What Property ?

It is important that you carefully research the market where you want to buy your let property. If you decide to research the market yourself, you will be able to gather information from local estate agents, employers, newspapers and from local council.  It’s important that you establish the demand for rented property in the immediate area and what might change this. Rather than do all this yourself, a local specialist letting agent could help.

General area

You should assess the importance tenants may put on the availability of local amenities such as transport, schools and shops.  Are your tenants likely to be students where access to the local University of College will be most important, alternatively will they be professionals who need access to a mainline rail link?

New or Old?

The age of a property can have a significant impact on the overall success of your let. As a general rule new properties require less maintenance and may fewer restrictions than older properties. On the other hand, older properties often offer larger living accommodation and better access to local amenities like shops and rail links. The type of tenants whom you intend to let your property to should help you in deciding which way to go, although you should be careful to ensure you fully understand the maintenance costs that may apply on older, less well maintained properties.  

Choose a property you can afford

Obviously, the size of mortgage you can afford will have a major influence on the size and location of your property. Choosing a mortgage is described in more detail in this website.

Planning for vacant periods should be a vital part of your calculations. Many landlords plan for up to 4 months without an income on their let properties. Obviously you will still be expected to continue repaying your mortgage so you will need to think about how you will meet your mortgage repayments in these circumstances. This could particularly apply if you choose a property in an area where the supply of rental property exceeds demand from tenants.

 

While the UK market seems to be remaining buoyant, when considering how much to spend on a property always remember that as well as increasing in value, your property can also fall in value.

Buying ‘Off-plan’

Before buying any property off plan, you should ensure that you carry out extensive research. While off plan often offers significantly higher returns, it doesn’t come without its risks. Many a property investor has lost large sums of their hard earned capital on properties that either don’t meet the initial specifications or where the development falls flat on its face as soon as it started.

 

Be sure to investigate the track record and integrity of the property developer. In today’s high tech environment developments can be made to look particularly impressive using computer images and graphics. Don’t be fooled by the glossy brochures and sales speak.