Inside track property

My biggest bugbear in property is having surprises.

In any other aspect of life I love the joys or challenges a surprise can bring, but when it comes to property it is just something I try to avoid.

In working with clients I adhere (as best as possible) to the service promise that simply says ‘When you work with me, you will be told upfront and to the best of our knowledge (and experience) exactly what to expect at each point along the portfolio process.’

Effectively, I simply say that dealing with me you will experience - NO SURPRISES!

No surprise costs, fees, charges nor expenses.
No surprise dates, changes nor amendments.
But most of all No blank looks, vacant stares nor excuses in the times when life does throw a surprise at us.

After all, when you deal with property there are so many interested parties, so much legislation as well as the natural force of the open market. The trick to these surprises is communicating upfront and honestly and then when things do happen communicating immediately and fully.

Its all about relationship, you expect to be told the truth so that you can make an informed decision all along the process. Without this communication the trust falters and eventually breaks down.

I actually (sometimes) enjoy telling clients things have gone wrong as I can enlist their help in solving it and generally (because I have been honest) the relationship strengthens.

Surprises appear in so many ways in our industry that you would think that it was the first time anyone had bought a property.

Read the entire article on my blog:
Everyone loves surprises, except in property…
Give your module a title. Titles can only be one line, so keep it short
Give your module a subtitle.
Enter your text below. The limit is 2500 characters. My biggest bugbear in property is having surprises. In any other aspect of life I love the joys or challenges a surprise can bring, but when it comes to property it is just something I try to avoid. In working with clients I adhere (as best as possible) to the service promise that simply says ‘When you work with me, you will be told upfront and to the best of our knowledge (and experience) exactly what to expect at each point along the portfolio process.’ Effectively, I simply say that dealing with me you will experience - NO SURPRISES! No surprise costs, fees, charges nor expenses. No surprise dates, changes nor amendments. But most of all No blank looks, vacant stares nor excuses in the times when life does throw a surprise at us.

After all, when you deal with property there are so many interested parties, so much legislation as well as the natural force of the open market. The trick to these surprises is communicating upfront and honestly and then when things do happen communicating immediately and fully. Its all about relationship, you expect to be told the truth so that you can make an informed decision all along the process. Without this communication the trust falters and eventually breaks down. I actually (sometimes) enjoy telling clients things have gone wrong as I can enlist their help in solving it and generally (because I have been honest) the relationship strengthens.

Surprises appear in so many ways in our industry that you would think that it was the first time anyone had bought a property. Read the entire article on my blog: Everyone loves surprises, except in property…

One of the most damaging limitations that a beginner investor faces when building a property portfolio is the dreaded perfect deal.

As if trying to find the a property wasn’t enough the budding investor now has to find the perfect finance, the perfect solicitor, the perfect area, the perfect rent, the perfect growth prospects, the perfect builder, the perfect sales consultant, the perfect club, the perfect interest rate - everything has to be nothing short of PERFECT.

So how do they achieve this? In short, you simply don’t and despite everyone’s best intentions you won’t.

I have been in property one way or another for over 9 years l am yet to find the elusive perfect deal. I have however consistently made money from property and built a substantial portfolio of properties, despite every single property that is part of this portfolio being imperfect in some way.

So what’s the motto?

Be realistic but practical. Do your due diligence using the various guidelines I have suggested to buying, holding and selling property but don’t use these as a excuse for procrastination.

Click to read the rest of this article at my blog: In search of the perfect inside track property deal…

I find it quite easy to tell an experienced investor from an inexperienced one these days. A phone call, an email or a 2 minute conversation normally reveals a person’s understanding of property.

Property is such a diverse and sometimes complex investment vehicle that no-one could possibly know all things, all structures, all strategies, all procedures, or all markets. I don’t know a great deal about commercial property, nor do I know a lot about planning permission, developing property or SIPPS.

In fact, the more I learn about property, the more l realise I don’t know. Does that make me a bad investor? Does that mean you shouldn’t read my educational blogs or work with my team?

Well - yes - if you want to develop property, buy commercial or invest in SIPPS.

BUT - if you want to learn how to use new build or off plan residential property to build your portfolio from 0 - 10 and in the process self fund your retirement - then yes, because that is my specific strategy.

I have discovered that the people who make the most money in property are those that know a lot about a little. Specialists in a specific strategy.

For the rest of the article, click: Which inside track strategy is the best of all?…

The mortgage arrangement fee is a fantastic marketing tool that the mortgage lender “kindly” allows us to add to the mortgage and it’s been so effective that in fact a lot, if not most of the mainstream buy to let lenders have introduced one.

Simply adding it to the mortgage apparently makes it OK to charge such an outrageously high fee. In some cases as high as 1.5%!

Some genius first introduced it (l bet they received a promotion) so that they could offer an incredibly low rate or as we call it in the industry the ‘headline’ rate. Don’t be fooled. Remember the adage if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Here’s how it works:

Click for the full article: Inside track property fact: why mortgage lenders never lose…

The UK property market is changing and as investors we need to change with it if we’re going to stay on the “inside track”.

The market cycles. Lending criteria change. Rates change and legislation changes. The whole market evolves and unless we evolve with it we potentially risk using structures that are now frowned upon, or in the worst case, are now illegal.

The UK property market is maturing a lot faster than the Australian market that I was watching carefully in the 90’s. Frankly, I’m impressed at the rate of change and I think it’s a positive step each time we remove the various loopholes that exist which put investors at risk either because of their own level of education or because they feel that it’s OK to bend the rules.

I always say that the spectrum of structures people use on the inside track when purchasing a property runs from the white through the grey and definitely into the black.

The white is how the average uneducated investor buys property. Perfectly legal and perfectly working in everyone’s favour, except theirs.

The black is illegal and although we certainly don’t want to be here, the unfortunate fact is that some investors do end up here when working with inexperienced, unprofessional or downright unethical property clubs who will promise you a quick access to the inside track to property.

It always pays to remember that property clubs are not regulated in any way so they must conduct themselves by their own code of ethics. If you’re thinking of dealing with a club that doesn’t have them published as prominently as we do, then be sure to ask some serious questions.

The grey is where I like to play. It’s where the highly educated investor plays. It is perfectly legal even though most people would proclaim you can’t do that!. I assure you its perfectly legal and unlike the white the odds are definitely in your favour.

Read on for my entire article: How to buy inside track property…

The one thing I have learned from properties that I have owned is that it doesn’t matter how good the deal is, unless you can get a tenant it will soon turn into a very painful financial decision.

That’s why as part of my two laws of property I also say that the property must be able to attract a tenant.

For me this means looking at the mass market in each area and buying houses they would live in. I call this the “everyperson” house. Obviously the everyperson house will change between areas — London city centre would be a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment valued between x & y and Newcastle would be a 3 bed terraced house outside the centre worth between x & y.

What I am saying is this buy a house that will have the biggest demand for the area. Stay away from huge mansions or low valued properties.

Always think — I’ll buy this, but who will rent it?

Read more about this topic on our blog: The everyperson house strategy…

Lets look at the 2 most important financial principles that will get you on the inside track to a profitable property portfolio.

The first is Leverage, it is the lesser of the two but means that we can use the second much more effectively.

Leverage from a property perspective means borrowing capital to invest. It will take the form of either a mortgage, personal loans, credit cards. I will leave the last 2 out and focus exclusively on the mortgage aspect.

A mortgage represents huge capacity for leverage. Say you had saved £10,000 assume you could buy a property with this and that property after a year was worth £20,000. You have made £10,000 or 100% return on investment. In this example you have not used any leverage.

Now lets say you took that same £10,000 and went to a bank and borrowed £90,000 at 10% interest rate. Then using the £10,000 and the amount borrowed you bought 10 properties with your £100,000.

At the end of the same your each of your 10 properties has doubled to £20,000. You have just made £100,000 less interest of £9,000 (£90,000 x 10%) so £91,000. So without leverage you made £10,000 and with it you made a cool £91,000.

Hopefully you can see why leverage is such a great facility.

If you’d like to read about the second inside track property concept, click thru and read the whole article on my site: Inside track property concepts…

I don’t believe in property “hotspots”!

It might sound like a stupid statement coming from an experienced investor but all my training & experience in property tells me that being a “set and forget” property millionaire is not about hotspots but about fundamentals.

Let me explain: a property hotspot is somewhere where you can invest and in a very short space of time make a disproportionate return when compared to other areas you could have chosen to invest in.

My definition of a hotspot is simply ‘good fundamentals surrounded by salesmanship’.

What l mean by this is that if you understand the basic fundamentals of property which is just basic economics & human nature then you back this up with good solid research you can pick a hotspot before it becomes a hotspot.

Now granted, something like the announcement of the Olympics in East London can cause an immediate hotspot. So no amount of research could have forseen this and those that claim they wisely advised you to invest here prior are simply gamblers that got lucky so beware.

Now my point is this… If we assume that property… all property, will double every 7-10 years (and this is the only true assumption that l make in building a portfolio) then assuming this it actually doesn’t matter where or what you buy because in 7-10 years you have doubled your investment.

Take this concept one step further and you can effectively buy any property anywhere with NO RESEARCH and still make money.

Want to learn more? Click to read my entire property hotspot article…

There are many companies out there that are providing “Inside Track to Property” seminars.

These seminars in my books are certainly useful and most probably worthwhile, but at what cost? In my experience the “Inside Track to Property” seminars will cost you a fortune especially when it comes to property in the UK and overseas.

In this lens, I want to show you how you can get all the education you need, FOR FREE.