Welcome to this week's PRO newsletter. I was recently at the Munich real estate expo and it was an eye opening experience, for sure. So much so, it prompted me to take a good, hard look at the German property market. I won't give away what I found here, but my latest Lewis Report - a two-parter no less! - is now available on the website.

Chris Browne is back again with his latest Property Matters column - this time looking at shorthold tenancy agreements. There are more articles that will help you make the most of your property investments - including reducing your taxt liability to nothing - as well as another exciting opportunity to invest in Bucharest, Romania. This is a prime opportunity to buy into a high quality development that is sure to prove popular.

More on all this below. Let's get to it then!

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This Week's Articles | On The Forums | Investment News
Website News | Event News

How do you fancy reducing your annual property tax liability to nothing...zero...nada? Interested? I thought you might be! Tony Booth has some interesting ideas on how you can achieve it. It's not easy, as HM Revenue & Customs are a difficult group to convice, but it can be done! Here's a taster:

"...if a property investor can claim substantial work expenses as revenue costs instead of capital costs, they can gain considerably by reducing their annual property income tax bill.

This is something every property investor can take advantage of, find out more in Tony's article "Big Fat Zero!"

Even more tax strategies that can help you save hundreds of pounds can be found in our best selling book Property Tax Secrets 2007

David Lawrenson revisits the thorny subject of HMOs in his article this week. After looking at the whole licensing issue recently, it looks as though there is another hurdle for those choosing the HMO route to get over - that of obtaining a mortgage. But as David discovers, it's not all bad news. Here's an extract:

'As if the whole problem of dealing with getting a license (or even finding out whether you even need one) is not hard enough, getting a mortgage for an HMO is harder too.

Even before the Housing Act 2004 and the new regulation came into force on July 6th this year, very few lenders ever really had much of an appetite for the house in multiple occupation.

The new regulations have made the lenders stop and take another look. According to Jonathan Moore at Mortgages for Business, lenders will probably stiffen their criteria further as the new regulations start to bite and in the light of their own experience.

He says, "At the moment we are very much at the start of things - the rules only came into force a few months ago and lenders themselves are struggling to learn what is licensable and what isn't, because unless a property is larger than three storeys and will have five or more tenants in it, the only way to know if it is licensable or not is by reference to what each local authority is doing locally."'

If you're involved or thinking of getting involved in the HMO business, then you need to read this article!

More information on financing property investment can be found in our best selling publication Buy To Let Secrets 2006 - check it out here.

"Join the revolution!", cries David in his second article. What's he on about? Adding value to your property by buying the freehold, that's what. Whereas doing so used to be a complicated issue, it's getting easier, though according to David you still need to be "organised, focused and very persevering". Not to mention the other options open...

'So, the options are - either extend the lease or buy the freehold.

Extending the lease is something that you can do on your own, but buying the freehold must be done with other leaseholders.

Of course, if you can get other leaseholders organised and interested, then buying the freehold may be the better option as there is little, if any extra cost to buy the freehold as to extend the lease.

And if you buy the freehold this will allow you to extend the leases and write 999 year leases anyway as well as take control of the management and maintenance of the block - which is of course a key consideration if the block is poorly managed.'

This could be well worth your while. Check it out.

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Exclusive to PRO members, the Property Secrets Discussion Forums are a great place to chat with like-minded investors and get advice and opinion on property issues, including where to buy, what to buy, taxation, finance and property management.

Interesting topics this week have included:

• Never Pay Tax? - posted by ed

ed suggests a 'no sell' strategy for avoiding tax altogether.

• Edinburgh v Prague - posted by Richard

Richard asks for opinions on this intriguing comparison. Which way will these markets go in relation to one another?

• Brazil - posted by ronnie

ronnie asks for opinions and advice on investing in Brazil. Our stance remains a firm "Too risky!" - but perhaps you have other ideas?

Check out our exclusive Discussion Forums yourself for more interesting and useful topics.

Have you logged in and had a look at the new homepage yet? We've revised it to focus on the key things that are important to you. First of all, our articles - which can help you maximise your property assets, discover new avenues of investment and save you time AND money - are now better showcased, so you know where to go for the very latest advice, news and opinion.

In addition our weekly and monthly columns - written by experienced and successful investors and landlords - are now clearly accessible. These columns are written by people just like you. People who have invested in property, managed property and tenants and are in a position to give their advice, views and opinions. People like Chris Browne, RIchard Davies and myself. They're all valuable reading.

We've also uploaded a new Market Decision Maker for all of you interested in the Czech Republic, specifically Prague. Our Decision Makers answer the key investment questions you need to ask but you need to be a PRO member to download them. There is a wide range of these available online right now. You can find them on the Downloads page under the Tools dropdown menu.

We have another regional Investor Evening organised for Leeds next Thursday 9th November and you should be receving your invite at some point today. Check your inboxes - AND YOUR JUNK MAIL! - for yours. It will contain all the necessary information, including venue and time, as well as the usual reply function. You need to reply as quickly as you can, as places for these evenings have been going fast!

The following Friday, the 17th November, we're holding one in Birmingham - invites for this event will be going out next week. Again, check your inboxes AND junk mail, as we've had a few people tell us that they didn't receive an invite.

I hope you've enjoyed this newsletter and if you have any questions, queries or suggestions please drop me a line at: service@propertysecrets.net

I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy investing!

Cheers

Chief Executive
Property Secrets