Avoiding the pitfalls of being a first-time landlord

05/05/2012
PEOPLE are turning to letting as properties fail to sell– but many are unprepared for the complications

DJ ALEXANDER ON BBC TV

01/05/2012
More home-owners choosing to let out instead of sell.

The voice of property, with Beverley Brown

25/04/2012
Welcome news

New scheme will safeguard tenant deposits from shady landlords but could result in rents increase

21/04/2012
By Jeff Salway. A NEW Scottish Government scheme safeguarding tenancy deposits is likely to create fresh problems for landlords, renters and letting agents, experts have warned.

Landlords of the manor

18/04/2012
With demand at an all-time high, there’s never been a better time to be renting out your property, finds Beverley Brown

Rents take a tumble as ‘reluctant landlords’ skew buy to let market

17/04/2012
Seasonal variations and growing numbers of ‘reluctant landlords’ – i.e. owner-occupiers who because of housing market conditions let out rather than sell their homes - have forced down rental levels in Scotland’s capital city during the first three months of 2012.

Murray puts mansion on the market for £1.9m

16/04/2012
FORMER Rangers owner Sir David Murray has put his old home in Scotland’s most expensive neighbourhood up for sale for nearly £2 million.

Murray’s home win

16/04/2012
EX-RANGERS owner Sir David Murray is putting his old home up for sale for £2million.

Private rents tumble in Edinburgh

16/04/2012
Failed home sellers in Edinburgh have driven down the value of rents in the capital, according to the letting agents DJ Alexander.

Edinburgh’s rental prices dip as failed sellers turn to letting

14/04/2012
Rental prices in Edinburgh are coming down as the supply of accommodation is boosted by would-be sellers letting out their properties.

Rents fall with ‘reluctant landlords’

14/04/2012
Owners unable to sell turn to letting market

‘Reluctant landlords’ force capital rent levels down

13/04/2012
SIMON BAIN. Growing numbers of “reluctant landlords” forced down private rental levels in Edinburgh during the first quarter of 2012, as Glasgow narrowed the business gap with the capital.

Your guide to getting on to the property ladder

31/03/2012
These are tough times for first-time buyers, for many of whom the main obstacle is the initial financial outlay, particularly with the end of the end of the stamp duty concession last weekend. Those still determined to get on to the first run of the ladder need to be clearer than ever about the process, the terms used and the financial implications. David Alexander, proprietor of the letting and estate agency, D J Alexander, gives his top ten tips to those who hope to become home owners.

Cash-rich cautious investors are seeking returns in buy-to-let

22/03/2012
By DEIRDRE COOGAN. Buy to Let is back with a bang but unlike the boom of the early noughties, when purchasers were overwhelmingly swimming on a tide of borrowed money, the trend is now being driven by rather more cautious, cash-rich investors, reluctantly drawn to the market as a result of poor returns from savings and equities.

OVERSUPPLY BOOSTS BUY TO LET

06/03/2012
By STEWART McINTOSH. It Seems when it comes to property prices, we're not all in this together. The gap between London's prime residential market and the rest of the UK widened last year, with values falling in Scotland and in every English region except London, where values continued to rise throughout 2011.

Mortgaqed to the hilt? Not us, say Scots first-time buyers

24/02/2012
By JANE BRADLEY. The typical Scottish first-time buyers pent 11.1 per cent of their income on mortgage interest payments in the last quarter of 2011 – lower than anywhere else in the UK, new figures have revealed.

Soaring rents fuel return of buy-to-let

05/02/2012
By JEFF SALWAY. THE buy-to-let market is bouncing back just four years after the credit crunch sent private landlords running for cover. Yet while cash-rich investors are piling back into property, soaring rents are hitting tenants hard, hindering the recovery of the wider housing market by making it harder for the first-time buyers it desperately needs to raise deposits.

Letting you into the secrets of 30 years of Scotland's rental market

26/01/2012
By DAVID ALEXANDER. Many things were different back in 1982: a female Prime Minister with a radical political agenda; a war fought 8,000 miles from our shores to recover sovereign British territory from Argentine invaders; a Scottish national football squad actually making it to the finals of the World Cup.

Rents rocket by 10 per cent but landlords claim they are not being greedy

21/01/2012
JANE BRADLEY, Consumer Affairs Correspondent. RENTERS in Edinburgh and Aberdeen are being priced out of the market because of soaring demand, with prices rising by 10 per cent to an average of £862 a month over the past three years.

Try the house speciality

20/01/2012
Why go for run-of-the mill when you can have a stunning home with that little extra something?

Capital rentals up by 10pc

20/01/2012
However ‘balanced’ level of supply and demand prevents costs from going through the roof