Professional investment in property, though, is not about getting a buy to let with your spare money – or worse, raising a mortgage on your existing house to pay a deposit. And it’s not about relying on downsizing to fund your retirement income. 

​Property investment is about diversifying your wider portfolio with a sensible proportion in commercial property assets that are owned by and run by a professional property manager. 

Because property is a specialist area.  

​Unless you are a millionaire, therefore, the best way to approach property is to seek out suitable funds. If you’re a smaller investor, multi asset funds will manage an amount of property as part of their core offering anyway. If you have more money and/or want to choose your own property manager, there are several specialist funds around. 

​The question then is simply, how much of your total portfolio should be placed there.

​Please be aware: 

​It is not always easy to sell property quickly and, in order to do so, property may have to be sold at a price that is lower than the price paid.  

​On an ongoing basis, the value of property assets is determined by professional valuers. Such valuations are the opinion of the valuer at a particular time, may not be supported by recent transactions and are liable to revision, up or down. 

​Some forms of Buy to let are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

​The value of investments can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back all of your original investment.