I personally would love to retire even earlier than that, and with my extensive range of property lets I am fairly confident that I will be able to achieve this before I am 35. However property investment isn’t for everyone, so the real question is: what other routes are available to you?

Looking at the Co-operative Bank Mortgages figures they revealed that:

• 31% planned to achieve this goal by overpaying on their mortgage every month and reducing the term of their mortgage. And this is a great idea considering the current economic climate and how low mortgage rates are. There is plenty of opportunity to overpay
• 21% planned to achieve this goal by taking advantage of low interest rate deals. Now this one is only good if your current mortgage term is coming to an end. To swap part way through can result in penalties and a lot of paperwork which can get messy if you don’t know what you are doing
• 13% planned to achieve this goal by utilising more of their disposable income. Similar to the one above, this technique is only useful if you are on a tracker deal or are coming to the end of your current mortgage deal, as you need to be on a lower mortgage rate in order to increase your disposable income.

Now out of these 3, I would have to say that the first one is definitely the most viable route. For instance, most banks will allow you to pay an additional 10% on your mortgage over the year without incurring a penalty. However that being said many leading lenders are now considering launching a range of mortgages which will enable you to make additional repayment of up to 50% of your entire mortgage.

Is there another route?

Like I mentioned above, property investment isn’t for everyone, but working solely on my own personal experience, buy to let property investment has enabled me to pay off huge chunks of my own mortgage – fast – whilst leaving my other salary free to offer me the luxuries of reduced working hours.

Take my scenario for example:

Each of my 11 property investments currently produces positive cash flows of between £350 and £980 a month, giving me an additional income of £6,018 (aside from my existing job).

Now aside from the fact that my tenants are essentially paying the entire costs of my property investments – bills, mortgage payments, council tax etc – they are also supplying me with the cash flow to pay off an extra 10% off my mortgage every single month.

See what I mean?! There truly is a diversity of ways to enable yourself to retire when you want to and at an age that fits your lifestyle. So give it a try and see if you too can retire when you want to…

Wendy xx

I thoroughly agree that there are landlords out there who abuse their powers over tenants and fail to fulfil their responsibilities. But the latest developments from the government feel more like an opportunity for tenants to ‘landlord bash’ than actually offer tenants better letting relationships…

Take this recent development.

Aside from giving tenants a Housing Hotline where they can seek advice against problematic landlords and the introduction of the National Landlord Register where tenants will be able to see how well prospective landlords maintain their properties. The government has also proposed launching a tenant dedicated website where tenants will be able to supply reviews on landlords and their property lettings – both positive and negative.

And it is here where everything becomes complicated…

Of course there will be genuine negative reviews from tenants against unscrupulous landlords who are at fault, but there will also be an influx of negative reviews from tenants who simply disagree with their landlords about issues which are actually law abiding.

All you need is to have one disagreement with your tenants and this website opens the doors to having your reputation tarnished for good! In some ways such a website could even make some landlords too scared to act on their legal rights in case their tenant tarnishes their name to the world.

It truly is a catch-22 where without the proper regulation this website could easily become a landlord bashing location which only works to drive bad landlords under ground whilst penalising law-abiding landlords instead…

May be it is just me and maybe I am viewing this all wrong, but I do strongly feel that this site could do more harm than good to the rental market where new tenants come to find a good landlord only to be painted a negative picture.

Wendy xx

I was reading an article recently about a property investor who had to pay cleaning costs of up to £1,900 after their tenant left their carpets, walls and gardens in poor repair.

And the worst thing for her was, instead of having her tenants deposit to rely on to help cover the costs of these bills, her rental agent had already given the deposit back to the tenant – all without inspecting the property first – meaning she couldn’t prove they had damaged her rental property in the first place!

It is stories like these that make you really appreciate landlord resource websites which enable you to manage and control your own properties without the assistance of a third party i.e. a rental agent.

From structuring your assured short hold tenancy agreement to utilising an inventory form – which allows you to monitor the condition of your buy-to-let property and its contents during their entire tenancy – to arranging for a tenant guarantor to protect your rental income if your tenant can pay.

With the right forms, you can prevent such mishaps as the one mentioned above from ever occurring, and more importantly save yourself from ever having to foot the bill for your property manager’s mistakes.

Now this isn’t to say that all property management companies are bad. Over the years I have come across a lot of good quality providers who have done a decent job for my friends, but myself – I still prefer to manage my property portfolio myself.

Not only can I make sure – before they move in – that my tenants have got a good reputation, a strong credit rating and will treat my properties with respect. But I can more effectively enforce mine and my tenant’s rights when it comes to maintenance.

After all, the last thing you want is to be paying cleaning costs of over £1,900 on top of your other responsibilities.

If you are genuinely interested in getting a property manager, I recommend searching around and thoroughly researching them first. A general estate agent is simply not enough…

Wendy xx

I was reading an article by holidaylettings.co.uk the other day and in it they revealed that year on year UK holiday home enquiries have risen by 73%!

Even by recession standards that is a dramatic increase and one definitely worth taking note of if you are interested in breaking into the sector.

Yet according to their research, these enquiries have been global. South Africa, Turkey, Croatia… all have been witnessing similar increases in holiday letting queries too:

• South Africa – holiday enquiries have increased 13 times above their 2008 figures
• Croatia – enquiries for 2010 are up 113%
• Malta – enquiries for 2010 are up 94%
• Greece – enquiries for 2010 are up 74%

There is no disputing that 2010 is proving to be a profitable year for property investors and professional landlords alike.

In many ways holiday lettings is an incredible way to earn an extra income.

Not only will your ‘Tenants’ cover the entire cost of your mortgage whilst you are not occupying the property, but in many instances your second home will give you monthly bonus. Why? Because rental yields are notoriously higher than mortgage repayments.

Take this scenario for example.

Lets say you own a £120,000 property in Luton (3 bedroom) with a 25 year mortgage of 4.99%. Opt for an interest only mortgage and your repayments will be £499 a month. However choose to rent out this property and you can easily charge rental yields of £741 a month. Do the maths and that is an instant profit of £242.

Now I don’t know about you, but an additional income of £242 a month for simply renting out your second home is just too good to ignore, especially if you only use this property for 2-3 months out of the year. For the other 9 months you can easily earn £2,178.

Taking all these facts into consideration, owning a second home could definitely be a worthwhile venture if you have got the cash to invest.

PLEASE NOTE: rules surrounding ‘Furnished Holiday Lettings’ are changing in the new tax year, so make sure you familiarise yourself with this, before you consider joining the club.

Wendy xx

I was reading an article on HomeMove the other day, and essentially Rightmove have predicted that due to property prices becoming static over the last 2 months (dropping by 2.2%), properties put up for sale will almost halve in amount during 2010 compared to those put up for sale in 2007.

In fact, they believe because of the upcoming General Election – and the impact it will have on the economy and taxes – there will be less forbearance shown by lenders on those who have gone into arrears. Meaning there will be more forced sales and even more opportunities for property investors to invest.

Now you’re probably wondering how any of the information I have just revealed can help to make 2010 the year that professional landlords come into their own, but here are some other interesting facts that Rightmove let slip which might change your mind:

• These forced sales will be concentrated in lower income areas where demand from first time buyers has dissipated – due to their locations these properties will be priced at affordable, investable levels which will make their rental yields more attractive to property investors like you and me.
• Number of properties advertised for rent has fallen 15% in the last 6 months – now before you get worried, this drop in property advertisements has actually put existing landlords in an increasingly privileged position as new landlords have been frozen out. Why? Because they have not got the strategies or the contacts to access the limited number of buy-to-let mortgages.
• Properties bought by accidental landlords during 2009 have now been purchased – giving professional landlords a clear run with limited rental competition

It is true that 2009 was definitely the ‘Year of the Deal’ where if you had the right investments strategies you could easily invest and take advantage of 20%-30% discounts off property prices.

However, if we are to take seriously what Rightmove are suggesting then this drop in properties for sale combined with the reduction of property landlords means if you have got the know-how, the cash and the property portfolio, you can really wipe the floor in terms of profitability.

If you are interested, here is the article I found: http://www.homemove.co.uk/news/15-12-2009/year-of-the-professional-landlord-approaches.html

It is a catch-22: impressive 100% buy-to-let mortgages on properties valued £250,000 and above or restricted mortgage deals on properties that are discounted at 30%.

If I am honest I don’t know which market condition I most prefer. In an ideal world you would be able to get both: a strong buy-to-let mortgage on a property that has been thoroughly discounted.

However, despite these limitations, I have begun to notice a significant improvement in the direction these mortgage deals are moving in.

I was researching the other day on moneysupermarket.com and spotted some tempting buy-to-let deals that are seriously worth taking a look at:

Mortgage Works: offering an initial rate of 3.74% until 2011 (on a maximum LTV deal of 60%), after this date you can expect to pay a subsequent rate of 4.69%. And this is not bad considering that their arrangement fee is only 3.5% of the properties borrowing price.

BM Solutions: offering an initial rate of 4.1% for the next 2 years (on a maximum LTV deal of 60%), after this date you can expect to pay a subsequent rate of 3.99% as well as a minimum arrangement fee of 3%

*NOTE: to qualify for this deal your property must produce a rental income that covers 125% of the properties mortgage payments

Cheltenham & Gloucester: offering an initial rate of 4.69% until January 2013 (on a maximum LTV deal of 60%), after this date you can expect to pay a subsequent rate of only 2.5% (with a minimum arrangement fee of 2.5% of the properties borrowing price)

NatWest: offering an initial rate of 4.99% until December 2011 (on a maximum LTV deal of 75%), after this date you can expect to pay a subsequent rate of 4.5%.

However it is important to note that this is a variable rate and is subject to change, so you might not always be paying 4.5% month on month. The other down side is you can expect to pay £1,999 in arrangement fees

Lloyd’s TSB: offering an initial rate of 5.39% until January 2013 (on a maximum LTV deal of 60%), after this date you can expect to pay a subsequent rate of 2.5% with a minimum arrangement fee of 2.5%.

These are only a handful of the top buy-to-let deals currently available on the property market; however their interest rates in particular do suggest that the lending market is improving.

The only thing left to change is their LTV’s. Lower these bad boys from 60%-75% and these product offerings would be even more tempting.

Wendy xx

You don’t have to be a multi millionaire to be a successful property investor.  Whatever your personal situation, investing in property has become a viable and accessible way to achieve increased income and long term capital growth.  I don’t come from a privileged background and I was able to start my property portfolio after the luck of a small lottery win.  I’m fortunate that my property investments now mean I can offer my children better opportunities than I was afforded by my parents and this is one of the main reasons many people are looking to property as an investment.

In my experience, there are several main traits that I and other successful property investors share.  Firstly, we are well informed and have a great knowledge of both general property issues and, more importantly, trends within our own area.  We have a great idea of property values in our towns and city, a good knowledge of the local geography and of the local rental market.  We research prices, demographics and agents in our chosen areas and can therefore invest wisely based on our expansive local knowledge.

Secondly, I’ve found that a good property investor has an expectation that success is likely only to occur in the medium to long term.  They understand that a buy to let investment is likely to have periods where there are no tenants, that the value of the investment will fluctuate as house prices rise and fall and that their finance costs are also likely to vary.
Thirdly, a good property investor has a network of relationships with people who know how to invest in property.  They have a good quality broker to arrange their finance, a good solicitor and a competent lettings agent.  They know all their local agents and auctioneers and so not only benefit from being the first to know about new property coming to the market but also have the professional expertise to call on to make their investment a success.

Investing in property is rarely straightforward.  House prices rise and fall, interest costs can fluctuate on a monthly basis and the quality of tenants can vary markedly.  However, if you know your local area, have a well-devised strategy for long term success and are prepared to assemble a local team of property professionals to support you, you could join me and many thousands of Brits successfully investing in property in the UK.