Treat Your Investment Like A Business

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Landlords are being urged to treat their property investments like a business, and to follow the now iconic war poster: “keep calm and carry on".

David Salusbury, chairman of the National Landlords Association has personally encouraged landlords in the UK to stay focused during the recession. He has stressed the need for landlords not to over-extend themselves financially and to look at their portfolio, be it one property or one hundred, with a cool head.

Although he confirmed rental demand remains high, he also admitted arrears are an increasing problem and rents have fallen. But Salusbury says at the top of every landlord’s mind must be the need to maintain a competitive edge: “Landlords need to review their property portfolios, look at how they find tenants, the facilities they provide, and whether they can make their rents more competitive," he says. "They should do what prudent business people do and review their lettings with a view to maintaining their competitive edge.

“Reducing property prices mean that portfolio landlords should find opportunities to expand their portfolios if they have funding streams in place.”

To make the most of funding streams means making the most of mortgages - talk to your broker and check you are as slim-lined as you can be. Look at your outgoings and your rental income and make sure you are doing all you can yo make a profit.

It might be tough to "keep calm, and carry on" in this atmosphere, but it has to be done. Keep calm, assess what you have, talk to an adviser, make the changes that need to be changed and then carry on through 2009 onto a more prosperous future.

SOURCE: NLA, 23/03/09

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