When investing, what’s your end game?

What’s the bottom line you want, when all is said and done?

Ask 100 investors and you will get a varied response.

Which one is better, single lets or multi-lets?

OK, that was a trick question.

You see, that’s akin to ‘Which is better, a fastball or an off speed pitch?’

If you need immediate income, you know cash flow is a yield on a pile of gold.

And, the one with the most and biggest piles of gold wins, right?

But not all of us can unanimously agree as to which strategy will help best accomplish our objective.

Some investors are die hard single let investors, whilst others focus intently on multi-lets.

Both viable strategies and each has its advantages and disadvantages which will be discussed below.

1- Ease of Purchase – Bread & butter or ‘vanilla’ single lets are bar far the easiest & most reasonably priced and easiest to finance, which makes them very popular and accessible to the majority of investors.

Although smaller multi-lets are also relatively easy to finance, you will find difficulty financing larger units where the property needs mandatory licensing.

They will either need to be financed for cash or through specialist commercial arms.

The bigger buildings will also carry a higher price tag, which will require a higher deposit, but with knowledge, experience and joint venture cash, they will also have the highest cash upsides.

2- Consistency of Income – If you’re lucky to land a 5 star tenant who renews their AST every 6-12 months, with no issues, no voids, no rent arrears, then you can ignore this section and you can comfortably rest on that high horse of yours looking down upon the rest of us mere mortals…..

If you want the reality then read on.

This is the part where you can lose your shirt, and a vacancy can take months to fill, costing you a boatload of mortgage costs.

You see, with single lets, most tenants [especially at the lower end] tend to stay longer term, making recurring income on auto-pilot.

But, when vacant, they can seriously take a bite out of the cashflow, as there will be zero income, but the mortgage will still need to be met.

With multi-lets, you are diversifying the income which clearly isn’t possible with single lets.

This can offset potential higher vacancy rates.

3-Income Diversification – A genuine question:

Going into war, is it better to have one soldier on your side, or four?

Of course you would have four –if one goes down, you still have three others to get the job done.

You with me?

This is one of the advantages multi-lets have over single lets.

4- Ease of Tenant Management/Maintenance - This is another area where the burden, up-keep and maintenance of tenants of single lets can outshine multi-lets.

Perhaps you’ve also tried HMO’ing.

You hated it.

You tried to self manage, you got too involved, you didn’t vet the tenants properly, put the wrong types of tenants together, in the wrong location, to the wrong living standard.

Never again, I’ll stick with single let thanks.

But consider this also.

Needing 100 single lets in order to achieve your investment objectives [but scattered] compared to 5/6-twenty multi-lets in a tight geographical location?

The multi-lets would make more sense right? There is a lot of efficiency in this model too.

But there might be another reason to own smaller single lets which brings us on to the next point..

5-Ease of Sale – The simple reality is single lets are much easier to liquidate should you ever want to exit.

The potential pool of buyers is much larger along with generous financing & mortgage options.

Given smaller multi-lets are also easier to finance, the problems arise with larger licensed buildings which often have many drawbacks with the availability of finance, and larger deposits needed.

Naturally, there are a few commercial players who could offer niche finance for this market, but this would require the buyer to have deep pockets and some past business borrowings.

Conclusion – while both strategies and financing options are different, which one is more better depends on the investors strategy.

Cash flow vs. Capital appreciation? Multi-lets will deliver mammoth returns, whilst single-lets will likely break even after all costs are factored in. This is of course based on the assumption you have recycled your capital after the ‘title has seasoned’

Yes, each strategy has its own benefits and drawbacks, but remember, which ever strategy you choose, your priority should be not to lose!

So, let’s talk about it!

What’s your preference? Single or multi-Lets? Leave a comment below.

Rob Moore & Mark Homer
Co-Founders of the Progressive Companies
Full Time Property Investors
Double Best Selling Property Authors
Over 350 Properties Bought & Sold

© Progressive Property Education LLP 2013

I know sometimes life can get tough.

I know You can get in a pickle and barely have a penny to get by.

I know this because when I started my property journey I was in £30,000 credit card debt.

You see, I hardly had any money and the credit card debt was compounding (not that you care)

So what did I do?

I thought about giving up.

‘I can’t invest in property’. Expensive word that.

I know You’re a successful property investor in the making and if you’ve had any challenges and You can relate then stay with me. Or don’t and humour me.

Within 3 months of meeting my business partner Mark Homer and within the first year, we bought 20 properties and I was out of debt.

All from that one joint venture partnership.

And I am certainly nothing ‘special’, I was certainly no expert at the time, and Mark had most of the knowledge back then

Anyone who doesn’t know us might say that was all because of the boom years.

Actually Mark and I bought our first 20 properties pre crash and they are the worst 20, and not because we didn’t buy well. The crash that hurt so many people was the biggest guardian angel we could have hoped for.

But we were ready.

So what can You do? (I know you’re smart and decisive, but may have challenges which are temporarily holding You back)

Get out there. Network and meet people. Because once You come across a deal, and the figures work, You’ll be able to get the money. I promise you this.

You will get challenges. You won’t get rich quick – sit-on-a-Beach-drinking-Pina-Colada-in-Marbella-and-come-back-a-millionaire instant results.

I know you know this too.

You see, it's survival of the fittest right now, and for those without the stomach for it, it's hard.

But for You with courage who can make decisions and take action, the money that the helpless masses are losing is up for grabs, and there's more of it than ever.

Are you game?

The solution?

Building Your On & Off-line Network [net-worth]

You see, there are SPECIFIC rules, which if You follow will guarantee You success:

1. Add Value.

Regularly answer people’s questions on forums, offer suggestions, recommend someone even if You can’t directly help them.
Visibility is credibility my friend.

2. Ensure You don’t make your first post a request for money – You will come across as desperate.

Requesting money at the point when you need it, where you don’t build a relationship, don’t have a profile picture, you don’t let the JV partner know, with proof (see below..) what is in it for them, and how they can securitise their investment…will not result in a JV (no matter how much you beg..)

3.Subtely (without the big ‘I’am’) help people build their knowledge.

You will be perceived as a property expert

4. Share Your property deals, learning’s and successes.

It will attract potential JV’s as they will want the same

5. Trying to get to first base or hitting a home run won’t work [unless You’re in Peterborough] – don’t go for the kill too soon.

You will lose all credibility. You with me?

6. Joint Ventures can be done in many ways.

Don’t assume JV’s means a partner offering you finance.

7.Overcome any objections upfront and be prepared to offer security to the JV partner

8.Ensure you show as much real proof about your property deals [Mark Homer-spreadsheet-style!]

Evidenced discount, achievable rent, cashflow, graphs, returns [ROI], exit, spreadsheet data etc

9.Be REALISTIC about the returns .

Under promise and over deliver and you will have a JV partner for life

10. Continually, subtly, conversationally ask the JV partner:

"What's most important to you in [investing, a partner, returns, etc]"

Listen.

Don't sell him.

Listen.

Take time to get all the information out while letting them talk at least 2/3 of the time.

11. When attending networking events, build lasting friendships first.

Look for trust.

You wouldn’t jump into bed with someone you didn’t know, would You? 

So, if you’re worried things aren’t going fast enough or You happen to be short on funds right now, then don't sweat the small stuff.

You’re great and right where you need to be.

Be patient.

And if You hit a hurdle, then there’s something in your control that you need to tweak.

You never stop learning, do you?

The more value you give [to people], the more money you’ll make. Find the best people, and you’ll develop the best systems.

You haven’t given up, because you are still here. The most successful investors I know keep going, constantly learning, testing, adapting and evolving with new trends and markets.

The next person you [e] – Meet could open the door for you and introduce you into a seriously wealthy and powerful network

Just keep on keeping on. You only fail when you stop; so just don’t stop.

“Sweat beats regret”

Rob Moore & Mark Homer
Co-Founders of the Progressive Companies
Full Time Property Investors
Double Best Selling Property Authors
Over 350 Properties Bought & Sold

© Progressive Property Education LLP 2013

The British love affair with property is as passionate and as painful as ever, simple questions of whether to buy, hold or sell are interlinked with life-changing decisions on funding, careers, employment, affordability and pensions.

But there are a few things You need to be aware of. They are important. So pay close attention.

If you know in advance what’s coming, You can be fully equipped as to what to expect.

You see, from the locked up finance markets where you still need a big deposit, to the big news of the Help To Buy Scheme, and everything in between from the FTSE breaking the 6000 mark, and Government intervention for the Funding for Lending Scheme..

What does the current state of the property market mean to You? And how can you take advantage?

For the 20% of contrarian investors, it means opportunity.

Opportunity to show ingenuity and resourcefulness like never before. To load up on cheap property before the dreaded breed of first time buyers enter the property markets.

It’s not surprising that contrarian investors haven’t been waiting around for finance to get easier. It’s not surprising they have gone against the herd, continued to invest, often utilising private funding.

The contrarian investors have been taking the current state of the property market full on the chin.

It’s still bargain city out there my friend. It may not last long but the key to not just surviving but thriving in uncertain financial times is to “be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy” (Thanks Warren )

Secondly, due to the backdrop and the recent chaos in Cyprus, wealthy professionals, investors and millionaires are leveraging cash finance and throwing their pink lobsters into property because they still see it as one of the few investments which they can make money from in uncertain financial times.

So what does that mean to you? Opportunity to leverage finance. They see putting money in the bank as risky. Inflation is still [relatively] high, cash is being depleted year on year, stocks and shares look like the two ugly sisters, leaving [you guessed it] property as the Cinderella of the investment world.

Thirdly, home –ownership remains out of the reach of many would be buyers – especially in London, where foreign buyers have out priced the average Joe [or Jo]

This is combined with the fact many lenders are still requiring large deposits, which has sparked strong demand in the rental sector, along with a shortage of available properties, has pushed yields higher.
This has effectively created a raging rental market!

But despite the obvious mass brain washing that landlords will be hit by high rental arrears and unaffordable rents, the continued downbeat media coverage has not deterred the contrarian investors, who’ve been cleaning up, while the unprepared have been worrying about some other aspect of property investment which can easily be managed or leveraged.

Fourthly, the latest profit centre strategies in the current market place which are flourishing are deal packaging, sourcing, trading and particularly office to residential conversions without the need for ‘sticky red tape’. This has led to a great opportunity for HMO or flat conversions projects creating really good income and multiple profit streams.

So what do you do as an informed [and contrarian] investor?

Find the market and feed it.

How do you do that?

Especially trading options, finding the right strategies, learning about the implications of new regulation, doing ‘corporate lets’, office to residential conversions, and monetising deals, earning more passively with a greater degree of opportunities and portfolio building by piggy-backing on the owner’s existing finance..?

The answer is HERE:

You see, over the next 6 months I see some great opportunities.

And contrarians will always get better than average results, just be doing the opposite to the majority.

So congratulations in being one of many, one of the quickest, yet one of the few who take action.

And every step, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, like reading this, or going on a viewing, speaking directly to vendors, or making that offer, gets you one step closer to where you want to be. The compounded effect of those small decisions you take grow into life changing results, in every minute of every day.

And that sad statistic of being one of the few will always play in your favour – a contrarian will always get better than average results, just be doing the opposite to the majority.

We’ve come to accept, over time, that the majority of those living a quiet life of desperation will make their own choices in life. And we need them. As James Caan said as a guest speaker at our Property Super Conference – “Observe the Masses, do the Opposite.”

“To know and not to do is not to know.” And you did

Rob Moore & Mark Homer
Co-Founders of the Progressive Companies
Full Time Property Investors
Double Best Selling Property Authors
Over 350 Properties Bought & Sold

© Progressive Property Education LLP 2013

Property Investment is about Stepping Stones!

There's a journey that a successful property investor takes that seems to work the best. You see, it’s not just about the strategy, it is about the right strategy for YOU and the TIMING of the right strategy for YOU

Step 1 – Get educated

Step 2 – Learn foundations/fundamentals [B2L, BRR, JV's, Flipping perhaps]

Step 3 - Systemise foundation strategies

Step 4 – Intermediate strategies [Deal Packaging/property biz, HMO's, Options IC's etc]

Step 5 – Systemise intermediate strategies

Step 6 – Advanced strategies [Assisted selling, Title splitting, Commercial (Low end retail, office space, small Pub conversions, change of use)]

Step 7 – Systemise advanced strategies

Step 8 – Expert strategies [Super Commercial (High end retail, Trophy, Hotels, Casinos)

Step 9 - Systemise Expert strategies

To get to each level, experience in the previous level, and especially the systemisation, is important. To make each level work, results in the previous level need to have been achieved.

And the common thing I see is people trying to jump in at level 4 or worse at level 6 without the necessary grounding or experience.

To get the level of income you want per property you are in levels 4 & 6. Do you feel like you have experienced enough of levels 1 to 3 yet [a genuine question not an assumption]?

To move through each level takes a small step into the unknown, and we don't grow or progress unless we move somewhat uncomfortably into the unknown.

But to jump more than one level usually ends in wasted years and money and pain, or back tracking back down a level and 'starting again.'

Of course everyone wants the bigger chunks of cash.

But…

1. Have they gone through the levels and earned the right?

And

2. Are they prepared for the sacrifice? When people say 'it takes as much time to do a deal for £100 cashflow as it does £700 cashflow' they have no idea.
It is higher risk, more variables, more research, more time, more specialist knowledge – more risk more reward. It only takes less time when they master it because they have done it many times [by which time it's often time to step up to the next level].

There's nothing wrong with smaller deals – they are easier and when you get good at them you can, for the most part, systemise and repeat.

£700 – £1000 net profit [I guess per month] on £30 – £50K is between a 15% and 40% return – definitely at the high end of the 'returns' spectrum. Especially passive. Often the best way to get £700pcm is to get 7 good single lets at £100pcm, because you have all the other benefits, lower risk and future rewards.

Often… getting bored means getting good(!), or chasing much bigger things comes from other people's marketing.

I know many VC's who lose 100% of 8.5 out of 10 investments. But 1.5 win BIG. High risk/high reward.

You may well be at the right stage, in which case great.

Also, it is irrelevant what others are doing.

Remember it is the "strategy + YOU + timing" that equals the results.

Other people are at different TIMING stages and are not YOU. Diligence should be as much about timing and YOU as it should be other people and strategy.

What stage are you at? Have you made any mistake by skipping steps in the past?!….. Let us know…….

Rob Moore & Mark Homer
Co-Founders of the Progressive Companies
Full Time Property Investors
Double Best Selling Property Authors
Over 350 Properties Bought & Sold

© Progressive Property Education LLP 2013