HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO MY BUSINESS! 5 Key Things I’ve Learned About a Property Business in those 5 Years

 

Today my business is FIVE YEARS OLD!!

I almost missed the date – can’t believe I missed an excuse to have a little celebratory party!

But what with the Covid pandemic, a party would have been limited on numbers anyway, so I’ would only have been able to invite the staff in the business: the director, the secretary, the acquisitions manager, the project manager, the finance controller, and the lettings agent…

…Me then, just me!

It would have been a VIP party of one!

 

But anyway, today my business is 5!!

 

And although I was a landlord for several years before that, five years ago I decided to make a proper business of it and start buying property within a limited company.

So in celebration, I have put together 5 key things I have learned about running a property business… here we go!

1.    IT IS HARD!

 

Don’t let anyone lie to you.

It takes way longer to build a property business than you were led to believe. It is also much more stressful, hands-on and costs a lot more than you ever thought it would!

But… if it were easy, everyone would do it, wouldn’t they?

I remember being in the property training room, learning all about this stuff five years ago. There were about 60 people there who had put four days of their time and money into that course… and five years later, only about a quarter of those people have stayed the distance, built a portfolio, and actually successfully progressed in property.

It’s hard… and that’s why most people don’t carry it on!

 

Me on the train home from my first property mentoring session...look how fresh-faced, stress-free and unworried I am! 😄😅

2.    NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS AS MUCH AS YOU

 

A harsh reality, but even the people you employ or subcontract in are (mostly!) only in it for the money. They don’t share your vision, your dreams, your plans for success, or even how you envisage certain tasks done!

So if you outsource, delegate or supervise anything, you had better be watching that those other people are doing exactly what you need them to.

The buck stops with you, and every event that happens is your responsibility. The bottom line and all end results are your fault, so you’d better make sure things get done and get done right – delegate, not abdicate!

 

My face when something's gone wrong again, as oft happens, if we're all honest!

(But on the other hand…)

 

3.    OUTSOURCE ANYTHING YOU’RE NOT GOOD AT

Remember at school, when the teachers told you to practice at anything you weren’t good at, so that you could ‘get better’ at it?          

What utter nonsense of an idea that is!

When I was a child helping my mum redecorate our bathroom, (1980s child-labour-style!) I inadvertently stuck a wallpaper scraper in my forehead (Look for the scar above my eyebrow when you next see me!)

This alerted me at an early age that perhaps DIY skills were not my forte.

And no matter how much I have practiced manual and DIY skills over the decades, I have never gotten any better, and it is a brave adult that leaves me unsupervised with power tools!

I fully accept that I am no good at manual skilled things, and what’s more, I don’t really enjoy doing them.

So what’s the solution? Get someone else to do them. Someone who is far better at it than you, makes a great job of it and likely loves doing it too – outsource! (but oversee, remember!)

 

Attempting to garden... see why I need adult supervision?!?

4.    PROPERTY IS NOT PASSIVE

Well, it might be, if you’re super rich and can afford to choose to throw money at agents to deal with everything, fair play to you!

But for the majority of people, they have to get involved with their property portfolios at some point for certain things.

For example, although my rental portfolio mainly runs smoothly most of the time, this week I have visited three of my properties for a gas safety check, a property tenancy inspection, an insulation upgrade in a loft, and to check a new tenant into a room in shared accommodation.

Luckily I quite enjoy this range of tasks… and for all three days of this ‘work’, I was back home by noon.

 

5.    PROPERTY CAN GIVE YOU TIME FREEDOM…WHICH IS AWESOME!

I have worked hard enough in the last five years to no longer have to work hard.

In the humblest way I can state this, my property income means I don’t need to work if I don’t want to.

I don’t need to exchange time for money, like in a normal job.

That is a powerful turn of events in anyone’s life.

If I’m ill, or if I do nothing, all my bills and outgoings are covered.

I’m not accountable to anyone else, and nobody is cross if I call in sick or don’t feel like doing anything productive on a particular day.

And that time freedom is a fabulous thing!

Thus, having a smooth-running portfolio means I have freedom of choice. Freedom to choose what I do with my time on a daily basis. Freedom to choose who to work with – or not!

I do get bored easily though, so when you see me doing ‘work’ things, it’s because I choose to, not because I have to. I feel very lucky!

 

 

There you go, my five big key things to share with you!

 

And yes it’s been hard, and there have been stresses and tantrums and worries, and financial concerns and sleepless nights, and early times when I thought it was all going wrong and doubted myself.

 

So five years in, we’re still going strong.

I’m still nowhere near where I want to be, but I keep going and believe that one day I’ll get there, and try my best to enjoy it as I go.

 

So as a bonus item, here’s my final thoughts:

Life happens as a result of my decisions, choices and actions.

 

And I choose to continue to build my portfolio, to create the income to provide the lifestyle I’ve got in mind.

 

Does this involve Presley Property Ltd being so successful that it enables me to afford my dream house, with my dream study-library-office?

Where a large Elvis mannequin model adorned with a custom-made rhinestone jumpsuit overlooks my red leather Chesterfield sofa, on which I sit to decide and mull over my future projects?

 

What do you think?!?

Can Anyone Do Property?

 

CAN ANYONE DO PROPERTY?

I used to think that anybody would be able to do property, But now I’ve been in the industry a few years, I’ve changed my mind. 

Hey, it’s ok to change your opinion about anything, based on new information!

So having learnt more and experienced more, I have come to this conclusion.

Being in property is not for everybody.

You need to have a certain set of characteristics and traits in order to do well in property.

When I think of the vast amount of people that I’ve met over the years, who have been all keen and eager to get cracking in property…

...And then I think of the ones that have actually stuck with it and made it work for them, sadly, it is only a fraction of people who have stuck it out.

And that’s because the truth is property is hard - despite what you might have been taught on some educational training course.

It really isn’t for everyone.

It is hard work, stressful, frustrating, and certainly isn’t the ‘get rich quick’ scheme that you were led to believe!

So here’s a few key attributes that I believe you should have if you’re seriously considering investing in property as a long-term career.

 

Key Attributes Required:

👊 A positive nature.

 

I’ll be honest with you here, the majority of days in property aren’t that great. You might get up to 10 really good days a year in property (new keys, refurb complete, new tenants), the rest are only average days or bad ones.

 

Take into account refurbishment problems, tenant or rent problems, and maintenance problems, and then acknowledge that these are all regular problems that occur on a regular basis.

 

You’ve got to have a naturally positive nature to avoid being dragged down, discouraged and downhearted by these issues.

 

👊 Resilience.

 

 It’s very important that you are able to recover quickly from difficult situations. When things go wrong, some people bury their head in the sand and avoid problems, which is not the way to go in property. If you run away and hide from issues in property, you often make the situation worse - such as a accruing rent arrears from a naughty tenant, or a leak which may then get worse and destroy the entire property.

 You’ve also got to have “bounce-back-ability” - the ability to keep going even when things have gone wrong.

 

👊 A thick skin.

 

Things do go wrong in property… often.

You shouldn’t allow yourself to get too upset by them, or take things personally, as that is a sure-fire way to make the situation worse, when emotions get involved.

Try to think logically about problems, even though they may be frustrating and not your fault.

Keep a cool head at all times, and remain impartial. It is pointless to wallow emotionally and be upset thinking “Why has this happened to me? / Why is the tenant behaving in this awful way to me?” It’s nothing personal, as it’s likely to be nothing to do with you!

 

👊 Tenacity and Determination.

 

 

It is crucial that you have a nature that doesn’t give up easily. You must never stop trying to improve or fix things, and you must do whatever is required to fix a goal.

 

This is especially important if you work for yourself, because you are fully responsible for your property and business - and no one is going to come and save you.

 

I mean that in the loosest possible terms; obviously maintenance contractors and advisors can help you fix certain things, but you’ve got to bring about those solutions yourself. A touch of personal stubbornness helps here, and an willingness to never give up!

 

👊 Finally, a couple of other traits that are important as a property investor: an ability to deal effectively with stress, patience, honesty, proactive, decisive, and integrity - if you always want to do the right thing by your tenants and investors, then you won’t go far wrong.

 

So that’s a little insight into some of the key personality traits needed in property. You should ask yourself honestly if you possess all these traits, because if not you will find it more difficult than most.

And if you don’t, hey, that’s ok too; as I’ve said, property is not for everybody.

Perhaps you could just focus your skills, time and energy on other things that you love, and invest passively with property developers, without being hands-on.

But if you really wish to get involved with bricks and mortar, vendors, agents, keys, properties, refurbishment, contractors, building materials, expensive problem fixes, tenancies, tenants, and all the associated issues, then I wish my very best of luck to you... because I know how hard it is! 😁👍

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Kellyann is a property investment strategist from Leeds. 

In her work she creates wealth for private investors through refurbishing properties. 

Visit her website for more details:

https://kellyannmartin.co.uk/investment/

Secrets Nobody Tells You About Being In Property

 

After a few years in property, I have discovered a couple of secrets about the Buy-To-Let property industry... I wish I’d known about them sooner! 

For some reason, nobody ever tells you about these things at the start of your property career... which would make life much easier for you if you knew them!

Luckily for any property newcomers, I’m going to share these secrets... 🤫

Secret Number 1 that nobody tells you about being in property: The £25,000 salary affordability issue. 

Sometimes people new to property investing get a bit keen, quit their job, leave themselves with no salary with the intention of making it big in property. 

This is a bad idea! 

The reason for this is that a lot of mortgage lenders don’t like to provide mortgages for people who have an income of less than £25,000. 

Some lenders do; some have no minimum income requirements... but your chances of getting a decent mortgage are much better if you have a salary to begin with.

So rather than suddenly jacking your job in and plunging your salary to zero immediately, a better way to get into property would be this: 

Gradually build up your income from property over a couple of years, and gradually decrease in the amount of days you work in your normal job, so your property income and your job income eventually balance out together into a decent overall salary.

Then one day, your income will solely come from property, as it will surpass your job salary, and you will no longer be exchanging your time working for somebody else!

Secret Number 2 that nobody tells you about being in property: help by utilising credit cards and building up lines of credit.

Property is expensive. Most projects cost more than you anticipate, and the cost of refurbishment is what puts a lot of people off doing them.

However, you can get some help to pay for them by utilising credit cards. 

Use a low cost credit card to purchase materials: boilers, kitchens, bathrooms and so on. Yes, they might end up costing you a little more over the long run, but it’s better than never doing a project. 

Obviously pay down the credit cards as soon as you are able, usually out of the property rental income once it’s up and running.

Build up a couple of lines of credit, with various suppliers too, and this will also help spread the cost.

I always chuckle about this next bit, but how good would it be if you could pay your contractors using a credit card too?!

Most of them want cold hard cash transferring!

But remember: all materials can be bought using credit. 👍

Secret Number 3 that nobody tells you about being in property: looking after your credit score. 

This is something I’d never even thought about before being in property - but luckily, because I’m of that organised OCD do-things-correctly mindset, I’ve never done things like miss payments or default on bills.

And here’s another fallacy: why should your personal credit record matter if you’re buying property in a limited company? 🤔

Because it does, and that’s all there is to it! 

Mortgage lenders want personal guarantees that they’re going to get paid, and as limited company directors, that guarantee falls to you - so keep your nose (and credit record!) clean!

Makes sure you pay at least minimum pay amounts every month for bills and credit card payments, in full if you can - and here’s the crucial bit: pay them on time; late payments have a detrimental effect on your credit score.

And we want to keep that perfect payment record and score as high as possible - because if lenders think your credit record looks dodgy and you look unreliable, they simply won’t lend you money for mortgages!

I check my credit files a couple of times a month just to ensure all is well - beware other people taking out credit in your name... 😱

I use all three of the Equifax, Experian and Credit Karma credit scoring systems, so get yourselves signed up to one or more of these. The added benefit is they also tell you how to repair and improve your rating. 

And everybody loves a high rating - especially mortgage lenders! 😁🙌

Secret Number 4 that nobody tells you about being in property: investor difficulties!

A lot of people in property, myself included, leverage funds from private investors to purchase property. 

Investors get a great return on their loan investment, and you get help building your portfolio.

Now here’s the secret: raising finance is hard. And what makes it harder is that the majority of people who reckon they want to invest funds... simply don’t.

Sadly, there’s a lot of talkers not walkers, when it comes to investors. I’ve found people who clearly stated they wanted to lend money out, and then when it came to the crunch... they didn’t.

This is for a myriad of reasons, genuine or otherwise: 

🤷🏻‍♀️ they’ve already lent their money out elsewhere

🤷🏻‍♀️ they’ve changed their mind 

🤷🏻‍♀️ they’re nervous and scared of the investment process

🤷🏻‍♀️ they’ve bought property themselves with their funds. 

Or it could be that they simply don’t like you and don’t want to work with you, or they don’t trust you or the deal! 😫

Sometimes, perhaps even they never had the money to begin with and were simply time-wasting tyre kickers. 😤

Asking for proof of funds here helps weed out the hot-air braggers full of bluster!

The point is this: some people are all talk and no action - so don’t just rely on one investor, in case they back out or let you down. 

Have a list of “potential investors” lined up who are ready to invest.  

Because people only become “investors” if they actually lend you money! 

So build those relationships with genuine investors who genuinely want to work with you!

👦🏻 💷 🏚 👩🏻 💷 🏚 👦🏼 💷 🏚

So there you have it... a few inside secrets shared, which hopefully will make your property career much easier for knowing them! 

Best wishes, and happy, safe investing,

Kellyann x x x

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Kellyann is a property investment strategist from Leeds. 

In her work she creates wealth for private investors through refurbishing properties. 

Visit her website for more details:

https://kellyannmartin.co.uk/investment/