Interest Only vs Repayment — Does It Really Matter?
A practical look at interest only versus repayment mortgages for buy to let investors, and why the right answer depends more on your goals than on dogma.
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Why Property Investors Should Think Beyond Property
Most millionaires don’t just rely on one source of income. In fact, I’ve heard that the average millionaire has at least three income streams, with many having five to seven. Why? Because they understand a simple truth—if you depend entirely on one source of income and it stops, you’re in trouble. But many investors and…
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UK Property Hotspots: The 10 Areas Where House Prices Soared in 2024, but Are They the Best Places to Buy (Invest) in 2025?
It’s hot spot season! Just Googling around property and I can see that on a journalist’s ‘to do list’ in January is to produce the Property Hot Spot article. Nothing wrong with that, by the way, we all need to make a living, and reviewing the property market in January makes perfect sense as we…
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Why You Shouldn’t View Properties and Why You Should Inspect Them Instead
Imagine this, you’re out viewing properties, you’re going to view this property, maybe you’re thinking it’ll make a nice flip or perhaps it’s even going to be serviced accommodation or holiday let, I don’t know, it doesn’t really matter. When we’re viewing properties this is usually what happens. We’ll go to the property, we’ll go…
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Did you know banks can pull the finance, even after exchange of contracts?
In fact, I know of instances where finance was pulled by the banks on the day of completion, leaving the property investor unable to complete the purchase, and in some cases the developer then sued the buyer and made them bankrupt! Now, I’m not saying this to scare you, there were very particular…
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40 Learnings in 40 Years: Value is NOT What Someone Will Pay For it!
You’ll often hear it said in property that “The value is what someone will pay for it” but technically, according to the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) that’s not true. And to (perhaps) make things even more confusing, value is an opinion, and more than one opinion can be right. Sometimes multiple…
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Should I buy my own home first, or should I buy a buy to let first?
I am sometimes contacted by people who live in an area which is far too expensive for them to buy a residential home in. And so they are renting, and trying to save, but prices are so high they know they’ll almost certainly never be able to buy a home there. But they have…
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Are Buy to Let Landlords Selling Up in Big Numbers?
Buy to let landlords sold 35,000 more properties than they bought in 2022, with the rental sector losing an average of 66 buy to let properties a day last year, according to analysis by agents Hamptons. Hamptons also says 140,000 people stopped being landlords in 2022, and 96,000 are expected to follow suit…
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40 Learnings in 40 Years – No 9: Property Strategies Rarely Get Old and Stop Working
One thing I get a little annoyed about is when I see an ‘expert’ on social media telling us that such and such a strategy is outdated and doesn’t work anymore. Let’s be honest, their ‘hidden’ agenda (not so well hidden) is usually to sell us something, most often a course promoting a…
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Property Goals on Their Own Aren’t Enough
Setting goals might be boring but we need to do it. Goal setting is one of the key things for success in any activity, property investing included. When I set goals, I tend to achieve them. When I don’t set goals, I tend to just bumble along. So what should I do? I…
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