Learn what to look for, where to visit, who to speak to and what techniques to use in order to hunt out the lowest and most profitable deals for you and your business partners.

KEY TAKEAWAYS  

Estate agents and letting agents. Estate agents are a wonderful resource. You have to use them somewhere along the line to find your deals. It's all about the relationship you build with them. Most importantly, be completely transparent. 

Script for entering letting agents: "I am acting for investors who want to buy in this area, this is what they're looking for."

Look for Victorian terraced properties. You can convert into HMOs. This will maximise rent roll and return. 

Source houses near hospitals. They're big employers. Areas of regeneration, near motorways. Anywhere we can guarantee a high occupancy.

Only work with cash-rich, highly qualified investors who want to buy for cash and then re-mortgage after the event. This is what I say: "I work with a group of highly qualified, cash rich investors who specifically want to invest in this area. I, or one of my friends are going to buy one of these houses."

Be aware of the type of estate agents you are visiting. If it's a one-man band, owner/drive, that's a really good thing. If it's a really bigger office, maybe they've got half a dozen regional offices, that's great too. If you go to one of the nationals, in one of their national offices, that's a really good thing. All slightly different, all great!

Inspect the leader board within the national offices. If they're at the bottom, they're more likely to offer you everything. They'll fall over themselves to do a deal with you. The cool kids at the top just want to kick sand in the face of everyone else below them in the league, so you'll receive a similar response from them.

Agents have a database of landlords, they may not necessarily want to sell, they may be looking to rent. In every agents' office, there's a hard-core of landlords wanting to get out of the business. The agents know who they are.

If you find a landlord on a downward spiral, looking to exit the business, you can source some great deals for your client investors. Get to know the agents and they'll link you.

Where to find your deals? Direct Mail. 

It works and we love it. You've got to do it right and you've got to do it smart. Who are you going to write to and who are you going to target?

Individual vendors. You can research these yourself or outsource and leverage the task. Find them through the EPC in the estate agents' listing. Have a look through the online portals. You can find addresses, broadband speeds, Google Maps.

Zoopla. They have a choice of tabs at the top. Zoopla has a most reduced tab, the others don't. You can find all the analytics here. Once you've found the relevant information, move to Rightmove Sold, this is the only portal which includes every part of the property's address. This is how you find addresses for your Direct Mail campaign. 

B2B (Business to Business) Letters. Property investors who may want to sell to other property investors. E.g. Landlords with HMOs, you can find a list of them through your local authorities. Some councils will just hand you a printed list, some will give you a few lists. Some are free.

If you see a For Sale sign on a door of a prospective deal, knock on the door! You need to hustle, it's vital.

Referrals/Recommendations. You don't often get a recommendation from one vendor to another about selling or buying a house. It does happen occasionally and when it does, it's really powerful. It's gold dust, cherish it! Develop your relationships.

Social Media. Set up a business page. It's genius, the way the ads can zone in and you can become very bespoke with this. It's very granular. If people have been looking at properties online recently, they'll get targeted with your adverts. It's a very effective way to build your profile.

Networking Events. Business, Property, there are many. Look out for tired landlords who want to sell. Often, if you do well for the landlord, they'll have a few more properties around the corner for you to package too. Tell everyone within 3 foot what you do.

Newspaper Adverts. Don't do it straight away as it can be expensive. Don't pay the rate card rates! There are enough small adverts in the papers to prove that it works. Use them as part of a bigger strategy.

Leaflets. Distribute them yourself! I target no more than 600-700 houses. Hit them every month. These houses are within 200 yards of a hospital. That way I know there will always be NHS workers looking to rent. Consistency is paramount.

Contractors. A lot of small contractors work with local letting agents. They know the unhappy landlords because they identify the properties which are neglected, have voids and attract the wrong tenants.

Bandit Boards. A little bit controversial. They're massive in the States and I think they're going to make a comeback. Check on the local policies on bandit boards from your local authorities.

Sign-Written Cars. There's an example of a Deal Packager sitting in a sign-written car when he gets a tap on the window. Long story short, there's now a £1million+ Joint Venture partnership.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Rightmove

Zoopla

Progressive Property

Deal Packaging Course

Commercial Conversion Course

ABOUT THE HOST

David is a property expert with over 25 years’ experience and his own portfolio of 26 units. His current rent roll is in excess of £10k per month. He is also a partner in a Deal Sourcing and Packaging business in the North West of England and has sourced over 250 properties for investors since 2004. In recent years he has, by necessity, had to develop an expertise in LHA strategies. This area is increasingly becoming a niche for him and he enjoys empowering other landlords by sharing the knowledge he has gained. The ultimate purpose when sourcing properties in this sector for investors is to minimise risk while maximising profit. He has had to find answers to the challenges of Tenant Find, Management, ensuring rents are paid and the transition to Universal Credit. These are strategies he uses in his own business and also on behalf of investors. His investor clients regularly achieve annual gross yields of over 20% with high occupancy rates and voids resolved, sometimes within hours.

CONTACTS

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