Are The Gloves Off Now For Property Investing?

By Matthew Moody | Property Investing

Image courtesy of Every Stock Photo.

It all started in the U.S.A. and the credit crunch has massively affect property investing across the world.

Hopefully, it might be all kicking off soon with Fannie Mae announcing that they are lifting their investor cap from a maximum of 4 BTL loans to 10 BTL loans.

This is a fantastic result as Fannie Mae was one of the direct casualties of the credit crunch in the U.S. and shows that unlike the UK banks, they have reassessed their risk assessment for professional landlords and are re-entering the market.

Lets see if its good news for property investing in the UK and hope that some of the banks start to relax their stringent criteria very soon…

Even Ronaldo is Getting in on Property Investing

By Matthew Moody | Property Investing

Well it seems that footballers are interested in property investing too.

Not content with being the highest paid Manchester United player, Ronaldo is also quietly stacking up a sizeable property empire with four homes to his credit so far – including a villa and flat in Lisbon.  That together with his £4 million pound mansion in Cheshire means that he’s preparing for his future off the field.

He’s also purchased an £8 million pound hotel on Porto Santo (near Madeira) which apparently has given him the nickname “Ronopoly”.

So as well as spending it on fast cars and gadgets, he’s taking some sound advice and become a prop at property investing.

Why Migrant Workers MAY Be A Threat To Your HMO

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

Yes, more and more migrant workers are coming into the UK – and unfortunately, many of them take low paid jobs which mean that a lot of them have to live in HMO’s (houses of multiple occupation).

Now whilst this is fine when they are living in a licenced and regulated HMO, what happens when they live in an unlicenced potentially overcrowded HMO?

Two things spring to my mind – potential issues with language barrier/culture together with lack of understanding of their RIGHTS and thus potentially taking a tenancy up in an unsafe house.

This has particular issues for health and fire safety in HMO’s.  A recent article I read went into detail on the typical issues faced and what the local councils and fire services are doing to try and combat it.

So what can we as HMO landlords do about this?

Firstly, we should educate any of our migrant worker tenants as to the correct workings of any fire safety systems

Secondly, we should provide guidance or access to native speakers/written materials so that they can understand the issues in more detail.

Thirdly, we should provide excellence in accomodation which by its very nature should alleviate many of the issues that migrant workers face in finding accomodation in the UK.

Diary of a HMO Survival Guide Reader

By administrator | HMOs

I have just finished reading Matthews HMO survival guide (www.hmosurvivalguide.com).

I am going to keep a diary of my progress in working towards the 90 day goal of having one up and running. 

Introduction

My name is Jamie and I am based in the South East. I currently have a portfolio of BTL properties but not any HMO’s. I am looking to add a couple of HMO’s as soon as possible to the portfolio, hence me getting reading Matthews guide. 

90 Day plan

I am going to stick to the 90 day plan as much as is possible. I can see the only point where this is going to take a bit longer is in the finding of the property as I am looking to purchase the property BMV. The actual survival guide gives all the high level things you need to do to go out and make the guide a reality. The Action plan at the back of the guide is an exceptionally good motivation tool and step by step process to keep you on track. 

Diary

I have found the area I wish to invest in for HMO’s, this was an easy choice for me as I have a contact in that area who is going to do all my administration and running of the HMO for me. However as per the guide I needed to make sure that the area would support these type of houses. One advert on the internet did this with 9 replies in 2 days. I was then feeling very confident about the chosen area, so much so that I intend to try and buy two properties if I can find them. 

My current marketing is not setup for this area so finding a BMV is proving a bit more difficult than I had first imagined. EA’s are not really entertaining the ideas of the offers I am putting forward and I have not had any successful ones back yet. Last week I switched strategy and spent the whole day driving round the new build sites in the area. My thoughts were that there would be a glut of properties that developers would love to shift even if the discount was quite large. How wrong I was! 

Most of the developers have pulled back and are selling what is left before they build more, and they are selling! This means they only had a few houses on their books and again were not taking the offers seriously as they knew they would sell. I offered on about 10 – 12 houses. All were a no. I have since followed up and their sales have been going well to the public which means they do not need to sell at any kind of discount. 

This is where I am up to at the moment and am rethinking my strategy for finding the correct style house for the right price. 

I will post another update very shortly letting you know how I am getting on finding the 1^st property.

For more information on how you can get started with HMO’s, go to www.hmosurvivalguide.com

Why Dancing on Ice is Just Like Property Investment…

By Matthew Moody | Property Investing

I’m sat watching “Dancing on Ice” right now with my wife, the lovely Rebecca.  She’s the big fan (at least that’s my story right…) but it got me thinking about why property investment is just like the show.

You see, for each of the participants on “Dancing on Ice”, they have to learn new skills, new techniques and practice, practice, practice for about 3 months before the show gets onto the television.  [ed: for our non-UK viewers, Dancing on Ice is a reality celebrity ice-skating competition where one person gets voted off each week].

Whether you watch it or not, like it or not, you have to be impressed by the fact that these are non-skating people who have learned to do ice skate so proficiently (well apart from Todd Carter I guess…) and perform intricate manouvers which I can’t help but be staggered by.

So, why is this similar to property investment Matthew?

Well, I think there are some great similarities – especially for those who are learning a new skill or technique for the first time.  For anybody that’s getting into property investment, there are always new skills and techniques to be learnt and these can only be honed by practice, practice, practice.

And one thing that I firmly believe in is allowing skilled mentors to help you practice these skills in a safe environment, giving you encouragement and setting you on the right path to success in property investment.

For those that haven’t been living under a rock these last 4 weeks, you’ll know that I launched my HMO Survival Guide on 16th January.  Well, we’re going to be starting the 90-Day Telecoaching programme this Tuesday – and its not too late to sign up for it.

If you’ve been thinking of getting into HMO’s, questioning whether its the right thing for you or wondering how to get started, then my 90-Day Fast Start Telecoaching Programme is where you need to be.

For the next 90-day (or 3 months), I’ll be hosting a weekly telecoaching call where we discuss the plan for the next 7 days, discuss strategies with my team and have a question and answer session.  All of this is backed by a live forum.

For less than a fiver a call, for the next 12 weeks, you’ll receive expert guidance from me on getting your HMO business up and running – and by the end of that 12 weeks (all things going to plan), I hope that you’ll have your very first HMO with tenants paying you upwards of £500+ per calendar month.

To join us (remember we are starting Tuesday 10th February), then you need to click on the paypal button below and get prepped for the telecoaching calls.

HMO Survival Guide Launches – Get Yours Today

By Matthew Moody | HMOs

Hi everybody,

Well after a long wait for my HMO property investing guide, an incredibly long time getting the website sorted out and some last minute teething problems, my new “HMO Survival Guide – Thriving In The Credit Crunch” is finally out.

Take a look at the video below that I created for you – and when you’re done, head over to www.hmosurvivalguide.com to check out the report and the ridiculously cheap price I’m giving it away for!