Today, Helen and I are joined on the show by Lisa Orme from Keys Mortgages. Lisa has personally been involved in at least a couple of hundred property deals in her own right over a couple of decades. She is also helping lots of landlords and developers with their mortgages and other lending requirements too. So, I guess you could say she has seen a lot over her property career!
I won’t add too much to this one and will let Lisa do most of the taking for you this week.
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Resources mentioned
Property Deal Tips & How to Reach me By Telephone
Link to the Podcast feedback survey
Contact Lisa Orme
Keys Mortgages website
Lisa Orme on Facebook
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Transcription of the show
Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Property Voice podcast. My name is Richard Brown and as always, it’s a pleasure to have you join me on the show again today.
Today, Helen and I are joined on the show by Lisa Orme from Keys Mortgages. Lisa has personally been involved in at least a couple of hundred property deals in her own right over a couple of decades. She is also helping lots of landlords and developers with their mortgages and other lending requirements too. So, I guess you could say she has seen a lot over her property career!
I won’t add too much to this one and will let Lisa do most of the taking for you this week, right now…
Property Chatter
Discussion summary between Lisa, Richard & Helen.
Background
Has spent most of her career in male-dominated industries. Landed in forensic science as a career for fifteen years, loving it as well!
Was introduced to the multi-level marketing company; Amway. Also had a ‘boss from hell’ at the time. Amway opening her up to motivational/personal development books…including Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Lisa and her husband devoured the book on a holiday in a short period of time. This gave her the impetus to find their own way, which was to set up their own business as a couple.
Discovered an opportunity to become a letting agent with a company called Southcourt. Started a lettings agency part-time. This then became the catalyst to leave the boss from hell behind. This then led to buying investment properties, which was at the infancy of what we now know as BTL.
Lisa was offered a great deal on 4 BTL units from a developer with just 3 weeks to complete, including getting the mortgages! The first tenant trashed the place, although the second tenant is still with them twenty years on having moved into different properties of theirs over that time. Then did 200+ property deals over the next 5-7 years, retaining around 100 in their portfolio.
Lisa and her partner Stuart got married and after their honeymoon the credit crunch hit. Decided to sit tight on their portfolio. Lisa got bored and by chance helped a developer get a mortgage, which led to her becoming a mortgage broker since 2009.
The portfolio more or less ticks over and now Lisa runs her mortgage business. She confesses that she enjoys spending other people’s money! Lisa and her husband don’t plan to leave the portfolio to their children, which works both ways. Been gradually selling off properties, leaving a number of unencumbered properties with a decent pension income for them. The day to day income came from buying and selling, the mortgage business and a property security device to fund the lifestyle.
Would it be as easy to repeat today?
When they first started, it was similar to how it is today…no instant refinancing, harder to get mortgages. Wished to avoid the capital gains tax trap, where the equity in the property is less than the tax due in the event of a sale. The number of BTL lenders were very few in the early days. So, they would buy, bridge, do up and sell to generate deposits on the properties she wanted to keep. Adopted a sell one, keep one approach.
However, it did get easy as the credit cycle relaxed. Has a strong belief in not over-borrowing to live off the equity (via a remortgage), instead it’s better to sell a property and spend any proceeds as you wish. You will run out of money eventually if you want to retain everything. So, be prepared to sell to release more funds to grow more quickly instead of remortaging.
Greatest successes…and biggest mishap
Successes – individual property deals; buying and selling a property within a week achieving a £60k profit is a high. However, it is the problem-solving challenges that Lisa enjoys the most. One couple faced eviction from their home the next morning…but Lisa was able to solve their problems overnight…in the knowledge that they overpaid for the property. Doing the right thing did always come back to reward her eventually.
A natural problem-solver and always manages to find a way through the tough times.
Lows…more a glass half full person generally. Some lessons learned…buying outside of her local area didn’t work that well for Lisa. Don’t ever think things are going to stay the way they are now…things will always change! Always ask, what is the worst that could happen? Then what would be your response to these things happening? ‘Hope for the best, plan for the worst.’
Values and principles
Even bad things can lead you to where you were meant to be. For example, a JV partnership went bad, but it led her to a better direction. As with the boss from hell, who lead Lisa to a better life ultimately. So, no regrets.
Remaining positive, even in the depths of despair. No matter how bad things are, chances are they will get better or lead to a better life ultimately. So, look for the good and positive, even in the worst situation.
Being grateful for what you have. Don’t compare, as what others have might not be right for you. There is a lot of responsibility and commitment that comes with success. With higher returns, come higher risk and higher work. Life tends to have a natural equilibrium.
Insights for the future…
Lisa suggests that we have a natural 10-year cycle, which somehow gets stimulated by an unknown external force…Brexit is one of the latest, coupled with the S24, S21 and stamp duty changes. Which comes first, who knows, but the cycle highs and lows do tend to follow a similar pattern. London is suffering, although the rest of the country is still rippling out from that end of the current cycle. So, expect a bit of cooling in terms of pricing over the next few years, but not that much due to a lack of supply. Do expect rent rises soon though. The tax changes and other issues affecting landlords are likely to push rents up.
Tips and advice…
No distinction between women and men 😊 Take advantage of being a woman when it suits but don’t be afraid to speak up and demand to be treated as an equal. Top tip: get organised! And get organised early especially.
Contacting Lisa
Social media – Facebook Lisa Orme & Keys Mortgages Page, plus a Facebook Group called Keys Properties Finance
Website – www.keys-mortgages.com
OK, so that’s all for this week. If you want to talk about anything from today’s show, or just talk property investing more generally, email me or Helen at podcast@thepropertyvoice.net, I would be happy to hear from you! The show notes can be found at our website www.thepropertyvoice.net
All that is left to say, is thank you very much for listening once again this week and until next time on The Property Voice Podcast…it’s ciao-ciao.