MY DECADE

28/12/2009
David Alexander, Proprietor, D J Alexander, letting and estate agents

A Glasgow townhouse at £1.5 million

13/12/2009
By GREG GORDON When thoughts turn to tinsel and Christmas shopping, only the desperate, the contrary or the extremely confident will put a house on the market. In the case of a Glasgow townhouse, it may be that the seller fits all three descriptions.

Mortgage curbs have their upside

10/12/2009
By DAVID ALEXANDER. If there is something for which politicians are famous (or infamous) it is saying one thing while thinking, and often acting, in a completely contradictory manner.

A tie does more than merely save your neck in a downturn

20/11/2009
DAVID ALEXANDER. This being Friday, it’s a safe bet that many of the executive types going about their business on Edinburgh’s fashionable George Street today will be missing one vital accessory to their well-tailored suits – a tie.

Is it worth it?

15/11/2009
Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, o/o £1.295m By TIM DAWSON

Top ten: Forget about property prices and home in on the rental income

07/11/2009
EACH week The Scotsman gives you a Top Ten Guide to pertinent financial issues. In recent years, capital growth has attracted investors to residential property, but now rental income has taken on an importance that it never had before. David Alexander, proprietor of residential letting company DJ Alexander, suggests ways to maximise rental income.

Renting is as good a measure of economic confidence as buying

24/10/2009
DAVID ALEXANDER. Recent research has revealed that the average age of tenants occupying shared flats has risen in three years from 25 to 28. The reasons is not that entrants to the market are getting older but that existing leaseholders are staying in rented property longer.

Stair way to heaven

23/10/2009
Hedge your bets in today’s property market by renting the home of your dreams

Residential lettings give clue to wider economic performance

15/10/2009
THE DJ ALEXANDER QUARTERLY UPDATE, OCTOBER 2009

Back to the Future

13/10/2009
When the economic climate is as bleak as it has been of late, do housebuilders need to be more creative than ever or do they go back to basics? Jim Kean investigates whether it’s time to ditch those grand designs in favour of something simpler. If not, why not!

Another of our properties is Sunday Times 'Rental of the week'

27/09/2009
GLASGOW, £1,400 per month

How first time buyers can lick stamp duty

22/09/2009
Guest post: Property agent David Alexander of DJ Alexander, an Edinburgh- and Glasgow-based letting and estate agency, warns first time buyers to move fast if they are to save up to £1,750 by purchasing a home before the stamp duty threshold reverts to £125,000.

Surge in residential lets despite fewer executive postings to cities

13/09/2009
By Rosemary Gallagher RESIDENTIAL property rentals have soared despite slowing corporate demand for accommodation to let, according to a new report.

Where did it all go wrong?

13/08/2009
By ROB TROTTER MARKET conditions mean buy-to-let investment is once again looking tempting but new entrants to the market should learn from the pitfalls that led to so many earlier amateur landlords coming a cropper. Here are the ten biggest traps that burned buy-to-let cheers into buy-to-let tears last time round.

Rents drive housing investment more than capital gain

26/07/2009
By ROSEMARY GALLAGHER THE RENTAL investment market has been turned on its head, with new landlords being motivated by the attraction of monthly income, rather than capital growth.

Renting a home can be cheaper than you think

16/07/2009
By DAVID ALEXANDER In the 30 years to 2007, the house-price average – with a few blips along the way – rose to proportions that created undreamed of personal wealth for literally millions of people.

Coping with the credit crunch

15/07/2009
By Jane Bradley THE credit crunch has definitely been a game of two halves for Edinburgh-based property tycoon David Alexander.

Why there are still good reasons to invest in residential property

01/07/2009
THE D J ALEXANDER QUARTERLY UPDATE JULY 2009

Labour of love

28/06/2009
Scotland On Sunday devotes six pages of text and pictures to a Georgian gem being marketed through out sales division

Yield is now the focus for buy-to-let investors

20/06/2009
By EDWARD MURRAY OPPORTUNITIES are starting to emerge from the rubble of the collapsed housing market, but investors keen to buy property again are taking a more savvy approach than last time.

High-flying executives push up rental prices for city flats

19/06/2009
By MICHAEL BLACKLEY THE return of demand for rental properties at the top end of the market is leading to rents in Edinburgh being pushed up.

One of our properties named Sunday Times ‘Rental of the week’

07/06/2009
Glasgow: £1,600 per month

A flat-tastic prospect

05/06/2009
Mansion flats can have a lot going for them, writes JENNY SHIELDS.

Scotsman property editor gives star treatment to one of our homes for sale

04/06/2009
Gone to the dogs: this stately home should get your tails wagging, writes KIRSTY McLUCKIE

Rise in new-build home sales offers glimmer of hope to battered industry

31/05/2009
By NATHALIE THOMAS SALES of new-build homes in Scotland have surged by 250 per cent since November.

Capital tips to help you reduce tax expenses

30/05/2009
EACH week The Scotsman gives you a Top Ten guide to pertinent financial issues. The scandal over MPs' expenses has put the spotlight on capital gains tax (CGT) on residential property – and in particular the ability of our Westminster politicians to avoid paying it. DAVID ALEXANDER, proprietor of letting company, D J Alexander, shares his top ten tips on the relationship between CGT and profits from bricks and mortar.

Sunday Herald thanks D J Alexander

17/05/2009
MSPs' £2 million worth of profits paid for through second homes allowances

Why renting second home is best way to save cash – and face

14/05/2009
DAVID ALEXANDER writes for The Scotsman on the key issue of the MP expenses scandal

A new code for letting agents

10/05/2009
A new code of practice for letting agents was launched this week amid questions over whether it will deliver any new protection for tenants.

Sharp fall in corporate residential property rentals as firms suffer

19/04/2009
Scotland On Sunday looks at the latest Quarterly Review of the rental market by D J Alexander

Misery of the 'two-mortgage' trap

16/04/2009
DAVID ALEXANDER

Buyers return but Scottish housing market still tight

15/04/2009
By Jeff Salway BUYERS continue to return to the Scottish housing market but the number of homes being put up for sale has dropped sharply, according to a report out today.

Homing in on mortgage needs

07/04/2009
A RESIDENTIAL property agency in the city has launched a special guide to help "double-mortgage" homeowners, after seeing soaring levels of demand.

Like two old-fashioned fairground favourites, the property market continues to be scary

01/04/2009
QUARTERLY UPDATE April 2009

Rise of the surprise landlord

29/03/2009
David Alexander quoted by Sunday Times in story on non-commercial residential landlords

Ask the experts

22/03/2009
David Alexander answers Sunday Times reader queries

Energy ratings get a green light

21/03/2009
By DAVID ALEXANDER

EXPERT RECOMMENDS

11/03/2009
Best place to rent a flat in Glasgow

Renting is a capital idea

06/03/2009
RENTING somewhere to live – either while looking for a place to buy or while doing business away from home – can be a trial, writes Jenny Shields.

EXPERT RECOMMENDS

04/03/2009
Best place to rent a flat in Edinburgh

BPF calls for a radical shift to rentals

02/02/2009
In October 2008, David Alexander, in a major article published in Scotland On Sunday, called for the government and the financial institutions to place much more emphasis on using the private rented sector to provide an alternative form of long-term tenure for the ordinary people of Britain.

Gloom stalks the housing market but ‘hockey stick’ revival is on the cards

29/01/2009
JANUARY 2009

More for your money

29/01/2009
Energy reports will give tenants more information

House prices 'won't recover until 2013'

18/01/2009
By Rosemary Gallagher. IT WILL take four years for prime house prices in Scotland's biggest cities to return to the peak they reached in 2007, a property expert is warning.

Scotland's engine room may be on the brink of seizing up

10/01/2009
By BILL JAMIESON. THIS is a candid admission from Andrew Murphy, general manager of John Lewis in Scotland. His warnings about the poor prospects for the Edinburgh store will set the alarm bells ringing, not just across the retail sector, but the city as a whole. And the loudest bells of all should go off at Edinburgh City Council.