Newsletter No. 6 (September 2001)

Newsletter No: 6 – 17th September 2001

Non payment of rent:

If any of you have any horror stories concerning non payment of
rent, we would like to hear them.  We are currently putting together an
article which we hope will assist you in getting your property back.  We
realise that it can be a long drawn out affair and we have also come across one
or two landlords who have gone about things in completely the wrong
manner.  You must follow the book when a tenant is either late paying the
rent or does not pay at all.  As you can appreciate this topic will be
welcome by many a landlord, current and future, so please contribute – no names
will be mentioned I hasten to add, but you could help us help landlords escape
the trap!

Lettings market down turn?

In light of the current financial situation throughout the
world, it is possible that there may be a down turn in tenants looking to rent
property.  However, despite these rumours we suggest that you hang fast and
that there will always be people looking to rent property no matter where you
are.  You have to ensure that your property is in excellent condition and
is good value for money.  As part of our investment club, we are searching
for properties that fall into this category and whilst there may be a down turn,
it will not last forever.  Besides it could also be a good time to snap up
some bargains and sit on them until the market perks up.  Realising that
the lettings market can be split into many different segments, we are currently
less dependent on the corporate market and more dependent on the student market
and the market for first time jobbers!  This is always a fairly sound bet!

But do not panic, monitor your tenants payments and you should
be able to see if they are starting to struggle.  As with many companies
that we deal with on behalf of landlords, we monitor the payment of rent. 
If they have always paid within 14 days of a rent demand there is rarely a
problem.  If they start to take longer and longer one has to be wary and it
could be in yur best interests to give them a ring to check that everything is
okay. Admittedly they are unlikely to tell you that the company is in financial
straits, but they may hint that they would be obliged if you were a little
lenient on the rental payment.  They may even suggest that a compromise
could be met and they would really like to pull the tenant out of the property
altogether and that they will give you a bit of compensation for your troubles –
it has been known – watch carefully, but at no time hassle them or become
impatient – this could lead to more than you bargained for.  Remember also
that your property should be viewed as a long term investment and these can go
down as well as up.

New York:

As stated previously, we have landlords all over the world
including no fewer than 5 in New York – to all those I hope you get this e-mail
purely from a compassionate view – I forward all our thoughts and best wishes to
you all.