Acquisitions
For income and capital growth. Our acquisition team is actively involved in acquiring residential property at below market value where an immediate capital gain can be offered to our investors. We also acquire parcels of land and work on commercial to residential conversions which can offer yields of up to 9%. We work with agents, private individuals, use social meda, mailshots and advertising to find the right properties and may often look at between 10 and 20 individual units before selecting one that fits our criteria.
Rising property values in many areas, combined with rents at a record high and low mortgage rates, have made property an appealing option for anyone looking to supplement their income. A regular income is vital in retirement, with bricks and mortar providing one of the most popular ways for people to finance life after work. Recent research by insurer Aegon reveals the amount of income people hope to retire on each year has risen from £35,000 to £42,000. This would require a pension pot of more than £1 million, a sum higher than the new lifetime pension allowance. Few people are in a position to save anywhere near enough to provide this sort of income when they stop work.
This is where a buy-to-let property may help, providing you with an income and possible capital growth in the long term. For example, if you are young, you could invest in a buy-to-let property and rely on capital growth to provide you with a lump sum when you sell the property and retire. You could then invest this money to provide you with an income when you stop work. If you are older you could use cash to buy the property which would provide you with a steady income.
Developments
Over the last eleven years our development projects include refurbishment of over 30 individual residential properties to £8 million GDV high end residential units. We assemble different teams of people to develop each of our projects, and depending on the complexity of the project this will include solicitors, accountants, architects, planning consultants, surveyors, construction engineers and project managers.
We will commission different teams of builders depending on the size of the project. We will manage contracts with the builders and payment at different stages of construction. We also manage individual tradesmen directly on smaller projects. We carry out site appraisals including site investigation reports, obtain independent valuation reports and independent construction reports. With larger projects we usually set up an SPV for the duration of the project until the units are either sold or let. Our strategies with developments are either build and sell or build and let or build for serviced accommodation units.
We also convert commercial units to residential. We raise joint venture development finance to facilitate larger more challenging and profitable projects. We work with private individuals, crowd source or commercial lending and will arrange drawdowns at the appropriate stages of construction.
Our experience in the acquisition of land for gaining planning approval with difficult sites, has enabled us to obtain huge planning gain for ourselves and our partners.
Management
We have managed our own property portfolio for the last 5 years as we felt we had more control and preferred having direct access to our tenants. Our tenants are happier and seem to stay longer in their homes. Our residential portfolio includes HMO flats and we will put in a complex management team for our larger residential development sites.
We will manage all projects with our joint venture partners either large or small. You can be as hands off as you like or make site visits if you wish. The choice is yours. There are many different types of joint venture agreements we can work with you on including limited companies, LLP partnerships, SPV’s or just legally binding contracts.
We can source investments for you to purchase directly and let for the long term. Or it may be a short term investment you would prefer. We could pay you 10% interest rolled up till the end of the project when you will be paid back the capital sum with interest. Or we could use your investment to build and sell with you as part of the joint venture. We also trade properties and do assisted sales where we require funds for improvement of the property before selling.
Our underlying strategy is to provide our partners with a solution that is best for them and their circumstances. We are small enough and flexible enough to make this happen.