In chapter three of my book, I focus your mind on the issue of value. I explain that the value of anything is how much someone who wants to buy is prepared to pay at the time someone else needs to sell. I explain that you are going to need to do a lot of hunting before you find your first bargain. It isn’t all bad news though, because I teach you how to spot the people who need to sell at a discount. I explain that there are people who have other criteria besides getting the highest price – people who sell for many other reasons not related to price at all. You will read all about the different ways you can find the sellers that don’t go to agents, get in ahead of the agents and offer a quick sale. You will also learn about all the different ways of uplifting the value of your property and you will get my favourite calculation, the yield calculator – the way to work out very quickly in your head how much you should buy the house for. Lastly, I will give you a basic spreadsheet list of headings – you should make sure you use a spreadsheet because it will build into a comprehensive record of property values in your area.
MY TOP TEN TIPS ON HUNTING FOR BARGAINS
1. Viewing: you should be prepared to view at least 50 properties before you find one that could work.
2. Estate agents: an excellent source of potential bargains – you just need to spend time building rapport and trust with them. Remember, they are obligated to the vendor, not you.
3. Getting rapport with agents: remember that they are supposed to be getting the best price possible for the vendor. Get to know them as an individual. Buy them lunch or just a coff ee occasionally. Off er them a lift to save them petrol.
4. Sourcing deals: newspaper ads. These can cost a bit but do go direct to sellers.
5. Leaflets: If you do them yourself it is time consuming. If you pay others it is difficult to control.
6. Networking: there are many and varied groups, all of which are worth a try so you can see which one you find the most helpful.
7. Bargains: to find a bargain you need to know your market. Get excellent knowledge of your investment area, find out what sells and at what price. A bargain is something you can buy at a price that is well below what you absolutely know you can sell it for.
8. Creating up-lift: you can do this in a number of ways – upgrading the bathroom and/or kitchen; creating an extra room (e.g. turning a garage into a bedroom); upgrading anything connected to energy efficiency; or putting an extension on the property.
9. Re-mortgaging: when you buy with a mortgage, you are usually forced to wait six months before your lender will let you re-mortgage.
10. Research and valuations: the two best sites for finding values and learning about market movement are Rightmove and Zoopla.
Interested to learn more?
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