Buy to Let, Should We?

I've made no secret that our financial planning for our Golden Years has been a little lax, and so we've been looking at ways to feather our nest for the future.

One idea we keep coming back to is buying a property to let out, saving the profit from rental income and also having a property in years to come which we can sell off or move into.

But there are so many questions surrounding this, most importantly is will we make enough to make this a viable pension plan?

But we also need to consider the type of property we want to buy, so far we've looked mostly at flats and apartments as they seem easier to rent out, but then should we look at something we might want to down size to in the future? Maybe a wee bungalow or cottage.Ater all we arent going to need a big family house forever are we?

• Do we need to employ a letting agent or should we save that commission charge and do it all ourselves?
• What if the tenant doesn't pay? We watch these documentaries about repossession from tenants who owe thousands in rent and its a scary thought!
• What are our legal obligations?
• What about tax?
• would it be better to buy a larger property in the hope that a family would move in and stay long term? rather than potentially have to re let every 6-12 months.

Well all of these questions have made for lots of debate at Monkeyfeet HQ, and searching Google brings up as many nightmare stories as it does success, as is the way with Google! Thankfully help has come from a local source. The Newcastle Building society have produced a guide to becoming a landlord, including printable checklist, and you all know I love a checklist!

Theres information about tax implications and what your responsibilities are as well as a guide to read through before you make the decision.

So I think we've pin pointed certain things to think about in our 'nest feathering plan'

1. We need to choose a location that has plenty of interest from potential tenants, but also is somewhere we would consider for one of the kids to love, because lets face it they may need help getting on the ladder when the time comes
2. We need to make sure we are declaring any property income on our tax return, any rofit from this is of course taxable and I know people have have fallen foul of thinking it doesnt need to be declared.
3. Theres lots of property safety checks and security checks to carry out and because of this its probably best for us as newbies to go through an agent rather than go it alone. Maybe in the future when we have more confidence we can look at running the show, but not yet.
4. We really need somewhere that isn't going to need lots of repairs and work as we don't really have the time or budget for that.

So with all that in mind I guess its time to start viewing some potential properties!

Are you a landlord or a tenant? What would your advice be Id love to hear either perspective. Especially any tips or hints you can offer?