16/06/2009 by Stuart White.

A recent article, in which a landlord was given a 12 month prison sentence for not complying with Multiple Home Occupancy (MHO) rules and an earlier £20,000 fine caused me to wonder how the fine (£200) for non compliance of epc is expected to work. Another a local landlord in Hemel Hempstead who knew if he was caught could face a fine of £20,000 - was fined £7,000 and £1,000 costs.

How then is a £200 fine meant to be a deterrent?

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10/06/2009 by Stuart White.

I’ve decided that having been asked by a number of clients and prospective estate agents to offer the Home Information Pack (HIP).

I’ll be offering an electronic version for a simple set price that’s likely to be around £300 with no VAT to pay.

More details when the service starts later this month. 

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10/06/2009 by Stuart White.

There’s a very interesting article on the BBC website today. I guess somewhat predictable but gives some numbers and a general litmus test of what’s been happening with city centre Buy to Let investment properties….

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8092407.stm

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08/06/2009 by Stuart White.

I’m going to the show tomorrow in Birmingham, still not really sure how it’s going to help my business. I expect there’ll be the usual companies plying their courses but I’m not exactly interested in doing more courses at this moment in time. I’m hoping for a silver bullet, to increase sales. I’ve pretty much covered all the bases with my website and I’m getting good traffic.

Anybody have any views on this event?

At least I’ll get some CPD hours for my second year.

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05/06/2009 by Stuart White.

I haven’t had any bad debt so far. Most of my customers value the fact that they can pay within 14 days so I’m going to continue offering this service. I have had a couple of late payments but with a polite reminder the cheques do arrive. I’ve seen some websites that want to debit a credit card before they’ll offer a quote.

That’s not the way we like to do business. The customer chooses the date and time of the survey and we provide a quick and efficient service.

 I was contacted this week on Wednesday afternoon to survey a property for a landlord who was out of the country. Within 24 hours the survey was undertaken and within hours of the survey his letting agent had a copy of the EPC and was able to Market the property.

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04/06/2009 by Stuart White.

Most know that burning wood is very energy efficient. There’s a good article in today’s Daily Telegraph that recommends brands of stove. More info. at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/greenproperty/5421815/Wood-burning-stoves-fire-up-home-heating.html

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11/05/2009 by Stuart White.

I was called on Saturday and asked at short notice whether I could provide an EPC that weekend. The landlords wanted to get their house marketed for the students in time for next term - before they all disappear for exams.

I agreed a time on Sunday morning and had the certificate with them and their letting agent by the start of the working week - today.  

The Letting agent has their property on the website now - and the landlords told me that my price wasn’t an issue. Speed of service is.

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16/04/2009 by Stuart White.

Now even faster..

I was instructed at 8am yesterday morning, at the property by 10am and the certificate was back (electronically) with the Landlord by 1pm. Five hours from start to finish.

 The customer was impressed and paid with cash. So no late payments on this job.

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11/04/2009 by Stuart White.

I’ve decided to reduce my fees on 3 and 4 bed epc surveys by £15 and £5.

I now charge £80 for a three bedroom house and £90 for a 4 bed. It’s the 3 beds that are tricky to price. Some 3 beds are very easy in layout to survey - others have extensions and are more time consuming to get right.

Some agents prefer a one off price - but I’m reluctant to offer this.

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03/04/2009 by Stuart White.

I’m finding it harder to get paid as quickly as I once was doing. I guess with the present economic climate that’s only to be expected. As most people try to pay their bills at the very last minute - hoping to take the payment from the rental income.

I know that some DEAs charge their fees up front via a credit card to book - but I don’t want to provide this style of service.

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