Tips & Strategies For Property Investment

By Author: Christian Wilson
Total Articles: 52
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You want to invest in property.
You want to feather your nest for when you are older or to leave an inheritance to your children.
Whatever your reasoning, you need to decide whether you want to do something low or high-risk.
Low risk routes are obviously the way that many people go as they will always look at what might go wrong In that way you can often cover yourself and although this may not make you a lot of money quickly it can be a sure steady way for your property portfolio to build and to secure your future.
High risk routes would probably involve you buying as many properties as possible and borrowing to your maximum allowance without having a cushion to catch you if you (or the property market) fall.
You obviously want to be better off than when you started so how can you make the most of your venture into property investment?
Some tips for investing in property:
Don't go too far outside your comfort zone.
Plan ahead. Work out what you want to do with any property you purchase (rental, resale, etc).
Research - check the price of comparable properties and rental ...
... rates in the area you are looking to buy. Ensure that there will be a demand and a market for the property.
Work out the financials - do an initial budget and then add more on to cover any unforeseen circumstances that often occur.
Get a good mortgage plan - the best ones will allow you to make overpayments as and when you want to without incurring penalties.
Don't buy too many properties at once. If you are a beginner at this and have nothing else to do then start with 1 property and gradually build up to more as you learn from mistakes (which you WILL make) and experience.
Attempt to put down 25-30% of the cost to keep your mortgage payments low.
If you are buying to rent then ensure that the rental rate will cover the cost of any mortgage repayments.
If you want to own the property outright then avoid interest-only mortgages as if the property market slumps and you resell you will only lose money. Go for a repayment mortgage where you can get it.
Use the equity created by rising property prices to borrow more and buy more. The more properties you own the more you can borrow.
Regularly re-evaluate your mortgage plan and see if there are better deals out there- if you find a good mortgage broker he will advise you as and when the market changes.
Where you can afford to it is a good idea to try and get properties at auction. Repossessions can be incredibly good value for money. Bear in mind though that you will need the full amount of cash for this so plan ahead accordingly.
Smart investors DO NOT sell - ever. Remember that there are costs involved each time you sell a property so unless you need to sell why do so - better to let the property gain in value for later.