dothesums blog

What are we to make of the so called ‘credit crunch’ and investing in buy-to-let properties? Loans and mortgages are more difficult to obtain with fewer than one third of those available at the same time last year. When you do find the right loan, it is likely to be more expensive, with both higher interest rates and larger arrangement fees. more »

Recent television programmes have exposed, yet again, the dubious element in the property sector. It was ever thus I am afraid. I am old enough to remember similar scams in the nineteen seventies in the West Sussex area in the residential sector. Severa… more »

It is a key fact that all good investment decisions start with a competitive purchase price. more »

A simple cash flow analysis is always worth doing to estimate the capital required. Cash is king in business. But cash flow is not what the general public thinks it is; it is not all of the cash coming in for a year, minus all of the cash going out for… more »

Having read Tony Levene’s article in the Guardian on line ‘Buy to Let investors fear they may be left homeless’ dated 22.03.08, is it any wonder that these landlords get everything they deserve? How can educated people be so consumed by greed that they… more »

I watched an otherwise excellent BBC2 programme last evening on the generation of wealth in the City and the operation of hedge funds. The term ‘leverage’ was used many, many times and was not described very well. Leverage is possibly the number on… more »