Many are aware of the big returns to be made in property investment, compared to high street bank and building society savings accounts. The latter has been pitiable for so long now, that many people aren’t even bothering to open new accounts. Even stocks and shares can’t compete with property when it comes to high returns.
So, what do you need to do to invest in your first property and build up a portfolio? Well, here are the first 5 steps we at Sourced recommend you take:
Work out what you want to achieve
You want to make your money work for you – but how? For instance, do you want to make enough to retire in say 10 years time? Or are you looking for a steady extra income until you officially pick up your pension in your 60s? Your desired outcome will affect how you invest in the first place.
How much do you want to invest?
Again, do you want to go in wholeheartedly and invest your life savings – nothing ventured, nothing gained – so that within two years time you’ll hopefully be a full-time property investor? Or are you happy to stick with the day job and invest some savings in a couple of buy to let flats to manage over the next couple of decades?
What’s the best way for you to start?
Get to know other investors through networking events or by signing up to a property investment course. You could also get involved with a franchise programme like our own here at Sourced and where you have direct access to experienced and successful property investors via a mentoring service. That way you can learn from the mistakes they’ve already made so you don’t do likewise!
Get to know the location and property values
Once you’ve decided where you want to invest, it’s a case of doing your homework extremely thoroughly. You have to know how much property sells for in the area, how long roughly it takes to sell and whether or not there’s any regeneration or other planning scheduled. Who lives there? Is it families, couples, students? What does Ofsted say about the local schools? What are the crime reports for the area like? These are typical questions someone moving in to the area will be asking.
Understand the various investment strategies
Depending on your aim, how much money you have to invest and the amount of time you want to put in, you can choose from various property investment strategies. These include simple Buy2Let, a HMO, share of a ‘multi-let’ development, Rent-to-Rent or Commercial to Residential property. However, you could always look at Crowdfunding or Peer2Peer Lending.
The Sourced Peer2Peer Lending Platform
At Sourced, our investment experts seek out secure property deals for you, which can be viewed via our Peer2Peer Lending platform. It allows you to choose a deal which appeals to you, and invest from as little as £250 as for as much as a 12% return. To get an idea of the type of properties and deals available, take a look today at our platform here.
Author
Chris Kirkwood
