to handle that kind of punishment?
We’ve scoured the net for some of the most hardcore furniture and found these five highlights:
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I remember the days when student digs were more Rising Damp than luxury loft apartments, but hey, things have moved on and now Manchester’s students are returning to luxury living quarters to lay their weary heads after a night on the booze (and a hard day’s studying?!)!
With Freshers flooding Fallowfied next week, it’s been a busy time for the Loft Interiors (Buy to Let Furnishings) team, helping landlords across the North West ensure their rental accommodation is tenant-ready, with fab furnishings that wouldn’t look out of place in photoshoot perfect penthouses.
Our ‘Refresh’ service has proved a hit this year, as we’ve heard stories of student tenants turning down year-old mattresses and walking away from properties if the desk doesn’t match the wardrobe! But at just £100 a pop for landlords to replace a double divan bed, and £150 buying a full bedroom set, it’s a small price to pay for investors to make their properties stand out from the crowd and attract the cream of the student tenant crop. (You know, the ones who might consider running the vacuum cleaner we provide in our Ready-to-Rent packs around the flat every so often!)
We’re glad to be doing our bit for parents too – as they can rest easy that their darlings aren’t returning to rat-infested digs, but more a home from home environment. And they can only hope that beautifully furnished and fitted rental accommodation will instil a smidgen of pride in their kids’ surroundings – so the washing up won’t pile up to Leaning Tower of Pisa proportions!
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Who will be the best buy to let furniture supplier?
The Landlord & Buy-to-Let Awards aim to recognise and reward excellence, whilst contributing to raising standards in the private rented sector.
Hundreds of entries have been received and shortlists of entrants have now been compiled for each category, including… Buy to Let Furnishings in the Buy to Let Furniture / Furnishings category!
Landlord & Buy-to-Let magazine editor and lead judge for the Awards, Oliver Romain, commented: “We have been astounded but absolutely delighted with the number of entries received. It just goes to show what we have always said: there are some very high standards amongst private rented sector professionals and it’s about time that the work of the sector is rewarded.”
The awards will be taking place on Friday 16th October at the NEC in Birmingham. You can find out more about the other finalists by visiting the Landlord Show website.
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With a number of different national landlord associations to choose from, how do you work out which one to join – if any? As a completely independent 3rd party we felt we were in a good position to provide our customers with a quick guide to enable them to compare landlord associations and what the costs and benefits are at a glance.
The Landlord Association
The only FREE to join national landlord association, Landlord Expert provides free back-up and support online to residential landlords. They are the only landlord association that is recommended by primelocation.com, FindAProperty.com and PropertyAbroad.com. With a huge member base and a dedicated following of landlords from all over the UK, they are the only Landlord Association to offer free telephone support from exprienced and professional staff. All other associations, charge the landlord money for this service.
The Landlord Association membership benefits include:
The Landlord Association membership options
Free membership
http://www.landlordexpert.co.uk
Residential Landlords Association
Owned by their members, the Residential Landlords Association represents over 6,000 landlords throughout England & Wales, with a combined portfolio in excess of 150,000 properties. Their main aim is to be an effective lobbying organisation, however they do provide a free landlord supplier directory and the forum can be accessed free, but you have to join to post your own messages.
Residential Landlords Association member benefits include:
Website access – complete, unrestricted access to all areas of the RLA website.
RLA Help Desk – Free and unlimited guidance on all aspects of landlord legalities, the tenancy lifecycle. Accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Tenancy Agreement – Members get free use of the RLA Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, created with the Office of Fair Trading.
Document Centre – Every document you will ever need to manage your properties and tenancies. From tenancy application forms and tenant reference requests, to inventories, tenancy agreements and company lets, through to court forms and legal notices.
www.homes2rent.net – RLA Members can advertise all their properties for free on the RLA’s very own website, the free search website for tenants looking for rented accommodation in the UK.
Tenant Credit Checks – Check potential tenants’ financial worthiness, CCJ’s, credit history, electoral role and credit risk. For a fully detailed report usually costing between £15-20, RLA Members pay just £10 per check.
Tenancy deposits – RLA members get advice on tenancy deposit protection in addition to a subsidy on membership to Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd.
Landlord Software – Create and save tailored AST agreements for all of your tenancies and properties with the RLA AST Creation Software and Launch Pad. Free for RLA Members.
Residential Property Investor – The RPI is a leading magazine for landlords in the UK, containing all the latest industry news and information relevant to today’s landlord.
Landlord Insurance – Preferential rates for RLA members on various insurance products including Buildings, Contents for Landlords and Tenants, Rent Guarantee and Legal Expenses cover.
Buy to Let Mortgages – The RLA online Buy to Let mortgage service offers a wide range of Buy to let mortgages and now offers domestic residential mortgages for RLA members.
Landlord Training – RLA Courses are designed to help all landlords to overcome the problems and pitfalls of property rental and law. RLA members get exclusive discounts.
Member Discounts – The RLA Suppliers Guide features hundreds of businesses from around the UK and RLA Members get preferential rates off many of them. Save up to 25% on services including Accountants, Builders, Plumbers, Electricians, Inventory Clerks, Inspections and more.
News Updates – Receive regular news updates via email and the RLA website. Keeping you up-to-date and ahead of the industry in issues that affect today’s landlords.
Voice in Government – As a member of the Residential Landlords Association you will be represented in the highest levels of Government along with thousands of other landlords in England & Wales.
Residential Landlords Association Membership options
£75 – 95 per year (depending on payment method)
Corporate and associate membership options also available
National Landlords Association
With over 50 Acts of Parliament and more than 70 sets of regulations governing the private-rented sector. This increasingly heavy regulatory burden means it is more important than ever that landlords understand the legal and regulatory environment in which they manage their lettings.
Representing 17,000 members, the National Landlords Association, seeks a fair legal and regulatory environment for landlord and tenant, and actively lobby the government at all levels on behalf of our members. They help ensure that their members are aware of their statutory rights and responsibilities.
Residential Landlords Association member benefits include:
* Access to their telephone advice line, as often as you want
* In-depth analysis of current issues in UK Landlord, the premier magazine for landlords
* Access to their comprehensive Landlord Library website
* A copy of their Landlord Development Manual that benchmarks good practice on the many issues facing landlords
* Free tax investigation insurance
* Discounted rates on membership and protection of deposits with mydeposits
* Discounted rates are available on a wide range of commercial services
* Their team of policy advisers lobbies at local, national and EU level to promote the interests of landlords
Membership options
£70 per year membership fees, plus £18 to join (one off)
Discounts for bulk buyingyears in advance
Special note: The information shown above was researched from the landlord associations’ respective websites (2nd September 2009) and therefore may be subject to change since publication. Buy to Let Furnishings will endeavour to monitor the information and update the figures as necessary.
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As a buy to let furniture specialist, Buy to Let Furnishings are often asked by landlords, lettings agencies and property management companies to recommend other buy to let suppliers, websites and services.
So to save your precious time, we thought we’d gather the 5 best free landlord advice sites and resources that we’ve come across and provide them for you in a handy list…
1. Residential Landlord
Residential Landlord is the one stop source for information and advice for residential landlords. Their aim is to help their visitors become the best informed property investors in the market. FREE to access, content includes news and features; links to sources of information from Government and other agencies, and updates on latest buy to let mortgage offers; auction dates and new property developments.
Their Ask Sharon ‘agony column’ tackles some of the trickier questions, giving down to earth practical advice on a host of common and not-so-common questions. Plus the busy landlord forums buzz with daily exchanges on topics ranging from plumbing to taxation, worn carpets to possession.
http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk
2. Landlord Expert
Landlord Expert is the only FREE to join national landlord association. One of only two national associations set-up to help landlords all over the UK. Landlord Expert is the only landlord association to offer free telephone support from exprienced and professional staff.
All other associations, including the only other national association, charge the landlord money for this service.
http://www.landlordexpert.co.uk
3. Landlord Zone
Landlord Zone is an online community, a portal for landlords involved in letting property – novice and experienced alike. It provides free access to information, resources and suppliers of value to residential and commercial landlords, tenants, letting agents, property managers and other property professionals.
4. Property Investment Project
A popular and highly entertaining property investment blog, written by a guy whose original plan was to blog about his first steps into investing in buy to let property and becoming a landlord. Which having since completed that task on the 2nd of March 2007, now continues to indulge himself by writing (and ranting) about the ups and downs of being a landlord and his other property related projects, with the ultimate goal of increasing his portfolio and becoming a property millionaire.
http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk
5. Property Hawk
Property Hawk is a site developed by Landlords for Landlords. The primary aim is to make work life simpler and more flexible for their landlord users through the provision of FREE content and landlord software. Their software gives landlords the ability to log their financial and management data, as well as calculate their tax liabilities. The site incorporates a landlord magazine, news feed, links, online book, calculators, bookshop created specifically for UK Residential Landlords.
If you have found other free landlord advice websites, forums, resources and services available at zero cost to landlords, please feel free to add them to the comments below (please declare any interest and all comments will be moderated – thanks Buy to Let Furnishings).
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