Alas, this will be my final article and I have to say how much I have enjoyed over the years in expressing my views via this great medium called 'Property Investor News'. So I thought it fitting to include some helpful tips, a bit of a moan and to end on a positive note.

Many of my family and friends always ask what is the recipe for 'success' or in my view 'harmony' in one's property investment business. So I will try and attempt to answer this as best as I can.

To run a property investment business that is both financially supportive and unobtrusive to one's lifestyle has always been my objective. I have almost achieved this goal, the latter being the challenge.

My business has always been based on slowly building up a portfolio that produces enough income to support my lifestyle with disposable income. The last property I added to my rental portfolio was in 2013, which totals 25 properties and which provide an income that enables me not to worry about the family's expenditure and my expensive taste in wine! During this period of over 10 years I was also trading property. This was my lifeline up to the point that the rental portfolio became a profitable business. Without this trading income I would not have survived.