I’ll admit to having Wimbledon fever. It happens every year. I get giddy for two weeks.

So if you ask me to leave my prime viewing position on the sofa, you had better make sure the match has finished. Otherwise I’m going to be very late indeed (those five set matches are always an issue).

This time of year, everyone will be swarming the area to watch Andy Murray as he battles to win the title. But Wimbledon is actually a very lovely place to live all year round.

It’s in the quieter part of London and, frankly, is all the better for it.  Plus, you’re close to Richmond, and that, in my eyes, can only be a good thing.

Let’s have a look at some homes in the area.

Ace – £7,750,000

I love this property. There’s something so old-fashioned about it. It’s an Edwardian building and I can imagine there being wonderful Brideshead Revisited style parties here.

There would be nothing but fun in this home. Garden parties, champagne cocktails before dinner and all sorts of entertainment (yes, I think it would be fun to live in aristocratic England. Is that weird?)

But what do you get for your millions? Well aside from the stunning gardens, you’ll get nine bedrooms and seven bathrooms (and those bathrooms are amazing).

You’ll also get five reception rooms for all of your swanky soirees. I’ll expect my invite in the post.

Advantage – £1,150,000

If you’re looking for somewhere right by the All England Tennis Club, this home will be perfect.

Very handy after playing a couple of sets before dinner. You get the benefit of an indoor pool and some lovely looking gardens as well.

There’s a games room and five bedrooms too. Not bad for just over a million. If you happen to have that lying around, of course.

Maybe Andy Murray could buy this with his potential winnings?

Deuce – £309,950

This flat has many things going for it, not least off-street parking, which is pretty important in London.

The flat has one bedroom with en-suite and really spacious rooms. You get a balcony as well.

It’s a great option for a professional couple looking for a home to settle in, but still within easy reach of central London.

Love-Fifteen – £145,000

If you’re looking for a small flat in the area, you could do a lot worse than this property. It’s near both mainline stations and the underground, and it has everything you need.

Best of all, there’s no stamp duty. This is an expensive area of London so it’s nice to know that you can still find somewhere that’s good value, but has all the perks of living in this much sought after area.

I was having a nose about on Lifehacker today and saw an interesting post about how to take photos of your home. Now, if you’re selling, the estate agent is likely to do this for you so you don’t have to worry, but if you’re renting your home out, it doesn’t hurt for you to get a few good photos. You don’t have to pay a professional to do it, you just have to know what you’re doing. Whilst I don’t really understand things about exposure and shutter speed, it seems that Lifehacker commenters do know what they’re doing. They’re a pretty clever bunch. Here are some simple tips:

>> Try candles, they’ll make a room look warmer

>> Move furniture around! Even if it’s not the way you would choose to arrange a room, if it looks better in a photo, do it.

>> Keep the flash on, even if it’s sunny. It makes for a bright picture.

>> Stand in corners and try not to get more than two walls in a shot.

>> Tidy up! Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t.

>> Remove anything personal from the fridge like photos, and make everything look like a blank canvas.  It’ll still have your style, just without your stuff everywhere.

>> Put some flowers in the shot. They work!

>> Take a picture of the room – not just details. People want to see what the whole space looks like.

Of course, these are just basic ideas. If you know anyone who is nifty with a camera, bribe them with tea and biscuits. Good images will get people calling about your house. The more people who view it, the better.

Could the location of your rental property affect whether or not your tenants are likely to damage it? Recent research claims it could!

According to analysis carried out by The Deposit Protection Service (DPS), tenants living in the South East of England are more likely to damage property. Over 40% of DPS disputes between landlords and tenants were found to have occurred in the South East region. Over half of the disputes (52%) were due to the tenants damaging the property and over a third were because the property wasn’t being cleaned. The rest of the disputes revolved around the garden being in poor repair and left to grow wild.

The second highest level of disputes (15%) was noted in the North East, followed by the South West (12%), North West (11%) and West Midlands (11%). When the data was broken down into cities, the worst offender was London, followed by Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and York.

“The introduction of a dispute resolution service has been one of the real successes of the Government’s tenancy deposit regulation, ensuring that these differences are sorted out fairly,” commented Kevin Firth, director of the DPS. Despite the findings, he offers reassurance that the number of disputes that do occur between landlords and tenants is relatively small in the general scheme of things.

If you’re a landlord, then you can help try and reduce the likelihood of long-term damage occurring by scheduling regular check-ups, where you call in and check the property. Even if they don’t keep it pristine the entire time, at least it will (hopefully!) be tidied up each time you pop in.

If you’re a landlord, are you expecting rental arrears in the coming year? According to research released recently by the National Landlords Association (NLA), 71% of landlords are expecting rent arrears to increase in the coming year.

With the current global economic situation and credit crunch, it’s a worrying time for everyone, including landlords. Of those questioned in the survey by the NLA, only one per cent thought that rent arrears would decrease in 2009 and 28% thought there’d be more no major change.

They also found that 67% of landlords have experienced problems with rent arrears in the past and 37% are currently having difficulties with non-payments from tenants. Not receiving rent from tenants can lead to all sorts of problems and it’s no fun trying to evict tenants. The NLA are advising that landlords do all they can to try and regularly receive rent, including keeping regular channels of communication open to try and alleviate any issues.

Don’t forget that if you’re currently trying to rent out a property, it’s important to make informed decisions about the financial worthiness of potential tenants. As much as you may be keen to get the property rented out, don’t skimp on doing credit or tenant reference checks, as these can save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

In cities across the UK, parking spaces and garages are often in demand. One nifty way of making a bit of extra money from your home is to make use of unused space and rent out your garage or parking space.

There used to be a time when cars were routinely parked in garages, but these days the garage is frequently used for storage of garden equipment or tools, rather than as a place to park your car. If you’ve got a double garage, plenty of parking, don’t own a car or have a garage that remains unused, then you could consider renting it out and making full use of its potential – and earn yourself some extra income at the same time.

With garages and parking spaces in short supply in city centres, it makes sense for those not being fully used to be rented out to those who do need them, such as city workers or business people who need regular or occasional car parking facilities. The amount of rent your garage could command will vary depending on its location and size. A single garage in the SW6 area of London, for example, is up for rent for a weekly fee of £80 or a secure underground parking space in SW3 is on offer for £60 a week. Elsewhere, in Cardiff, a refurbished garage with metered power supply has a weekly rental of £75.

To find out what a garage in your area might make from rental income, put the location and the keyword ‘garage’ into the Primelocation.com rental property search.