Now that property prices have dropped in 2010 many first time buyers will be tempted to jump in and buy in 2011. So what is the best way to do this? What down payment do I need? What should you do first? How much should I pay? What do I need legally?
Firstly, let’s talk deposits & mortgages. Until 2007 if you had a decent income and no real credit problems banks were throwing money at first time buyers and 100% mortgages were all the rage. But these days’ mortgages are limited and financial institutions are being over cautious in their lending. Lending to 1st time buyers is now seen as high risk and therefore you will need at least 10% of the purchase price but to get the better deals 15% or 20% is required. So if you don’t have these funds in place delay until you have.
Ok, so you have saved intensely for the deposit the next stage is to enquire about a mortgage. Lots of buyers presume that a bank will lend them money that they leave this until the last minute, please don’t. Firstly seek advice from a whole of the market independent financial adviser. They will have access to all the many mortgages on the market and talk to you about the pros and cons of each of them. If you walk into your own bank they can only sell you their products which many not be the best option for you but the best for them. Your adviser will take your details and obtain a decision in principle from a lender. This will advise how much they will lend you on a suitable property.
The deposit and mortgage are now in place and it is time to find your first home. House prices are all about location, location and location. The same two bedroom house in one area might be 30% higher than another. We would always suggest you choose the area you want to live if first and not an area that suits your budget. You are better being happy in a smaller property than unhappy in a large property. Now the research begins. Over 90% of people now look online for property and most of this is post code drive. So get onto the major portals like Rightmove and Zoopla and other independent sites like www.scottishhousemove.com. You can register with these sites to be notified of new property coming onto the market. Here is a good trick, if your budget is £100,000 enter a maximum budget of £110,000. Although these show properties over your budget, you may be able to get a discount on these properties, read more later.
It is not a sprint, take your time and prepare a shortlist. Shortlist in hand it is time to view these properties. If you are buying alone always take someone with you, two sets of eyes are better than one. If you do not get a feeling for the property in the first 30 seconds (yes 30 seconds) it probably is not the property for you. Make sure you check the Home Report Scotland Survey in Scotland at this stage to see if the property has any faults/issues. So you narrow it down to two properties, arrange a 2nd or even 3rd viewing and imagine yourself living there. Is there enough storage, what about parking, what about the neighbours, are the rooms big enough?, do I need to spend money upgrading?, everyone has their own wish list. Make sure yours are covered.
You have fallen in love with a property, what do you do next? It is all about price now. As a 1st time buyer with no chain you are the “King” and a sellers dream. If being sold by online estate agents call the agents and make an offer you wish to pay. This should generally be about 10% below than the asking price. Remember to point out that you are flexible on date of entry and are not involved in any chain and your mortgage has been granted. Generally there will be a bit of negotiation done until a price can be agreed. Do not be afraid to walk away if the seller does not budge, set them a deadline to accept your final offer.
Your offer has been accepted. Get the property surveyed (in Scotland you will have access to the home report already). Once happy with the property condition it is now time to appoint a Solicitor to act for you. Your Solicitor will act for you to ensure that the property transaction is handled professionally and the title is transferred into your name. Generally there will be a date of entry agreed 8/10 weeks after price agreement. A few weeks prior to the date of entry the Solicitor will ask you to pass your deposit and other funds to him (his fees, stamp duty if applicable). They will then request the balance from your mortgage lender. On the date of entry, funds from your Solicitor will be passed to the sellers Solicitor who in return will give you the keys to your new property.
Happy new home…
The motive why the majority of persons get possessions investment possessions is not because they have a strong need to be a property possessor, but preferably because they like to attain financial freedom and possessions permits the ordinary individual to more simply attain this goal. In actuality, when most persons think of a landowner, images of a rich, avaricious, shrewd, and cruel realty possessor come to head. But, commonly speaking, this is not true. The majority of rental properties are owned by persons that only own one or two rental real estate and are not full-time landowners. They are ordinary, hard-working people that get the provision and ideas to take a risk on the very costly investment. So how can you become more beneficial with your leasing? In actuality, by lessening costs and growing rents. Lessening costs is something that should be used at lettings twice a year. So how are you able to decrease costs?
Primarily, think about your highest costs as your mortgage. Do you obtain a high interest rate? Are rates or programs at the current time obtainable that will permit you to get more of your finances every month? If so, this is a approach to grow your bottom line. nevertheless, be certain you think about all factors such as the costs to refinance collated to your make-out point. This breakeven point will be in some kind in the future when you have kept as much funds from your refinance as you really spent on refinancing. If you are going to get the real estate for at least several years and your make-out point will turn out to be in less time than you are about to get the real estate, then refinancing, if a choice, should really be counted. The next cost which should be talk about is your possessions taxes. The majority of realty taxes at the present time are really over valued. In reality, it’s counted that over sixty percent of real estate are over valued for their tax assessments.
If you get a real estate tax decreasing your revenues are sure to grow. Then, think about shopping around for decreased insurance. Let us be positive, you shouldn’t slight your insurance as this could have a negative impact. Preferably, you should shop around for the identical level of coverage, but at a lessened price. Then, think about all other expenditures such as rubbish removal, reconstruction, promotion costs, heating expenses, electric charges, and so on. Think about the methods that you are able to decrease your expenditures on any of these items. Performing so will entirelly lead to more benefits and a perfect bottom line. So how are you able to grow rents? Well, that’s the great thing about realty. Really, you are permitted to grow the rent every year. The sum in which you can grow the rent will change basing on location and state; nevertheless, by even the smaller grow in monthly rent you can advance your entire reward, in addition to the value of the rental realty.
If you need helpful info about lettings software – this tenant inventory software site will help you – this is the very place to find info about rental accounting.
P.S. Right now we live in the world where knowledge makes life easier. That’s why if you need estate agents gloucester then it would be wise to make use of the Internet network for looking for it.
Due to this if you are properly armed with the knowledge in your sphere of interest you can be sure that you will in any case find the way out from any bad situation. So, please make sure to track this blog on a regular basis or – an ideal solution for you – sign up to its RSS. In such an easy way you will have a direct shortcut to the freshest info updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to know how to this information properly.
Real estate is no longer just about finding your dream home it is now one of the most popular investment vehicles that is used by individuals. The market of real estate has a huge amount of opportunities that individuals can take advantage of in order to see a big profit, but the process of purchasing and owning real estate is much more complicated than the process of investing in stocks and bonds.
Investing in real estate is one of the oldest practices that there is. Individuals will purchase a piece of property and allow tenants to rent it out. The owner of the property is the one who has to pay the mortgage, taxes, and maintenance cost, which is covered by the rent that the tenants are required to pay. Some landlords set the price of the rent at an amount that allows them to maintain the property and gain a small profit. More commonly landlords will only set the rent at an amount that allows them to pay all of the bills associated with the property and will not be interested in also obtaining that monthly profit. They exercise patience until the mortgage on the property has been completely paid off which enables most of the rent from then on to be profit for them. A lot of times property will appreciate which will result in the landlord being left with a piece of property that is more valuable than it was when originally acquired.
Dealing with renting out property is not always easy some individuals are unfortunate and end up dealing with undesirable tenants who damage their property or they may not be able to obtain any tenants at all. If either one of these situations occurs real estate investors will be left with a monthly cash flow that is negative which could make it difficult for them to make their mortgage payments. It is important that investors choose property that is located in an area where the vacancy rates are low which means individuals actually want to rent property in that location.
One of the main differences present between rental properties and other types of investments is how much time an individual has to invest in the maintenance of the property. When an individual invests in rental properties there are a lot of other responsibilities that come along with this decision of becoming a landlord. If you find that you do not enjoy having to perform handyman work on your property you could probably get a professional property manager to take over the property for you if you offer them a good price.
For individuals who are interested in purchasing rental properties, but do not want to have to deal with the duties that are associated with being a landlord they may want to look into real estate investment groups. This could just be the perfect solution to their dilemma. Companies that purchase or build sets of apartments or condos will turn around and let investors purchase them through their company which will enable them to become members of the group. The company that is responsible for managing the investment group will be responsible for managing all of the units such as advertisement of available units and maintenance, but the individual investors are able to own as many units as they want. The company receives a percentage of the monthly rent earned from the units in exchange for them managing the properties.
Denver Real Estate
Morrison Real Estate
A great investing in possessions is a lettings estates. These are habitable for rent” real estates like properties for families, apartments or even dormitory properties for students. Do you comprehend that these possessions can be even greater than your pension tactics or retirement investments? One of the common motives why persons go into the realty investing business is to obtain a firm financial influx. Getting a leasing estate provides financial stability to people. Think about getting a monthly profit without doing anything. This is the reason a lot of persons are at the present time getting realties that can be a ideal source of revenue and can offer them the advantage to have an early retreat that they need. Let’s state you get a 6 unit property. Every unit is able to give you fifteen hundred dollars a month. That is completely nine thousand dollars of profit every month. You are able to sit the entire day, and do anything you want as you have a stable profit. That is the perfect thing about investment in possessions like leasing realties. It provides you another reward of making finances without the efforts of everyday work. You are able to get more time for your hobby and for your family.
If you are having a desire to have a retreat early, getting a lettings estate can offer you a lot more than your monthly pension. This is like a constant and complete investment. When you have and take care about the estate, you are even able to give it to your kids in the future. They either are able to start with their personal possessions investing business. So how do you begin searching for a really perfect leasing realty? If you do not possess a lot of resources to get your possessions, you are capable to begin with getting a hard money credit. Cash creditors need possessions projects like apartments or for leasing possessions because they understand that it is advantagous. You are able to get the financing you requirement very quickly because you actually get a perfect deal. You can also search for tired property possessors. These are landowners possessors of lettings realties who are weary of problems that clients are making them. These landowners need to put their estate instantly. It is the best time for you to get an offer to obtain their possessions. You are able expect considerable discounts on their real estates. They need to sell in no time so don’t lose that advantage. Make that great investment in possessions possible.
Understand the realty market. If you’re not aware of the location, or if you are not communicating with an agent or broker, you should investigate the present property marketplace. Decreased prices in the real estate market simply mean that the lettings are also decreased. Higher property costs mean that you will be capable to set increased lettings payment because the market is developing. Turn to the people you know that are familiar with location in which you are searching for real estate, if they understand anything that is obtainable or may become beneficial.
If you are looking for helpful info about lettings software – this tenant inventory software site will assist you – this is the very place to find info about tenancy accounting.
P.S. Today we are living in the world where info makes life easier. That’s why if you need estate agents gloucester then it would be intelligent to make use of the Internet network for searching for it.
That is why if you are properly armed with the knowledge in your sphere of interest you can rest assured that you will always find the solution to any bad situation. So, please make sure to track this web site on a regular basis or – the least time consuming way of doing it – sign up to its RSS feed. In such an easy way you will have a direct shortcut to the latest informational updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to know how to this information properly.
Property lettings consider the renting of units to clients who would prefer to utilize it for either trading or residential objectives. Possessors usually have supplementary real estate, which they would desire to employ for trading profits, and so they permit others to apply thishouse in exchange for funds. Property rentals hence consider the credit of possession to persons for a price, which is counted or quoted. What can be called as a lease? A lease is determined as a lawful document or in some situations an oral negotiation, which grants rights on one customer to get real estate belonging to another client with the exception of the possessor. In other words it just is the written or oral possession possessor permits client or the tenant to employ the possession for specific time span in exchange for rental paying.
What can be called as a rent? Rent is determined as the paying performed by the resident to the landowner for the employ of space or possessions . This paying is commonly made in the form of funds; but, there are other kinds of payments also which can be made between the landowner and the resident. In some countries, regulations make it obligatory for rent to be paid. In such situations, the rent is commonly set at a nominal sum. Property rentals are consequently the sum offered for the lease of possessions to oneself. It is a cost which is fixed either by the market level of the real estate, or by arrangements between the resident and the property owner. Commonly, it is the former option of settlement of rent is taken for possessions rentals. Property rentals can be fixed on the market act of evaluating of the possessions. Aspects such as place, facilities and a lot of more are thought in identifying the price for the property rental. Commonly, nevertheless, the market automatically identifies the price in accordance with the rule of supply and demand and all the property owners have to do is figure out with the place for the market valuation. Nevertheless, depending on the possessions, the property owner can take increased or decreased than the market valuation of the property, which is possessed.
The word of the lease for the possessions rental is also a considerable thing to bear in mind for the possessions rentals. It can be either set, for not not determined period or periodically alternating. When identifying whether the possessions rental is positive for you, it is significant to view that the term of the lease meets your needs. These fundamentals of possessions rentals solely offer you the root of what the full real estate market is all about. When getting a lease you can verify the local newspapers in addition to any obtainable spaces.
In case you need competent info about lettings software – this tenant inventory software site will assist you – this is the proper place to find info about rental accounting.
P.S. Right now we are living in the world where information quickly enhances the quality of our life. That’s why if you need estate agents gloucester then it would be wise to make use of the Internet network for looking for it.
Due to this if you are properly armed with the info in your sphere of interest you can be sure that you will always find the solution to any bad situation. So, please make sure to get back to this site on a regular basis or – an ideal solution for you – sign up to its RSS. In such an easy way you will have your hand on the pulse of the freshest info updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to understand how to this information properly.
Moving house is said to be one of the most stress inducing activities that you will encounter during your life; and moving to another country can be doubly so. What with having to organize your life into boxes, sorting out doctor surgery and school registrations, visas and all the other things that come with relocating abroad, the last thing you want to worry about is whether the international removals company you have chosen is as reliable as they say they are.
This is why it is important to spend time researching your options, so that you can find an international removals company that you can rely on, to at least take a small amount of stress away so you can concentrate on other important things, like finding boxes to put everything in. The advice that has been detailed below should help you through the process of deciding which international removals company to use.
The first thing that should be said is that you need to have decided on which company to use at least four to eight weeks in advance. The most popular international removals companies will have an extensive booking list and in order to get yourself on that list you need to have booked before everyone else, otherwise you may find yourself being rejected because you left it too late.
It is best practice to produce a list of a few companies which fit the bill and for that you must spend time researching the internet and looking through business directories to find suitable companies. Once you have made a list of a few company names, call each company to ask for a quote based on your intended more date and relocation destination; and also enquire about any other services that they offer such as the rent or sale of packaging equipment or possibly the cleaning of your new home and arrangement of furniture.
You also need to find out about the background of each company including any national associations they are members of and what training the staff go through. Additionally, you need to obtain some unbiased reviews from previous customers as to the professionalism of their service and any problems that they encountered. In this situation, the internet is your friend as you will find many websites and forums that contain this invaluable information, just a search away.
Finally, it is important to remember that the country that you want to relocate to may have local laws and regulations that will apply in your case and it is best to choose a company that has experience of this. As in many circumstances, if you spend the time to research all of your options, then you will be repaid in a much smoother, quicker, less stressful and possibly cheaper relocation.
Now Try – www.robinsons-intl.com
At this present time the housing market is going through a tough time, with reduced demand and, subsequently, fewer property sales. The reasons behind this are numerous; from interest rate hikes, to reduced disposable incomes to harsher mortgage application stipulations from lenders, and so on. What this all means is that you have to put more effort in if you want to successfully sell your house. Contrary to popular belief, dropping the asking price is not the only way to entice a sale. There are a variety of other methods you could try before you even consider reducing the cost of something you have spend years of your life paying for. Some detailed methods for selling your property quickly are listed below.
Just as if you were selling your vehicle, you would clean it inside and out and remove all of your bits and pieces that have built up over the course of its use; you must do the same with your house. Not only do you need to tidy the house, but you need to have a real spring clean; wash all the carpets, paint all rooms including coving and skirting boards, sort out the garden, cut the grass and plant a few flowers. What your aim here is to create a blank canvas for the potential buyers so that they are able to view the property as a likely living area for them, and that they can see ways to personalize the area to their own liking. When choosing an estate agent to market your property you need to be quite selective. Make sure you find an agent that is not only knowledgeable, experienced and professional, but also friendly. Having an agent that you get along with will help you in the long run as you need to be in constant contact with them every step of the way. You must ensure that they are doing all that they can to market your property including making sure that all viewers of the property are mortgage pre-qualified.
You must also consider, not only correct pricing, but also proof of pricing. If you want a quick sale, then you don’t necessarily have to lower the price of your property, but you do need to price it competitively. This means that if the market is falling, try to pre-empt this and price it accordingly; if you want to lower your price, research the market value and price it at a maximum of 1-2% under that. To prove your pricing to the potential buyers, you need to educate the agent as to the improvements and maintenance you have made on the property, your proof of research of the market value including the pricing of homes in the near vicinity, and the rankings of local schools and other public services in the community.
Now Try – Quick Purchase
When we talk about your business, the luck mostly depends on the area. To assist you to determine a principal property lettings, you can begin by looking for commercial possessions listings. Whether you are seeking for commercial real estate for lettings or commercial possessions for sale, business realty listings should be your principal step. Getting commercial realty listings has become facile in accordance with the effectiveness of the web. There are possessions services accessible concentrating on commercial possessions that will provide a perfect database of possessions listings accessible with range of details and data. If you like the old fashion approach of searching through the local newspaper, which will give you weekly listings. Or you are able to get a service of a commercial possessions broker to help with your affair. To attain the most out of commercial possessions listing services you need figure out if you are searching for commercial possessions for sale or commercial realty for lease. Concentrate and bound your business real estate listings examination to a specified kind of possessions.
Concentrate your examination on web commercial possessions listings by opting for a price range, the quantity of square feet, place and advantages. There are a lot of various things to make in your investigation for the most relevant leasing realty. There are some recommendations to make your investigation successful. Get a skillful property broker. Respectable property agent or broker can mean the dissimilarity between a fortunate search for a lettings realty. Local property broker will be capable to recommend you which possessions are best applicable to your requirements. This is specifically significant if you are seeking for estates out of your present city or place. Check your money your money in a proper way. If you are going to turn to a mortgage for finances to invest in real estate, be confident your credit report does not include any errors. If you are going to rent or let commercial possessions, be certain understand your monthly costs comprising supplementary expenditures, such as electricity, other office maintenance costs.
Make the lettings examined. Before buying any lettings realty, have it properly inspected. Be confident the electrical wiring is respective, that the paint is in order and that the atmosphere is suitable for customers. Inspection can reveal concealed issues that could finish costing significant funds. Though you may be needed to pay for the examination yourself, it can economize you a lot of finances when collated with paying for sudden reconstructions. Investigate the neighborhood location. After you have obtained the right realty, dedicate some time to examine the neighborhood location. Is it positive? Do you require providing extra security? Are there plans for the repairing that might decrease the possessions’ cost? You require knowing what the neighborhood is like at the present, and what it will turn into some time later.
In case you need helpful info about lettings software – this tenant inventory software site will assist you – this is the very place to find info about rental accounting.
P.S. Today we live in the world where knowledge makes life easier. That’s why if you need estate agents gloucester then it would be intelligent to make use of the Internet network for searching for it.
Due to this if you are properly armed with the information in your topic you can rest assured that you will in any case find the way out from any bad situation. So, please make sure to visit this blog on a regular basis or – the least time consuming way of doing it – sign up to its RSS. Thus you will have your hand on the pulse of the freshest informational updates here. Blogs can be helpful, you just need to know how to this information properly.
Leasing real estate in the property unit leasing market is more complicated than ever before. The number of prospective problem residents is innumerable. The landowner must be capable to establish the right leasing price, advance and market the real estate actively, get all deposits, lead a proper resident screening, take the rent, manage with evictions, fill out the residential letting and all other crucial documentation and paper work, elude emergency clients and do not make attempt to do it yourself. There are a lot of failures possessors make in the comtemporary property unit letting market. Price should be fixed. The possessor does not understand how to attain the right letting price. Possessor will listen to somebody he knows as a friend who is not professional and will fix the wrong price. The landowner will lose considerable funds every month if the real estate is rented for the incorrect amount. Professional property unit agent should attain collations of recent leasings in the location so that it is possible to identify the best leasing price for the real estate. The collation real estate must be identical to the subject possessions. The leasing amount should not be settled.
Promotion is not the last thing. The landowner will make attempt to keep finances and not advertise the letting possessions. This deficiency of attention will damage the landowner excessively. It is very crucial to advance the real estate in all local papers, magazines, internet and so on. The property unit realtor should take at least one open property unit to obtain the perfect real estate marketing. The real estate should be listed in the MLS to guarantee maximum attention. The heedless possessor will lease the real estate to the first client that goes in and will not take any finances in prepayment. This is a guarantee for disaster in the modern property unit market. Never reveal that you want let the real estate right away. A three month advance payment must be needed beforehand. The third month advance payment could be settled and paid in installment if required.
Verification and test is needed. Always offer a proper tenant screening research for prospective clients. Take a credit verification, ask for a police report, determine employers, figure out references, communicate with former possessors and make a request if they would leased to the tenant again and did they give the paying on time. Be certain the tenant has not been moved before. Suitably examining the tenant is a considerable step in today’s possessions letting management. Postponing or not moving a tenant quickly enough is an exceedingly time consuming and high-priced failure that will demolish the possessor. The possessor must be ready to evict if after all the research the tenant still will not make payment according to unemployment or other unexpected issues. Evictions should be begun rapidly. The real estate letting agent should be cognizant of non-paying resident eviction process.
In case you are looking for competent info about lettings software – this tenant inventory software site will assist you – this is the very place to find info about rental accounting.
P.S. Today we live in the world where information makes life easier. That’s why if you need estate agents gloucester then it would be intelligent to make use of the Internet network for looking for it.
That is why if you are properly armed with the information in your sphere of interest you can rest assured that you will always find the way out from any bad situation. So, please make sure to visit this blog on a regular basis or – the easiest way to take care of it – sign up to its RSS feed. Thus you will have your hand on the pulse of the freshest info updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to understand how to this information properly.
As house prices in the UK have fallen over the last 2 years and 2011 predicted to be flat is it a good time to buy to let?
In the decade up to 2007 buy to let investors were the fuel that flamed the housing market. Prior to 2000 only the professionals bought into residential property but a raft of TV shows like Homes under the Hammer and property ladder showing normal people make tens of thousands of pounds brought property investing to the many.
Double digit growth per year meant pensions were out of the window and property was in. But along came 2007 and overnight the buy to let market slumped. Landlords with tens of thousands of pounds equity in their properties saw these increases nullified and worse was to come for landlords buying at the top of the market that were now sitting in negative equity. However, those bright landlords with tracker mortgages would see their mortgage payments nose-dive
So if 2011 a good time to invest in UK residential property?
Rental demand has never been greater in the UK with good quality property not lasting long in letting agents books. So let’s look at some tips to make sure you get your investment right:-
Do your sums
Online Estate Agents sell property to investors on a regular basis but you can spot the novice a mile away. Recently we had an investor look at a 2 bedroom flat. She had £150,000 cash to buy, she was looking to pay £145,000 for a property with a rental valuation of £600 per calendar month (pcm). When I found out she was a cash buyer I suggested that she bought two properties one at £60,000 with a rental of £350 pcm and another at £80,000 with a rental of £500pcm. Two reasons, being a numbers person I would rather collect £850 pcm from two properties than £600 from one (an extra £3000 per annum) plus you spread the risk if the tenant fails to pay. She naively bought the £145,000 property because she loved it. See next section.
Don’t just buy because you like it
Ok you must like a property to actually buy it but remember you will not be living in the property. Chose a property in an area that actually has rental demand. Buying because a property is low priced can have devastating effect when it comes to re-selling. Before you buy to let, ask a letting agent where to buy not an estate agent. An estate agent will tell you all property will be a good rental property because they want a sale. A letting agent will actually tell you which sort of property is letting.
Insure Insure Insure
There are two major types of insurance for landlords, property and rental insurance. The first is self explanatory, building insurance is a must and you should always take a minimum of say £5000 contents on top (even if you let unfurnished) and you can always take policies like malicious damage to cover the worst case scenarios. Although higher priced than your normal household policy you must advise the insurance company that the insurance is for an investment property, or they won’t pay out in the event of a claim. The other insurance which is often disregarded by landlords is rental guarantee insurance. For about £15 a month insurance companies will pay the rent should the tenant fail to do so. The insurance company normally vet the tenant first. For such a low fee this is an absolute must.
Haggle
You have indentified an area and you have seen a few properties for sale and want to buy one of them, time to haggle. As an investor you have the same power as a first time buyer and estate agents will adore you. Start low and be prepared to walk away if the seller does not compromise. Let the estate agent know that you are interested in more properties but prefer their property. They don’t want to lose a sale. Remember in Scotland to be offering around 10% under the Home Report Valuation.
Hand on or Hands off?
You should run any property investment like a business. Do you have the time to spend looking after the property and collect the rent. Or do you outsource this work to a letting agent. Letting agents will take about 12% of your rent per month, so build this into your figures. If it is a fairly new property and not much will go wrong with the property consider managing the whole thing yourself. An older property generally means things go wrong more often and you may want to use an agent. Plus a letting agent will provide referencing and back ground checks on any potential tenant.
Put £100,000 in the bank today and get 3% a return of £3000 or buy a property for £100,000 and get £6000 in rental returns doubling your return to 6%, so looks good on paper. Haggle the original price down and you may be sitting on a few thousand pounds of equity built in. Buy in the right location at the right price and 2011 may see the return of investors, if you can get a mortgage that is.