“I bought my first house when I was 18!”

Sarah Bain, a 21 year old property manager from Formby, bought her first investment property at 18. She is now the proud owner of nine residential investment properties in Liverpool with a market value of approximately £720k.

Sarah has just exchanged contracts on a property in the Kensington Regeneration Area for £170k. This property is divided into four one bedroom flats with an annual rental income of £18,720.00. Shrewd little investment Sarah…Well done!

Sarah today has sale agreed a purchase on a three bed semi in the Huyton area for £89k which she intends to rent back to the current owners at £550.00 pcm.

“The first thing I did was find a good mortgage broker who understood the buy to let market and also the problems facing young people getting started. One stumbling block was most lenders would only lend to people who were 21 or over on certain property types e.g.: HMO’s (houses in multiple occupation) or houses divided into flats. After hours of discussion with my broker we decided interest only finance was the best option for me at my age, this insured that my monthly payments where kept to a minimum and in most cases the rent covers the mortgage payments.

”I feel confident in the long term; capital appreciation will more than cover any borrowings should I choose to sell.”

Sarah has advanced her career into property management, she operates SB Property Management Services from 71 Moss Lane, Orrell Park, Liverpool L9 8AE and has attracted landlord customers from all over the UK and Southern Ireland and manages a collective portfolio of over 100 properties. Sarah says the no1 reason for her success in the property management business is her hands on approach as she still personally inspects every new property and interviews all prospective rental clients.

“Nothing is risk free, but so far I have seen a 20% growth in value of my property portfolio in just three years”, she added.

Sarah’s advice:

• Organise your finance in advance.
• Know and understand the rental potential.
• Hunt out the bargains.
• Get the property inspected thoroughly by the professionals.
• Get yourself a pro active property manager.
• Sit back and reap the rewards.
• Do the maths. Make sure you’re confident you can achieve predicted rental income and this fits with your lenders criteria.
• The tenant - do your homework, make sure there is more than enough tenants in the area who can afford and want rent your new investment.
• Know the pitfalls - Your rent is never guaranteed, neither are interest rates. Boilers don’t last forever and some tenants don’t treat your property as you would.
• Build in a reserve fund for repairs, voids and the unexpected.
• Consider how hands on you want to be. By managing the property yourself you can save approximately 10% of the rental income. If you choose this option be prepared to give up weekends and evenings because you will be arranging viewings organising repairs and have full responsibility for rent collection. Believe me this can be a scary experience.

Future.

Sarah’s plan is to continue investing in the Liverpool area whilst building up her residential portfolio she also intends to move into the commercial market. She has her heart set on acquiring solid retail/office/industrial investments.

Summary.

Taking all the pitfalls into account I have found property investing very exciting, interesting, challenging, a great opportunity to meet new people and hopefully profitable.

Contact

Sarah is available by appointment only during office hours to share and or help any prospective or established landlords in any way she can. She can be contacted on 0151 525 0033. Or by email at: sbpropertymanagement@hotmail.co.uk