Product Description

Want to know how to let property successfully? Whether you're new to letting or more experienced, this book is for you. David Lawrenson has 20 years' experience as a landlord. He tells you what you really need to know to make money in buy-to-let. Packed with facts, his book explains how you can:

Buy the right type of property in the right location, at auction, through an estate agent, privately or 'off plan'.

Get the best deals from builders, developers, architects, surveyors and solicitors.

Use a letting agency or do it yourself.

Prepare the right form of tenancy agreement and comply with all the letting laws.

Reference your tenants thoroughly so you don't get the tenant from hell.

Keep your tenants happy and your property let all the time.

Buy and let abroad with confidence.

Let your property free of income tax and capital gains tax.

So follow David's advice and keep the rent rolling in!

FULLY UPDATED FOR 2006 - new edition satisfies all the latest legal and financial considerations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96382 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

National Landlord's Association, October 2005
A practical and extremely detailed guide for landlords...crammed full of tips.

Landlord Law, November 2005
interesting and useful... particularly [for] those new to the business

Scottish Association of Landlords
Jammed full of advice... well organised and broken down into
sections, it also works well as a reference book

Customer Reviews

The best there is.
I'm just dipping my toes into the buy-to-let waters, and have been soaking up information like a sponge from any and everywhere. Without a doubt, this is the best source I've come across, providing clear, sound and realistic advice. Written in a gently humerous and unpatronising style, if offers both breadth and plenty detail, including very useful chapters on how to manage without letting agents, and getting to grips with tax.
It's much more current than certain other publications, for example it doesn't trip itself up citing no-longer-attainable rental yields, or recommend specific (long out-of-date) investment areas.
In other words, its author is realistic about the fluctuating housing and rental market, with evident ample experience from which to offer clear, sensible guidance and advice about how to stay afloat in unpredictable and choppy seas.
Worth every penny.

Essntial reading for all Landlords
Having recently become a "buy-to-let" landlord myself, I was looking for a book which would tell me everything I needed to know about the property letting game. A number of publications I came across seemed to be extremely detailed and difficult to get to grips with. A friend of mine then recommended David Lawrenson's book on the subject and I promptly followed his advice and bought it. I wasn't disappointed.
This book covers all areas of property letting but better still, it covers it in a simple and easy to understand format. The author shares his own experiences of being a landlord and informs the reader of potential danger areas to watch out for. The advice offered is straight forward, practical and informative but most of all, accessible to the reader. Areas I found particularly helpful were those on property tax (a minefield explained easily) and advice on how to keep your property let at all times (essential for any landlord). Overall, I would recommend this book for any type of landlord. Whether new to the game or experienced, there is excellent information and advice contained within it's pages. It has become an essential reference guide for me in all matters relating to buy-to-let. Highly recommended.

Very thorough, full of facts and highly recommended
As an experienced property investor I found this book still taught me lots that I didn't know already.
The chapters on how to find the right property in the right location and the one on how to reference tenants (so as not to end up with the tenant from hell!) were particularly good.
There's also a good tenancy agreement in the index and a useful list of addresses for other organisations too.
It's also written in an easy to read style and made me laugh a few times too, which for a hard bitten landlady isn't easy!
Highly recommended.