UK Property Investment Blog

Tip 1

This is probably the most important tip that I have ever learned as a successful property entrepreneur:

“You are a marketer FIRST and foremost and a property entrepreneur SECOND”

Yep that’s right. Its not a typo. You are not a property entrepreneur any more. You are not a developer and you are not an investor either? You are a marketer!

“What in the world has marketing got to do with property?”

Marketing has EVERYTHING to do with property. Read more…

Hope you are well, and had a good Easter break!

I dusted down the golf clubs for the first game of the year, and played pretty well, and had a relaxing few days!

Some positive news on property, in the UK, and with a recent survey of high net worth clients also showing that property, and residential property in particular, is still their main area to invest in! We also highlight an exclusive new private finance option for investors as well below!

We also have some excellent new deals due in this week – see below. And for those waiting for information on how to source unlimited below market value opportunities close to home, look out for more information at the start of next week! Read more…

1. We have had 4 PROPERTY BOOMS. 1971-73, 1977-80, 1985-89 AND 1998-2007.

And you know what they say? History just loves to repeat itself…

2. UK population has grown from 9m to 61.6m.

That is roughly 1m extra people every year that YOU can offer a home to. Read more…

Let me put it to you straight. If you had to blame the recession on anyone – and I mean absolutely anyone – who would it be? The Government? America? Estate agents? Well, you’re not far off.

Truth be told, I think most people would point the finger of blame at the London Bankers whose reckless investments undoubtedly contributed to the recession that we still find ourselves in.

I know, I know – how can one small group of individuals be at fault for so much? Surely they didn’t cause the financial meltdown alone? No, I would suggest that the government also has to take some responsibility, but the reality is bankers have a lot to answer for!

But lucky for you and me, their mistakes have resulted in our fortune!

Let me enlighten you. Read more…

More positive news flows out about the UK property market.

From David Smith’s column in the Sunday Times:

“An important milestone has been passed with the Nationwide building society’s report last week that house prices are back at the levels of a year ago. It has been heading that way for some time — the low point for prices was reached in February — and it should be followed in a month’s time by news that prices are higher than their level a year earlier.

The Nationwide’s numbers showed a 0.9% rise in September, to an average house price of £161,816. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices are up by 7.2% on February and by 4.1% on December last year, so are on course for a 2009 rise. They are still 13.5% below their peak, which was reached in October 2007, before the mortgage taps were abruptly turned off.

What does this tell us about the outlook? All the usual health warnings apply about limited housing supply and the impact of rising unemployment. I have noted before, however, that markets were thin when prices were going down. It would be unusual, moreover, to have another big bout of falls when the economy is recovering.

Despite the small dip in August, approvals remain well above earlier lows; up by 63% on a year earlier and by 91% on their low point last November. Although the number of approvals edged lower, their value rose, from £7.1 billion to £7.2 billion in August. Meanwhile, the same Bank of England survey that showed mortgage availability had tightened over the past three months suggested that more loans would be available over the next three.

House prices will not carry on rising at their recent rate, but last week’s news was significant. Consumer confidence, according to the latest survey by GfK NOP, is at its highest since January 2008. As long as people feel better about themselves and the economy, they will feel better about buying houses.”

So encouraging news for those with properties!

What this also shows is it will be harder to get as strong level of discounts – I mean the pool of sellers who will give away a quarter of the value of their property which is what we aim for, is not surprisingly getting smaller! I would imagine in another 6 months it will be hard to get 15-20% discounts, never mind 25%.

Banks have got it completely backwards- literally! Instead of helping the average Joe to get onto the property ladder and invest, they seem to go out of their way to make it impossible.

Take LTV mortgages.

I cannot tell youhow many times I have found the perfect property investment – a property that has got instant profits of over £9,000; that can generate incomes of up to £1,000 a month and that has got a strong tenancy demand – only to be left frustrated by the fact that banks want deposits of 25%-40%.

It’s ridiculous. Even with a £100,000 property that is still at least £25,000 to find before you can invest. And unless you have got this money just lying around from a redundancy or simply from your savings, the average homeowner simply cannot afford it.

Thankfully 3 of the UK’s leading banks seem to have seen sense and are finally getting off their backsides to make a difference. Read more…

Tip 1:

I am constantly amazed by the mistakes made by new developers! Prior organisation and planning will weed out many of the costs that creep up and bite every newbie in the bum?

Here are a few examples of the kind of thing that I am talking about:

1. Did you know that an average condensing boiler will take 1 or 2 days to fit and cost between
£600-£400 (this is for labour only)? The cheapest boilers start at £700, although I would recommend paying slightly more for a well known brand (£800 or more).

Prices will vary depending upon whether you include flues, VAT and/or controls.

2. Well done! You’ve bought that trashed house on the corner of Kings Road and now you’re
ready to clear away the waste. How many of us stop to think of where all this rubbish will be
dumped and at what cost?

3. My locksmith charges my £60 to change the locks on my properties. A new investor can expect to pay up to £150 (depending upon the type and number of locks to be changed).

4. If the property is sold the money from the buyer still won’t appear for another 8 weeks.
Many investors (in my experience) do not budget for the carrying costs during this period.

Tip 2:

I am constantly amazed at my achievements after  I have sat down and written my goals, along with an exact date for their achievement.

Please, please, please take the time to sit down and clearly set out your goals for the coming
week, month, year and even decade. Include dates for the achievements of your goals?

Rewrite your 10 major goals every morning and every night on a piece of paper to remind you of
them.

I promise, you WILL achieve 90% of your goals by using this simple technique!

Tip 3:

When you are using a new solicitor for your conveyancing, pay him or her promptly so that the
searches are sent for and contracts get written up. Most solicitors will expect pre-payment from you if you have not used their firm before.

This simple tip avoids the long delays that inevitably build up when letters are sent back and
forth asking for payment.

FREE for you: exclusive tips worth £297 from Property Mentor!

We are not exaggerating when we say that stacking is a vitally important part of your property investments.

Not only will it help you to ferret out the good properties from the bad, but it will save you money too.

It’s simple – by knowing the rental prices/ tenancy demand of your potential investments before you buy, you can save yourself a lot of future hassle and maximise your return!

More importantly by taking charge of your success at this early stage, you can enjoy the satisfaction of investing solely in properties that you know will consistently generate you a positive cash flow each and every month!

Okay, so how do I learn to stack?

Compared to the average homeowner, your goal is not to live there – no, no, no – your aim is make a positive cash flow that exceeds £300+ a month.

The key is finding multiple properties.

For that reason you cannot research your properties one at a time – that would take forever. The best tip is to research a multitude of properties first, before narrowing this list down to just those which will make you money.

Surely that too would take ages?

Not if you use the right systems, techniques and software.

At Property Mentor we can understand the temptation to invest before you have completed your research, especially when faced with the prospect of having to examine hundred’s of properties by hand.

Yet, this process doesn’t have to be that complicated.

By attending our full weekend workshop we can offer you all of the software, systems and techniques to effectively research your properties; assess their profitability and check out which are the best mortgage rates for you, all at a click of a button.

We want to make your route to becoming a successful property investor easier, and we feel our deal analyser and research software can do just that.

By simply providing it with details of your properties current rental prices and interest rates, our software can judge which of your properties will generate you the best cash flows and allow you to invest in only the most profitable properties.

The interest rate at which banks lend money to one another has fallen to a record low.

Across the US and the UK, mortgage officials have witnessed significant drops in their Libor rates, signaling what they believe to be a positive turn in the lending market.

How does this affect mortgages?

More than you think.

The Libor rate (the London Interbank Offered Rate) helps determine the cost of mortgages, business loans and general household loans, so any fluctuations – up or down – will affect how much banks are willing to lend.

When the financial crisis first hit, the Libor rate shot up as banks perceived lending to one another to be riskier.

However, during the last 3 months, the lending market has taken a turn for the better. Why? Because the Libor rate has dropped to 0.66% in the US and 1.3% in the UK.

With such significant drops in place, better mortgage deals are now appearing on the market.

Why has this happened?

With the government implementing a range of different actions to help get banks lending again, these various acts have helped to bring the Libor rate down. Yet despite this positive move, the Libor rate still has some way to fall before it reaches the same rates it was prior to the credit crisis.

Before the recession, this rate was only a few tenths above the Bank of England’s base rate – which in the current climate is only 0.5%.

Compare this to the above figure of 1.30%, and the Libor rate still has a substantial way to go before it properly collates with the Bank of England’s existing base rate.

How can this information affect you?

Simple. Like any homeowner you are looking for the best mortgage deals for your rental properties, so the better interbank lending is, the more promising their mortgage options will become.

Yet you don’t have to wait for the Libor rate to catch up with the Bank of England to successfully invest.

A week may have passed since Property Watch graced our screens, but the impact of their show is still rippling across the press.

The most significant part being their ICM poll.

Asked whether they wanted to see house prices rise again, 64% of the UK’s population stated that they would prefer for them to either remain the same or continue decreasing, compared to 32% who wanted them to rise again.

What does this mean?

Compare these figures to what is currently playing out across the press and the contrast is quite surprising.

Look in any news article about the property market, and they suggest homeowners are unhappy with their properties depreciating in value.

However, as the ICM poll goes on to prove, the public are far more aware of the benefits which can arise from falling house prices than the press are actually revealing.

The ICM Poll – the results

When asked: “Thinking about your current circumstances, do you want house prices to increase, decrease or stay the same?”, the ICM poll revealed two distinct age groups. Those between 55 to 64 and young professionals:

40% of 55 to 64 year olds wanted prices to rise
21% of 55 to 64 year olds wanted prices to fall

18% of 18 to 24 year olds wanted higher prices
52% if 18 to 24 year olds wanted lower prices

Analysing this data it is not hard to see why these distinctions have developed. With many young professionals struggling to acquire the 10-25% deposits needed to get a mortgage, if house prices continue to fall in value, this will help them to invest more easily.

However, for those nearing retirement, losing further equity from their properties could hinder their pension plans.

What about the country as a whole?

Breaking down their findings across the entire breadth of the UK, the ICM poll suggests the further up the UK you travel the more people want house prices to rise.

In Scotland, 38% of those interviewed wanted prices to rise again, whilst 38% of those interviewed in the West Midlands wanted house prices to continue decreasing.

How can this information affect you?

Simple. As an investor who can take advantage of what these homeowners cannot… falling house prices.

As this poll proves, many homeowners are aware of the perks falling house prices can give them when it comes to buying a property. However, without having access to at least a 10% deposit, they cannot take advantage of it.

Curious how you CAN take advantage of this?!