Over the last 10 years the emergence of the property networking scene constantly encouraged property investors to buy more and more buy-to-let properties.

This trend was further quantified when attendees at these events inevitably asked each other; So, how many properties do you own? with the nature of that response being to gauge just how successful an investor you are. So, the number of properties bought by many investors rose dramatically. Some people will now answer 10 properties, 20 properties, 50 and even 100 to 200 properties, where as typically, just 10 years ago, the average investor often owned just two or three properties.

We also saw the advent and growth of the Deal Sourcer, especially with their focus on Below Market Value (BMV) being the watch word on the quality of the deal. These firms offered investors various properties in a wide variety of locations right across the UK. Investors were encouraged to snap up the best deals but with the secondary consequences being logistical issues in terms of managing those properties - often far away from the investors home town.

These investors are under pressure on two counts. Firstly they have the burden of having to manage a greater than average number of rental properties, with the magic number being twelve properties where theyll seriously start to feel the weight of managing those properties, which will start to seriously consume and demand a great deal of their time. And theyve compounded that burden by having properties spread throughout the country.