House Prices
If you are thinking about buying for investment purposes or buy to let etc, the money that you may make will be the eventual gain in the capital growth of your property, not the short-term rental income. Over the last twenty years rents haven't increased that much, but the value of your properety has. It is more difficult today to get the real bargains of previous years, but there may be some good deals still about.
Some landlords are offloading their properties just now due to the credit crunch and other factors but if you have a tenant and you are covering your costs, unless you are really desperate and need to sell, I would advise landlords to hang on and not sell yet. The more landlords that decide to sell, will push house prices further down, in a buyer's market, buyers can offer lower amounts knowng the the seller desperatly want to sell. And it then goes back to the serious property developers, who will be buying all the really good houses/flats at knockdown prices!
How To Make Money In Property
Think carefully before you buy if you're buying to rent out. Properties aren't rented out every month and every year, if this is your first rental investment, do your sums and chat to as many people as possible who actually do this, or have done it. The more people you talk to will help you to increase your knowledge. Use our Property Forums to ask any related property question and get advise on propery related issues. I'm sure someone will be able to help you out.
If you want to make serious money in property, then you'll need to get your hands dirty, and by that I mean dirty with labour intensive work! You'll have to learn to deal and negotiate with different types of people and have a clear process in mind as to what you re doing and what you really want to achieve. Like any business it involves hard work, patience, and determination to succeed.