Before you start buying investment properties, you should develop a strategy that suits your aims and objectives. There is a saying, 'one man's meat is another man's poison' and so it is with buy to let strategies. 'The Right Strategy', applicable to all, does not exist but there is a right strategy for you that will deliver your aims and objectives, whilst reducing the inherent risks to an acceptable level.

When buying through the auction rooms, a clear, well thought through strategy is even more important because the timescales give you little opportunity to either develop a new strategy or amend an existing one.

The timescales I am referring to are the 21-28 days between catalogue release and the auction day when, if your bid is successful, exchange of contracts take place. So speed is of the essence but speed must not compromise any aspect of your auction strategy. Even though you are looking for those elusive bargains, you must also quickly identify the 'duds'.

The most profitable strategy, costs and returns, in or out of auction, is one that you can standardise and simply keep repeating. The term is 'cookie cutter'.

Take my strategy: For reasons I will cover later, I buy and fix-up terraced houses. If the footprint/dimensions are at least 15ft by 23ft deep, I can refit to my 'cookie cutter' specification, more on that later.