If you think that buy-to-let is for you, you need to:
- Decide what you want to achieve from property investing and by when – in other words, set your property goals
- Decide on the best strategy to achieve your goals
- Make a plan
- Decide upon the type of property that will best fit your strategy and plan
- Decide how you will research and find the area(s) where there are suitable properties to achieve your strategy and at the right price
- Plan how you will identify and purchase suitable individual properties at the right price
- Plan how you will manage your property(ies) after purchase and maintain the value of your investments.
Much of this you can do yourself, although it is helpful to take advice from someone who is experienced in property investing. I take you through the step by step process, and show you exactly how I built my property portfolio in The Successful Property Investor’s Strategy Workshop (www.StrategyWorkshop.co.uk).
You can source your own properties, or you can use a portfolio building service to do it for you. If you choose the latter route, be careful. Not all that glitters is gold – many do a good job with professionalism and integrity, but unfortunately some don’t.
The key to success for buy-to-let investors is finding properties that:
- Are lettable
- Provide the required rent return or capital appreciation
- Have a value in excess of the minimum value required by your lender
- Are mortgageable
- Have long-term prospects of reasonable capital growth
