Your residential home – Although most people will view this as a necessity and something nice to own, few view their residential home as an investment. Nevertheless, it is an investment and usually the first step a potential future property investor will take. It also exposes the purchaser to raising finance, handling the legal requirements, insuring the property and carrying out maintenance. It also provides awareness of the costs associated with running a property such as council tax and utility costs.

Buy to Let investing – The common next step from home ownership is buying a second property to rent. This is a normally accepted investment type where the aim is to achieve capital growth on the value of the property while setting the rent to cover your running costs as well as providing some additional income. It is common for investors to gradually purchase more of this type of property and create a portfolio of properties for rent.

Investing for renovation – Many investors with some knowledge of property repair use this type of investment to quickly create capital by purchasing at a low price, renovating the property and selling it on for a substantial profit. Depending on your practical skills or project management skills it is perfectly possible to turnover 2 or 3 such properties per year and show a substantial profit.

Investing in homes of multiple occupancy HMO’s – The principles here are very similar to that shown for BTL investing but carry a much greater degree of regulation. These are not generally suited to the inexperienced investor but are mentioned here for information. These are generally large properties with lots of self contained rooms with basic facilities facilities. These properties can command quite high asking prices but can sometimes be difficult to finance.

Commercial property – Shops and small retail outlets come into this category as well as very large businesses. With this type of investment we are generally moving away from simply considering bricks and mortar but are investing in the future potential of a functioning business. This involves all the management and sales skills that the business will need to prosper.

Real estate investment trusts – For investors who wish to invest in property but don’t want to be hands on, there are many such funds where you can invest your chosen amount of capital and that is combined with a lot of other investors capital and managed in accordance with the aims of the fund. With this arrangement you are relieved of the day to day requirements of looking after property yet can still make good gains from your investment.

Investing in Off-Plan Developments – For investors who want to be sure that everything is taken care of over the initial years and for those investors willing to own property in key locations that are out with commuting distance of their home then these properties can be attractive. Investors gain the benefit of owning a brand new property which often comes with furnishing packs, guaranteed tenants, guaranteed yields, all fully managed for periods up to around 7 years. Often substantial discounts to the property purchase price can be negotiated.