Thursday, January 17, 2008

Investment Property UK - Is it still worth it with rising interest rates?

Author: Jennifer Tweed

Investment property is still proving to be one of the most popular forms of investment. Property in the UK has historically doubled in value every 10-15 years and regardless of the peaks and troughs during this time, investment property has steadily become one of the most stable ways to invest for the future as opposed to stocks and shares and other investment options.

Established landlords with investment property are very aware of the benefits of investing in property and in particular investment property in the UK. With affordability becoming one of the main issues for first time buyers, landlords are keen to snap up investment property in the UK in the knowledge that first time buyers and other buyers with affordability issues will be left with no alternative but to rent. It is the buy to let investment property market that landlords capitalise on and investment property is their key to success particularly during times when interest rates are rising and investment property prices are rising they are even more keen to buy to rent to this sector.

Investment property in the UK is a key topic of conversation and there are now more than 750,000 individuals who have at least one investment property that they have bought as a buy to let investment property. With buy to let mortgages for investment property becoming more readily available it is giving first time entrants to the buy to let investment property market an even greater chance of owning more than one investment property. Ideally, buy to let investment property investors will be keen to develop their investment property portfolio to such a level where they have multiple investment properties which are all likely to enjoy good capital appreciation. For those more mature entrants to the investment property market, they may be more focused on trying to buy investment property that provides them with a 'passive income' from their investment property on a monthly basis. These types of investment properties are generally lower value, but may present a higher rental yield but subsequently the capital appreciation on these buy to let investment properties may be a little slower.

As and when the opportunities arise, shrewd property investors will refinance their buy to let investment property during a strong property market to realise any potential profit from their investment property portfolio which can then be used to purchase additional investment property to add to their buy to let investment property portfolio. Buy to let mortgages for investment property are so varied in choice that it is much easier to obtain good competitive buy to let mortgage products on almost all types of investment property in the UK. Even those where the investment property in the UK is held within a Ltd Company where previously the products available for these may have been more restrictive.

About the author: Jenny Tweed is the founder of www.buytolet4sale.com, the UK's fastest growing investment property portal. UK & Overseas agents advertise for FREE their suitable investment property and landlords and investors regularly visit this popular site to find investment property for sale ranging from new builds, development projects, auction properties, discounted properties, pre-tenanted properties and more ..

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Investment Property - How to find Discounted Properties

Author: Jennifer Tweed

Investment Property - The Future

Investment property continues to be a popular form of investing for the future. Some chose investment property as a way of funding educational fees in the future. Others may chose investment property to help secure a more financial future, fund additional investment property purchases, or they may simply chose investment property as a way of creating passive income so as not solely dependent on their mainstream employment.

Investment Property - Interest Rates

Despite recent interest rate rises, the property investment market in the UK remains strong. There are a number of reasons why investment property in the UK has remained a strong contender in the investment market. The UK investment property market has experienced a high level of growth especially over the last six years. But historically property in the UK has doubled every 10-15 years. In the last few years, the UK has seen dramatic increases in investment property and incentives for landlords and investors which has seen some investors buying investment property in the UK for up to and occassionally with over 20% discounts. These represent significant savings to a property investor buying multiple investment properties and subject to sourcing the best buy to let mortgage products for these investment property deals, can often result in the property investor having the ability to buy an investment property with little or no deposit.

Investment Property - Finding Discounts

Finding investment property from property developers with genuine discounts can be a time consuming exercise. It is important to identify whether the discount being offered for the investment property is genuine or whether the gross price has been inflated on the investment property to allow for the discount. Establish whether it is a genuine discount on the investment property by getting comparables of other investment property that has recently sold and at what price. Although bear in mind, some investors are able to negotiate better discounts on investment property than others. This may be due to the volume of investment properties that they have either bought already from the property developer or the number of investment properties they are intending to buy. Just as important, is to establish what the likely rental figure will be for the investment property as this will often determine the overall loan amount you can achieve on the buy to let mortgage loan for the investment property.

Investment Property Hotspots

If an investor is looking at investment property in property hotspots or areas that are experiencing high levels of regeneration, it can sometimes require them to fund a higher level of deposit for the investment property initially whilst the rental figure remains relatively lower than the general market average for a new build investment property of the same value in another area. Property investors with a long term view on investment property will still see this as a positive action to take for their investment property portfolio in the knowledge that as the regeneration area becomes more developed, the potential rental demand for the investment property will increase at which point they will use this time to look at re-mortgaging their investment property to release the capital that they had additionally funded. Typically a buy to let mortgage for an investment property will require the property investor to fund at least 15%. Although some buy to let mortgage lenders are offering up to 90% buy to let mortgages on investment properties.

About the author: Jenny Tweed is the founder of www.buytolet4sale.com, the UK's fastest growing investment property portal. UK & Overseas agents advertise for FREE their suitable investment property and landlords and investors regularly visit this popular site to find investment property for sale ranging from new builds, development projects, auction properties, discounted properties, pre-tenanted properties and more ..

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Understanding Reverse Mortgage Loans

Author: Wade Robins

If you are one of the millions of senior citizens approaching retirement with less financial security than you had ever imagined possible, you may be overlooking one of your biggest financial assets--your home. If you have paid off your mortgage completely, or almost completely, you can consider taking out a reverse mortgage loan.

A reverse mortgage loan will allow you to get cash, a monthly payment, or a line of credit based on your home's appraised value; you will continue to live in your home; and the loan will not have to be repaid until you leave your home permanently or sell it. A reverse mortgage loan is not the same as a home equity loan, and the older you are, the more of your home's appraised value will be available to you as a reverse mortgage loan.

Precautions While a reverse mortgage loan sounds too good to be true, however, there are precautions you must take when applying for one. Many applicants for reverse mortgage loans fall victim to unscrupulous loan brokers or lenders who attach undisclosed fees to their services. Those unfortunate applicants end up with far more less money than they expected.

You owe it to yourself to become educated in the entire process which accompanies reverse mortgage loans, so that when you do apply for one you will recognize any warning signs before it is too late.

In order to qualify for a reverse mortgage loan, you need to be at least sixty-two years of age. As mentioned above, you should have completely, or very nearly, paid off any outstanding loans on your house.

Those who do owe money on an existing mortgage or home lien will have to use their reverse mortgage loans to pay those off before they can spend it one anything else. And reverse mortgage loans are binding, so if you find after committing yourself that you were unhappy with the terms, you will have no recourse.

Finding A Good Lender The best way to ensure that you will be happy with your reverse

mortgage loan is to work with a trustworthy lender. You can easily find the names of several lenders in your area on the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association--NMRLA--website; just enter the name of the state where your home is located, and sort through the large list of names which comes up to find lenders near you. All the reverse mortgage lenders on this site have agreed to operate under the Code of Conduct established by the NMRLA for the protection of senior citizens.

As an extra precaution, you would be wise to have an attorney familiar with reverse mortgage loans review any contract before you actually sign it.

About the author: You can also find more info on

Reverse Mortgage Information and

Reverse Mortgage Lender . i-reversemortgages.com is a comprehensive resource to get information about Reverse Mortgage.