Why Buy to Let?
Being a landlord is not just about owning property. A landlord is a businessman, his let is a business venture and his objective is to run an efficient and profitable service. The main prerequisite to becoming a landlord, therefore, is a sound assessment of:
a. investment potential
b. risk
c. personal skills and capabilities.
Deciding to become a Landlord
As a first step, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I have some spare time?
- Am I ready to seek out facts and information?
- Am I prepared to accept responsibility on issues of safety?
- Am I willing to consult others for advice?
- Am I prepared to accept an element of risk involved in making a business deal?
If you can answer 'yes' to all these questions, you have taken a step towards becoming a landlord.
Identifying your personal skills
Being a landlord does not mean you have to undertake the day-to-day letting workload yourself. You can employ someone else to do it for you; but if you choose to do some or most of the letting duties yourself, you will need to be able to:
- communicate with others
- organise effectively
- behave assertively
- respond to new situations
- stick to rules and guidelines.
Beginning the learning process
As a preliminary to letting, you must:
- Understand an assessment of the profitability of your planned let.
- Be aware of your legal obligations as a landlord, especially with regard to safety issues.
- Be aware of the two types of taxation you will encounter in letting.
- Know when and where to get advice and how to choose an adviser.
Making a start
You have already made a start by reading this far! By continuing you will:
1. Become aware of factors which affect profitability.
2. Begin to think about your own situation and start to make plans.
3. Make an initial assessment of the profit potential of your own proposed let.
