LANDLORDS! Tenants Waiting
Due to our recent marketing campaign we have registered a large amount of prospective tenants looking to move in the next few weeks.
Because of this we are in desperate need of new flats and houses to rent in the Bournemouth area.
If you have a property that you are looking to rent out or are unhappy with your current agent - give us a call.
Click to read more... LANDLORDS - WORLD CUP SWEEPSTAKE!
Announcing the Burns Lettings World Cup Sweepstake!
The first 32 landlords that instruct Burns Lettings in the month of June will automatically get entered into our world cup draw and have the chance to win their let for free!
When you instruct Burns Lettings to let your property a qualifying team will get drawn out of the hat on your behalf. If this team goes on to win the World Cup, Burns Lettings will let your property for free*.
Or
If your team makes it into the last 8 then you will receive a 25% discount on fees**.
Have you got an empty property? Are you unhappy with your current agent?
Call us today!
*6 months of management only
**discount on standard management fee
Click to read more... Burns Lettings Introduces Photographic Inspections
Burns Lettings Introduces Photographic Inspections
In an effort to provide more information to their landlords, Burns Lettings have just introduced comprehensive photographic reports on their managed properties. Many agents locally offer property inspections during a tenancy however Burns Lettings believe that they may be the only agent in the area to offer this extra service to their landlord for free.
William Gentle, Branch Manager at Burns commented ‘As part of our standard managed service we have always inspected our properties once every three months and sent our landlords reports on how their tenants are keeping the property as well as any maintenance issues that have been noted during the visit. Now we are going one step further by actually providing our clients with photographic evidence of the condition of the property. Recently we had a leak into a property and the landlord lived abroad. With photographic reports he was able to see the extent of the damage and what works needed to be completed. Once the works have been done he will get another inspection report which will include photographs of the repairs.’
For more information about a different standard of letting and property management services call Burns Lettings on 01202 55 33 35.
Click to read more... LANDLORDS!
More Properties Wanted!
We have recently expanded our lettings department and had an extremely busy start to the year, due to this we are looking for more quality rental property to let and manage.
For a professional, no-nonsense and flexible letting service please call us now on 01202 55 33 35 for your no obligation market appraisal.
Click to read more... BURNS COMPASS POINTED AT SUCCESS
BURNS COMPASS POINTED AT SUCCESS
Burns Lettings have been recently featured in the Dorset Compass Magazine as a local agent of authority advising landlord on the current lettings and buy to let market.
Lettings: tenants
The lettings market is proving to be resistant to the downturn with demand from tenants for quality properties still strong as many prefer to rent in the current market rather than commit to buying. Tenants are becoming more discerning however, demanding more for their money today than in previous years.
‘From a lettings point of view, the increase in demand we are starting to see should bring with it stable rents,’ explains Will Gentle, manager of the lettings department at Burns Lettings, Bournemouth. ‘Although we saw rents fall slightly last year, we’re already seeing prime locations picking up and benefitting from better rents.’
Buy to let: landlords
For investors, however, the Buy-To-Let market has still not recovered as lenders are still nervous about lending to investors without them putting down much larger deposits.
With house repossessions at their highest for 14 years (46,000 homes were repossessed in 2009, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders), there’s a shortage of funds for landlords, even for sound ones keen to grow their property portfolios.
This means that the first time buyer market of smaller, affordable studio and one-bedroom properties is short on purchasers. So Will suggests that for those well positioned to place those deposits this is a good time to buy. ‘There are opportunities out there for investment with good rates of return,’ he comments.
He is also urging landlords to be more open-minded about the financial position of some tenants. ‘Unemployment remains a challenge and some tenants may well not have a spotless credit history. This doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily higher risk, but it’s worth putting extra safeguarding measures into place for some extra peace of mind. We’ve just introduced Rent Guarantee as an option for all our landlords which would remove much of the risk.’
Overall Will is confident that the outlook for 2010 is a good one.
'We will continue to see a positive rental market but only for those properties that are of a good standard. Poorly presented properties with shabby furniture or decoration will struggle to find tenants.’
Lettings market: agents
Will continues, ‘We may however see more agents, ones who started to dabble in the lettings market when the sales market first turned, giving up and returning to sales or folding – so I would urge landlords to choose a reputable, established agent.
‘As long as lenders make it difficult for first time buyers to get their first foot on the ladder, we will almost certainly continue to see more sharers, especially those who are renting for the first time, in order to spread the costs.’
The right property will attract the right tenant and property, if landlords and prospective landlords take advice, continues to be a strong investment in the current market.
08/03/2010
Click to read more... LANDLORDS! Tenants Waiting
Landlords! We have tenants waiting!
Due to our recent marketing campaign we have registered a large amount of prospective tenants looking to move in the next few weeks.
Because of this we are in desperate need of new flats and houses to rent in the Bournemouth area.
If you have a property that you are looking to rent out or are unhappy with your current agent - give us a call.
Updated 25/02/10
Click to read more... Word On The Street
The lettings market is proving to be resistant to the downturn with demand from tenants for quality properties still strong as many prefer to rent in the current market rather than commit to buying. Tenants are becoming more discerning however, demanding more for their money today than in previous years.
‘From a lettings point of view, the increase in demand we are starting to see should bring with it stable rents,’ explains Will Gentle, manager of the lettings department at Burns Lettings, Bournemouth. ‘Although we saw rents fall slightly last year, we’re already seeing prime locations picking up and benefitting from better rents.’
19th Feb 2010
Click to read more... There May Be Trouble Ahead.....It seems that almost every analyst, lender and agent warns that while top homes in London and the country may hold their value, most others will experience 2010 price falls of up to 10 per cent.
There will be relatively few sales, too. Top-end purchasers are likely to sit tight until after the May election and some deals, mainly in central London, may collapse if they were relying on City bonuses that are now being taxed or scrapped. "The attack on high-value bonuses has the potential to hit that sector of the housing market hard, at least in the short term," says Ray Boulger of mortgage broker John Charcol.
07/01/2010
Click to read more... London sucess will filter down
With the most intensive part of the recession and credit crunch now seemingly overcome at a national level, the London property market is showing a signs of economic recovery, as the last quarter of 2009 saw increased confidence in sales. Houses for sale have been coming onto the market at a much greater pace, with vendors realising that sales are becoming both more profitable and turning over more efficiently
Click to read more... LANDLORDS PUSH FOR CHANGE
Recent changes introduced in April 2008 mean that Local Housing Allowance is now paid directly to the tenant. Before that date tenants and landlords could agree that benefit was paid direct to the landlord – very important since it avoided the tenant getting into arrears.
The National Landlords Association wants to see the recent changes reversed as soon as possible as an increasing number of tenants are claiming Local Housing Allowance but are not passing it on to their landlords and arrears have been rising.
Click to read more... New Website Sucess!
Burns are pleased to announce the successful launch of their new website, which has been under development
for the last few months. ‘During the development we had to take into account the fact that 80% of applicants start their search
online’ commented Will Gentle, Manager of the lettings office, ‘The rest of the site was built around this core objective, allowing tenants to find the right
property for them easily and show that property off in its best possible light.’
The site allows multiple photographs for each property allowing tenants to see much more detail before they come to view. This coupled with the sites links
to mapping software and direct contact with the office either by phone or email will give Burns the edge over many other agent’s websites. ‘We felt the
site had to not only look good, but be easy to use and tenant friendly.’ ‘We are confident that this new site will encourage more
tenants to register with us and increase our database of already prequalified applicants’.
The site also gives landlords further information on the letting department and the block management side of the business.
Click to read more... Picking up for buy to-let investorsSince the property sales downturn at the end of 2008 the lettings market has seen continuous growth as people are choosing to rent rather than buy. The uncertainty in the sales market has only benefited the rental segment seeing tenant demand for quality properties to take on long term lets increase. In fact arecent ARLA survey reported that the average tenancy lasts over 18 months and across their members tenant enquires rise by almost 25% in the first quarterof 2009. This desire to remain inproperties coupled with a dip inbuy-to-let sales at the end of 2008 has left rental property inhigh demand. Latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed 21,600 new buy-to-let loans were advanced in the three months to the end of June, encouraging signs that the buy-tolet market is beginning to find its feet. "This is confirmation that things are starting to pick up for buy to-let investors," said Ian Potter, Operations Manager of the Association of Residential Letting Agents.
Click to read more...
