My first journey in property started with a vanilla Buy to Let property.

So much was learned on this first attempt, and I wanted it to go as smooth as possible. So I chose a property which needed very little work. It is a fairly new property which only needed cosmetic decorating to bring it up to scratch.

It took around 7 weeks from offer to exchange. All surfaces were painted, and all new carpets. Other small fixes were made, but the updates were mainly cosmetic.

It didn’t take long to let the property for £575, as suggested by the letting agent.

I also managed to negotiate a reduced management fee – from 12%+VAT to 8.5%+VAT, as I had an aim to only give away a total after VAT of 10%. Here are the full stats.

Considering that this is my first attempt, 13.6% isnt a bad return.

I learned so much, and ready to move on to my next project.

I thought obtaining a buy to let would be easy, but that wasn’t the case. Fortunately, the work that I have done now should make the next mortgage applications much easier to get.

Expect to be asked for:

• 3 years SA302 Self Assesement
• 3 years Company Accounts
• 2 utility bills for proof of address
• passport
• Driving licence

I was surprised how difficult it was to get hold of utility bills, but as all of our bills are now found online, I did have problems. Online printouts don’t show your address, so I changed 2 of the bills to paper bills, and used them – this obviously took a few weeks extra.

SA302 – this is a record of your self assessment, and I was asked for 3 years worth. You can obtain this by calling the HMRC and they will send it out to you in the post. Even though self assessment deadline is Jan 31st of the following year, my morgage provider asked me for the latest SA302 in December. This meant I had to complete the self assessment and then request the SA302, adding another 3 weeks on to the application.

So so if you want a buy to let mortgage, make sure your company and personal accounts are in order.

I’ve just been reading about a property investment rule – the ‘One Percent Rule’.

http://affordanything.com/2012/01/25/income-property/

The idea is that the monthly rent has to be at least equal to 1% of the property value.

So a £100,000 house would have to rent for £1000 per month – which would give a gross yield of 12%.

Hhmmmmmm, not in my area they wouldn’t. I would be lucky to get a 6% yield at the moment with current rental rates. It is a nice idea tho.

I’ve just come across a website which gives some great tips and ideas. Mark Fergerson is the owner of the blog, and its refreshing how much detail he is prepared to go into on his experience. He has only been in property development for 3 years but is progressing well.

Aiming for 100 properties

http://investfourmore.com/2013/05/01/my-plan-to-purchase-100-rental-properties-by-january-of-2023-part-one-of-two/

How property has enabled him to buy a Lamborghini Diablo

http://investfourmore.com/2014/07/01/able-buy-lamborghini-diablo-real-estate-business/

Unfortunately some of his ideas are related to America, so I’m on the lookout for a similar blog for the UK.

This is a property investment blog from a complete beginner.

I am very new to property investment, in fact, so new that I don’t actually have any investment properties at the moment. This will change in the very near future as I have recently made an offer on my first property.

My journey in investment property starts here, and so this blog starts with me.