How to make the most of your buy-to-let investment property
News at Eden Harper | 13/02/2017
Why choosing a letting agent may be your best investment decision
Buy-to-let is a little more problematic now than it has been previously. We’ve seen a number of changes:
- Stamp duty is higher on second homes, and buy-to-let is classified as a second home purchase for that purpose
- Tax relief is being reduced from April – landlords will get a 20% tax credit and that’s it, whatever their personal rate of tax
- Brexit introduces uncertainty, and uncertainty is always a brake on investment for those more cautious
- Affordability tests introduced before the tax changes are making mortgages more difficult to find
- Mortgage interest is attractively low – but what is low can rise, and that may upset some optimistic calculations
Apart from the changing buy-to-let environment described above, there also things which haven’t changed:
- The need to vet new tenants carefully
- Emergency calls in the middle of the night
- Moonlighting tenants who damage the property
Should you stay out of buy-to-let? No. It is still one of the best investments around – but you do need to treat it as an investment, and you do need to take care. But this is not an investment to make or to manage alone. Here are just some of the things a good letting agent can do for you:
- Stay abreast of further legislative and tax changes and keep you informed of their effect on you and your investment
- Maintain an up-to-date list of reliable contractors who will do a good job
- Advise on which property would be a good choice, and which would be a mistake
- Negotiate with tenants, and carry out background checks
- Advise on refurbishment and improvements that can transform a rental property and the quality of the market it appeals to.
What is clear from this short list is that, if you decide to go with a letting agent, you need one who has all the relevant knowledge and experience. But above all, you need one you can trust.
Get in touch – let’s get together and we’ll help you decide whether we’re the right agent for you.
During the current lockdown our offices are open but with skeleton staff only for prebooked appointments. Face to face appointments are strictly limited and contact should be by email. All other members of staff are working from home. Please go to our contact page for the relevant office/department. Existing tenants please click on Property Management in the main menu above for email addresses.
All persons attending pre scheduled appointments are required to wear face masks and observe social distancing measures. We ask this to help protect both themselves and our staff.
In the event of a Property Management emergency, please call our Battersea office on 020 7720 1116 where one of our property managers will assist you or an answer phone message will provide you with details of our emergency contractor.