A property investment must be a long term commitment in order for it to be worthwhile, so the very first step is to ‘do the numbers’ in order to evaluate your budget, potential constraints and future financial and personal obligations including the potential impact on family members.

Consider your future as far ahead as you can. You need to assess your ability to maintain or improve personal income as well as your commitment and ongoing financial capability to continue to service the financial impact of the investment for a minimum of five to ten years, as that’s what generally brings premium results.

You need to also make the commitment to ‘manage’ the investment – even if you outsource the day-to-day tasks involved including locating suitable tenants, collecting rents, paying relevant costs in rates and taxes as well as ensuring that the property’s repairs and maintenance are kept up to date.

You now need to obtain professional advice. An investment in real estate is likely to be significant in relation to your current financial position.

If you have already discussed the investment with a licensed financial planner or investment adviser and residential real estate is considered the most appropriate in your current circumstances, you will have considered aspects including rental return, maximum capital growth and/or tax effectiveness.

You next need to locate a suitable property. There are buyers agents now available who can assist you in this process – potentially saving you money by disregarding inappropriate properties and concentrating on those that are more likely to deliver the highest return and capital increase to you over time.

Following that, unless you have cash or other investments that can be converted to cash to make your property investment, the next step is to contact a mortgage broker to help you to secure finance to enable purchase.

This will give you the opportunity to ask the broker as many questions needed to alleviate any uncertainty you may have about securing that finance.

Talking to friends, family and acquaintances who have already made such an investment, or are currently considering one, can help your awareness of stumbling blocks and potential issues that you might otherwise miss.

While any issues you face may seem new, it can help to bounce these off a trusted friend or relative who has been there before.

Although your family and friends is a good place to start, they may have best interest in mind, it is always advisable to seek professional advise.

In order to apply for finance, you will need proof of your current income, employment and your assets as well as all liabilities including debts, loans, rental payment, outstanding credit card obligations and any other due payments. Collate these and also any paperwork that helps support your personal position. 

Before applying for a investment property loan, minimise your current debt load, and if possible, reduce the limit on, or cancel any credit cards you are not using, as this is perceived by lenders as potential for debt.

It is strongly recommended that you have a fully assessed pre-approval before you start your search. This will allow you to know what your financial limits are so that you can make an offer when you’ve found a property you like.

An investment property purchase should not be an emotional decision. It is a business decision. If the property isn’t as clean as you would like, don’t assume that it hasn’t been maintained unless there are other clues to demonstrate that.

Cleaning and even simple maintenance tasks are things you can do yourself or have done for you that you can include in your budget.

Consider choosing a property based on whether you feel like you could live in it. While it’s still a business decision, you also have to adopt the mindset that you could be selling to an owner/occupier down the track, which could be an emotional purchase for the buyer.

If however you plan to rent the property, your decision should be based on what would appeal to the type of individual who wants to reside in the area.