>> 30/07/2009
Many years ago I learnt a valuable lesson. I was told the following; 'When you see a person standing on a mountain summit, pause before you cast aspersions and remember they had to climb up there'.
This tempered my thinking inasmuch as it has greatly influenced me in the decisions and various directions I have taken in life.Why am I telling you this! Because it has a direct bearing on some decision you will, or have already made; to become rich as a property developer. Oh I don't mean owning half of Westminster, but rather whether you want one student letting property or a chain of hotels. This principle will quickly form the basis on which you will succeed, and succeed you will.
I make no promises nor guarantee's, you will become richer than you are today. It will be fun and sometimes you will pull your hair out, but if you are going to climb that mountain you will have to rely on yourself and develop your own style and motivation. There are ten million sites on GooGle, ( I just checked), so I'm not going to tell you what most of the others try to say. I offer my personal experiences including some failures as well, and I do so with integrity and the hope that you will take those first steps.
Access The Wealth of Information at PROPERTIES4AUCTION.COM!The first time
I seriously considered buying into the investment property market, I was unaware of the level of commitment needed to overcome the many pitfalls that will surface in these early times.There are many 'books' on the subject of 'how to make millions in property', and to be truthful there is nothing new. It is a practice that has been going on for centuries. The formula is buy cheap and sell high. That hasn't changed, what has changed is this, many more investors are in the market place and there is greater stress to get to those “golden properties”.
I believe that one area where advice is lacking is about you, what makes you tick , what makes you think you have what it takes. Remember this, it is a very individual thing and wrong decisions in the early days will cost you dearly in cash and relationship stress! The harsh reality is the actual amount of time you will be required to put in to a property either in physical work or in coping with mistakes made by others
Now assuming you are hungry for “secrets” I will give you an example of one transaction that I made several years ago. I viewed a self-contained flat situated over a shop in the high street of a small town within commuting distance of Edinburgh, Scotland.
It consisted of a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. I bought the following: bed and bedding, 2 flat pack chairs, set of shelves, cooker and separate oven, kitchen table and 2 chairs, flat screen TV, and three sets of ready made curtains, and new floor covering for kitchen and bathroom.I then scheduled the delivery and installation of kitchen/bathroom additions set to be done all on the same day.
It was a very quick turn around and I estimated 72 hours to complete.
In fact, I arrived on Friday afternoon armed with paint and cleaning materials. Saturday morning, the first one in was the carpet layer, whilst he was working I drove to a flat pack store and collected what I had ordered, and the rest followed as planned. To cut it short, I was driving home 24 hours later, flat completed and on the market. On Monday morning, phone call received and property sold!! I made £25, 000 pounds for 36 hours work!!
I've covered this in more detail in my book, along with other successes and yes, a few dismal failures as well.
To show you my 'warts and all' I will tell you about a 'real lemon'. I was in the United States and decided to buy unseen a 3 bed detached house in Flint, Michigan. I had called the auctioneer and made a 'silly' reserve of $100.00!! On the day, I had an open line to the auctioneer. He started with my bid and the room was silent! I got the property! That should have told me something, the property was at auction for unpaid county taxes. That should have told me something else.? How much was owed in back taxes. Two important questions I should have found answers to.
I drove from Los Angeles to Michigan arriving at 3 a.m. I had to pick up the key from the agent at 9, so drove to the property, mistake 1. Pulled up at the address and got out, mistake 2.The grounds were overgrown, rubbish strewn all over, verandah with rotting boards and guttering hanging down with growth life established since the dark ages. The front door was open, mistake 3. The interior was even worse, rubbish and broken furniture blocked my way and my nostrils recalled the stink of well established damp and decay, walls crumbled, windows missing, wiring handing from remains of a ceiling crying out to join the remainder which has already migrated to the piles of rubbish.I didn't venture upstairs, a final quick wander around the outside and cursory scan of neighboring properties was enough, switched off the torch and got back into the car and left Michigan.
Two months later it was back in the auction – for back taxes! Well,I wasn't about to throw good money to the government after bad! So, I want to make the point that it's all about making decisions and being flexible and finding solutions to sticky and unforsceen problems. It is important to always think on your feet.
There is a lot to uncover, that's why I wrote the book.
Other topics covered in my book include:
Market forces and economic climate.
Locations.
Desire and motivation.
Lifestyle Health and Motivation.
Legalese and conveyancing.
Surveys and legal packs.
Money and how to use it.
'There's money in bricks and mortar'. (copyright Daniel Boyle) 2009.
Contact me: bricksandmortar@inbox.com
