I assume that you have already started down the buy-to-let road and are wondering what to do next.

The buy-to-let market has changed considerably since it's inception in 1996 and has increasingly become part of "mainstream" investments.

Assuming that you have built a small or even medium sized portfolio over the past few years you should have enjoyed substantial capital growth but seen gross yields eroded to a point that many investments are no longer even cash flow positive.

Broadly speaking, buy-to-let remains the best deal in town, especially if you are not looking to speculate in property but taking a long term view.

The market has changed in recent months from a "sellers" to a "buyers" market, which requires a change in the thinking of investors.

Whilst market conditions are as tough as I have seen over the past 25 years or more, the tough conditions are mainly down to a lack of mortgage monies and the reduction in the LTV from 85% to 75%.

But there are huge opportunities out there for the switched on investor.

BMV or behind market value is all the rage though I think that this is overstated.

Today’s fantastic BMV deal is tomorrows comp for mortgage valuation purposes.

Of much more interest is lease options where you effectively take over the property with an “option to buy” later in a year, two or maybe five, in the meantime paying the vendors mortgage, no need for finance, and making a turn of the deal assuming that the rent is greater than all the relevant costs.

If you are interested in increasing the size of your portfolio then come and talk to us as we can either assist on a consultancy basis or offer a complete Armchair Acquisition Service where we do all the work for you delivering a property in a ready-to-let state  that meets your criteria.

The majority of the properties that we recommend buying are distressed because they are very tax efficient given the Capital/Revenue split of any refit works and while we continue to buy through Estate Agents, with initial offers now some 30% behind the asking price, we are increasingly concentrating on the Auction market through which some 25,000 residential properties are sold each year, most being tired or distressed, and in less expensive locations within the City or Town concerned, our "ideal" buy-to-let investment.

During the past few years the Auctions were populated with investors who just had to get on the bus almost regardless of the cost. This is now no longer the case.

By buying at Auction you are almost guaranteed exchange on the fall of the hammer, avoiding the possibility of a Private Treaty purchase either falling down for whatever reason or taking forever to reach completion.

Auction though can be fraught with problems and investors need to take care that they are buying a good potential investment and not a lemon and understand how to evaluate properties offered through auctions to ensure that the numbers stack up.

Also the timescales can be daunting with a relatively short period between catalogue publication, viewing day and the auction day when a considerable amount of work needs to be done.

If you have little or no experience of Auctions, consider our Refitting Distressed Property Workshop.