Property a 'long-term' venture - buy to let mortgages

11 December 2008

An expert has warned those with buy to let mortgages that property management should be viewed as a long-term venture and not an "armchair investment".

Tom Entwistle, editor at online portal LandlordZONE, told an audience at a trade event in Birmingham that being a landlord is "like running a business" and "something you've got to work at".

He warned attendees of the Landlord and Buy to Let Show that a lot of people within the industry had "got their fingers burnt" over the last few years.

"You've really got to do your homework; there is more work to do in letting than there ever was before," he commented.

But he noted that the buy to let sector is a "good" business to be involved in and can provide long-term income for those who are successful.

Rental returns rose from 4.8 per cent to 4.9 per cent for houses and flats over the three months leading up to September, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents.