In This Guide

Administration

Being a landlord

Buy to let investment

Choosing the property

   1. Consider the tenant's view

   2. Choosing an area

   3. Choosing the property

   4. Buying new homes

   5. Buying tenanted property

Finding tenants

Letting property

Lettings agents

Levels of service

Preparing the property

Problem tenants

Tenancy

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Choosing the property

Consider the tenant's view

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When thinking about where to buy an investment property, to some extent you should use the criteria that are discussed in the HowTo: Rent section of this website, as they will give you a good idea of the sort of things many tenants will be thinking of when looking for property. you can visit the section by clicking here, or read a brief summary of the main factors below.

We recommend that individual tenants consider the following factors when choosing an area in which to live:

• Is the area well serviced by a variety of local means of transport?
• Is it easy to reach the main local employers?
• How busy is the through traffic?
• Does the area have good access to national transport systems?
• What is the local public transport like?
• Are there any major infrastructure changes planned for the near future that will attract more tenants to the area?

• Is the area a crime hotspot?
• How high will insurance premiums be?
• What is the atmosphere like on the streets or in local pubs and nightspots?

These are the sorts of amenities that many tenants will be looking to be within easy access of:

• High street shops
• Supermarket
• Leisure centre, gym and other sports facilities
• Restaurants and cafes
• Pubs and bars
• Cinema/multiplex

• What does the place look like? Although urban areas are popular with many tenants, people also generally like a bit of greenery.
• Are there parks nearby, or is the whole area concreted over?
• Are there any local environmental issues that may put tenants off, such as mobile phone masts, sewerage works etc?

What are the other people like in a particular locality? There's not much point buying a house with the intention of renting it to a nice family, if it is in a street exclusively occupied by noisy students. Few families will actually want to live there. This comes down to local knowledge - know where your target type of tenant generally likes to live.

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