Lets look to the future

I am a late developer. A late property developer, that is. I didn't buy my first home until I was 35 and I became a buy-to-let landlord for the first time at a mature 43.

I caught the property bug during the 1987-1993 recession when I bought a pair of two-bedroom flats in the block where I lived in Twickenham for £ 40,000 and £41,000 respectively. After extensive renovation, I let the first through a local agency and the second through Loot.

Because I lived on the spot, I carried out many of the running repairs, although if a job needed greater expertise I would use one of a small team of local plumbers, electricians and heating engineers who I could call on at short notice.

Most of the tenants were young professionals who wanted somewhere to stay within 20 minutes of Waterloo. I gave them a written agreement, renewable after the first six months, and nearly all of them stayed after the probation period, apart from a pair of Jack-the-lads who absconded to Malta owing two months' rent.

In 1995, I had a call from an estate agent who told me a repossession was about to go on the market in an adjoining block for £32,000. I snapped it up.

As a rule I redecorate each flat every two or three years, or when new tenants move in. This also applies to furniture and electrical equipment, which I replace when they start to show signs of wear and tear. I also provide power showers, washer dryers, microwaves and cable TV.

I keep rents slightly below the market rate. If you pitch high, tenants become more choosy and tend to stay for a shorter time. I get on well with nearly all of my tenants. Some have even become good friends.

Journalists Rob Spedding and Helen Bristow repainted their flat and refused to take any money for paint or materials.

The only downside with becoming friends with tenants is putting up the rent - agencies recommend a four to eight per cent increase a year - and it may take me weeks of angst before I pluck up the courage to do so.

Not all tenants are accommodating, however. One young divorcee who moved in with her eight-year-old son decided to introduce a pair of kittens a week later without telling me, finally completing her extended family with a live-in lover a few weeks later. Fortunately the divorcee and her "family" left a few months later, complaining the area was too quiet.

Last year I moved to a house half-a-mile down the road and let the flat I had been living in to the decorator who had been renovating my new home.

With the recent price boom, I have thought about selling one of the flats as they are worth about £145,000 apiece. Then I think about my pension needs and change my mind. I am also reluctant to add to my collection, as I find looking after four flats is enough and doesn't take too big a chunk out of my spare time. Until, of course, the next time I pass an estate agent's window.