How do you start to finance investment property?

[Sockmate123]

Myself and hubby would like to start small with a small investment property. We earn good money but don't have a chunk of money to cash buy and investment. We would like to either buy something and 'flip' it or buy to let.
How do people get started? Do they release equity in their primary residence or do they get a second 'buy to let' mortgage....we don't know where to begin tbh but would like to build a property portfolio over the coming years...

Thanks for reading 😊

Should have said, we are in Ireland.

Mostly they start about 25 years ago...

This is much harder to do than it used to be.

People save money to start, or release equity from their main residence, or get a buy to let mortgage. Various options.

Having owned buy-to-let properties for 15 years now I would say, just don't. It gets harder every year, and it's almost impossible to make a profit (and everyone hates you as you're a "greedy landlord" even though after 15 years I haven't actually made a profit - just losses). It's also no fun at all when HMRC or whatever your equivalent is decides to audit your accounts and ask 1,000 stupid questions about monies in and out when they are looking at a period 5 years earlier - you have to be meticulous about keeping track of everything you spend and receive and have a good accountant to make sure everything is properly declared.

Everyone I know is selling up, and I would sell all my properties if I could, only they all have cladding/fire safety issues and I can't until they are rectified.

Renovating and flipping is also a lot harder due to costs and a lot of builders do not do a very good job and charge a fortune. A house in my old terrace was bought and done up by a developer a few years ago and he lost about £50k on it when he sold - and renovation costs are a lot higher now.

B2L mortgages aren't as easy to get as they used to be and have higher rates too.

Your first step will be speak to an independent financial advisor and have ready details of your salaries, outgoings, existing mortgage, savings etc. Secondly speak to someone professional who understands the law around property and property rental in Ireland and can advise you on all the responsibilities and legalities of it.
Then decide whether you want to move forward.

You can get a BtL mortgage. But first it might be worth asking yourself what you’re trying to achieve? Is it to build a pension to retire on, or an income stream now? Is it because you’d really line a house in a particular area, and you think you might one day sell your current home and move there?

If one of the first two, why do you think property is the way to do this rather than buying shares or other financial investments? Do you think you have an advantage over other people - e.g. one of you is in construction, or you love interior decoration, or you have the spare time and skills to manage a BtL yourself?

Thanks for the replies. My Dad was a property developer. He died a few years ago and as you have togjtly said its much better now. We do have some money, enough for a deposit but not to cash buy a whole property.
We were thinking of two options, either a holiday home in the West of Ireland (very beautiful-huge tourist trade) which we could use ourselves and also airbnb.
Or secondly something closer to home that we could rent out for w few years maybe 10 and then our son could have as a starter home, take over the mortgage repayments... its insanely difficult where we live in Ireland for young people to get on the property ladder.
I have a masters in business so not completely clueless I suppose but didn't know best route to go.
For those who say don't do it what do you think its easier investment wise? Stocks and shares? We have some shares that do quite well in tech sector.
Also yes one of us, me would be doing it full time and yes I have an interest in Interiors and enjoy it. My husband although no formal training is pretty handy but would use professionals where needed obviously.
Thanks for the feedback. I will arrange to speak to an advisor about our own particular circumstances.

Absolutely no need to be rude.

I'm not sure Mumsnet is the best place to go to for air b and b/investment type advice. I imagine MoneysavingExpert and possibly even Landlord Zone might have quite a few more folks more experienced in this area.

You can return over 5% with no risk at all if you assume the FSCS will be backed by the government.

There is no need to buy property unless you're unhappy with that and wanting higher returns, but that comes with risks.

I had a colleague using the 'I'll buy it so my kids will have a place when they get old' which just seems an excuse to take some risks an invest in property, because you have no idea whether your kids will even want to live in that area or not.