Enjoying some smiles with the legend at this home.

‘How did I manage that?’, I hear you ask!

Well, I spotted an opportunity in the form of a small advert offering a golden chance to pitch an idea before the great man and his team.

I entered it but forgot all about it until I received a call and email a week later from the Virgin Pioneers Media team.

I was amazed and honoured to be told that I was a semi finalist!

The next step was to upload my profile details on the Virgin Pioneers Media site and receive votes. The top four applicants will be in the finals to make that pitch.

Well, I’d just like to thank everyone for voting for me.

I have some bad news and some good news!

Firstly, the bad news…I didn’t win, in fact I came 8th place.

Now the good news…

The judges were so impressed with all the semi finalists, including, me, we’ve all been invited to Sir Richard Branson’s home!

I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks again…

Jonathan

She lives a stone’s throw away and there is a massive anticipation towards the big event.

The option to have an ‘Urban Bed & Breakfast’ came up and to be honest, I’d never considered that concept before.

A B&B is different from a hotel in that it’s generally more basic. You will offer a bed for your guests to sleep in, and a full breakfast before they ‘check out’. No gyms, no health spas and no concierge service. It is also different in that your home is at the centre of it.

Given that you are effectively opening your home to strangers, you are blurring the edges between your ‘business’ and your home life so you need to be confident and happy with the arrangement. If you are considering using thePropertyBid.com there is a facility to reference check potential tenants before they make a bid / move in.

To a certain extent, it’s a very short term and lucrative creative profession. You have to enjoy cooking and making your accommodation as pleasant and welcoming as possible, which my friend does extremely well. It’s also something of a lifestyle business, a role that many people will undertake with their partners (albeit for up to 2 months)

Now, where it sounds like a fantastic way to stand out, marketing wise, unfortunately (or fortunately depending on which side of the fence you’re standing on) there is that immovable force called, ‘Rules and Regulations’.

You should check with the planning authority, given that you may be changing the purpose of the building from purely residential to business.

Depending on how many guests you can accommodate, you may have to register with Environmental Health officers. With the vast majority of properties up for potential use being 3 bedrooms or less you, should be okay. Any more and your kitchen will have to be inspected.

Again, as your kitchen may just be your standard domestic kitchen, you will not have to make any major significant layout improvements.

Fire regulations also need to be met, again depending on the size of your property. If you have a large property, you may be advised to fit fire doors and fire escapes, emergency lighting and planned escape routes. Even if you have a smaller property or have an attic bedroom you want to rent, you will need to contact your local fire brigade station. At the bare minimum you will need a fire blanket and or a fire blanket.

Now, I would never condone breaking the law on any level and to take unnecessary short cuts could be very costly in the future in terms of financial or even custodial.

Have a quiet word with your local authority and explore your options.

In terms of marketing your home, this will be an absolute winning feature and should rate quite highly, among the facts of proximity to the stadium and closeness to public transport.

Of course operating a short term ‘Urban B&B’ could be considered as a way to conduct regular property checks!

All the best!

Jonathan ;o)
thePropertyBid.com

Overjoyed and honoured we registered on the Virgin Media Pioneers site and now we’ve been short listed to 8 semi finalists!

We need your help to reach the finals.

Please vote for Jonathan!

The link is VOTE: Jonathan Ambrose thePropertyBid.comm

Thank you!!!

The London Olympics are coming!

Just read a post about someone having a friend who has been handed a notice to vacate his rented home by the time of the Olympic Games. The landlord plans to rent the flat out for at least five times the price for the couple of weeks from 27 July to 12 August 2012.

The traditionally busy autumn season starts conveniently right after and by the looks of it, there will an unusually large number of tenants looking for a new place.

The questions are, what will rents be like from September 2012 and what impact will the Olympic legacy have on the London residential lettings market?

The Landlord or the Tenant.

What do you think?