Look, Locate & Learn

The potential private landlord encouraged by the Buy-to-Let initiative must consider any purchase as a medium to long term investment, ignore personal tastes and considerations and avoid property with potential maintenance problems such as a lot of woodwork or a large garden. These will add nothing to the rental value but cost a lot to keep up.

Even when prospecting in an area that is well known, the potential landlord must view it through different eyes and take into account the common denominators sought by potential tenants in terms of property, location, amenities and facilities.

This is where the advice of the experienced letting agent will show it's value. The letting agent automatically looks at every property for its letting potential, knowing how it will fit into the pattern of demand. The points to take into account cover the property itself and the location. What type of property is in short supply on the local letting market? Is there demand for flats or for houses, with two, three or five bedrooms? How many bathrooms should there be per bedroom? Are patios, terraces or small gardens popular, and do they add to the rental value? Are most tenants commuters? Do they tend to travel by bus, train or car?

Therefore, is the property on a reliable bus route, close to a station or does it have a garage or easy parking? Are these tenants fast-track young professionals wanting restaurants, health clubs and sports facilities close by, or are they more senior, looking for the quiet life, just off the beaten track but convenient to the motorway to get to work and for weekends away?

The permutations are endless but when Buying-to-Let there is not the rush to buy that can occurs when Looking-for-Living, competing for that permanent dream home that fits all personal requirements. It is the database and experience of the established letting agent in the local market that supplies the right answers, not the circumstances, tastes or aspirations of the investor landlord.

Rentals are relatively short term, from six months to three years on average. So it is probable that successive tenancies will be taken by people who fit the same market profile, whose time for fulfilling dreams has yet to come. If a Buy-to-Let property is bought with that in mind, successful letting will be the norm and any void period between tenancies will be the shorter.