The best advice anyone can give to someone thinking about buying to let is to research the area. By meeting with lettings agents and visiting rental property websites you can find out the types of properties available, their prices and how strong the market is. I generally use findaproperty.com to research; it has a comprehensive database of rental properties and provides information of the average rental value for various types of property in the area.

I would also suggest looking around the area and gauging the type of people that live there. If you see lots of high or low end retailers, this will give you an indication of the type of people that live in the area. For example, if you see lots of bars and fashion retailers the target market will be young professionals.

If however you want to target families you should check and see how good the schools are in the area this can be a very attractive pull to some families. If you want to know more about how to target a specific market and how to find out about the quality of schooling in an area check out our article know who your sales market is.

It’s also very important to sit down and look at the figures, ideally the rental income should cover 125% of the mortgage repayments this will hopefully enable you to pay additional costs for maintenance, insurance and possibly property management.

Buy to let tips:

• Buy a property with double bedrooms
• Buy a property with good transport links or off street parking ideally both
• Buy a low maintenance property (maybe a new property with a hassle free garden)
• Buy a property that is close to where you live this will make it easier for you to pop over when problems arise

Remember if you are the sole freeholder of the property the maintenance of the communal areas and exterior will be down to you. So either free up time regularly to maintain these areas yourself or employ a management company to do it for you.

Other things to consider are when you are buying to let you are in a strong position to negotiate as long as you are not relying on a property sale to fund the purchase. Take advantage of this and really try hard to get the best possible price, as an investor its crucial that you get the best price possible, don’t be afraid to walk away, there will always be another property around the corner.

Decide whether a management company will deal with plumbing and maintenace
Another dilemma is, should you manage the property yourself or go with a management company. I would suggest if you are a first time landlord and don’t have a great deal of time you should employ a management company they will often have good contacts and can deal with any problems relating to the property such as plumbing, maintenance etc.

Related posts:

1. What is the difference between Leasehold and Freehold?
2. Know who your sales market is
3. Property Development and Information
4. Manage your own rental property
5. Manage your own rental property