Author: Parmdeep Vadesha Added: September 29, 2008
The United Kingdom is in dire need for more properties. There has been a huge push recently from the government to build more homes in the near future to keep up with the demand. The waiting list for rental property is growing too, based on the June 2008 report from the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee. Properties for rent are scarce throughout the UK in many desirable areas save for perhaps City Centres - and this is definitely good news for landlords. In fact, over 30% of landlords with a property portfolio that includes buy to lets have experienced a surge in their investments in the rental sector, as per a 2008 study by Paragon Mortgages. Indeed the perfect time for buy to let properties is now. Right now. If those positive and optimistic statistics still do not convince you, let me give you other reasons why there is no time like the present to get your foot up the property ladder with a buy to let investment. First of all, property prices all over the United Kingdom are slowly dropping. Indeed the market is slowly slipping away from the days of severely restrictive housing prices that the majority of the people could not afford. Now, many sellers have realised that the market could not afford the prices that they were demanding, so they have substantially lowered the asking price. In fact, housing prices have dropped by as much as 2.4%, according to the June 2008 Halifax House Price Index. And of course, this translates into saving of thousands of pounds. Therefore, there is no better time to purchase your buy to let property investment than today. Who knows how long this trend of cheap housing prices will last? Secondly, due to the credit crunch and interest rate hikes, the number of homes being repossessed is increasing. While this is certainly very unfortunate news for those homeowners who have been evicted from their homes, it also means that many more properties sold well below market value are available for the investor. Banks and other lending institutions are not looking to make a long term investment in property. Most of them just want to unload of these assets quick - and are willing to sell these repossessed homes to you for below market value prices to recoup their initial investment. Repossessed properties are indeed a great way for you to purchase a second property for investment at a very cheap and reasonable price. Furthermore, with more and more people defaulting on their mortgage, it also means that they will be looking for a place to rent. Most of these displaced former homeowners would want a place to let - and that is where your buy to let property comes in. Lastly, now is the perfect time to charge a slightly higher rental price on your buy to let property. With most people still reeling from the repossession plague and the restrictively high interest rates, they are still not in the mood to purchase their own homes. Most start-up families or professionals would rather rent in the meantime, for fear of not being able to cope up with the mortgage payments. Therefore, there is a very high demand for buy to let in many areas. This could definitely spell success for you as a landlord and property investor.
--- Parmdeep Vadesha is a property investment expert and founder of the largest community of property entrepreneurs on the web who buy below market value properties from distressed homeowners facing repossession, divorce and bankruptcy. He writes a monthly newsletter for over 70,000 property investors worldwide - http://www.Property-System.com
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