Many investors see the Estate Agent as the adversary – or at best a necessary evil.  After all, their client is the vendor, that’s where their commission comes from.  But the smart investor knows better.

Unless you’re good at building rapport with estate agents, you won’t have many deals to consider, but there are ways to get estate agents to take you...

Many people aspire to become a full-time property investor, but I wonder if they’ve considered the adverse effect it has on their ability to raise a mortgage.  They might find it better to slow down and take their time reaching that pivotal moment when mortgages are less critical to their property investment.

To be able to create enough passive income from property to be able to give...

Most property investors grow their portfolio by:

• Searching for suitable rental properties
• Putting down a 25% deposit
• Getting a mortgage
• Maybe refurbishing
• Then waiting six months and remortgaging to get as much of their money as possible out for the next property purchase.

It works, it’s taught on training programmes, but it takes a long time to grow your portfolio – and...

People say that a low-cost way to get your cash back out of a property purchase is to use the small group of Buy-to-Let lenders who offer mortgages that have no redemption penalty to finance the purchase.

After you have owned the property for six months, redeem that mortgage and get a new mortgage with a different lender.  If the property can be valued at this point at more than the...

THE QUESTION
I've seen a lot of adverts recently for Equity Release, does anyone know how it really works?

THE ANSWER

Equity release has two meanings.

For the general public it refers to a specific type of mortgage available only to the elderly who are asset rich, but cash poor.  In effect it means that they can borrow against their property and use the cash to enhance their lifestyle or...

The underwriting standards for buy-to-let lenders now mean much more rigorous background checks for potential borrowers – particularly ‘portfolio landlords’.  The rules state:

“A landlord will be considered to be a Portfolio landlord where they have four or more mortgaged buy to let properties across all lenders in aggregate” 

In reality this will depend...

Most property investors start out using the mortgage system to finance their property purchases, but then your capital is trapped – at least for a while – and your ability to buy more properties is limited.  But not if you’re a Ninja Investor!

Ninja Property Investors have developed a mind-set that isn’t limited to only buying properties through a mortgage. ...

THE QUESTION

At a recent property meet the subject of using an unencumbered property as security for Bridgers came up.  Is it true that you can get 100% finance by using the house you’re buying and your unencumbered house as security to get the deposit money and refurb costs from the bridging?

THE ANSWER

Yes, it is perfectly possible to achieve this using bridging finance.  In...

A Ninja is a person skilled in ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage.  So a Ninja investor is someone who buys property using stealthy movement and camouflage.

The keys to success are knowing things that others don’t and being able to do things that others can’t.  Match these with a positive mind-set and the willingness and...

When you’ve refurbed your property and are looking to remortgage, you have a challenge.  If you’ve bought within the last year or so, the lender’s valuer will be focused on the sum you paid for the property.

It doesn’t matter if you paid 30% less than the identical house up the road went for – they’re only interested in what you paid, not what the...