The Tenancy Deposit Scheme is working with Property Tribes, the U.K.’s leading landlord & investor community, in a raft of activities to promote deposit protection.

April is a themed month of deposit protection content and information in a special “pop up” category that will run throughout the month, powered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

TDS will be populating this category with information to help landlords understand the importance of deposit protection and ensure they get it right from the start of the tenancy.

Steve Harriott, Chief Executive of TDS said “I am delighted that Property Tribes is dedicating this month to raising awareness of tenancy deposit protection. As a not for profit organisation TDS spends a lot of time helping people understand deposit protection and encouraging them to take advantage of the benefits it brings; higher standards, greater transparency, and better relationships between landlords and tenants.

“We are very aware that landlords have concerns about deposit protection and unintentionally falling foul of the law. The expert information we are sharing with the Property Tribes community this month is invaluable for landlords and it is a great opportunity for them put questions to us directly.”

Nick Tadd, co-founder of Property Tribes commented:  “Since its inception in 2009, Property Tribes has always been about best practice and helping landlords understand their legal obligations, ensuring compliance at all times.

We are delighted to be working with TDS on this special themed month to highlight the important issue of deposit protection.  Educating landlords is a crucial role of our community, and having TDS as part of that process is a big step forwards for us.  We have found that themed months really concentrate the “hive mind” on a particular topic, giving great exposure to our sponsors”.

Following the themed month of April, TDS will continue to be involved with Property Tribes for a further 5 months, powering a “Question of the month” to keep deposit protection at the forefront of landlords minds.

The campaign will include deposit protection information, video interviews, event details, and help and advice for landlords with deposit protection questions and issues.

Visit the themed month category here.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog titled:  Route Map for novice investors – 7 simple steps to get started in p…

I was inspired to write it because I speak to many people who have cash standing by, a BTL mortgage agreed, have been on numerous courses & seminars …. but, when it comes to buying something, they just don’t know where to start!

I remember when I was a newbie, back in 2004.

Nick and I were keen to get going, so we decided to start investing in North London as it was an area I knew well and we knew the transport links were great and that demand for tenants was high.  We were nervous but excited and knew we had to take massive action to get the ball rolling!

Highbury used to be stigmatised because it was the place where all London’s rubbish got re-cycled.  That had kept prices depressed.  But the recycling plant was being demolished … and the Emirates Stadium would soon be in its place.

We decided to go for a one bed flat and, despite being very busy with TV projects, we booked a day with an estate agent to view several so that we could get a feel for the market and what the value for money was.

Our final visit was to a tiny flat just off Holloway Road.  It was in a nice looking block, with gated entry, and allocated parking.  It was 5 mins. walk from Holloway Road Tube Station and 10 mins walk from Highbury and Islington Tube station.

When we arrived at the flat, we couldn’t open the door because so much post was stuck behind it!  (Clue:  it had been empty for a long time).

The flat itself was filthy – never been cleaned by the look of it .. ever.  The estate agent said it had been owned by a young man who had moved to Oxford to start a new job and was keen to sell.  The lounge was orange and lime Yuk!!

The carpet was old and smelly and there were iron burns on it!

The bathroom …. well, you wouldn’t want to spend any time in there at all.  Double YUK!!

But we saw the potential.  A super little flat in a great location.

It was on the market for £165K.

We put in an offer for £147K.  The estate agent was horrified and said that it was an insult.  We reminded her that she was obliged to put forward our offer.

And guess what?  The vendor accepted it straight away!!

We did a two week refurb, spent about £6K on redecorating to neutrals and taupes, new carpets, and a new luxury bathroom.  The bathroom was internal so we had glass bricks inserted along the top to let light in.  We added storage.  It looked like a luxury hotel suite when we had finished.

It’s never been empty and is always the cheapest entry level flat in the area.

The perfect pied-a-terre!

What I learned:

1.  Find the demand, before creating the supply.

2.   Don’t be afraid to put in a cheeky offer.

3.  Look for potential.  (Perhaps start with “cosmetic” refurbs before embarking on huge projects?).

4.  Size doesn’t matter.

5.  Would I want to live there myself?  (I would have happily lived in this flat!).

6.  Location, location, location.

7.  Parking is paramount in London.

8.  Look for walkability – shops, restaurants, bars, transport links … all within a 5 min. walk.

9.  It’s not that scary to do a deal.

10.  Look for I.C.I … investment, communication, infrastructure.

If you are interested in hearing about other Landlord’s first deals, join the discussion on Property Tribes >>> here.

Vanessa Warwick
Follow me on Twitter:  @4_walls

Vanessa Warwick is a former TV presenter, turned professional Landlady, consultant, and speaker.  Along with her husband Nick Tadd, she founded Property Tribes, which is now the U.K.’s busiest on-line Landlord and investor community.  Nick and Vanessa have just launched their new tech product, Yulpa, an on-line “property office/filo-fax” that helps you organise and manage your entire property life in one place.  It comes with an iPhone app that does auto due diligence on any property being considered for purchase.  They also created Property Tribes Trading Post as a place where property people can trade and list products and services for the Landlord community.

Vanessa and Nick advocate the use of technology and digital and social communications in property, and speak at events all over the U.K. as well as consulting for the BBC on property.  They invest mainly in flats London and family houses in the South East and are also big advocates of holiday lets, having two upmarket holiday lets on the South Coast that achieve above-average occupancy thanks to the couple’s web efforts and vertical marketing strategies.

Vanessa is ranked by WeFollow as the 11th most influential person in U.K. property on Twitter.

Yulpa can help take some of the strain and pain away from being a Landlord, and support you in running a professional and systemised business.  We offer a free 14 day trial to get you on your way.

Over on the Property Tribes forum, there are so many great Landlord contributors to learn from that I thought it high time that I should “curate” some of their wisdom in an easily digestible form.

My first Landlord to get this treatment is Jonathan Clarke, of Milton Keynes.

Jonathan first became involved in property investment in 1983 and his strategy has evolved over the years.

He’s one of those people who, whenever I read what he’s written, I think “Damn.  I wish I had written that!”.  He has such a pragmatic and intelligent view on everything, and it is obvious that there is tremendous humanity in the way he approaches his property business.  It was really hard to choose just three of his many brilliant and insightful contributions, but I came up with these:

In this excerpt from a post written in January 2011, Jonathan explains how he approached investing in property.

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

1) Educate Myself  – Watch , Read , Talk , Network,  Listen,  Absorb

2) Get my Mindset right –  Scaredy Cat into a Fearless Lion

3) Action – Get stuck in and get down in the dirt and take a few bruises

4) Review – Adjust – Adapt. Make mistakes.  That`s life –

5) Don’t be  cry baby.  Pick yourself up. Re-join the game stronger fitter and wiser.

6) Repeat Steps 1 to 5

I invest in  Buy To Let  Houses and Flats ranging from 1 bed to 4 beds. The 2 bed houses/flats I prefer.

I occasionally pay cash but more often than not get a 80% LTV BTL mortgage ( used to be 85%)

I invest now ( not always in the past) purely for cash flow and aim principally for the Hard Core LHA market.

I aim for 10% yield and to borrow at around 5% and make 20% ROI. Double that if we get a bit of capital growth one day

The LHA rates where I am are  pcm – 1 bed £525  2 bed  £650  3 bed  £750  4 bed £1050

Prices I would pay are between 1 bed 65K and 4 bed 125K.

I look to cash flow each £300 pcm net.

I look for BMV beat up properties with not enough in them to attract a developer/trader  but a bit too much wrong with them to attract the soft core or novice investor.

I then will leave them as they are for now and find a tenant to match on the same day as completion.

I will aim to get access between exchange and completion for the tenant to make it habitable and then move in on same day as completion.  This cuts down voids to the bare bones.

I find  tenants who  are  motivated to move in as it is. They have come to me in the past from a hostel, their mates sofa, their rehab unit, local mental health facility,  their tent, their car, their ex partners, the street.

It may look a wreck to you and me but to them it’s a palace and freedom and a fresh start.

I aim to find a tenant who has property maintenance skills or knows someone who does and a positive attitude towards doing it up in return for a roof over their head.

I let them do what ever they want to it to make it more habitable. Flexibility is the key.

Sometimes they pay for everything sometimes I pay for just for parts.  I use my interpersonal skills to negotiate a good deal for them and a better deal for me.

I have had kitchens /bathrooms/water tanks/radiators/carpets/laminate/redecoration all for nothing.

I put a lot of time and energy but little cost in getting the set up right at the outset. It pays dividends long term.

Someone has just left me after 5 years. I had just £300 maintenance costs during that period. I visited him once a year.

My tenants stay with me long term. If their circumstances changed they tend to stay with me.

4,5,6 years is common. I upgrade or downsize them to order. I’ve had 5 in a house chain once!

I aim to use one of the LHA vulnerability criteria to enable payment to be made to me direct from the council. A support worker assists me with this.

I am not a social service but I believe in giving someone a home if they repay me in looking after it and sorting out  the paperwork effectively

It’s a symbiotic relationship. I scratch their backs they scratch mine. I set the boundaries and the ground rules.

I have an odd bunch of several `past their sell by date` eccentric but experienced one man band multi skilled maintenance staff. All self employed.

I have young keen up and coming lads who turn out at midnight but don’t know what a call out charge is!

I have a list of 24hr call out back ups for emergencies heating/plumbing/electrical.

Spread the load so you are never caught out.

I oversee everything personally. No one but you has your best interests at heart. Be a control freak.

Put your heart and soul into it but don’t go for burn out.

Take time out to relax and revitalise.

Have an end game.

This is an extract from a post where Jonathan gave some advice to a new investor.  I love his analogy of the “property buffet”.

My starting point is  simply a love of  property.

Think of it as an all you can eat buffet. The first time you go you fill your plate up as high as you can with everything because you think you will miss out if you don’t. The plate overflows everything gets a bit soggy and you spill gravy over the side.  After your 5th buffet you realise you don’t have to cram it all on your plate at the first visit. You can stand back before you dive in – select exactly what you want –  see it better arranged on the plate. Enjoy the food more.  And if you are still hungry you can go back for more and more and more. You can select something different if you don’t like the  taste or you can have the same as before. What do you want from the buffet?  What’s your taste?

High yield or Long term Capital growth

Self manage or letting agent

Source your own or buy in a sourcer

Get your tool kit out or call the plumber to do fix that leak

Drive 100 miles to your property or 7 mins on your doorstep

Burn the midnight oil with your books or pass that pleasure on to the accountant

Private tenants or LHA

25% BMV every time or happy with 10%

Abroad or Domestic market

BTL or BTS

Add value or buy pretty

Cash or max out on LTV

Give up your day job or have it as a sideline

10 year goal or 50 year goal

Never sell or sell in 50yrs

Risk adverse or fly by the seat of your pants

Ex local authority  or spanking new state of the art flats

Holidaylets or HMO  ( neither for me (yet) !)

Positive mindset or the world will cave in tomorrow

Can’t stand talking to people or love to meet them

Can’t grasp the numbers or a wizard with a calculator

Procrastinator or do a deal on the spot merchant

Honest and true or Shady and slippery

Fix rate for 5 years or variables all day long

Get your hands dirty or wont shift fromyour suit / T shirt and jeans

Full time hands on 24/7 or armchair investor

The buffet is endless. What’s your taste? You decide. Start eating.

Satisfy your hunger. Enjoy your meal

PS. My plate consists of those underlined form the menu above. Yours may be different and that’s fine.

There is food for all in the property buffet.     Yummy 

In this thread, What has been the proudest moment in your property investing career?, Jonathan made this heart-warming contribution:

Whenever I hand over the keys to a new tenant and I see the smile on their face as they relish the prospect of a new home and a new hope for themselves. They are not palaces by any stretch of the imagination. But many may come to me from their friend’s sofa, their aggressive partners, rehab, a hostel, a cramped bed-sit with their baby, a bad landlord.

It makes me happy to provide a safe home for them. The relief and joy on their face is palpable.

They don’t know it yet but I like to think they have found a good landlord. In time I will prove that to them.

For now though they just want to decorate and then sleep!  I allow them that freedom. I already have mine.

“I allow them that freedom. I already have mine”. 

What a profound note to end this blog on, don’t you think?

If you would like to know more about Jonathan, he was interviewed by the Property Tribes community in a “Spotlight Profile” >>> here.

Happy Landlording!

Vanessa Warwick
Follow me on Twitter:  @4_walls

Vanessa Warwick is a former TV presenter, turned professional residential Landlord, consultant, and speaker. Along with her husband Nick Tadd, she founded Property Tribes, which is now the U.K.’s busiest on-line Landlord and investor community. Nick and Vanessa have just launched their new tech product, Yulpa, an on-line “property office/filo-fax” that helps you organise and manage your entire property life in one place. It comes with an iPhone app that does auto due diligence on any property being considered for purchase.

Vanessa and Nick advocate the use of technology and digital and social communications in property, and speak at events all over the U.K. as well as consulting for the BBC on property. They invest mainly in flats London and family houses in the South East and are also big advocates of holiday lets, having two upmarket holiday lets on the South Coast that achieve above-average occupancy thanks to the couple’s web efforts and vertical marketing strategies.