It was back in 1990 when Andy Evans first realised that he could enhance his income by investing in residential property. On the advice of an IFA friend he bought a house to live in himself in Selly Oak, Birmingham and then rented a room to a work colleague. "The rent," says Andy, "paid the mortgage".

Some 22 years later Andy still owns the same property, which nowadays is run as a multi-let unit and is returning a solid net income after costs of about £600 per month.

"If only I had known then what I know now," says Andy. "Back then all I was thinking about was having as full a social life as possible and closing deals by working as a salesman in the IT industry - if only Id carried on then regularly buying one or two properties a year."

It wasnt until 2000, almost ten years later, that Andy started buying more property for personal investment and he became a proper landlord.