Everyone expects to get a better deal if they’re a cash buyer and it’s certainly possible to get some great property deals if you can offer cash, but it is heavily dependent on two things -  

• Finding a motivated seller - in other words, someone who just wants to get the property off their hands
• Finding a property that isn’t easily mortgageable

The seller

The...

THE QUESTION

I have a property which is a large freehold semi-detached (around 140sqm), that will split nicely into 2x 2 beds (houses not flats), my question is do I need planning permission, and, if I split the properties into leaseholds, do we need 2x utility supplies to the property, or can we just split the existing supply?

THE ANSWER

Planning - absolutely planning permission is needed....

When you invest in property you’re purchasing a very high value asset - and there’s the potential to make big profits - but also to make big losses.

If you’ve got a nest egg you probably know it’s not going to grow much sitting in a savings account in your bank, so what do you invest it in?

You could buy stocks and shares, artwork or antiques - but to do this...

THE QUESTION

As a first time property developer and with just 40k to invest, what would you do? Use the 40k as a deposit on a house or use the money to buy a much smaller, cheaper property outright? I see that there are some properties in certain parts of the UK that appear to sell at auction for circa £30k although I'm guessing these are incredibly cheap for a reason! Which option would...

When you’re starting out in property investment there are lots of things that may influence you.

• You may have friends or family who are already in property, so you’ve got some experience to call upon.
• You may be surrounded by people who see property as a risky thing to do and will keep trying to stop you.
• You might just have heard about people making a killing in property and got...

THE QUESTION

Having been offered a plot of land suitable for building four houses, what’s the best way to fund another development?

THE ANSWER

Funding new build developments is simple, you use a development finance lender to lend you 100% of the build cost and then you get creative on how you finance the purchase.

If you have a chunk of cash yourself for the deposit then the development...

One of the essentials of building a successful property career is having the right mind-set.  Lots of people like the idea of property as a means of generating residual income, but every property meeting has at least as many people who are ‘getting into property’ as those who are already in possession of at least one property or have already started the buying and selling...

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:

...