The Telegraph had an interesting article this week that pulled together a few things that we have been talking about on here for some time. They covered the fact that at the moment banks are very shy of buy to let mortgages and are making it hard for the average landlord to get hold of one. Something we are all too aware of.
They also went over the fact that banks want high deposits and are proving themselves unwilling to loan to people whose monthly income from rent is not far higher than the mortgage they would be taking on, a bit of a double bind for those landlords who are having to drop their prices to attract tenants.
They did, however, set out some steps for landlords to take to make sure their portfolio ‘weathers the storm’ as they put it.
The first is to thoroughly check out the mortgage market before you change any mortgages you may have coming out of date. There will be things out there that suit your particular needs, despite all the doom and gloom around, it is just a matter of careful research.
The next piece of advice regards getting tenants. It is probably not something that landlords want to hear, but, potentially, void periods are far more costly than lowering your rent, so if it comes down to it you may have to bite the bullet and put your prices down a little to attract clients. It is also suggested that perhaps you could approach your local authority for a tenant.
Lastly, The Telegraph expert suggests that you do what you can to offer the best product around. New paint, clean garden, all the things we tend to put off.
This may seem like it is all pretty standard advice but sometimes we can all do with a reminder about the basics.
