UK Property Investment Blog

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!

Tip 1

Obtaining property owner information used to be time consuming and/or costly either involving
applications to Land Registry or an online account.

But, I was recently pleased to see that Land Registry has launched a pilot online property  reports request service.

With recent price reductions at Land Registry anyone can now get instant access to reports for
just £2.00. www.landregisteronline.gov.uk
Tip 2

Any property investor who sees themselves as being full time i.e. not just creating a small  portfolio to replace their pension must seek out investors.

Using other people’s money is absolutely crucial to your growth. But what’s equally important is
always source investors long before you ever need them. This way they look at the deal not you when the time comes. Generally if they are looking at you plus the deal they can’t act quick enough for you.

Start talking to people NOW!

Tip 3

Ensure your solicitor keeps some of your money in his client account equivalent to the approximate cost of a typical property purchase, including stamp duty, searches, legal fees.

Solicitors will often delay doing work until your cheques have cleared or money has been
transferred so this way if you find that bargain or need a fast completion you are one step ahead of other buyers.

Tip 4

There are so many people going into estate agents these days asking for cheap properties, bargains or investment opportunities that you really need to stand out – here’s one way.

Provide estate agents with a single A4 sheet of paper outlining your property requirements. State
your desired area, property type, price range, profit margin, property spec, etc. Be as specific as
possible; down to street level. Don’t just say ‘as much profit as possible’ or ‘anything cheap’; if
you can’t determine the specifics then you need to think about that in more detail.

Add in some general comments too such as funds always available, fast completion, etc. Don’t
forget to add in your contact details ensuring they can get hold of you. If you are at work during the day and can’t take calls don’t include your mobile phone or office number, include your home
number and state you are available between certain hours.

If you can use coloured paper or coloured text all the better but ensure it looks professional, letter heads are ideal.

Then deliver them, in person, to agents in your area – it really does work.

Tip 5

If you decide to use a letting agent to manage your properties there’s a few things you can do to  better your chances of finding a good one in an industry which isn’t particularly well respected.

Firstly, interview several like you would your own member of staff.

When I interviewed agents a friend of mine went into the agents as a prospective tenant. Always
remember – without a tenant you have no rental so see how they treat the tenants too!

Ask for contact details of current landlords and tenants – follow up on references. Drive by some
of their properties that they manage – what condition are they in – what type of properties do
they have – a mix will mean a mix of tenants. If they only deal in inner city cheap properties and
yours is an executive flat, can they get you the right type of tenants?

And remember all letting agents say they need properties; this ensures that they have a good flow
through for their tenants but this doesn’t necessarily mean there is demand so do your due
diligence BEFORE you buy.

Tip 6

Increase your rental!

Tenants are becoming far more discerning than they used to be and rightly so. Therefore, offering
add-ons and incentives can prove beneficial for them and for you. Charging an extra £15-20 per
month for certain items can increase your cashflow nicely. Add-ons could include:-

• Broadband connections
• Electrical appliances
• Power showers
• Gardening and/or cleaning services
• Furnishings
• Garden facilities such as furniture or barbecues

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

Tip 1

I have been busy reading a great book called ‘swim with the sharks’ by Harvey Mackay this
month and I noticed we both share a very useful negotiating technique when putting
together deals? This is the walk away tactic.

The walk away tactic is the ability to pretend to walk away from a deal even when you are
desperate to close!

Its human nature to want something we cannot get (the grass is always greener on the other side etc) so pretty much every seller will value you more as a buyer if you are able to give the  impression that the deal doesn’t mean that much to you.

So be prepared to say to any motivated seller.

I’m sorry I am not able to help you Mr Smith. I strongly recommend going with an estate agent if you need to get that much out of this property.

It may take a few months but at least you’ll have a chance of getting that sort of price from a owner occupier?

Call Mr. Smith after a couple of weeks to check how he’s getting on if he hasn’t already called you back. You never know, he may well have changed his mind!

Tip 2

In all your marketing efforts (leaflets, ads, postcards, letters, websites etc) make sure you include the following essential ingredients to maximise response:

1. Always try to include testimonials from sellers that you have worked with in the past.

2. Include a recent photo of yourself if possible.

3. Use an 0800 number for potentially motivated sellers to call you.

4. Give a reason why you are able to buy their house so quickly.

Tip 3

I have been literally inundated with emails from investors lately, with details of supposedly
‘magical’ deals? You know the ones Mikee, they’re the deals that look far too good to be true!

Lets take a few example scenarios, and work through them individually:

1. Chap in Liverpool is selling 40 houses, all tenanted, producing a gross yield of 11%

First things first. If its such a great portfolio, why is it being sold? Usual answer: “he needs the

money” ? so why doesn’t he just refinance? These deals have far more to them than meets the
eye Mikee! You will need to individually research every single property, its location, and the quality of the tenant/s.

Keep in mind that you will need to find one specialist lender, or a number of lenders to

structure the financing for deals like this.

2. Off plan apartments being sold at 15% discount.

Once again, if they’re so good, why are they being sold to you? Why doesn’t the person selling them to you just keep them for himself?

Yes I realise the developer wants to offload them quickly, but my friends are property developers and I never see them discounting properties that they can easily sell through the normal channels at near enough market price.

The golden rules that I use for assessing any deal brought to me are the rules of ‘fingers’ and
‘customisation’.

How many fingers has the deal passed through before it came to you (think about a property
sitting in an estate agents window).

How customized is the deal to your requirements? If the deal has been brought to you as a general deal, one that hasn’t really been filtered to your exact requirements (which you should have set out clearly in your business plan) then why are you looking at it?

In my case, I get great deals offered to me all the time because I’m very well known and I advertise very heavily for motivated sellers.

Improve your communication and your ability to successfully close deals with the Property Mentor *free* course. Book your spot today and don’t get left out!

Probate properties can soon convert to the driving force of the property market, concording to recent studies.

Reputed for bearing lower cost tags than other properties on the housing market, these hidden property jewels could provide the perfect investment answer for investors seeking continual sources of investment.

HomeTrack’s property analysts explained that while property sales may be cut down by 50-60%, the number of probate properties appearing on the market is still consistent. And part of this reason is due to life expectancy.

Although it may sound morbid, people are still dying at the same rate as they did before. It has not risen or fallen like house prices, but has remained the same.

For this reason, probate properties have become a core part of the economy. Bringing with them 500,000 new properties every year, which families traditionally try to sell fast in order to enable them to sort out their family’s inheritance tax.

Yet the important feature about these types of property has to be their ability to remain flexible and accessible in all financial climates.

Having earned themselves the reputation for being run down, tired and in need of repair. The main reason why probate properties are so cheap is due to their need for renovation. They need more work than the average household.

Now whilst as an investor your sole goal will be to rent out accommodation and not sell it, the easy accessibility of these properties means you can make increased instant profits on top of only investing for 80% of the properties real value.