It is still possible to make a living out of buy-to-let. Many Buy To Let businesses exist to help landlords or prospective landlords find and run the right investments. Buy-to-let support staff are multiplying fast in a property market which seems unable to shake off its slumber. Buy To Let businesses may help investors find undervalued properties that others have overlooked, offer low cost management, painless interior design or even help with landlords' tax bills and legal difficulties. Existing property professionals say they need to constantly prove themselves to survive.
One of the capital's most experienced buy-to-let managers finds investment properties for chief executives and other time-poor workers and says demand for service has risen ever since confidence in the housing market fell.
A few years ago it felt as if anyone could buy anything and make money on it then you didn't always need professional help with buy-to-let, but in reality back then people were often wasting huge amounts of time buying
the wrong sort of properties, which only generated a fraction of what better homes were achieving. In today's market people recognise that the right properties are harder to find and are prepared to pay someone else to track them down.
There is still long-term value in the right residential property as long as you take a forensic attitude when choosing the right type of property to buy. Don't focus on just specific areas but focus on specific streets. In the current market investors really can't afford to make mistakes because the difference between a lucrative and a loss-making property can hinge on very simple factors that basic research should have uncovered.
Scouting out properties takes a lot of legwork and leads to many early-morning and late-night viewings. The job isn't easy but if you love property and thrive on the challenge of finding and then running the best buildings then it's a fantastic opportunity. You need to spot a niche and 'milk it' for all its worth.
Bad investments can be self inflicted, a common example is a badly refurbished or decorated property or the landlord simply failed to work out what sort of tenants might demand the property being purchased. Inexperienced investor need help buying, refurbishing and running the right properties first time around.
Others who now make a living supporting buy-to-letters say they too leapt in after spotting gaps in the market.
FINDING THE RIGHT BUY TO LET MORTGAGES
THE RIGHT mortgage broker can be a buy-to-let investor's most important ally — especially when tenants seem thin on the ground and rents may need to be cut. The difference between the best and worst mortgage deals on buy-to-let can be even greater than on ordinary residential loans and if you've got a Investment mortgage you can easily be paying £200 a month more interest than you need if you pick the wrong one.
And with new players such as Alliance & Leicester preparing to re-enter the buy-to-let mortgage market competition for borrowers is expected to intensify, with the best deals getting better and the worst being left even further adrift. Picking the right mortgage broker is important if you want to cut your outgoings to the bone. If you choose one charging high fees — some charge up to 1.5 per cent of the loan amount — then the monthly savings you can make on a new mortgage can be outweighed by the cost of the change.
