How does aircraft leasing work? How is the profitability measured? How high are the risks?
As the name suggests, aircraft leasing means an airline leases an aircraft from another airline or a leasing company (eg. ILFC). It greatly reduces the financial pressure on an airline to buy new aircraft.It is highly beneficial if the airline is a start-up airline since capital costs to lease are much lesser. Leasing can be done in three ways namely dry, wet and damp. In a dry lease, the lessee operates the aircraft under its Air Operator Permit and is responsible for all services related to the aircraft. In a wet lease, the aircraft is operated under the Air Operator Permit of the lessor and the lessor provides services such as cabin crew, maintenance, etc (more like a charter). A damp lease is similar to a wet lease but without the provision of cabin crew by the lessor.The risks of leasing are purely financial. A major risk to the lessor is the financial health of the airline it is leasing the aircraft to . If the airline goes bankrupt, there is high risk to the lessor to retrieve the aircraft back in good operating condition (Asset recovery risk). A very good example of this is the case of Kingfisher Airlines in India. When Kingfisher went bankrupt, ILFC, its aircraft lessor had to get several aircraft repaired as Kingfisher Airlines could not maintain them adequately due to lack of funds. In fact, some aircraft could not be flown because of missing vital parts which could cost dearly to replace. The entire matter is in a legal turmoil currently.A risk to the airline is exchange rate fluctuations. Currency fluctuations can make a huge impact on the airline's profitability since the rates of leasing an aircraft are fixed over a long term. This can only be beneficial to one party, either the lessor or lessee depending on the exchange rate at the time of signing the lease contract. Hedging can be a solution to this.There is also a very common practise called 'Sale and Lease back'. In this, an airline which has bought an aircraft, sells the aircraft to a leasing company at current market price and immediately leases the same aircraft back. In this way, a lot of capital can be generated for the airline (eg. Sale and lease back of B787s by Air India).I hope I have answered your questions sufficiently. Please do leave a comment if you need elaboration on any of the points.
I am looking for advice with respect of maintaining my leasehold flat?
You are going to want to think about enfranchising rather than extending your lease. This involves all the flats getting a percentage share of the freehold which is a far better way for you to manage the building and will cost you very little more than extending and will increase the value of your flat. These are the people to go to for advice on this, they are a mine of useful information http://www.lease-advice.org/ Whether you sort out the ownership or not you MUST get a proper managing agent to take care of the building. You are worried about your flat and you can be sure that the rest of the building is in a similar rotting state. Seven years of neglect is going to cost you all a lot of money, you would have been far better off buying into a building that had regular service charges and was able to do periodic maintenance. If you are in negative equity after seven years of ownership, you might want to think about just doing a distress sale as this is bad news. The assessment for the cost of all the remedial work and the cost of enfranchising/extending your lease is going to be massive. Are you just throwing good money after bad? Rising damp by the way is unlikely to be the specific problem that you mention. Damp proof companies are scam artists. Get a proper builder to take a look. It may be faulty pointing and it may be poor drainage/a broken gutter. This will be a cost to be shared between the 7 flats and the building's insurance should pay for the damage to your plaster.
How safe is a 90-year old detached house in the UK, and how long will these houses last?
I was brought up in a 1902 house and have owed properties from 1895, 1890, 1980 (an error), 1856, 1908 and the current 1873. In almost all of them we've bought a tired property in a good structure and location and my wife has done her magic.The error was an estate built job which was functionally ok but lacked any character and was overlooked by 7 other properties. Older houses have bigger rooms and higher ceilings so you have a feeling of space. There are some other advantages as well as some hazards- they are rarely built on flood plains - they have lasted a long time so any problems are easier to find. But note that many uk cities were bombed in WW2. The direct hits were demolished, the rest were repaired. Cracks from 60 years ago are not uncommon- lath and plaster ceilings last a very long time. Then collapse.- asbestos is mostly likely to be in outbuildings and highly unlikely to be integral to construction. But lead water pipes could still be extant. Lots of people advise getting in a surveyor. It makes sense but surveyors won't lift carpets and raise floorboards unless explicitly instructed. Local engineers know the locality, so know the things to expect and the solutions that workOur 1856 4-storey town house was jerry built, held up by the curious location of the chimneys within the house. We strengthened the structure with some steelwork and tied everything together. When you're ripping the interior apart to make a nice house this is pretty easy to fix: less so if you thought it was in good shape when you bought it. It had no foundations whatsoever but was built on chalk. It's a gorgeous property - now - with some splendid period features that never graced the original. My wife's family has owned a country cottage of uncertain but 19th century age for over 50 years. It's s terrible piece of construction with undersized beams and massive walls that attract damp like nothing else.
Landlord vs tenant hot water heater flooded my apt who's responsible for replacing my ruined belongings?
At some point, the insurance agent will ask for a list of what was damaged and if you don't have receipts, any pictures you may have would be helpful, as well as user manuals for electronics, anything that proves you actually owned the items you're claiming. The agent will do some research and come back with a settlement offer (which may be somewhat negotiable, you don't necessarily have to take their first offer). It's a good thing you had renters insurance! Read the policy to see what it covers. Good luck to you, sorry to hear what happened, it must have been awful!