Property Search UK: Real Estate Advice for Homeowners and Investors
Although it would be unwise to ever suggest that investing in property is a one-way ticket to building your personal wealth, there is no question that the historical trends have been encouraging for those holding cash in bricks and mortar.
Firms like Slater and Gordon are always kept busy handling property transactions, so is it a good time for you to add to or start your property portfolio?
Developing a good relationship
If you ask a good number of successful property investors, they will probably tell you that they have built up a useful number of useful relationships and contacts in the property sector.
Choosing a locality or a particular sector to invest in means that you will soon get to know what is going on in your area and not only what is available to buy, but what is value and what is not.
The only real way that you can get that sort of market intelligence and be able to make informed purchasing decisions, is to develop your own expertise, as well as developing some good relationships with local estate and property agents such as those found on https://astonchase.com/, for instance.
All about supply and demand
The fundamental point about specifically investing in UK property is that prices are largely underpinned by supply and demand factors.
If there was a massive house building programme undertaken that involved creating several hundred thousand more new homes every year for the next five years or more, then there may be a chance that supply might just keep up with demand, and prices might then reflect that scenario.
The facts as they stand are that in the UK property market, supply is unable to match an ever-increased and sustained level of demand, which means that prices continue to rise in many areas as a result of this, as people compete to get on the property ladder or add to their rental portfolio.
Choose wisely
Buying properties blindly in the anticipation that values will just keep on rising, will almost certainly be a strategy that comes back to bite you at some point or another.
Although the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors is reporting that the number of new buyers coming to the market is a rising trend and that average house prices continue to rise, it still makes a lot of sense to try and find properties that have more scope for development.
The reason for this approach is that if you can buy a property which needs an element of improvement and development, this will often be factored into the price, which means that you may well be able to acquire a property that offers a greater uplift in its value.
The mathematics of this strategy are simple to understand but not always that easy to execute, unless you get your development budget figures right. However, if everything falls into line, as prices rise, it could mean that you are able to generate a decent profit, which allows you scope to move on or use the profit to try and add to your portfolio.
Building a “team” around you in the form of local property agents, financial advisers and mortgage brokers, together with a conveyancing expert that helps you get the job done, is often one of the keys to successful property investing.
Toby Clayton has worked as a real estate agent for several years, always working in the property market in one way or another. He enjoys writing articles in his free time, particularly on Wintry Sunday afternoons!
