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

Like homeowners the last thing they want to do is live next to someone who harasses them – they want to live in peace. But the thing is… unlike homeowners who have to sell in order to get away from such neighbours; all your tenant actually has to do is end their tenancy agreement with you.

And let me tell you, this is the last thing you want to happen…

Can Nuisance Neighbours Affect My Profitability?

Surprisingly so… It is easy as a property investor to forget to check out the quality of your neighbours because you are not living in the property yourself.

Yet thinking on this subject I can see how this could quickly impact on your profitability. All you need is one tenant to say to another: ‘I wouldn’t live there the neighbours are horrible’ and it won’t matter how strong the tenancy demand is or how good the rental yields are, if you cannot get tenants to stay, it will be you who is footing the bills.

So what do you do?

You make sure you know exactly who are investing next to before you put down a bid:

1. Visit the property more than once – the average buyer views a property once maybe twice before putting down a bid and usually at the same time of day. To gain an accurate perception of whether your potential property let is actually a local hot spot for vandals and drunks, or if your neighbours are noisy, I suggest trying to view the property at least 5 times and at various times of the day. This will allow you to see exactly what conditions your tenants will be living under.
2. Introduce yourself to your neighbours – meeting someone face to face can tell you a lot about a person. Before you put down a bid, make sure to introduce yourself to your new neighbours. You’ll soon discover if you are going to have difficulties with them over noise or a shared driveway.
3. Know your covenants – if you have already invested in the property and have got tenants living there, make sure to check the covenants of the property to see if your neighbours for example are prohibited from being a nuisance i.e. playing music at certain times of the day, lighting all day bonfires etc…
4. Talk to a solicitor – this should always be a last resort, but should you find that your tenant makes a complaint; you speak/write to the neighbour and they still persist in their actions, then you may wish to speak to a solicitor. They will be able to issue a letter to your neighbour highlighting the properties covenants and the possibility of legal action.

So try to take these on board the next time you invest in property. £500 positive cas flows and a high tenancy demand are all well and good, but get a bad neighbour for your tenants and they may affect your long term profitability.

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

Ummm probably… but before you discount me as being heartless or ‘callous’ in this judgement let me explain…

You see it is a little known fact that repossessed properties sell for at least 5-10% below market values, meaning you can easily invest in these properties for more than 25% below their original 2007 asking prices, if not more which is fantastic news since property prices have begun rising again…

Now for anyone who doesn’t have a clue what I am going on about, I am discussing Credit Action’s recent report which declared that a new property is repossessed every 11 minutes. That is 131 properties every single day!

Yet this is not the worst of it…

According to Credit Action, the average household has now got a debt of at least £9,161 to their name –excluding their mortgage! Throw that into the mix and household debt rises to an astounding £58,340.

At £58,340, it is no wonder that every 3.97 minutes someone is declared bankrupt or insolvent – the finance market is in a very bad way.

Yet despite all this, it is impossible to ignore the fact that these repossessed properties represent an incredible opportunity to get the property market back on its feet.

With the demand for property growing at an escalating rate and the housing shortage becoming ever more dominant, these properties can easily supplement this demand by being transformed into multiple rental accommodations.

Maybe I am wrong about this. Maybe investing in these properties won’t make a difference. But you have got to admit that at an additional 5-10% off their asking prices it just too good a discount to miss.

Wendy xx

With bidding wars escalating for property, estate agents are reporting that many homes are now reaching their asking price – if not more – because so many people want to invest.

Take this statistic for example.

During July 2009, there were 292 house hunters to every estate agent who had 59 properties for sale. You only have to take one look at this figure to recognise that the property market is hotting up. It is electric.

Yet I have to admit that I am not sure whether to be impressed or concerned.

On the one hand this recommendation by housing experts for homebuyers to wait – unless they can get family to help them – is great news for investors like you and me. If they can’t buy, then they can easily rent, which means an increased tenancy looking for rental properties.

But with terrace properties selling for more than they fetched 2 years ago this is a dramatic increase considering average property prices have dropped 20% in the last year.

The problem is the growing housing shortage. Even with many first time buyers refraining from making property viewings because they know they have not got the cash to invest, there are still hundreds of homeowners to every property – creating even more competition for investors like you and me to invest.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the average first time buyer is 37 years old, whilst those who receive help from their parents are averaging at 31.

Either way, these ages indicate how hard mortgage lenders are making it for homebuyers to get onto the property ladder. Without outside aid, they simply cannot afford the 25% deposits to invest.

Wendy xx

I personally have always preferred to invest in the UK, but the TimesOnlines recent story about global property price falls has given me a new perspective on the prospective profits that can be earned from these types of properties.

I know, I know… every country has got their own property laws detailing what is necessary to invest. But… if you were to take the time to gain a firm grasp of these laws, the instant earnings you could generate from these locations could really be worth your time.

Take these following figures supplied by the Timesonline. Here they have examined at least 7 locations, all of which can offer you instant earnings due to their affordability:

France: In Normandy, Brittany, the Dordogne and Cote d’Azur all their properties have fallen in value by 7.5%. But as a country as a whole properties in France are down 25%.
Spain: Properties across the board are now 20% cheaper than they were in 2007.
Italy: Look in Tuscany and properties which originally cost 700,000 euros are now 400,000 euros. Overall though, investors can expect to see savings of 20% in their investments.
Manhatten: Properties across the State have fallen by a minimum of 20% in value with some falling as high as 30%.
Florida: Some of their properties have experienced discounts of over 50% making them an ideal second home location.
South Africa: Prices average out at 10-20% below their peak value in 2007
Dubai: Following their 6 year property boom, you can now invest in Dubai at 75% of the properties value.

I know these figures shouldn’t be that surprising. After all we are in a global recession, but the similarity in price falls between there and in the UK, makes any one of these above locations an appetising investment opportunity.

The only thing you have to be careful with here is their laws. Once you know that and are confident you can find an all year round tenancy, then there is the potential to invest. A property that for example is only in demand for 4 months of the year isn’t worth the time. To truly make it work you need a tenant to fill the property for the whole 12 months.

Anyways this information does provide an interesting twist for anyone looking to broaden their horizons in property investment. It is certainly something to consider.

Wendy xx

PS. If you are interested as I am in this story, here is its link: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/overseas/article5858851.ece. Enjoy

Visit us weekly to see what the hot property is.

Area Cambridge

Property type Semi detached

Number of bedrooms 5

Length on market 7 months

Valuation £250,000.00

Positive Cash Flow £519.00 per month

This property was chosen from a selection of properties available this week, but felt to be the most promising deal with the potential returns.

With now being the time to buy investment properties, making the right choice is important.

Bear in mind that one of the reasons that house prices keep on fluctuating is because the government cannot match demand for permenant housing in England.  There is a shortfall of 300,000 properties each year so although for now property prices have seen a slight decrease they will always rise as demand is higher than supply.