The buy to let business is a good long term investment if you are prepared to work at it. First you have to find the right location, this a very important part of the business, get it wrong and you will pay dearly.  When I started in this business I use to look in the areas I enjoy going to, it always makes life easier if when you have to go to the property for what ever reason its a place you like to hang out in so its not a chore. The next thing is to make sure its close to pubic transport, in london for instance it can make a lot of difference if it is zone 1 or 2 and so on. This a long term investment so you should look to the future and think what the next up and coming areas are, for instance when I started buying property I bought on the edge of a good area like west hampstead you can go closer to Kilburn which is not quite as good an address as West Hampstead but still popular and when it comes down to buying you get more for your money and as time moves on it becomes more expensive and the difference in rent from a property in the centre of West Hampstead and on the outskirts is not that much so can pay less when buying but get close to the same rent when renting. the next thing is kitting the place out, keep it simple and not cluttered make it so easy so that when the tenants move out it is easy just to freshen up and get ready for the next tenant. Rent, do your home because the tenants will, they will know exactly what the going rate is, if you are to high in price because you paid to much or spent to much on getting the property ready you will be waiting a long time to find a tenant.

Richard Butler-Creagh