Letting tenant focus

Tenant focus: How do you target thwarted first time buyers as tenants? Our top landlords have built great business relationsips with select estate agents. These estate agents are not only the source for the 'under market value property' but also First Time Buyers. These estate agents have built up details of many prospective buyers, they often record information such as : did they enquire as a first time buyer? did they go on and purchase a property? did they decide not to purchase and stay renting? You want to obtain details on the first time buyer who decided not to purchase and stay renting... persuade you best estate agent to release such details!

Flexible lets: Do the long term benefits of flexible lets outway the initial investment and ongoing maintenance concerns? On the face of it, this type of tenant offers great ability to earn extra cash. However, the fact that most Buy To Let lenders will not lend to them doesnt just restrict your options but begs the question why? The answer is the relative comfort factor ie. the insecurity of not knowing how long the the money will keep coming in!

With mortgage options restricted then be prepared to pay more mortgage interest, reducing your net rental return.

Commercial property: Is commercial property a stronger investment than residential property? Maybe, but not many opportunities are out there. For example, Paragon mortgages decided to axe its market leading commercial mortgage due to lack of demand. So if you intend to enter the commercial property market, don't expect to replicate your million pound property portfolio overnight!

Property funds: Will PIFs encourage more people to buy to let and why? All too late for most of our Professional landlords, unless rules will allow transfer of property into the PIF. If so, then this allows a great exit strategy for the professional when he/she retires.