How to be a landlord — Be able to afford it!

Please don’t view being a landlord as “buy a flat with a mortgage, don’t worry about it,  reap the rewards”. It isn’t like that at all. If you want to be a successful landlord you have to be able to afford it.   That might sound like an odd thing to say.  Why would you possibly not be able to afford it “when the tenants are effectively paying the mortgage”? Well

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How to be a landlord — Pay your mortgage!

That might sound like a ridiculous thing to say, but believe me it is not! I had a chat with a friend on Saturday who needed some advice because his “lovely friendly landlord who was doing me a favour for five months” had now made him homeless and effectively squatting in the house he had called home for five months.   A house that his six year old daughter had also

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Unscrupulous landlords

It always staggers me when I come across landlord antics that are so shocking they actually take my breath away. The press love to publish stories of tenants that have trashed a property / tuned it into a cannabis factory / stopped paying the rent / moved 20+ family members in but what about nightmare landlords? I am seriously considering starting a one day course on “How to be a

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What just happened…..

As you may be aware, last week I posted this on my blog: Help Mummy Barrow Help Harry Moseley A request for you to vote for Wincey Willis in the Absolute Radio “Who’s Calling Christian 80s legends” competition. I tweeted Wincey back in September because I saw that she was tweeting support for Harry Moseley and was in touch with the family.  I asked if she would enter, in an

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The “randomness” of my Twitter week

So here’s the thing.   I work from home so my days can be quite, well, dull.   The majority of my work is allocating job requests from various letting agents to inventory clerks who all work for my main client.  This means I am tied to a computer for the majority of the day. Except when The Real Housewives of New Jersey is on. Or when I am catching up on

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Britmums prompt: “My pet peeve is…..”

the expression “pet peeve”. I hate it!!! What on earth does “peeve” actually mean?  It is one of those words that doesn’t actually tell you anything. The dictionary.com definition says it is a verb, ie “to render peevish“.  Oh right, that explains it.   NOT. Or maybe a noun: “to be in a peeve”   When have you ever heard anybody use that expression? “You okay, darling?” “No, actually I am in

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I must be a freak

    because I just don’t “get the fuss” about great weather in October. The sun is shining.  So what? It is the hottest summer since Jesus was in nappies.   And? Endless stories in the papers / Facebook updates / Tweets / photos, all talking about the sun.

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A Cheeky review — Percy Pigs

Having reviewed bacon and sausages Cheeky was quite excited this morning when he heard that he was to review another pig product. He excitedly got his Bag for Life and waited patiently to go shopping: There are a whole range of Percy Pig sweets to choose from, and even drinks now.  As well as the ice creams, which E and I got to review earlier this year. Cheeky decided he

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“Hiding the shame of husband being out of work”

I read an article in Daily Fail this week that made me want to scream. My Shame at husband being out of work Jane* tells the story of how “her gilded life is falling apart” and how upsetting it was that her daughter was suggesting that daddy work as a bus driver.   “He’s got a History degree from Cambridge, a Masters degree in business and spent years of senior experience

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Why this weekend is bittersweet

If you have followed my blog from the beginning you are either mad or family but you will have read this post from earlier in the year: The Day we had an Absolute Blast A post about the day Absolute Radio broadcast the breakfast show and a gig by KT Tunstall from our lounge.   But also why September 24th is such a poignant date. September 24th 2009 was the day

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Should the Times Educational Supplement allow teachers to cyber bully pupils?

Probably not a question you have ever asked yourself.    I certainly hadn’t.   Until today when I saw this link tweeted by @lagosmum.  Please take five minutes to read it:   http://aspergersinfo.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/how-well-do-you-really-know-your-childs-teacher/ The blog belongs to @clairelouise82, a mum of  three, one with Aspergers.   Though actually this is not an issue relating to Aspergers.  It is relevant to all of us as parents. I read that post and was utterly appalled.  I

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