Another area where new investors are tempted to save money and do building work themselves! Although this is not necessarily a bad idea it needs to be approached with caution. If you have experience with building projects and you are completely confident that you can carry out the works involved, then it may be a good idea if
If there is one area where most new investors fall down it is probably professional advice. many novice investors, quite rightly, try to keep a tight control on finance and expenditure on projects and it is sometimes tempting to do without
* the full structural survey costing £1000 or
* do the plans themselves saving money on architects fees or
* find their own mortgage without paying comission to a mortgage broker
All the above items have (and will) cost investors losses of many times the cost of the small initial savings, in fact many have gone bankrupt simply from not taking professional advice when it is required. Some have gambled on paying for professionals and won - but many more have lost, if you want to make money by gambling then property investment probably is not the best choice!