A Method To Kick Start Your Investment Property Portfolio
Fresh from a seminar explaining how to use lease options, I am now preparing to purchase my first property. I have discovered that it’s a whole different ballgame in terms of dealing with the fear of investing, especially since this is what I have been working up to in terms of the kind of income I want. Firstly I had to determine my strategy, because there are different things that you can do with property which include HMO’s, single lets etc. [take a look at the property section of Yell0brickrd for more info]
Lease options are not something that I want to continue to do to form the bulk of my investment property portfolio. This is simply because I want to be able to hold onto property that I pick up for the long term, so in the long run, the idea is to have all of these properties in my name or, more likely, under a company, without ever having to sell them.
As a start however, this is an excellent way to begin to have some investments without needing a massive amount of capital. I have set aside £800 for solicitor’s fees and I will be keeping you up to date with the progress of that.
Over the coming months and years I will continue to improve my credit rating so that I can have more property investment opportunities available to me.
The strategy
The strategy for my portfolio for my first bunch of investments is to purchase properties with a least 4 bedrooms by utilising lease options. I will then rent these out on a multi-let basis and charge a competitive rental. The price I charge will include things such as Cable TV etc.
The important thing to remember is to buy in areas where the number of people renting is quite high. It is also a good idea to purchase in area that are close to businesses, transport links, hospitals etc. If you hate fixing toilets, I’ve learnt that this is nothing to fear if you simply take out insurance for your investment property!
The risks of adopting a HMO strategy is higher than a ‘single-let’ because you have to advertise for different tenants to occupy different rooms; The cash-flow however, is much higher. In addition, when a room becomes vacant there is a better chance that you will at least be able to cover the mortgage payments.
The First Step
The first step in my first investment property journey is to use the method of advertising. I contacted some local papers which cover various different boroughs. My advertisement is short, sweet and straight to the point. It begins with a headline grabber and highlights various benefits in bullet points which the person will get if they contact me. I finally end it all with a strong call to action! [CALL NOW]
I’m also fully aware of the fact that it will take a while to really start getting calls coming through from people who want to sell their property. Therefore the idea is to leave this advertisements up for a few months or so.
I hope this has been helpful in generating ideas for how you can get started with your first investment!
