“Location Location Location”
The location of your buy to let property is one of the most important variables you need to consider when looking for your first investment property.
Getting the location right will mean a steady flow of good rent paying tenants.
However, if you make a mistake with the location you could be faced with long voids, damaged properties, and disruptive and possibly even dangerous tenants.
One of the first things you need to do before buying your property is to gauge whether there is a market for your choice of property in your location. NEVER buy in an area where there is little or no perceived demand.
Whether you are investing in HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation) or single family properties, I find that if your location is good, you will always exceed your expectations when it comes to finding good reliable tenants.
In the past 10 years, I have found that the market for sharers has increased significantly especially in sought-after cities with good work opportunities and transport links.
I find the following types of people wishing to share with others:
• Students
• Nurses
• Doctors
• IT contractors
• Shop workers
• Airport workers
• Newly qualified graduates
• Asylum Seekers
• Housing Benefit tenants
• Recently divorced tenants
• Foreign (non-uk) citizens
• Etc.
I get several calls a day from the above types of potential tenant looking for individual rooms to let in a property. The same is true for young families who cannot yet afford to buy their first home and are looking to rent smaller 2 to 3 bedroom houses.
So how can you guarantee that you will easily let your property once you have completed on the purchase?
Advertise
If I am unfamiliar with the location of my anticipated purchase, I will normally place an advert in the local paper advertising for my particular tenant type. For example, if I am looking for professional sharers, I will state so. Conversely, if I am looking for a family, I will indicate this in my advert.
I normally place adverts for a minimum of 4 weeks. If I receive just a couple of calls in the 4 weeks, I will most likely not invest in that area. However, if I receive 10s of calls for my proposed property, there is a greater chance of me buying in that location.
When answering calls from tenants, I will always ask them questions to help me complete my market research. For example, I will ask them specifically what they are looking for. Which particular areas and streets are they interested in and why? What size of house would they prefer to live in? In the case of sharers, how many people are they happy to share with etc?
Getting these types of questions answered by my potential tenants is valuable in my search for the ideal property in the ideal location.
If I am looking specifically for a student tenant, I will visit the local university and not rely purely on advertising.
I will:
• Visit the University Accommodation Office and ask them what the best locations for student properties are. Always buy in these locations even if they are more expensive than others further down the road.
The university is very knowledgeable on their local areas and if they don’t like any particular location, be sure that every single student on campus will know about it!
• Try not to buy my student property in a location greater than a 20 minute walk from campus.
Students have become lazier and more demanding over the years. They prefer to hop out of bed at 8.55am for a 9am lecture.
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