Property Investment in 2008

Buy To Let Property The Current State of the Market and How to Profit From It

Everything is Doom and Gloom, Property prices are falling, Interest rates are still too high, mortgage lenders are acting tough and first time buyers are hard to find. As many have been predicting, The Bubble Has Burst!

Or has it? The property market is just like the Stock Market, or any other market for that matter. The major influence is still supply and demand.

With an increasing population and family groups becoming smaller, the demand is still very strong and won't go away. People have to have somewhere to live and if they can't afford to buy a house or flat, the main alternative is to rent.

So, you're not covinced. Let's look at a few statistics. I know, there are lies, damned lies and statistics! So instead, let's look at a few facts.

The Sunday Times Rich List for 2007, shows that 20 of the top 50 richest people in Britain are in Property or property allied to other interests. Thirty three such people are in the top hundred.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister states that the housing market has gone up by 11.74% per year, in the last 35 years.

If you think back, it's quite easy to understand. Just remember what your own house was worth way back in 1970. The house we lived in in 1970 was worth about £7,000 and now it's worth well over £200,000.

If you've moved house in the last 10 years, what did you pay for it then, compared to its current value? We bought our present house nine years ago and it is now worth almost two and a half times what we paid for it.

Back in March 2007, the Daily Telegraph reported that the average house price was predicted to reach £200,000. If you apply that average yearly increase of 11% then in 10 years, the average will have reached £567,000 and will exceed one million pounds in just under 16 years!

Here is the most basic reason of all why land (and therefore stuff built on it) will always increase in value: THEY'RE NOT MAKING IT ANY MORE!

Now do you believe that property is a good investment?

BUY LOW, SELL HIGH! Isn't that a basic tenet of good business? The opposite approach has never made anyone rich. So, now is a good time to buy, when the market is sluggish and fearful. Having said that, it is certainly not the time to rush in blindly. Good advice, at a time like this, is priceless.

Granted, raising a Buy to Let mortgage, finding the right property, negotiating with agents and builders can be a minefield - but not with the right advice.

Finding the Right Property:

You may feel that the mortgage should come first, but No! You will have far more success with your application if you can present a viable financial plan (albeit a small and simple one) which demonstrates your own financial stability and your ability to make the payments on the specific property you have in mind.

The right property has to have the right location; the right size; the right price; the right potential for improvement; and the right rental income. You can calculate the right price, within a couple of minutes, with a simple formula.

Armed with all the above information, getting the mortgage should be quite straightforward. Mortgage lenders are wary, in the current economic climate because their main fear is that you will be unable to make the payments on the loan. If you have all the right information and are able to raise a small deposit, then success is much more likely. These mortgage lenders (and there are many out there) are all looking for your business, provided you can prove you're a safe bet.

In the UK, there is a small group of people who operate a simple strategy, whereby:

* They aquire a buy to let property with current rental income,

* in which they have a significant equity,

* with none of their own money invested,

* all within a few months.