There has been one good news story this week for those looking for some more sunshine in their lives.

Nationwide published figures that show the average price of property rose by a (seasonally adjusted) 0.9%. The three month trend is now positive for the first time since December 2007

In fact, one of our local estate agents said to me this morning that the “credit crunch” was over for him, but then again if you are looking for optimism then that’s the best place to start.

Here at Resident Broker we are still quite cautious - as we've said many times before, lending isn’t going to dramatically increase anytime soon - in fact, the next challenge will be how to deal with rising interest rates (and hence mortgage rates) and we believe expert advice will be ever more important.

Tip of the week 1 - How to get an Advantage!

We spoke last week about the discounts that Advantage were offering existing clients if they can move away. We have diligently been working with our investors over the last week on this and what I'm going to tell you now has already saved people thousands:

If you get an offer from Advantage call us first before accepting it.

In fact, dont take our word for it, have a look at what one of our clients says

http://propertytribes.ning.com/forum/topics/just-saved-myself-potentially

Give us a call, and we will exaplain how we can help Advantage and you come to a compromise agreement so you can remortgage.

Tip of the week 2 - Dont let Gordon take 40%

The more people I speak to, the more I'm convinced that the majority of investors have not set up their existing life cover in the most efficient way.

In many cases it could mean GB walks away with 40% of it.

The answer is really simple - consider putting your life cover in trust.

1.    Quicker payment of claims. If someone dies and their plan is not in a trust, their representatives will have to obtain Grant of Representation before they can deal with the plan. This can take several months.

2.    The plan proceeds may be free of inheritance tax.

3.    At the moment, inheritance tax is payable at 40% on any part of an estate valued over £325,000 (2009/2010). But you can use a trust to gift some (or all) of the benefits on the plan to other people. The gifted benefits would no longer be part of your client’s estate if they die, which means these benefits would not be subject to inheritance tax.

If you do have life cover remember this - every month a payment is coming out of your bank account - make sure you it counts!

Call one of our advisors today for more information 01424 205 373