Tips for ensuring your financial security as a landlord

The buy-to-let market may be a potentially rewarding one for newcomers and more established property investors alike, but the returns are not sufficiently strong and reliable that no financial advice and assistance is required from time to time - as is shown by the growing popularity of landlords rent insurance and products like the acclaimed Rent In Advance from Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk). So, how can you mini-mise your own financial insecurity as a residential property landlord?

First of all, it is important to keep things simple if you are not to make the most basic of investment mistakes. When you are on the lookout for a rental investment property, bear in mind such factors as location, transport links and how close the property is to good schools and sources of work. Period properties and properties in towns have been shown to hold their value better over time than new-build properties and properties in rural areas, respectively. Prime property also tends to hold its value better when the market suffers.

Prospective landlords should always seek good advice and keep an eye out for the next "hot spot" that will buck market trends with growth in the double digits. Development plans may boost the values of properties in a certain area, but that area may already have high prices, so there may be even greater returns to be enjoyed elsewhere. However, there are market downturns as well as upturns, so you should always be responsible, bearing in mind that if you borrow to invest, a market slump can magnify losses. Although rent guarantee insurance can’t protect you from a reduction in the value of your property it can ensure that you maximise your rental income and, with Rent Guaranteed, that you receive your rent on time.

It isn't as easy these days to borrow more than you can repay, given the far stricter lending guidelines now in place at the banks. However, buy-to-let landlords can still struggle with their cash flow if they find themselves unable to replace tenants. This helps to explain why rent indemnity products remain so popular for when they do finally find a tenant. Put simply, rather than the licence to print money that it may have been portrayed as in some quarters, life as a residential landlord can be precarious at times, and market conditions can swiftly change.

You should ask yourself, therefore, whether you could still afford your mortgage if you fell ill for an extended period, lost your job or were forced to work reduced hours. Naturally, another option is to enquire about one of Advanced Rent's highly regarded products. Rent In Advance, for example, allows landlords to instantly bank six months' rent, continuing every six months, while the more recently introduced Rent Guaranteed is an enhanced rent guarantee scheme, not involving an advance/loan element but still ensuring that landlords get their rent on time each month.

Contact Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) now to learn more about the suitability of our products if you wish to prioritise the payment of rent on time and the associated financial security. 

Editor’s Note: Advanced Rent (http://www.advancedrent.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.