When a property is purchased by someone with the intention of renting it out to tenants, it’s known as a ‘buy-to-let’ property, and provided you have a Building Surveyor in Southampton carry out a professional survey to assess it, it can be a lucrative investment.
Naturally, when buying a property that you will live in, you’ll want to purchase somewhere that meets your personal requirements, but if you plan to rent it out, you’ll need to think about all of the things that make a home attractive to potential tenants.
With this in mind, here are 11 factors to consider when purchasing a buy-to-let property:
- Location
Key points to consider are how close the property is to local amenities, such as schools, shops and supermarkets, GPs and links to public transport. If your tenants are likely to be students, then the property should be as close to their college or university as possible.
- Building type
Flats and houses often attract different types of tenants, and it’s important to think about whether you want to rent to families, students, or professional individuals when looking at building types and sizes.
- Old or new
While older properties tend to be more aesthetically appealing and are often cheaper to purchase, newer homes might cost less to maintain and have a wider range of appeal.
- Layout
For properties in which you intend to rent to multiple individuals, you’ll ideally need to find a home with bigger communal spaces coupled with separate, private spaces for each tenant. Families, on the other hand, may be looking for a home with plenty of open space and lots of storage.
- Outdoor space
Gardens or even small terraces may be appealing for some tenants, while others may enjoy the outside space, but not have the time or inclination to maintain it to a high enough standard.
- Fittings and fixtures
No landlord wants to spend big to bring a property up to code before paying tenants can move in, so look for a home that is already compliant and which has a working kitchen and bathroom, and fittings for water, electricity and gas.
- Maintenance
Ideally, a buy-to-let property will be easy to maintain and doesn’t have any existing issues with mould or structural defects. A buy to let survey is the best way to determine this before signing any contracts.
- Resale value
If you think that you may want to sell the property in the future, you may want to consider its resale value.
- Environmental friendliness
Green homes are desirable to more and more renters nowadays, and by making your buy-to-let property eco-friendly, you could attract tenants who are more conscious of the environment.
- Parking
If many of your potential tenants have a vehicle, a property with parking might prove desirable.
- Light
Dark and dingy homes might not be appealing to potential tenants, and it can be a good idea to view the property at different times of the day to see how it looks and find out what you may be able to do to improve lighting conditions if you think it might be an issue.
Whatever type of property you plan to purchase, homebuyers and buy-to-let surveys are a great way of making the buying process smoother, and shielding you from the expense of potential repairs further down the line.