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Born Letting Specialist



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Under the skin of the letting market

Here we share news and views on both the local letting market in & around Oxfordshire and all planned and recent legislation.


HMOs on BBC Oxford

On Monday 30th January Frank Webster, Director, appeared no BBC Radio Oxford to discuss the new HMO Licensing in Oxford.

You can listen again by clicking here (Frank Webster was on around 1 hour and 10 minutes into the show), or see below:

Today is the day that landlords in Oxford have to register if they want to let their property out as a house share. The city council have introduced new licences for Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). Last year they started the roll-out and asked landlords of larger properties to register and over 900 have done that. Today everyone else must register and the city council think that will include another 4000 properties. Frank Webster is from the letting specialists Finders Keepers and joins me now. 
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Highs and lows in property management

What a week in Banbury with lots of property management highs, but also some lows. It really has been frantic with all sorts of issues to deal with; some mundane, others more unusual. From rats chewing through washing machine hoses to fences blowing down in the wind and leaking overflows…the list goes on.
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The first agent to list and the first agent to LET!

We have been looking forward to the first completions on the new-build development, Kingsmere, in Bicester for some time. Knowing we have quality applicants looking for properties of a high standard, we were delighted to be instructed on Kempton Close, a 2 double bedroom end-of-terrace house.

The property was the first to be completed on a development that will comprise of more than 1,500 homes, two schools and local shops. We have had an influx of applicants looking to rent in Kingsmere, and we hope to be instructed on many more properties on the development shortly. So if you’re an investor looking for a good return then why not call us today?

Proper Portfolio Management

Many people talk about ‘portfolio management’, but at Finders Keepers we have been delivering robust Property Portfolio Management services to private residential landlords, commercial developers and institutional landlords throughout Oxfordshire for decades. Our activity spans the entire management process from identifying new property investments through to letting, managing and (when required) advising on disposals and handling sales.

“We have always acted for clients with large portfolios right from our inception,” said Frank Webster, who during the past +25 years, has focused his efforts on this specialist approach.
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Two ways to say ‘Thank you’

They say that there is no such thing as a selfless act. To be truly selfless, the deed must have no effect on the ‘actor’. In 2011, we carried out two ‘acts’ which might not seem selfish on the face of it, but we can’t deny that they made us feel really good. We just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to our customers for renting through us….

Our free bus tour around Oxford

 

Inviting tenants to something free as a way of saying ‘thank you'


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BOB Air Ambulance – Charity of the Year 2011

Meeting the Air Ambulance team

A shocking fact to start: the Air Ambulance receives no Central Government or National Lottery funding. Everything they need to meet the annual running costs of £2.8m (for equipment, fuel, salaries, insurance etc.) comes from the public in the form of donations, fundraising, legacies and sponsorship.

Perhaps this was why it won our internal competition for our 2011 Charity of the Year, and over the 12 months we have taken part in a range of events:
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Who is buying what?

We live in interesting times. Another mortgage famine is probably on the way; house price predictions are mixed, to say the least; stocks and pensions have become a rollercoaster ride – whole countries appear to be hovering on the brink of financial oblivion.

Who would choose to enter the buy-to-let investment market under such circumstances?


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