Has your property investment got a PG rating? 🍿 #personalguarantee Doesn’t that sound reassuring in this game! ⚔️🤕 Not too much drama 🙈🦵 No gratuitous scenes 💪🌏 You have the power to decide whether it’s suitable Except a Personal Guarantee is far more complex. It does NOT guarantee you will regain your capital, no matter what the intentions. 👉 Tough reminder time: ✅ Read the small print ✅ Ask yourself why a PG has become your reassuring exit strategy for this deal. Has

Can we talk risky language? 👀😯 I know what I made that sound like, I’ll keep it strictly PG today 😂 Wait, did I say PG?? Well, exactly. The ‘Personal Guarantee’ aka PG. One of the things so many investors trip up on is the VAGUE, NOT ALWAYS BINDING and THEREFORE NON RISK-MITIGATING language which is sometimes used by those raising capital for their property projects. Unfortunately a PG does not GUARANTEE you against loss…although it does sound reassuring 😂😂😂 👉 It doesn

What’s worse than showing up overdressed to a date? 😬💃 Erm…not having made ANY EFFORT AT ALL because you thought it wasn’t worth it 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️… Then...that moment when they strut through the door and you can only ask yourself WHY? Why did I not at least...brush my hair? 👱🏻‍♀️ #truestory Another truth is how similar dating is to finding investment 🌹👀💸 😎 Too keen / not keen enough… the challenge of finding the balance 😅 👋 Grabbing at your assets before it’s

How do you make decisions? ☕️ I was asked this question very early on in my property development investing journey. And why were they asking? 👉 Because there is always more than one strategy which could work. COULD work…🧐🧐🧐 👉 Making decisions in property often involves a lot of 💰 and often two years of engagement! 👉 We are always secretly searching for something, for me that’s P E A C E 😌 So how do I make decisions? S L O W L Y 🐢 And I ask myself these questions: ❓Do

If you were to consult your own personal ‘Principals of Investing’ before going in on a deal, what would they be? 🤔 In this month’s Property Investor News, I talk about my ’10 Principals of Investing’ ALL of which I have gained through deep (and sometimes unwelcome!) experience 😅 Given YOUR experience, what would be yours? ✍️☝️ Number 8 on my list is BELIEFS #yesss One of my favourite NewYorker cartoons is by illustrator Ellis Rosen of a compère in a boxing ring doing his t

What skills do you really, actually need in property? ⚔️🛡 My recent post on being TOUGH 💪🏽 in property prompted some REALLY great comments (thank you all 🙏🏽) My favourites were Michelle Gamble: 'If I can succeed in this, anyone can. It's all about who you are internally, not what position you hold.' [Michelle’s hasn’t had to use her specialist skill of castration - yet - but it sounds like a great one to drop into conversation 🤣😲 see the post below if you missed it!] A

HUGE congratulations to Paul Heming and Liam Curley of Own The Build podcast, on their 5️0th Epsiode 🥳🙌🏽👏🏽 In this milestone episode, I join the chaps to discuss how I got into property investing and my experience transferring from finance to real estate. We also discuss how developers should best manage investor relationships and why it is critical to a project going well - as well as to getting repeat investment! I was introduced to them by my fellow #propertysistersuk

How tough do you have to be in property? Recently I’ve been having a stab at writing up and sharing my very own Principles of Investing [more to come! 🎬📜😬] It was hard at times not to feel like I was lending someone armour and saying ‘Right! Put this on. Now, you’ll need this dagger…and if you have a pocket, here’s a mystical potion to help you on your journey. And a lock of my hair should you need extra strength… 😂⚔️🛡🍶🔮🏔🤣 Property newcomers - also seasoned property

👉 You have to fight for your money 👈 #investors I wish it wasn’t the case. But when it comes to being taken for a ride by an evasive property developer, it’s not going to work for you to keep taking their excuses ⛔️💰 😡 They’ll continue moving the date 😡 You’ll be last on the list of priorities 😡 They’ll find the money for those people who cause the most noise 🗣 I’m talking about this because for so many lovely investors I know, the idea of ‘fighting’ anyone or having t

When I spoke to @richardbowser at the beginning of this year about having a monthly article in the Property Investor News, I had to give him a little heads up… 😂 ‘It’s not all going to be property investment tips or money-making FYI! I want to talk RISK, and MINDSET!’ He was happy as Larry. Not because there’s anything wrong with talking about investment strategy, but because a) I didn’t want to rewrite what other people already do so well and b) I feel what so many of us ne

🍄Don’t treat your investors like M-U-S-H-R-O-O-M-S! 🍄 Yes, mushrooms! The ones with big heads that like to be fed and then kept in the dark… That is NOT your investors! 😣 I don’t know if it’s sometimes the profile of a property developer. They are fast starters, high risk-takers, and are brilliant at spotting opportunities. But…what then? Leave everyone who’s supported this project hanging? If you put yourself in your investors’ shoes, how would it feel to put your faith -

Ahead of 🎓 The Property Graduate 🎓 contestants about to compete on our screens tomorrow night (Aaahhh can't wait 🤩🤩🤩, details at the bottom!) I wanted to talk about... 🧠 Instinct. The 'i' in my favourite four-letter word. Despite some repeated (and not that helpful) property content out there, I don't believe in the message of 'you've either got it, or you haven't.' The question ISN'T whether you have it, it's: Are you LISTENING to it? 🤪 ➡️ We ALL have 'instinct;' an i

One of my favourite subjects, sleep 😴 I know it's only Wednesday 😂 but in this industry, any night of the week could be sleepless. [My new film Sleepless in Real Estate is out soon, watch this space 👀🎬, we just need a convincing male lead 😅 anyone?] 1. Build costs 2021... with the pandemic, Brexit and sustainability concerns, build costs can start as one price and arrive as another. Cue timber 'shortages' eg simply unaffordable. How do you plan for that? 2. Planning. Pos

I look at each investment in terms of where they sit in my portfolio. This will always determine at the end of the day whether I invest. It's not just the deal. If I’m feeling exposed already in a certain area, it's highly likely I won’t want to put a new one in there that increases RISK in that area. Like equity, for example. But let's not get into where those are at right now in my world 🙈 Just like Deborah Meaden (😏) we get to know the kind of deals she might go for, bas

A project with a big heart, a PURPOSE, really makes us sit up and listen. It channels our concentration and makes us really try to find a solution to help make it happen. As an Angel Investor, it’s not all returns, we focus on USE and VALUE. In Episode 3 of this series of Property Elevator we had a presentation by a young man looking to buy a property and develop a new childcare home with our help. With no development experience, you could tell he was nervous, but his idea wa

‘You say no to EVERYTHING!’ said @JohnHoward to me while we were filming Property Elevator 😅 Recently I’ve been talking about my particular approach to risk, and why some ‘decent-looking’ deals still don’t make me bite 🍔 In summary, here’s why: The downside is not worth the extra few percent projected return. Well, there’s more: ➡️ They don’t have a proper EXIT strategy. No viable plan B. Or C. ➡️ There’s major risk they haven’t analysed. ➡️ They’ve overblown the potential,

‘What I’m hearing is costs, costs, costs.’ This was my response 🤨 In last week’s episode, we had an experienced rent-to-rent property professional wanting to do a new Serviced Accommodation deal in Brighton. When someone wants to go for a new strategy (as in new to them), it can be a while before they really tot up all the 💷 upfront costs 💷 of getting the project going. 🙏 And in some cases, by then, they are personally invested and don’t want to let go of the idea 😫🙏 ❗️

I think I shall claim this quote! I find myself saying it almost weekly at the moment to developers. Here’s the scenario: They’ll present a project, which by (almost) all appearances is a ‘decent’ project. It’s a ‘decent’ project with a ‘decent’ return. But then we look PROPERLY at the potential headaches. Or I do. And that ‘decent’… isn’t even a ‘decent’ anymore 😐 And then there’s my question. Why go to all that effort, when not only are the returns not extraordinary, but t

Nobody has 12 hats. Or nobody wears them all at the same time! In property we’re expected to wear a few different ones. As an investor, I’m wearing a few myself: 🤝 JV Partner 💱 Trader 💃 Networker ⚖️ Economist 🤓 Risk Assessor 😅 Therapist…! But when you’re just piling the responsibility onto yourself to cover every role and base in a project, you’re going to get into deep water. You may SOUND like a force to be reckoned with, but an experienced investor (the type you want)

What does OPM stand for? ‘Other people’s money.’ OPM. #realestate As catchy as this phrase is in real estate, can I just say I hate it. 😠 To me, this phrase does, and always has, conveniently removed a CLEAR BOUNDARY that absolutely needs to be there. It’s about respecting the seriousness of the undertaking, and having an intention to respect all parties, and their money. It’s also about mindset. OPM, especially when presented as a shiny strategy, dilutes the responsibility