In the current time, there are some incredible property bargains to be had, in my opinion. And the best deals of all are located in the same areas that saw the biggest boom and bust just a few years ago.

The USA has some of the best domestic property bargains on the planet thanks to the “hand your keys back” foreclosure system which sets the States apart from much of the rest of the western world in which countries’ rules make it a little harder to walk away from a property purchase you’ve made.

Whatever your political position on this – the way things are in the USA throws up some quite startling bargains just at a time when interest rates are at their lowest ever level.

So “go for it” as long as the property rental yields make good financial sense on an ongoing, long-term basis.

The problem with this approach is the ability to borrow money. The way of the world is to rebound too far in the other direction following the kind of collective madness the world witnessed a few short years ago. And that’s what’s happening today; the banks have rebounded so far in the other direction that even the careful lowly-geared property investors are finding it hard to borrow.

So to maximise your mortgage potential, de-gear as much as you possibly can, keep meticulous financial records and use a mortgage broker. The broker will have more of a vested interest in convincing lenders of your suitability to borrow – so it’s a little easier to convince him or her in the first place.

Also – it may be an option to go private; borrowing money from people you know if the deals make sense and you both trust each other implicitly. And finally, you may be able to put things on a business footing by forming a property company to run this as business instead of a personal investment. Seek accountancy advice if going down this latter route.

This article was written by financial expert David – a keen blogger in his spare time. He knows all about finances, including the Payday Loan culture sweeping the country by storm at the moment.

Buying a property abroad can be fraught with difficulties, but the possibility of owning a holiday place in the sun is very tempting. With the worldwide recession there are bargains to be had, especially in places like Florida, where far too many properties were built and the market was absolutely flooded.

As it is so easy for US citizens to walk away from their property if they can’t afford to keep up with payments, it’s not surprising that so many are now owned by the banks who will sell at slashed down prices just to get rid of them.

Of course, the disadvantage for a British or European buyer is that you will not be able to reside full-time in Florida. You’ll only be able to use your apartment or flat there for periods of months at a time, as most foreigners are only allowed to stay for a period of three to six months at a time.

However, if you can afford to pay for one of these bargain apartments, you could use the time when you are not there to let it out to holidaymakers, even including friends and families who enjoy the same kind of holidays as you do.

It’s a question of finding a good agency to help you through the buying process and then to run the property in your absence. Holiday lets aren’t always occupied, so there will be times when your property stands empty, but then at peak holiday times, you can charge high rental fees.

Millions of visitors flock to Florida every year. The nearer you are to theme parks like Disney and Wet N Wild the more chances of you having regular holiday bookings. Houses and apartments in Orlando are popular year-round.

Bear in mind the main tenet of advice from big business property developers like David Lichtenstein – that small scale property investors stay within their means when first buying property to let. In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew and end up like so many others who have had to hand in the keys to their dream holiday apartment.

If you own a home in another country, a little Forex trading may be a good idea to help you hedge the differences in currency values between your home country and the house location.

Major currency shifts – the like of which we’ve seen in recent years – can really have an adverse impact if you own a house overseas.

If the currency of the country your overseas property is in strengthens markedly against your home currency, then a big unforeseen essential bill could really knock your finances for six.

But you can trade on the foreign exchanges on margin with only a small capital outlay if you’re trading on leverage in order to hedge your position.

Now if all this is gobbledegook to you, but you are interested in protecting your property assets against massive exchange rate swings in one direction or another, there are lots of relatively easy ways to get yourself quickly clued in.

Have a look at the education and tutorial services on the Sunbird FX website for example. Trading on the margin on currencies is very easy to do, but you do need to be careful here. Make sure you understand the amounts involved if your trade moves against you. Of course, the whole idea of a hedge is a safety net so if a foreign exchange trade with Sunbird or another brokerage does move against you – this may well be good news for the bulk of your ‘real’ finances which are held in the opposing currency.

If, for example, you’re from the UK and bought a house somewhere in the Eurozone more than five years ago before the pound weakened against the Euro – and now fear the Euro’s collapse back against the pound – then to hedge the money tied up in the European house, you may want to place a bet on margin on sterling strengthening over time.

Then if it does, you won’t lose out too badly should you come to try and realise then inherent value in the European house from today’s position.

Only you can judge your individual situation and the extent to which you may need to hedge. Just do your sums carefully.

This article was written by David – a keen financial blogger. He often checks out sites like SunbirdFX to get the latest trading news.

If you have ambitions to become a property developer, or already are a property developer and are looking to do better – then my advice is to focus on the yield only. If you do this – the capital value will almost always take care of itself.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the yield is unimportant if you’ve been watching all those TV programmes about making a fast buck from renovating properties. But the truth is that such opportunities are there for builders rather than investors. It’s true; you can be both if you know what you’re doing. But the experience of the early Noughties’ property boom exemplified how most people didn’t really know what they were doing.

Either – they weren’t capable of doing the actual work in property resonation themselves – or they weren’t really investors and focussed only on the capital value of a property, ignoring the potential rental yield. Buying almost blindly ‘off-plan’ exemplified such errors. Some got lucky, but many got caught out.

But if the rental yield doesn’t make sense from an investment point of view in giving you a decent percentage return on your investment (one which outstrips other reasonably safe investments such as gilts, bonds and relatively safe high yielding shares) then you shouldn’t touch it.

And when you’re working out the rental yield, remember to work out your figures including renovation and replacing furniture if it’s fully-furnished.

The sofas UK customers want, for example, changes all the time – and you’ll need to keep the place up to date in all regards to ‘sell’ it to increasingly discerning tenants in a renter’s market.

And it isn’t only about today’s yield either. Try and guess what the yield in these alternative investments is likely to look like five years from now. If it still makes sense, then great, go for it. If not, walk away. You may or may not get the capital rise; who can really tell? But by focussing on the yield alone, you won’t go far wrong.

As anyone that’s moved recently will know all too well, interior decor is a vital part of making a house feel like a home. Each room will need to reflect your tastes and personality for you to feel truly relaxed and comfortable, so it’s important to get the decor and the furniture just right.
Starting with the dining furniture, select items that are not only attractive and durable but that are practical too. If you are a young couple who entertain frequently, the dining furniture you select will be quite different to that of a single person or a large family with young children, for example. Will you opt for a large wooden table or a modern glass table or perhaps simply bar stools around a work surface for a more modern interior? It all depends on your lifestyle and your requirements.
Moving onto the living room or sitting room area, a modern coffee table can create an attractive central point for this room and is vital if you use intend to use the living room for relaxing or entertaining. A modern coffee table can bring the look of any living room bang up to date, creating a truly contemporary feel.
Bathrooms are, for many, rooms of relaxation as well as simply a place to wash and shower in the morning. When redoing a bathroom in a new home, you could consider a large corner bath or Jacuzzi bath if you have the space. And baths don’t have to be limited to just one room – why not consider a hot tub if you have a fairly private roof terrace or a balcony?
Whatever size of home you have moved into, it’s important to take your time selecting furniture that will make your house feel like a home. Come back soon for more tips and advice on decorating the other rooms of your new home.

There are a number of variables that can affect the price of your home insurance quote. Some of them are obvious, and entirely understandable; the number of bedrooms you have will clearly affect your premium, as will your proximity to a source of water, and the level of security on your doors and windows. Any previous claims you’ve made will also obviously be taken into account. However, did you know that you could be paying over the odds for your policy purely and simply based on your postcode?

The “postcode lottery” is a term we’re all familiar with; it often applies to the quality of NHS healthcare on offer in your area, which has a knock-on effect on your life expectancy and other health indicators. However, it also applies to home insurance. The latest research applicable to the UK has shown that the winners of this lottery are those living in Jersey, while the losers live a short distance away in Guernsey.

Homeowners in Jersey saw their home insurance premiums drop by an average of 13% between summer 2010 and the recent summer months. Those living in South London and East London were also among the lucky ones, with their premiums reduced by around 7%. In the case of Jersey, it is thought that low crime rates and favourable weather conditions contributed to the reduction, while the percentage of the population in retirement was also thought to be a contributing factor.

Regardless of where you live, there are several tips for keeping your premiums low. Firstly, you should only cover what you need to cover; do you really need accidental damage insurance, for example? Secondly, make sure you don’t make a claim unless you really need to; can you cover the cost yourself? Thirdly, take sensible precautions against burglaries; don’t keep that spare key under your flowerpot!

A former politician has branded certain insurance companies in the UK as being akin to “parasites” in a remarkable statement that has left a few less than reputable insurance companies quaking in their boots.

Jack Straw, the former Labour home secretary, was the man who was brave enough to make the comparison in public, with the MP for Blackburn left angry and frustrated after digging into the finances of several insurance companies, who clearly think nothing of becoming “engaged in bribery” with the average British consumer.

According to Straw, some insurance providers have made the decision to operate on “extortionate” levels, seeking ridiculous profit margins at the expense of the average recession-hit British consumer. With unemployment figures now at an all-time high, the government making spending cuts left, right, and centre, and the cost of living rocketing to sky-high levels in recent months, some families are finding that they’ve simply been priced out of purchasing an insurance policy, particularly with Christmas rapidly approaching.

However, the potential cost (not to mention legal implications) of not taking out a car, travel, or home insurance policy means that it is still regarded as an essential expense in the UK.

Although the insurance companies Straw was referring to were primarily in the car insurance sector, it’s worth sticking solely to reputable names when taking out an insurance policy of any kind. Malpractice in insurance policies is not a common occurrence with the major names in the world of insurance, so although it can be tempting to look towards some of the smaller insurance companies when considering a policy for anything, even personal possessions insurance, it really is a risk not worth taking.

Upgrade your property with eco-friendly heating
People are increasingly trying to do everything possible to boost their green credentials and reduce their carbon footprint. If you’re making improvements to your new property, you should try to introduce a range of eco-friendly heating options which are bound to appeal to new buyers further down the line.
If you and your family spend a lot of time in the dining room, you should start your work in that room, so it’s cosy and homely whenever you use it.
There are numerous green heating options out there for you, so it’s a case of deciding exactly what you think is best for you.
Some of the choices will require installations outside of your property, while others will need you to move all of your dining room furniture out and fit things within the space itself.
If you decide on an under-floor heating system within the dining room, you’ll need to move everything out so you can install it in the correct manner. Another option would be biomass heating in the space – you could have a stand-alone wood-burning stove in the room. A fireplace would be a great feature in the space – you could put it next to the dining table to keep everyone warm while they’re eating.
When it comes to green heating solutions to be fitted outside of your property, there are also a few choices available to you. If you’ve got a raised space in your garden, you might want to go for micro wind turbines, which can generate electricity to be used to heat your home.
Another solution could be solar panels installed on the roof of your property. This is a particularly good option if you’ve got a south-facing roof, as it’ll be more exposed to daytime sunlight.
With so many choices out there, you should definitely do your research before deciding on which eco-friendly heating solution to fit in your home.

If you’ve just moved into your new home and it needs some work done on it, you’re probably best off starting out in the living room.

You’re bound to spend plenty of time in the lounge both during and after your home improvement project, so it’s a great place to start work.

If your living room needs gutting completely, you’ll need to ensure it’s entirely cleared out and tidy before you get to work.

Remove all the freestanding furniture from the room, before stripping the walls and removing all the flooring which is in place at the moment.

A popular feature to install to living rooms at the moment is a stylish, old-style fireplace. In order to do this, you’ll probably need to seek the help of an expert. It needs to be correctly fitted, or else it poses a massive fire hazard.

Whether you decide to have a fireplace in the room or not, you’ll definitely need to have flooring and you should decide on a colour scheme for the room.

Laminate or wood flooring is very popular and it’s classic and stylish, so it won’t go out of fashion anytime soon. If you go for either of these materials, you could make the room a bit more homely by adding a neutral-coloured rug to go under the sofa.

It’d be advisable to get the walls and ceiling done before installing flooring, particularly if you’re painting, as you want to avoid any drips getting on the new surface.

Once all your decorating is done, you can start making some important furniture decisions. If your entire house is going to take quite a lot of work to fix, you might want to consider finding a comfy sofa bed for the room, so you can stay there when you’re doing work on the bedrooms.

When you’re saving for your first home, the amount of money left to “put away” after your friendly payroll services have delivered your salary, is all important to say the least!  The thing is, there’s no other way to say it: you need to save money for that all-important first deposit.  If a home of your own (and a mortgage) is your heart’s desire, then you need to make it the priority.  Basically you should try to save about 20-30% of every month’s salary.  You’ll find the money does grow and need not take “up to seventeen years” to save as some gloomy types advise.

It’s important to clear your credit cards because having the balance at nil will give a good impression to possible Lenders, keep your credit rating up and may even affect your capability for repaying a mortgage.  When you plan for the future you will quickly realise that you’ll need to be on a tight budget and that may not allow frequent use of a credit card. 

 While saving for that first deposit it’s important to select the best savings account.  You should firstly consider an ISA – such as Barclays, Santander or Nationwide.  You can now pay up to £5,340 per year in a cash ISA.  It’s advisable to check out how much money you should try to save on a monthly basis, by consulting an online savings Calculator – such as this: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1633419/Monthly-lump-sum-savings-calculator.html .  On that website you can input various amounts to see how fast your money will grow.

 Whichever way you choose to save and however long it takes it’ll be worth it in the long run, that’s for sure.