Property remains one of the most popular types of investments there is, and for good reason. After all, this type of investing means you get a real life, bricks and mortar building for your money, something that can seem a lot more secure than a piece of paper like a stock or a bond. Of course, before you sink all your money into property investing, there are a few issues you need to consider. Keep reading to find out what they are.
The costs involved (and where you will get funding from)
Number one on the list of things to consider is money. Yep, that’s right property investing is rarely a cheap endeavour and you will need to speculate to accumulate. Indeed, there are all sorts of additional costs to consider such as legal fees, repairs, decoration, surveys and letting agents costs.
The good news is that you don’t always have to have the full cash value of the property you want to purchase as an investment to hand. Indeed, several approaches can be useful here. The first is to seek funding for rental property investing from a specialist financial company. Something that will enable you to build your portfolio quickly and easily.
Alternatively, you may wish to join with others in a consortium, pooling your money and using the total to invest. Of course, the advantage of this is that you will have access to much higher priced properties that you would if be investing alone. Something that means you may be in line for a much higher return as well.
The practicalities of your investment
There are several practical issues that you need to think about before investing and they all relate to the most important of them all – that is how much you can charge per month for your rental.
For example, think about and research the type of tenants in the area. Will you be leasing to families, individuals, students or high-end business people, as this will impact on the figure you can ask.
You also need to consider what the area itself is like. Ask questions such as whether it is a popular location, whether it has good transport links, good service and facilities, as all of these can make your rental more appealing too.
Whether you want to be a hands-on or off landlord
Finally, you will need to consider what type of landlord you want to be. Many people are happy to have property located close to the oven so they can pop over and check on things and do any repairs that are required quickly.
However, others are much happier letting a leasing agent take care of issues like maintenance, as payment collections. If this is the case then opting for a property farther away from your own is probably the best idea. Indeed, some people even choose to invest in properties overseas as all elements of the leasing processes can be taken care of by a leasing company for them. Something that means they only need to word about the initial investment and any returns.