Wouldn’t you just love a buy-to-let with rental returns at higher than average levels, free of maintenance costs and with trouble-free tenants?

It is possible to buy a show home, and lease it back to the developer for a guaranteed rent while the rest of the estate is being built. You can get yourself a buy-to-let mortgage, and earn rent from the developer who will also pay ground rent, insurance and maintenance. Your out-goings will never be smaller on a buy-to-let.

After the developer has finished it is best to sell the property on the open market, and thereby avoid the niggles and hassles of finding and managing a new tenant. An alternative to selling the property after the development is finished is of course for the owner to move in and use it themselves.

Sale and leaseback is a well-kept secret of the property business. To do it you have to buy a show home off-plan. The show home will be the first to be finished on the sire of a larger development with many other homes to come. The developer will agree to rent it back over the period of building the rest of the development, which can be anything from one to three years. The developer – as the tenant – picks up all the outgoings except the mortgages, and the owner has a guaranteed tenant. In addition, they can be sure that this tenant – above all others – will look after the property because they are using it as their major sales tool to sell all other properties on the development. What more could you want? Oh yes, carpets, curtains, fittings and the best of landscaping!

One or two nuisances can accompany the idea. Some lenders refuse to view this as a true buy-to-let, so loans can be harder to come by. There is also the risk that the developer will go bankrupt during the construction phase – but this is a rare occurrence – but it could leave you with a property that is difficult to sell. Show homes are also sometimes fitted with smaller furniture than usual to create a feeling of space.

But all-in-all it sounds like a trouble free buy-to-let investment.