THE QUESTION

I have a BTL property that is worth £325k and has a mortgage of £227k. I was recently trying to raise finance to purchase another property and wanted to see if I could release some equity from this BTL to raise the equity.  

My lender asked me how much rent I charge (£1150 pcm) and said I wasn’t able to get any equity.  I asked how much the rent...

If you’ve watched Homes under the Hammer, it can be tempting to set off for the auction room determined to snap up an absolute bargain.  However, real life is not much like you see it on TV!

To avoid ending up with a white elephant here are my top strategies for sourcing your property investments at auction.

1: Do your research first

Not just the day before, but well in advance....

THE QUESTION

Can you use a business bank loan as mortgage deposit on a BTL purchase?

THE ANSWER

It’s a simple question that invokes a less than simple answer. The key issue is transparency between borrower and lender. If you engage in any type of misrepresentation of the true source of the deposit and you will stray into the area of mortgage fraud. This can be defined as follows:

...

Buying a property requires you to make informed decisions - that means you need data to work with.  And here lies the challenge for most investors.  They get excited about refurbs, increasing the value and finding tenants, but doing the research prior to purchase can be hard graft.

In a perfect world you should know:

• The market value - what other similar properties in that road or...

 THE QUESTION

My husband and I own our own property and now we would like to purchase a buy to let property in the area we live.  We would like to purchase more properties in future, maybe between 5-10. 

Is there a way to fund your next property using the first one you’ve purchased or is it best to wait until you have the deposit for a second? 

THE ANSWER

You face the...

BRR!

That’s not a comment on the weather - it’s the acronym for Buy, Refurbish, Refinance.  It’s the hot topic in property.  

The concept is to buy a property that needs doing up at a relatively low price, refurbish it - probably a new kitchen and bathroom and maybe a coat of paint throughout - and then refinance at the uplifted value.

The challenge for most...

THE QUESTION

Can you recommend somebody who can help me with 100% bridging finance?

THE ANSWER

If you mean where you put nothing into the deal, that is not how bridgers work, except in exceptional circumstances. They always want a safety net built in so they can sell off the property quickly, if they need to, and recoup their money. 

This means for virtually every deal you need to put up...

Property can be a lonely world; non-property people tend to foresee doom and gloom about the property market; other people in property are chasing the same deals as you are.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With the right environment, you can learn from your peers - sharing experience and helping each other to avoid pitfalls and discover some of the smart property moves that make your...

THE QUESTION

Can you use a bridging loan to exchange on a site, do the work and complete after the sale? In other words, delay completion using a loan to do it.

THE ANSWER

I have been teaching exactly this strategy for years at my Ninja Investor Programme.  I call it the 100% refurb strategy, because you rarely end up borrowing less than 100% of the purchase price when you use it.  We...

When you’re getting into property investment you need one of two things:

• A reasonable cash pot as the deposit for your first property
• A means of financing the deposit for your first purchase

The days of 100% mortgages are long gone and for most people that means a 25% deposit.  If you’re in the south east, that could be a fairly big wedge of money, with property prices within...