The One That Got Away...

Every so often I think about the one that got away…

I’m not talking about particular men, people, friends, missed opportunities, and chances… although there’s been a few of those too!

I’m talking about a particular house that you really wanted, that for some reason, just didn’t come off.

I’m sure every property investor has a got a ‘one that got away’!

In my case it was the house next door to my childhood home, a nice 3-bed semi-detached with a lovely garden, where our neighbours Molly and Ralph used to live.

Yes it was terribly dated, with swirly carpets and an avocado bathroom suite, but I’d have done it up and probably gone and lived in it myself.

It was eight years ago since I viewed it. And I don’t quite remember what happened, think I faffed about and was too tight with my offer, but it ended up being sold to someone else for £112,000 – which seems a paltry figure for that property nowadays.

What a fool was I?!

I knew I really wanted it!

Why didn’t I try harder?

Put more effort in?

Get rid of my ego?

Try anything and everything I could to ensure that I got what I really wanted?!

I have no idea.

It plays on my mind often, and even with the benefit of hindsight, I still don’t understand my actions that year.

But, if we’re not earning, we’re learning.

And what I learnt was that you should never give up on something you really want.

Because regret is a terrible thing, and it still tortures you years later, wishing you’d done something different.

And usually, it’s often too late for you to be able to do anything to change it.

So my lesson to share today is that you should always try your best to make something happen, for something you really want.

No matter what it is in life.

And especially if you feel it will make you happy.

Because if you don’t even try, then the answer is always a no, isn’t it?!?

 

Take care, Kellyann x x x

3 THINGS I HATE ABOUT PROPERTY…

 

3 THINGS I HATE ABOUT PROPERTY…

 

But property’s awesome all the time, right?

Wrong!

 

And here’s my top three reasons why!

 

PROPERTY HATE NUMERO UNO: REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE

 

Repairs and maintenance is my number one pet peeve in property – I just hate hate hate it when things break - and sometimes it’s not even the tenant’s fault.

 

Then you have to deal with the call from the tenant saying that something’s wrong, work out how to fix it, who to call to do so, have to faff about getting various quotes and solutions and appointments in order, and then finally set fire to my money to remedy the problem.

 

Or even worse, sometimes it’s a product or service that needs addressing by a telephone call to the dreaded call centre or customer service department… where you waste endless hours of time to untrained people on the other end of the line, who can’t deal with it, aren’t competent, put you on hold forever, or just fob you off. There’s nothing more draining than a call centre department.

 

This week’s issue has been a young 14-month-old integrated Logik oven from Currys which has stopped working after minimal use. Currys customer service seemingly couldn’t give a shit about their faulty product, nor helping me fix it.

 

Here’s my advice: don’t ever buy a product from Currys – it’s a waste of your time and money buying their substandard products, then a waste of your time, effort, energy and patience trying to get them to do the right thing.

 

PROPERTY HATE PART 2: NAUGHTY TENANTS

 

Aha, I bet you thought this would be the first on the list, didn’t you?!?

Not me, because the majority of my tenants are great, nearly all of the time.

 

Occasionally though, one goes rogue, and starts acting in a naughty manner.

 

I have three key rules I tell all my tenants:

 

1. Respect the house and keep it tidy

2. Respect your neighbours (and housemates)

3. Pay your rent on time

 

…and it’s when one of these three rules is not followed that things go wrong, tenants do naughty things, I get irate, start dismembering their wayward corpses into pieces and setting them on fire etc etc…

 

I jest, of course…

 

But there have been instances where people have not paid their rent, gave me a ream of bullshit about why not, told me barefaced lies to my face, behaved in ways which damaged the property, accidentally set fire to the kitchen, made an absolute tip of a pigsty to the house / their rooms, hoarding more things than I ever thought possible, not cleaning up after themselves in communal areas, carrying on and arguing so that the neighbours complain and the council send me whinging letters etc etc blah blah…

 

Thankfully, these things are not common ongoing occurrences, because naughty tenants don’t end up lasting long in my properties.

 

So yes, naughty tenants annoy me, because they are the exception to the norm in my portfolio.

 

But I must reiterate that on the whole my tenants are good people.

And when good people do the right thing, there’s nothing to worry about, is there?!

 

PROPERTY HATE 3: LE FINALE – EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE!!

 

I’ve already wittered on about the expense of repairs and maintenance, so I’ll not revisit that route… but EVERYTHING in property is just so bloody expensive!

 

This includes house purchase prices, the survey fees, the legal costs, the stamp duty land tax, refurbishment costs, gas and electric works, the insurances, the ongoing certificates and legislative measures.

 

It all costs a bomb, and that bomb frequently explodes in my purse and bank balance!

 

You know I’m Yorkshire, and you know that for me every pound is a prisoner.

 

It is always a sad day when money has to be traumatically prised from my parsimonious whimpering fingers to pay for necessary costs!

 

WHICH IN PROPERTY IS NEARLY ALL THE TIME!!! *cries*

 

So there we have it, the 3 things I hate most about property.

But hang on, lets not be a negative Nellie.

 

Because although there are many thunderstorms and showers in property, there are plenty of sunshine-y moments too!

 

Such as:

 

ü Providing housing for people

ü Acquiring assets

ü Long term pension pot plan

ü Majority of property portfolio work is now passive

ü Time freedom and independence

ü Gives me a salary!

 

Can’t have all these nice smooth bits, without a bit of rough too, eh?

 

That’s life for you!

 

Proper-teee…dious at times though!

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Kellyann Martin is a UK-based property investor.

She has a book available for purchase on Amazon, click here to buy:

STARTING OUT IN PROPERTY...: What I Wish I'd Known At The Beginning! : Martin, Kellyann: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The Benefits of Renting to Tenants on Benefits!

 The Benefits of Renting to Tenants on Benefits!

  

You might know that I have a property rental portfolio here in Leeds.

 

What you might not know is that half of my single let rentals are occupied by tenants on benefits.

 

Now whilst benefits tenants often get a bad reputation, many low-income families are just like you and me: decent, pleasant people, that have found themselves in a certain situation.

 

Being on benefits does not mean that you are a write-off, or a bad person. It does not mean you are scum, a degenerate, a waster, or any of the other negative connotations the media try to impose on us.

 

Of course, there are some people who aren’t as savoury as we would hope, throughout all areas of life - but we cannot tar everyone with the same brush.

 

Not all benefits tenants are bad ones, in the same surprising way that not all high paid ‘professional tenants’ look after the property and pay their rent - as some of my landlord friends will vouch for! 😱

 

As with anybody, carefully check out your prospective tenants, and be convinced that they are a good choice.

 

So here’s my reasons for the benefits of renting to tenants on benefits:

 

✳️ They are usually families, looking for a long term home, which means they stay longer.

 

✳️ There are lots of them looking for housing, as the council has a severe shortage of available local housing authority accommodation.

 

✳️ Often the council will provide a deposit for them or a scheme whereby they will fix damaged items

 

✳️ You can request for the rent to be paid directly to yourself as landlord. This massively reduces the risk of rent not getting paid.

 

✳️ You are helping vulnerable families by giving them a chance to build themselves a secure lifestyle, and a steady foundation for their children to progress in the future…

 

… because that’s exactly what happened to me.

 

I’m the product of a single parent on benefits. And although we were poor, our council house was immaculate, and we tried hard to improve our situation.

 

I’m not scum, a reprobate, a degenerate, a lowlife, or any of those things.

 

I’m a good person, just like my tenants are.

I was a kid who had a good grounding to want to do better than the situation I found myself in.

 

A couple of these kids in my class are from benefits families, can you tell which? 
Of course you can't - but all kids deserve a decent start in life!

I appreciate everything, because I still remember what it means to have nothing.

And that’s exactly why I choose to rent to low income families - because I’ve been there, and know how important is it for someone to just give you a chance and believe in you.

So as there’s over 3 million people claiming housing benefit in Britain… why not consider renting to them?!?

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Kellyann Martin is a UK-based property investor.

She has a book available for purchase on Amazon, click here to buy:

STARTING OUT IN PROPERTY...: What I Wish I'd Known At The Beginning! : Martin, Kellyann: Amazon.co.uk: Books

FAIR PRICE OR A FLEECING?

FAIR PRICE OR A FLEECING?

CHRISTMAS – WEDDING – NEW YEAR’S EVE – LANDLORD

What do all these words have in common?



I’ll tell you: they make the sellers bump up the price of items and services unnecessarily!



I’ve seen it today in the local shopping centre. We’re a few days before Christmas and shoppers were falling over themselves to buy, in short, utter tat. Christmas presents items such as soap sets, make up, aftershaves, tacky toys, novelty gifts etc. 

It’s always baffled me why the price of these goods massively increases just because the manufacturers have boxed them up in jazzy snazzy festive boxes aimed for the Christmas market. 


Look at the actual products inside people: you’re not telling me it’s worth the bumped-up value just because it’s in a nice glittery box?!



Ditto New Year’s Eve – where many pubs, free for 364 days of the year, now sell you tickets on the door just to let you in to buy their beverages – what’s all that about?!



And as for the word ‘wedding’ – ooof, it’s a free reign licence to sting you!



But my gripe today is when contractors bump up the price of a job just because they hear the word LANDLORD.

There is some bizarre assumption by the world as a whole that most landlords are super rich, greedy money-grabbing fatcats.


I am not most landlords. 


And although I acknowledge that there are some people in property world exactly like that, in my experience, most of the property landlords I know locally are just hard working people doing their best to provide a service, and they’re not super-wealthy. 


Even though we’d like to be!!


But sadly, this urban myth remains prevalent amongst contractors, who persist in giving you ridiculously-prices for services, just because they know you’re a landlord.



I have this running joke, when my friends and other people say “Oh, you must be rich, you’ve got all these houses!”


To which I reply “I’m not rich, BECAUSE I’ve got all these houses!”


Boilers don’t fix themselves you know! All maintenance and repairs works must be paid for – and sadly the Maintenance Monster rears its head in rental properties way too often for my liking!

Now when I talk about fair prices or fleecing, this is not about me being super tight, or mean, or pennypinching (oh ok, I am a bit, I’m Yorkshire, but we all are up here!)


I’m not saying that contractors aren’t worth their price. 


Some definitely are - and they’ll know I appreciate their good work and fair fees because I’m loyal; if they look after me, I’ll use their services again and again.


Several times recently I have had discussions with contractors, where they were nice guys, I liked them and wanted to give them the business – but then they went and gave me a stupid quote.


And then things get awkward when you have to tell them: ‘OWWWW MUCH?!?! That’s double what I’ve ever paid before, sorry, but you’re not getting the job.

I know people still need to make a profit, and they’ve got their own business to run and their own families to feed. 


I get that.


But I also know what things are worth, because of my experience and prices I’ve paid for things before.


Yes, I might be a landlord, but I’m not a gullible moron who wants to set fire to my money just because you’re greedy.


So yes, sadly, I do find it difficult to undergo any refurbishment work from fair people for a fair price. Add into the mix that I’m female and the amount of piss-taking pricing and patronising doubles. 


(Don’t believe me? Ask any other female property investor!)


I just want a good job done by good guys in a decent timescale for a fair price - without being ripped off – is that too much to ask?!!

It’s sheep that follow someone blindly and end up getting fleeced – so you need a fair price, not a fleecing.


Here’s a couple of tips when looking for contractors to do work:

1.   Find some local firms who provide the service you need. Meeting them in person is good, such as at networking meetings, or ask for referrals from people you know who have used their services.

2.   Check them out online, look at their social media, examples of work, testimonials.

3.   Arrange for each of your shortlisted contractors to come and do a site visit. Not all at the same time though!

Ps - some of these contractors won’t even turn up.

I’m not joking…

If they don’t even ring you to explain with a genuine excuse for their absence, remove them from your list. 

4.   Bear in mind their attitude, personality and demeanour on the site visit.

If you hate them automatically, your gut instinct is giving you a stark warning to avoid avoid avoid!

Like the recent patronising guy who kept calling me ‘flower’… Imagine the drama I’d have had getting him to do what I needed without a load of hassle and fuss?!

5.   Await quotes. This can be anything from 2 hours to never.

Yes really. Some people you will never hear from again.

I’m still waiting for a quote from a guy 18 months ago who spent two hours travelling and pricing up a job!

(Makes interesting fun seeing him dance about to avoid me when he attends the same networking meeting…

…hey, maybe he just decided he hates me, and that’s ok too!)

6.   Assess all the quotes for the best. This might not necessarily be the cheapest.

Stupid quotes can also be removed at this point.

In my head, that’s basically the contractor saying: “I don’t like you, I don’t want to work with you, so I’m going to rip you off”. 
So that’s those guys doing you a favour, they’ve heard the word LANDLORD and those pounds signs starting flashing in their eyes. 
Not today, and not with me, my friend!

7.   Pick your favourite contractor with their fair quote.

Book them in for the job. Ideally, it’s someone you know, like and trust.

8.   Let them do the job! 

Oversee their work, address any queries that arise, but no need to micromanage. They’re competent experts, not schoolkid apprentices.

9.   I’m going to add this in, as it seems to be a rising problem for contractors…

Once they’ve done their job to a great standard – pay them!!! There’s been a horrendous rise lately in service providers not being paid for the work they’ve done, or people withholding their payment for ages - and that’s simply not fair.

If they’ve done you a great job, delivered what you asked, why would you not pay them immediately?

And if you can’t afford to do that, then you shouldn’t be booking them in for work until you can. *RANT OVER!

10.               Appreciate their efforts. Make sure they know you’re thankful for their super work. Leave them online testimonials. Refer them to other people you know. Use their services over and over again.

So there we have it… we all love a fair price, but we hate a fleecing!



And yes, for the record, I am a Libra starsign – the sign of the justice scales, of fairness and equality – so woe betide anyone who tries to upset that balance!



Have a super Christmas and a very happy new year!



Kellyann x x x