Why Location Is So Important When You’re Buying A Property To Rent Out

Posted by Anna Johnson on February 27th, 2023

Investing in property is something that, when you plan carefully and invest wisely, can be extremely lucrative. That’s the case if you intend to live in the property you buy yourself – as long as you wait for long enough, you’ll make money on that purchase, and you can use that money to retire with if you want or just enjoy the fact that your home is worth more now than when you bought it. However, if you are buying a property to rent out – you’re a landlord as well as an investor, in other words – it can be even more profitable.

As mentioned, planning and choosing wisely are crucial. Location is a particularly important element when it comes to choosing a property to rent out, for example. Read on to find out more.

You Can Charge More In Rent

Put simply, the nicer the location, the more you can charge in rent. Of course, this does also mean that you will need to pay more too when it comes to buying the property, but with a hard money loan from Sachem Lending, this doesn’t have to be a problem – it’s just important that you have your finances in place before you begin, and that you’ve worked out your costs versus what you can make in profit.

People moving to a good area (that is, one that has the best schools, many amenities, good road links, and where the properties are taken care of) expect to pay more in rent than if they moved to a less pleasant place. Look at the average rental price where you are thinking of buying and you can work backward to determine whether that would be enough profit for you.

Your Property Will Be Safer

It’s a sad fact that in areas where people don’t particularly want to live, there is more crime and less money. Although that is not the ideal way the world would work, it’s the truth, and this is another reason to purchase your buy-to-let in a better location. When you do, your property will be safer. There will be less crime and the properties will therefore be safer – it is likely your tenants will take care of them better as well.

This means that there are going to be fewer maintenance issues throughout any tenancy. It also means that when the tenant moves out, you won’t have to do much more than cosmetic touch-ups before the next people move in. Over the years you own the property, this could save you many thousands.

You’ll Find Tenants More Easily

One of the worst things for a landlord is to have an empty investment property. You’ll still have to pay the mortgage, but no one is paying you rent, which means it has to come out of your own pocket. On top of this, you’ll need to check on the property more often to ensure that it stays in good condition.

If you pick a location where people want to live, you’ll find you have less downtime between tenants. It will be far easier to ensure that when one set of tenants moves out, another will move in quickly afterward. In this way, you won’t lose too much money, although it’s always wise for landlords to have an emergency contingency fund to cover at least three months, just in case.