Usually, when people choose to invest in property, they generally think about buying a property to rent out or buying a run down property, refurbishing it then selling it on at a profit.
These are generally the two paths that most people follow when looking to make returns from property investment .
However, for one of these paths at least, not everything in the garden is rosy.
It is estimated that around a quarter of landlords will expand their property portfolios over the next 5 years, according to research from the National Landlords Association.
But landlords, and new property investors, may not have it as good as investors in previous years; according to The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, higher property prices and tighter credit conditions are limiting investment in rental property to the already wealthy and making it difficult for everyone else, particularly first time investors, to get a foot hold in the market.
When it comes to getting a good value investment, is it really a case of the best days are behind us? According to The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the problems that arise for those wanting to enter the buy to let market are caused by interest rates, tighter lending criteria, and mortgage repayments higher than rental.
The cold hard facts have made property investment an unattractive proposition for many people - Property investors now need to put down a whopping deposit of 30% of a property's value compared to just 8% of the average property value in 2002.
But it's not all bad news; the situation is expected to get better in the future.
It is predicted that higher rents and an expected cut in interest rates should really put aspiring landlords in a much better situation than they are currently in.
A Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors spokesman said: ""Would-be investors who have missed out on the impressive returns of previous years are now finding the hurdles to property investment are higher than they imagined.
However, existing landlords should be able to use the equity in their past investment properties to fund the deposit needed for new ones, and this should ensure that demand from the buy-to-let sector does not dry up entirely.
" This view was echoed by the National Landlords Association, which reported that a significant proportion of existing landlords were planning to increase their property portfolios, but added that new property investors should be cautious and do their homework carefully.
A spokesman for the National Landlords Association, said: "If people think that residential property investment is a way to make a lot of money in a relatively short space of time, they're very much mistaken.
When you buy property with a view to let it out as someone's home, realistically you're going to have to have a medium or long-term perspective.
Times are definitely changing - while the demand for the right property in the right location never wanes; heavy regeneration of this country's cities and towns has meant that some areas are flooded with new build flats and apartments, making other properties difficult to let or sell.
"
These are generally the two paths that most people follow when looking to make returns from property investment .
However, for one of these paths at least, not everything in the garden is rosy.
It is estimated that around a quarter of landlords will expand their property portfolios over the next 5 years, according to research from the National Landlords Association.
But landlords, and new property investors, may not have it as good as investors in previous years; according to The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, higher property prices and tighter credit conditions are limiting investment in rental property to the already wealthy and making it difficult for everyone else, particularly first time investors, to get a foot hold in the market.
When it comes to getting a good value investment, is it really a case of the best days are behind us? According to The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the problems that arise for those wanting to enter the buy to let market are caused by interest rates, tighter lending criteria, and mortgage repayments higher than rental.
The cold hard facts have made property investment an unattractive proposition for many people - Property investors now need to put down a whopping deposit of 30% of a property's value compared to just 8% of the average property value in 2002.
But it's not all bad news; the situation is expected to get better in the future.
It is predicted that higher rents and an expected cut in interest rates should really put aspiring landlords in a much better situation than they are currently in.
A Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors spokesman said: ""Would-be investors who have missed out on the impressive returns of previous years are now finding the hurdles to property investment are higher than they imagined.
However, existing landlords should be able to use the equity in their past investment properties to fund the deposit needed for new ones, and this should ensure that demand from the buy-to-let sector does not dry up entirely.
" This view was echoed by the National Landlords Association, which reported that a significant proportion of existing landlords were planning to increase their property portfolios, but added that new property investors should be cautious and do their homework carefully.
A spokesman for the National Landlords Association, said: "If people think that residential property investment is a way to make a lot of money in a relatively short space of time, they're very much mistaken.
When you buy property with a view to let it out as someone's home, realistically you're going to have to have a medium or long-term perspective.
Times are definitely changing - while the demand for the right property in the right location never wanes; heavy regeneration of this country's cities and towns has meant that some areas are flooded with new build flats and apartments, making other properties difficult to let or sell.
"
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