The Property Voice Podcast - Musings: Diary of a Property Investor Part 2
Another three months in my busy life and world, so time for an update in the Diary of a Property Investor then! Agent issues, self-managing…well almost, new training programmes, joint ventures, two podcast guest appearances, an international property event and even time among that little lot for an advanced property deal to sink my teeth into as well. Why not pop by for a coffee and hear what I have been up to lately?
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Resources mentioned
Property Investor Toolkit – here is the book link on amazon.co.uk & amazon.com in case you would like to get yourself a copy to accompany this series
Today’s must do’s
Do any of the events I have been involved with over the past few months trigger a response in your mind? Consider, what reflections do you have over the past three months in your property world…what needs addressing, what should you change, do more or less of, who should you connect with…have a think and take stock?
Subscribe to and review the show in iTunes…and while you are at it please help us to spread the word by telling all your friends too!
Send in your property stories, questions or moans to podcast@thepropertyvoice.net and we will try and feature YOU on the show too!
If you would like to, grab yourself a copy of the book: Property Investor Toolkit (link in Resources above)
Get talking!
Join in the discussion, either here in the comments section below, or by emailing us at podcast@thepropertyvoice.net
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Transcription of the show
Hello and welcome to another edition of The Property Voice Podcast, my name is Richard Brown and as always it is a pleasure to have you join me again on the show today.
I have to say that I am touched as a result of the reaction I had following last week’s show. As you will appreciate, I shared some quite personal experiences to help highlight my point. To reiterate, it was all about Letting Go and that in growing we have to, in fact we must, leave some things and unfortunately sometimes, some people behind. I was not seeking sympathy or anything like that, although I was deliberately sharing a very human story from a very human property investor. I realise that some may have found it a tough listen, so apologies if that was you, but equally I did want to be real at the same time and share some of the evolution that I have had in my own life and journey as a property investor.
However, I did promise you more tangible property content and what could be more appropriate than sharing some of my property activities over the past few months then I wonder?
So, today is part two in my ‘Diary of a Property Investor’ updates. Let’s get right onto that now, with Property Chatter.
Property Chatter
I noticed that the last time I shared an update of what I had been up to was around 3 months ago and so I thought I would repeat the exercise again for you this week. Today is all about what I have been up to since my last update in early July, when I first shared what I called ‘the diary of a property investor’. If you want to hear what I got up to last time around, then check out the Diary of a Property Investor episode released on 1st July this year.
As I mentioned last time, I am probably not your typical property investor in some respects. I get to choose how I spend my time, I can be based almost anywhere and my interests in property extend into other business areas beyond renting out property and dealing with tenants.
Last time around, this is what was occupying most of my time and focus:
- Landlord accreditation
- An HMO Project
- Training & mentoring
- Investor Joint Ventures
- Tenant issues
That all said, here are some of the headlines from the past couple of months.
- Guest on property podcasts
- iKickstart training launch
- An international property event
- Agent issues & decision to partially self-manage
- More investor JVs
- A new lease option deal
Guest on podcasts
Over the past couple of months, I was invited to participate on some other property podcasts. The Property Investor with Damien Fogg & Anna Harper, was the first with a focus on learning & development. This was followed by an appearance on the recently launched podcast called Real World Real Estate with Kemi Egan. The latter recording has yet to go to air, but look out for both of these shows if you get a chance.
iKickstart property training launch
A brand new property training programme for property investors had a soft-launch in September, courtesy of yours truly and my co-trainer, Damien Fogg. iKickstart is a 30-day fast track program covering the foundations of property investment, such as:
- Goals & strategy
- Property definitions & lifecycles
- Finding deals & criteria
- Teams, networking & communities
- Property financing
- Running the numbers
- Personal development
It has been a lot of fun, we have had some great feedback and so we plan to run another course soon. So, if that sounds like your cup of tea, drop me a line podcast@thepropertyvoice.net and we can have a chat about it.
International property event in Rio, Brazil
Yes, you did hear that correctly! In August, I not only attended but hosted two events in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The first event was aimed at overseas investors looking to collaborate and invest into the UK property market. The second was a general networking event, aimed at bringing together people with an interest in real estate property. This was a lot of fun and also allowed me to observe some of the cultural difference between the UK and Brazil first hand J
As a result of this experience I have made new friends, contacts and potential business partners, so it was a very worthwhile experience to undertake. The caipirinhas weren’t bad either!
Agent issues & decision to partially self-manage
If my last update was characterised by tenant issues, then the past few months has been characterised by agent issues…specifically HMO management issues. I am building up quite a story with this agent and I will probably share the full story at a later stage, however, in the build up to deciding to take back the management of an HMO property I have, the agent involved managed their way through this little lot…
- High tenant turnover & extended void periods
- Charges for services that had not taken place
- 30 bags of maggot-infested rubbish accumulated at the front of the property
- Not responding to a single emergency call to the emergency phone number or email address. Reports included a fire, a ceiling collapse and no heating or hot water for example
- A number of faults left unresolved for long periods following tenant reporting
- Leaving a tenant’s deposit unprotected and when the tenant queried this with them, said, ‘oh we thought you had left’
- A room check out that somehow found no faults when in fact the microwave didn’t work and a leg was missing from the wardrobe
- Consenting to commercial terms without my agreement
- Poor communication generally both with me with regard to lettings but also internally and externally with contractors
I had not really intended to take back the management of this property, however, events lead me to regain control and order before it got totally out of hand.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I now intend to partially self-manage the property. I have appointed a lead tenant to be my eyes and ears inside the property, have my trusted advisor acting as first level support for maintenance and will use local agents for tenant find services. As for me, I plan to beef up my systems and operations to make sure I stay on top of things going forward. It has been a tough ride with this agent in all honesty, however, like all things, I see it as an opportunity to grow and develop my business into a new area of ‘systemised insourced outsourcing’ as I am rather catch-ily terming it now! I will keep you posted with my progress…
More JVs
I am very happy to be starting to work with a select few shadow or mentored investors. Some of these are new or early stage investors looking to learn as they go by working with more experienced investment partners, whilst others are more hands-off investors, such as those living or working overseas for example. This is an exciting area of development for me too as it enables me to increase by deal flow or deal velocity as I like to call it J
Lease option deal
I also managed to find the time to do another deal myself! This was a lease option deal in the north-west. A new couple had a property surplus to requirements having moved in together. However, they neither wanted to become landlords, nor did they want to realise a negative equity position on a property bought at the top of the market in 2007. This provided the opportunity for the lease option deal, as a solution that suits both parties.
I rent or lease the property from them for 7 years and then have the option to purchase it at the 2007 figure. So, that allows a full 15 years for the price to recover from the top of the market, all the way back up again. However, the best part is that I will generate a net cashflow of around £620 per month by converting the property into a small HMO. This is a property that I control but do not own.
There are lots of things to consider with a lease option, including ensuring the vendor is legally represented with a fully binding agreement, that all the necessary permissions are in place with lenders and insurers and that the numbers stack up under scrutiny, including stress-testing.
My cash outlay is £10k at most and with a full investment payback within 16 months. I would do plenty of deals similar to this one I can say with some confidence.
There we go, the latest update from the Diary of a Property Investor over the past three months. As always, some highs and some lows. Some ‘I wish I didn’t have to’ issues and some ‘I wish everything was like this’ ones too! If you didn’t get it last time, life as a property investor can be a bit of a rollercoaster. However, as the old adage goes…nothing worth having ever comes easy. I see all of these events and experiences, whether good, bad or indifferent as a part of the rich tapestry that makes property investing so interesting, challenging and fun to be involved with too!
I hope you enjoyed this share this week…I hope to share another update in the diary of a property investor perhaps in another 3 months or so, providing I have some interesting or at least eventful things to share with you of course.
Meanwhile, I have been busy recording a couple of interviews with some ‘subject matter experts’ to support series two, which should be ready to release either next week or the week after at the latest…so not long to wait now!
As always, email me at podcast@thepropertyvoice.net, post into the Property Voice Facebook group or check out the show notes at www.thepropertyvoice.net
Thank you very much for listening again this week and until next time on The Property Voice Podcast…it’s ciao-ciao