Your Property Network Articles

I had the great pleasure to speak to David and Julie from D&J Anderson Properties for April’s article. A mother-and-son duo living in London, it was really interesting to speak to them both and discover their motivations for getting into property.

Susannah Cole has been investing in property for many years and comes to us with some fantastic knowledge as a very experienced investor. She’s used multiple strategies to build up her own personal wealth and investments which leaves her today with a personal property portfolio worth millions. She’s done over 200 deals in her hometown of Bristol with a total worth of £45m, sourced for £30m. Susannah’s main advice is to get good at finding discounted deals as well as ensuring that you are always well funded to be able to continuously buy and refurbish your properties, so also get good at working with private investors.

Serviced accommodation is a broad term used to describe renting properties out to guests on a short-term basis. It can be characterised by two distinct guest profiles, holidaymakers and contractors. For the holiday let market we generally refer to this strategy as holiday lets or furnished holiday lets (FHL).

These two distinct strategies require slightly different approaches but are generally encompassed under SA.

For YPN's February 2024, I shared insights on commercial to residential conversions.

The conversion of commercial properties into residential spaces is gaining popularity as an investment strategy known for delivering appealing returns.

This isn’t a strategy that I’ve utilised before so a big thank you to Martyn Woolford for his help and guidance with this piece.

I had the privilege of sitting down with Andrew Newall, a seasoned property enthusiast, to delve into his captivating journey and gain insights into the backdrop of his property endeavours. Our conversation took us from the scenic landscapes of Scotland to Montreal and then on to the vibrant city life of London, offering a glimpse into the diverse experiences that have shaped Andrew’s path in the property industry.

I had the great pleasure to meet Trevor Lloyd at his family home in Chesire over the summer. I’ve been privileged to write for this magazine for two years and have many articles under my belt, and this is the first time I’d met one of our contributors face to face. But I could tell from the moment I spoke to Trevor that it was an opportunity not to be missed.

George Samoila originally came from Romania to the UK to study. George has successfully sourced over 300 properties in the last four years, with the majority being BTL. 90% of these are in Manchester with the rest coming from either Liverpool or Leeds. Making major changes to his sourcing business when needed along the way is what has propelled him forward in his endeavours.

How Jamie Greaves and I joined forces to propel our property returns

There’s been a lot of recent interest in the SA market over the past 12 months.

Rising gas and electricity prices combined with higher interest rates are motivating more and more investors and landlords into this space, driven by the higher cashflows and returns.

This article is intended as a guide to which systems you need and when you’re likely to need them. It’s highly unlikely you’ll need all of these at once, but bear in mind that it can be a lot of work to set them up.

Patrick Welsh transitioned from a busy global career into property back in 2019.

Just four years later he’s finally seeing some impressive results and has now built a multi-million-pound property portfolio but not without a few bumps in the road.

He’s had some real challenges and will admit made a few mistakes but now he has really found his niche.

It was great to chat with him and explore more of what he does.

Being new to property, David has achieved great success in just a short space of time. It just goes to show that with the right attitude and a little bit of luck, great strides can be made to change your future for good. It's been great twelve months for David, but as always, I was keen to find out where he came from and what has driven him to get into property in the first place.

In the last 18 months Stuart MacMillan and his wife Geraldine have grown a property business almost from nothing into a portfolio of over eight properties. During the pandemic, the couple agreed that life is short, and you have to make the most of the time we have. They set about a plan to create a lifestyle for themselves and their children that will give them the time and the freedom they want to explore. It was great to catch up with Stuart this month and hear their story, and in particular how the past 12 months has had a real impact on their lives.

Whilst this magazine is full of rapid growth investors with fast-tracked and inspiring stories, it doesn’t always have to be that way. You can and should invest at your own pace and within your own personal comfort zone. In fact, for many of us this can be the more intelligent way to go about things. Diving headfirst into the property business and leaving your secure full-time job is not without its own challenges and for many people sadly the dream does not become a reality. John MacDonald has an inspiring story in his own way and some good lessons can be learned from a slower approach.

From scrambling to pull together the deposit for the first £130,000 investment property in 2014, Jackie Tomes has

since done over £14m of property deals, has raised over £4.2m from investors and has grown Tomes Homes to a team of 16. Now, she continues to grow the business as she travels the world while supporting other investors to do the same.

Victoria Miller had a childhood in a busy guesthouse whilst growing up in the idyllic seaside town of Llandudno, North Wales. Her parents hoped to pass on the family business to Victoria, but seeing the unsocial hours involved, she chose a different path. Victoria embarked on a career in social work. After a 20-year career, she has now come full circle. Although not quite the same business as her parents’ guesthouse, but hospitality has allowed her the cash flow she needed to quit her job. Where else but in Llandudno of course – she’s never left.

David is a highly experienced investor who has been investing in property for over 25 years. He holds court as host of several different networking events and is also a property coach. Like most investors. David came from humble beginnings and drew his property portfolio entirely through his own hard work and dedication to his dream How did it all start?

Like many others who find themselves drifting into property, Saif Rehan was initially inspired by what he was seeing on popular TV programmes like Homes Under the Hammer. This is an entry point for many of us and certainly piques interest. At the time Saif was working hard as a graduate accountant, but he was watching how people were working on these properties for a relatively short time and walking away with big profits. In the best cases, they weren’t even doing the work themselves.

Kyle Hart is an inspiring young investor based in the North West of England. During the pandemic, whilst many investors have been exiting the market, Kyle has pushed forward and grown a very healthy rent-to-rent business in a very short time. He quickly built up a monthly positive cash flow of over £5,000/month and, at a young age, is now a full-time investor. I was keen to learn just how he has overcome the challenges he faced during this difficult period, and what we could all learn from his process.

Peter Licourinos is no stranger to this magazine, having featured several times

in the past few years. While long-term subscribers may remember his past articles, his story is new to me and to some of our newer members. I had the great pleasure of talking to him for the first time this month about his HMOs, his journey and his passions.

Stuart Thomas is based in Streatham, London with his partner, Gemma who is imminently expecting their second child. Indeed, by the time this article is published I expect Stuart to be a lot busier than usual! Stuart invests in many areas throughout the UK including South London, the North East, Leeds, Braintree and Gloucester. His combined property portfolio is now in excess of £3m.

Simon Smith was born and raised in Derby in the Midlands. He always had dreams of being in the music industry. When he came to choose where to study for his degree, he chose London, moving there to study business. But Simon had big ambitions for a music career – he wanted to go global, and London was the perfect place to start.

Born in India, Simant emigrated to the UK in 2005 to pursue a Master’s Degree in Telecoms. For the last ten years, he has been an IT contractor. He purchased his first home here in 2014, the family home in Reading where he still lives today.

Cara Shardlow has quickly grown a holiday letting business from one to eight properties in just one year. Living near the picturesque village of Whitby, she drifted into the industry almost by accident before creating her successful portfolio of holiday lettings.

Dirk Visagie is co-director at Archangel Architects, a successful architectural practice company based in Cambridge; and Dirk’s wife, Adri Visagie, also runs Architectural Design Practice, SPACE+. They have worked on multiple planning uplift projects and have obtained a wealth of knowledge and experience in this area during their careers.

Simon Birmingham and Nick Houghton are the superstar duo who make up Bunked, a rapidly growing student HMO business based in Portsmouth. They currently operate in three major cities with plans to expand into a further two within the next twelve months.