UK Property Investment Blog

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!

There are many ways to trace owners and I once
traced an owner all the way to Australia using my
contacts there, so no excuses! These should start
you on your way:-

1. Knock on the door! May seem obvious but I
have seen many a property that looks empty and
the owner still lives there.

2. Knock on the neighbours’ doors – I spent ages
tracking down an owner once and when I went to
view the property he jumped over the fence – he’d
been living next door all the time!

3. Send a recorded letter to the address – quite
often owners or relatives have mail redirected.

4. Ask at the post office – they often know of post
office boxes, redirected mail, whose moved or
died, etc. They won’t be allowed to divulge
specific information but at least you might get an
idea of where to look next.

5. Contact the local council – many now have
Empty Homes Officers – when I was trying to
trace an owner the Officer at my council knew
who owned the property and already had it on file.

6. Ask local shops and in pubs – gossip can be hot
source of information.

7. Check the births, deaths and marriages registry
- if you have a name but nothing more, then this
might give an indication of other names to follow
up such as spouses or relatives.

8. Check local papers for obituaries and tributes -
local libraries often store these – again it might
lead you to another name, relative, trustee or
solicitor.

9. Look through residential telephone directories -
look for matching names and you may find the
owner that way.

10. Use 192.com – you now have to pay for
searches which used to be free but it’s a great
service and you can do wildcard searches too for
example just enter a name and it will find all
people with that name in an area or even the UK.

Learn 10 more tips by signuping for the Property Mentor free course today!