#82 More looking into BTL... taking a step back

So, having reviewed my investment route options and deciding that buy-to-let was my preferred, I dug into the detail further and started to really look at a) the finances and b) what else is involved.

As I've learnt more about this particular investment type has led me to the conclusion that I was jumping in the deep end because I have always had this rosy view of BTL - I was brought up on "property never loses" etc etc. However, the more I have uncovered - even though I still find it appealing it's made me think that this may need to go on hold for a while.

What has changed my mind over the last few weeks given I was so for it as recently as my last post at the start of this month!

1. Government policy. I approached this initially as 'the change has been made re: taxation on private BTL, is it still feasable?'. Over the last couple of weeks it's dawned on me that actually there is a pretty significant risk that Governmental policy continues to go against private BTL. Yes, I don't know alot about these things :) but the prevailing mood does clearly seem to be that helping the young get on the property ladder is more important than many other issues. So it may be that there are no further negative changes, but for me it was something nagging on me
2. I kept coming back to the leveraged borrowing I was going to require. During the past couple of years I've become anti-debt and anit-borrowing. Even though this would be an investment in theory it was still perhaps a step slightly too far currently. 
3. Now this is probably scaremongering. But, following on from reason #2, I happened to be reading alot about how it can take up to 6-10 months to have tenants evicted who aren't paying their rent. In the meantime the landlord shoulders the cost. I don;t even know if those costs are recouped? My specific concern here was that due to our financial situation we'd be looking to buy at the bottom end of the market, which just means we're more likely to have to deal with someone who could potentially be a nightmare.

I still see myself getting into this market in the future - in the same way as I see myself being a contractor in time - just that I think at the moment there are perhaps more suitable things to pursue.

This is disappointing to realise and admit, but I think it's important to take a step back and think about why you are doing something before just jumping in. In this case, I have to eat some humble pie think we're not ready yet but by doing that avoid potential pain in the future.

So where does that leave us?

Going back to my planting a seed thoughts... the #2 approach which I was interested in - but favoured BTL - was dividend investing.

My concerns about dividend are still relevant - so I've been looking into this further. The big plus point is that the entry cost barrier is so low that I can start and begin learning immediately rather than only research and then sace for years.

So... I will start looking into dividend investing from here and park the BTL dream until either I'm happy with the risks or have sufficient capital to significantly minimize those risks.