Diary of a Property Investor

What I've been up to

Selling houses

Alongside the property sourcing and letting agency, I also run a couple of property developments each year, using a mix of my own money and private investors money.

As I’ve been doing it for a number of years now, my tradesmen not only know what standards to work to, but also which colours and specs to use, so the development runs like clockwork.

In fact, the development that started when Hannah was in hospital for a month, not only carried on without me, but seemed to run better for me keeping my nose out. That was mainly due to my joiner stepping up to the role as project manager, organising all the tradesmen and keeping the quality up - those of you who know Keith won’t be surprised as he’s a real star.

I sold a development last week which was good news and the profits were used to repay a couple of private investors, which made them happy too. ( I had a call from one investor to thank me for repaying one of her loans, for the interest she’d had over the year and asking to extend the other loan, which was lovely.)

 

Taking options on houses

In June, I took a 90 day option to buy a house that wasn’t selling, as I was convinced that with new carpets and some decorating it would sell.

We passed on the details to a few of our clients, but the old estate agent had the house on for such a cheap price that it looked like a lemon, which put off not only our buyers, but everyone else too.

So we took a different route and put it in a local auction after doing a little work to make it pretty.

It’s the first time that I’d tried this, so the auction was a nervous half hour for me, but I went into the room having had a pre-auction offer that would have made £2,500 profit.

In the end, that was the profit we made, but for 2 days work and learning a new way to make money out of property, I was delighted.

Israel woman 'bins $1m mattress'

A Tel Aviv woman has been searching through Israeli rubbish dumps after she said she accidentally threw away a mattress containing $1m (£700,000).

The woman, identified only as Anat, had bought a new mattress for her mother as a surprise and threw away the old one, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

A search of three landfill sites has so far turned up nothing, said the paper.

When the woman realised her mistake, she rushed out to retrieve the mattress but it had already been taken away.

She hurried to the Hiriya local dump, only to find the mattress had been shipped to one of two larger landfill sites, along with another 3,000 tonnes of rubbish collected that day.

A search of the first site, Ganei Hadas, proved fruitless so she moved onto Efeh, close to the Dead Sea.

Yitzhak Borba, the director of the Efeh site, told Israel's Army Radio the woman had been "totally desperate" when she arrived.

He was reported to have kept some of his staff on overnight to fend off treasure hunters and help the woman.

But despite being unable to retrieve the mattress and its hidden fortune, "Anat" appeared philosophical about her loss.

"People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad," she said.

There has been no comment from her mother.

Source: News.bbc.co.uk

Is time the ultimate luxury ?

had great plans for the Christmas break, from clearing the cellar of the junk that accumulated since the summer, catching up with friends for coffee and long walks in the country, all of my plans went to pot when I caught one of the bugs that were doing the rounds.

Don't worry, I didn't have man-flu so couldn't move, I just didn't want my friends presents to be a case of the same, so I decided it best to take some time out and recuperate, obviously except the family parties, as most of them had already had what I'd got - but I'm not accusing anyone !

After trawling through the TV schedules, I realised that not only was there little worth watching on TV, but that it dulled the senses especially when mixed with all the excesses of the season.

So, I started to think about what I'd like to do with my new found time.

First on the list was taking the time to read some of the books that I'd been given as presents, added to a couple of late mornings, followed by a clearing of the cellar, filing - dull, but it appeals to my logical and ordered way of thinking, then a review of the year in numbers and galvanising my plans for the next year.

I like to start planning for the following year around October, as it gives me time to ponder rather than take the old corporate type of planning whereby you look at the last set of figures, add on a stretch to the numbers and plough on. Taking the time to ponder allows me to think about the direction we've taken, its success and more importantly what we should be doing in the next year, rather than simply repeating the actions of the previous year.

Taking the time out to think gave me quite a few light bulb moments which meant that I was pleased that I'd taken time out, although would have been happier if I'd not needed the medication.

Before you start to worry, I'm not shutting up shop, but will be offering a couple of complementary lines which I'm sure you'll love. Sorry to keep you in suspense, but I'll tell you more next month when we're ready to launch. (if you can't wait that long, drop me an email and I'll tell you before then !)

It would be easy to think that all I did was think abut the business and property, but this isn't the whole truth.

Whilst looking at the numbers and adding in the lower mortgage payments, I realised that the income from my portfolio was close to my monthly expenses, which means that 2009 could be the year I retire. There are many reasons why I wouldn't retire, not least because I've created the perfect job for me, although my family reminded me over Christmas that I don't really work, but also because I'd like to add a few more toys, which will not only increase my expenses.

I started to think about the value of time and how most of us swap the best part of our days and our lives for a salary. I was reminded of the wise words of a good friend some years ago when sharing his experience of fatherhood, who said that children don't want your money, they just want your time.

I wonder how many people stay late at the office to work their way up the corporate ladder, to earn more money, at the cost of missing the school sports day ?

When I was young my parents worked hard to ensure that we were always well provided for, the times that I remember best are the weekly production of my favourite chocolate cake on a Saturday, which we couldn't start until Sunday and was usually gone by Wednesday (it was good) and the times that they were there for us.

After being asked to join the school athletics team, I had a race against our main rivals one afternoon and turned round to see that my dad had come to watch. I can't remember if I won, but seeing my dad made me feel like a winner before I'd even started.

One of the joys of being the boss is being able to drop in on people and take time to hear their news, so these days I get to drop in on my parents for a cuppa and usually a slice of cake, even thought it's not often of the chocolate variety.

I know that many people are worried about what 2009 will bring and aren't as optimistic as I am, but I hope you take time out to enjoy the simpler things in life and to spend time with your friends and loved ones.

Do you remember how much fun you had just playing out with your friends when you were a kid ?

Perhaps now's the time to find out where all the fun went !

What I've learnt.. be kind to yourself

Have you ever noticed that we are our own worst critics ?
We're often quick to notice our own shortcomings, yet happy to overlook those of our friends, loved ones and even strangers.

A couple of years ago, I bought a kit car off Ebay, which wasn't quite finished, with the idea that I'd dust down my old spanners and get it through it's SVA test.

Since being a lad, I'd always dreamt of building Caterham kitcar, but knew I didn't have the mechanical skills to build it from scratch, so this was the perfect compromise.      

After knocking off the simpler jobs, I realised that I needed help on a couple of jobs, so decided to call on a local garage to finish the car off.

Every time I called in, they'd done a job and told me what was next on the list and when to call back. However, as the list became shorter, the intervals became longer and the promises more vague, so in the end, I took the car back off them and found someone else to finish it.

In the 2 weeks since I collected it, we've not only finished all the jobs, but have done other jobs to improve and tidy the car up, ahead of it's imminent debut, which is great news. (When I say we fixed the car, I was chief supplies man, sandwich fetcher, pedal pusher and key turner !)

After I'd collected the car from the garage, I was beating myself up for being so patient with the garage, for buying the car, for not using someone else and for a number of other reasons, until I realized that all this energy was wasted.

Once clients have seen how easy it can be to build a property empire, they often kick themselves for not starting earlier, but I remind them that everything looks simple with hindsight.
The trick is to use the knowledge we have today to make tomorrow better, rather than to rake up yesterday's regrets.

Copyright notice - Author : Peter Stanley
copyright © all rights reserved. site developed & maintained by propertymadesimple.com

What I've been up to.. summer holidays

I'm not a fan of airports, as I resent paying to be treated like a criminal, kept in cramped conditions and end up checking I've switched my phone off on the plane at least three times, so this year took a different route.

Given the price of fuel at the start of the summer, I looked into he cost of taking the car to Europe or taking the train and quickly realized that not only was the train cheaper and much quicker, but we could do a couple of city breaks and a break in a luxury spa hotel with ease.

It was like inter-railing for oldies, with trains, but no youth hostels, no rucksacks and a change of clothes for each day. 

As much as I love my cars, travelling at 180mph, without the need to stop for lunch breaks, traffic jams or lunch turned the whole travelling experience into a great adventure.

Copyright notice - Author : Peter Stanley
copyright © all rights reserved. site developed & maintained by propertymadesimple.com

I'm not too old for Facebook !

I signed up for Facebook last month, nearly a year after everyone else and quickly realised that all my mates were too old to be on Facebook.

I know it's meant to be one of the best social networking sites, but that's only true if you know people on it.

After lots of searching, I found fifteen friends (including two nieces) but quickly had the dilemma of wondering how well you had to know someone to add them to your friends list - were they close friends or merely people you'd met along the way ?

I still don't know the answer, so if you're on Facebook, let me know.

Anyway, after a fortnight of feeling like billy no mates, people started to find me - don't ask me how - including some old school friends I'd lost touch with some years ago, which was good news

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

Since our property buyer moved onto pastures new earlier this year, I've been forced to look at everything with a fresh pair of eyes.

Whilst there was some duplication of work and time taken in staff management / reporting time, even with the best time management practices, you can only get so much done in a day.

That is unless you adopt one of the lesser known time management practices - choosing to say no. I know this doesn't sit well with our "customer is always right" or Christian work ethic, but it's one of the few things that will preserve your sanity, your health and your relationships.

I'm not talking about simply not doing what you've agreed to do, but learning to say no in the first place. (It doesn't sit well with me either, but bear with me.)

If you think back over your day yesterday, from getting up to going to bed, how much if it needed to be done ? I'm sure you'd think all of it had to be done, but if you had a call from your favourite celebrity asking you to join them for the day, I'm sure a lot of it would have been left undone.

We live in a constant state of busy-ness, without a moment to spare, so there's always things left on the to do list.

Over the years I can think of many times where bosses used the art of delegation as a cover for me doing their work, including one time driving the boss' car to the BMW garage, as the windscreen washers weren't working properly.

You'd think that being a petrolhead this was a treat, but it was an awful turquoise colour and underpowered.

Anyway, let's get back to the point.

We seem to think that we're not "team-players" if we say "no" when we're asked to do something, but this is a common fallacy caused by our desire to be crowd pleasers.

Some of you may know that I like holidays in Germanic countries, not just for their speed limits, food and beer, but their apparent bluntness. Germans are often thought brusque for their direct style of questioning, but mean no offence, they just want a straight answer.

In the UK, we're so worried of offending people that we mask the truth in so much diplomacy that sometimes the answer is unclear.

I'm just a simple lad and ask a lot of daft questions, as I find it often gets me a straight and simple reply. Life's much easier this way and when you're negotiating you get to the realms of what's possible more quickly.

In the Western World we're also taught to become independent, rather than inter-dependent.

I think it starts in childhood, from learning to walk unaided, ride a bike without stabilisers, to learning to drive, all so we can be self sufficient.The problem is that because we can do everything, we think we should.

We end up with jobs that take up most of our days and leave us tired, gardens that turn into jungles, houses that need constant maintenance and cleaning, lists of jobs that never get done and being self sufficient, we think we need to do it all ourselves.

If we admit to having a cleaner or gardener, we fear accusations of laziness, middle class snobbery or wasting money, so keep it a dirty little secret.

So, we keep quiet, becoming a jack of all trades, yet master of none, with never ending lists of things to be done and dreams of what we'd do with our lives if only we had the time.

Many of you will know that I use a mortgage broker and have done for years, despite spending over 20 years in the finance industry. Yes, I could keep up with the latest rates and products, but if I had to choose my mastermind subject, it wouldn't be mortgages.

If we can't do it all, why do we put ourselves under so much pressure ?

There is a simple solution to all this - just say no more often

If you thought an English Ceilidh was hard...

wait till you've tried an authentic Scottish one !

Last month I told you how I'd struggled with the Gay Gordons (the dance, not people) at a recent birthday celebration, but had managed some of the simpler dances.

Well this month, we travelled to St Andrews for another friends birthday where we had the full on Scottish Ceilidh experience, which made the previous one seem like a walk in the park !

You may remember that I struggled when the last caller didn't continue to announce the steps, merely saying "and again", which left me going forwards instead of backwards and left instead of right, although I didn't cause any crashes, as I simply watched the couple in front and listened intently to my wife's instructions - it's stood me in good stead for the last 12 years !

I should have known that the Scottish dance would have been a little faster and foolishly thought it would be OK, but I knew I was in trouble when the first dance was the Gay Gordons.

From that inauspicious start, things went downhill, when I realised the band talked you through the steps of the dance, then started up the music and simply played - meaning there were no further instructions at all !

I managed a couple of the dances, but when the band stopped playing and announced the return of the Gay Gordons to MC Hammer - and other kinds of music you hear from the 18 year old youth in a Citroen Saxo - I knew it was time to sit down.

A good friend, who's a medical student, told me that the sign of a good Scottish Ceilidh is how many ambulances are called. At that point, I knew it was time to bow out gracefully.

Whether you're 7 or 37, some things are just too difficult !

We were at a friend's birthday party on Saturday night for a Ceilidh and I had a great time.

I'm more enthusiastic than talented, so have to start dancing early, as the dances tend to get harder as the night wears on, even though this goes against my natural instincts as a northern bloke.

I'd like to believe that my Celtic genes help my co-ordination, but the onlookers may disagree.

All was going well until the caller announced the Gay Gordons was the next dance and buoyed by my earlier successes - well I hadn't dropped anyone or stood on any toes, I took to the floor.

At the back of my mind, I remembered my mum telling me as a young lad that the Gay Gordons was best avoided, but I thought I knew better.

So I took to the floor and was doing well until the caller missed a couple of calls, which left me going forwards when I should have been going backwards and vice versa, so my plan of watching the couple in front went pear-shaped.

It soon became clear that the Gay Gordons was just too hard for me, so I did the decent thing and stepped of the dance floor before I caused a pile up.

When I sat down, I remembered the rest of the story.

I must have been about 7 years old and at a Ceilidh with some friends, when my mum had warned me that the Gay Gordons was quite hard and best avoided.

When one of the family friends asked me to dance the Gay Gordons, I was in a dilemma as I didn't want to go against my mum, but had a forceful woman asking me to go against my mum's instructions.

Being seven years old, the tears soon followed, but at 37 years old, I managed to escape with my dignity intact !

You don't need a compass to find due South

I had a meeting with a damp and timber surveyor this week and he's quite keen on knowing which way a house is facing, so that he can work out which walls will be heated by the sun.

He wasn't local, so didn't know off the top of his head and looked to the skies for inspiration.

After a couple of minutes we both pointed in the same direction, although we'd used different methods. I'd used my geographical knowledge and he'd looked to the skies for the answer.

After telling him how impressed I was, he let me into his secret - all satellite dishes point 10 degrees off due south, which means north is the opposite way.