To Furnish or not to Furnish

Serliana have been in touch about furnishing for Park Central. Bit confused as at our initial meeting Danny Kitchener from Serliana said that the majority of their lettings were unfurnished. I’m going to have to look into this as I remember reading that there are certain tax implications.

They said that they had been in touch with a Birmingham letting agency and they had advised that to get a quick let the property should be furnished. They suggest at a minimum we would need : Double bed, Wardrobe, Bedside table, 2 Seater sofa and armchair, Coffee table, Lamp (it comes carpeted, with a freezer and washer dryer) at a cost of £ £827.13 from a company called David Phillips and Co who specialise in supplying furniture for buy to let properties, plus blinds at a cost of and blinds £295 from a company called Downerblinds

More from Serliana about a new property launch, but we’re not going to look at anymore until we’ve at least got Park Central underway.

Confusion Reigns on Park Central Property –Whats Going On?

Has a series of emails from Serliana who have been contacted by the developer who wants to complete by December 11th this is about a month earlier than we originally said. Wendy from Serliana has said get the money ready to go via CHAPS or next day transfer, make sure all documents are sent next day delivery, all systems go. For us this means getting the additional re-mortgage money out of our high interest account at Birmingham Midshires which requires 4 days notice so need to move fast in order to have the funds ready.

I thought I’d just check with Breytenbachs (our solicitor) but when I rang them they seemed pretty laid back about it. The developer had mentioned the earlier completion date to them but had not officially notified them so completion remained the same, early Jan 07. They advised that there was no need to panic and they would contact me when I needed to do something.

So who’s correct, do we need to kick into action or not? I asked Breytenbachs to contact the developer and see what the score was, they said that they would and advised me not to do anything until they contacted me.

Its one of those things, I’m sure that once you’ve got a bit of experience it doesn’t faze you but this is the first one and we don’t want to be the ones to bugger it up. We set up the highest interest, instant access savings account at our clearing bank (LloydsTSB) and requested the required amount from the Birmingham Midshires so at least it will be quick when we do need transfer and we will lose the minimum amount of interest while its sitting there waiting.

Property 2

After much Soul Searching we have decided to get the Adelaide Wharf place in Hackney as well. It isn’t complete until August 07 so we should have time to get used to being a buy to let landlords by then.

Kicked it off with Serliana again, paid them their reservation fee (£1500) and they have contacted Breytenbachs and Savills Private Finance for us again. This is a lot more than Park Central but is under £250k which is the current level that stamp duty moves up from 1% to 3%. Still mulling it over but any UK portfolio should probably include London, it always has a lively property market and especially with the 2012 Olympics it should be a winner whatever happens to the property market in the short term.

Another thank you note from Jay Parmer Serliana’s MD. Hopefully no hitches with this one!

Another client care letter from Breytenbachs asking for our identity details again, this can’t be right as we have only just got them back from them after our Park Central purchase? I rang them to query and they said if they have seen the id docs in last 3 months then they don’t need to see them again. I feel the need for a bit of a whinge, why is it me, the customer, having to query this with them? Shouldn’t they know this before they contact me? End of Whinge.