Supply and Demand In Slow Market

You have probably been told by a broker or company that there is never a bad time to invest in propertyas long as you are in it for the long term.The reason for this is that statistically, over the long term, propertyprices have always increased at a rate of around 5% per year.

There is no doubt that making a profit out of property investment isa lot more attainable if you give yourself 10 years to do it.

If however, you are looking at making significant profit in the short term then you could be in for a shock!

If you are to live in the increase or decrease in property prices will not affectyou as dramatically as someone with a large and highly geared portfolio.

If your family house increases in value ?50,000 over 3 years and youdecide to sell, don’t forget that unless you are downsizing, otherhouses similarly prices or higher priced have also increased in value!

There is no doubt at the moment that the market is on the buyer’sside. With prices of property down on average ?5,000 last month andfewer and fewer buyers visiting estate agents, many buyers may bedesperate.Couple this with interest rate rises and a lot more repossessionscoming onto the market than at any time in the last few years,discounts off of property are most definitely easier to attain.

What steps can be taken to make sure you are in profit at the end of the year?

Due Diligence.

This is a word that has been used more an more frequently in property investment.

It basically means thoroughly researching your chosen investment.

This includes:

• Studying property prices over a sustained period of time.
• Making yourself known to estate agents and property investment companies.
• Making a list of questions that you need answered by any agentwhen looking at property, and making sure that they are all answered.
• Haggling, whether there is already a discount or not, if youbelieve the deal works at a higher discount, ask if there is anymovement.
• Make use of various property ,if you are looking at an investment in a certain development,potentially someone has got there before you and has an opinion! Simplytype property investment forum into Google!

Once you have found your particular property investment you will need to work out the finances.

Many newspapers are predicting that interest rates will fall again in 2008, but try and work out your worst case scenario.

You need to know if you can afford to keep your investment over thelong term. If rates go up you don’t want to be just anotherrepossession case for the banks to deal with.

Remember, when house yearly you could afford to gear your portfolio highly, this is no longer the case for many people.

Make sure that you keep a decent amount of equity in your properties.

Following these steps should help you to invest! Good Luck!