| Nicola Cairncross, Cranbrook Legal “Would you like to hear about a property investment strategy that is so effective that it works in a rising, falling or static property market? A strategy that is so simple it can be used in any town, by any investor to acquire a substantial buy-to-let portfolio?(This one is also for you if you want to invest in property confidently and build a portfolio but don’t want to do any of the hard work yourself)Hello there!My name is Nicola Cairncross and I am a London property investment guru.I recently came across two property developers who have built a portfolio of over 170 buy-to-let properties in just two years. Now, one of the main four wealth creation strategies I use with my clients is property investment (including buy-to-let) so I was obviously very interested in what they were doing! I was totally amazed when they took me to lunch and told me – in great detail – how they did it. And that is what I’m going to share with you today – together with details of a great opportunity for those who don’t want to DIY.There are a lot of people interested in getting into the buy-to-let market and, let’s face it, there are an equally high number of companies offering specialist training in property investment generally, and buy-to-let in particular. Many of them are excellent – in particular the Russ Whitney trainings, which I always recommend. There are also many books, videos, and distance learning packages…..all teaching many different methods of getting into the property market.Well, I don’t know about you, but I find all of that a bit overwhelming. Analysis paralysis takes hold and it becomes very difficult to take action.Perhaps you don’t have time to put in the research or view the numbers of properties you feel you should. You may work full time, or run your own business. Or perhaps you don’t have enough money to get started as the deposit, stamp duty and other costs can be quite high. Maybe you are daunted by the thought of dealing with estate agents, vendors, solicitors and builders?Many of the people who join my one year wealth coaching programme The Money Gym join just for the property investment element. They want to know how to become a successful property investor. Here is just one of the testimonials from a happy Gym member: “I think you will be proud of me as I am in the middle of organising my (new) property portfolio. In just six months I will own 7 houses including my surgery. In total with my own house I will have property valued at approx £1.16M. I can’t get my head round that yet and my wife pulled the covers over her head in bed when I told her! All these houses are already tenanted and could stand a small rise (in rent) immediately. The totals are well above the mortgage payments and there is great scope for capital growth.”MR, Manchester Within 10 years maximum, if MR does nothing else, he will be a property millionaire – because property traditionally doubles in value every 10 years. He’s about a quarter of the way there already because all of his properties have risen in value since he bought them.Well, I have to come clean here and admit that MR had some great resources in that he had a lot of equity in his house and business premises and an endowment had just matured – so he had some serious starting capital. Perhaps you are thinking that this could never be you because you only have a little tiny bit to get started with?Well, read on and don’t despair, because not only am I going to tell you how these property developers do it, but not only that, a bit further on in this letter I will share some information with you on how you can own your own buy-to-let property – 100% in your name – within two years, for an investment of just £6500. Not only that, but how you can achieve it without moving out of your armchair.But first, let me share with you the “Top 10 Ways to Invest In Property” by Cranbrook Legal 1.Drive up the value of your existing home by improving it and extending2.Buy shares in a property company through the stockmarket3.Buy property ‘no money down’ as outlined in the Russ Whitney book “From Rags To Riches (Building Wealth Through Real Estate)”4.Invest in property orientated unit trusts – see the AUTIF website for a list5.Buy a ‘reversionary’ property via a company like Cavendish.6.Buying land with or without planning permission, selling it on or developing it yourself7.Buying church properties, old youth club association properties or post offices – anything being sold off cheap by a large property owner and changing it to a ‘higher and better’ use. There were 8,000 rectories and parsonages since 1945 and now the churches are selling off redundant churches. Since 1969, 900 of the country’s 16,000 churches have been sold off, often well under market value. St Saviour’s church in Knightsbridge was sold off at £1.2 million, converted into a house and then sold for £5 million.8.Buy under value, renovate and sell9.Buy at auction – with either 8. or 9. in mind. You should inspect and get any property valued before you bid, and you will need the finance in place to be ready to complete in 28 days10.But perhaps the most attractive, as it generates an ongoing income in addition to appreciating in value, is “Buy to Let”. Especially if you combine it with Top Tip No 8 and then don’t sell!Consider this, ladies!In one of the Guardian Unlimited issues (August 2003), they reported that “Women are more likely to face retirement poverty than men because the majority cannot afford to increase their pension contributions, research claimed today. A report from Age Concern and the Fawcett society, which campaigns for equality for women, found that just 30% of women say they are confident they have a good pension and are saving enough, compared to 46% of men.Fifty-four per cent of women claim they cannot afford to pay more into a scheme. Only one in 10 women said they would increase the amount they saved into a pension if they were given an extra £100 a month, with a quarter saying they would use the extra money to pay off debts or spend it on their children. And almost a quarter of women admit they are relying on their partner to provide for them when they retire, including 20% of people aged 25 to 34.“Women traditionally put everyone – children, husbands, relatives – first. In terms of their financial security, they put everyone before themselves. It’s mostly just what we do. But you can find that this backfires when they reach retirement age. Life gets in the way of retirement planning, with divorces, children who have their own children and lives and the rising cost of retirement care. Who is going to care about you then, if you haven’t even put yourself first, and provided for your old age?I fully intend to develop an expensive taste in purple rinses, pastel velour leisure suits, gold shoes and holidays in Miami Beach by the time I retire and I am depending on no-one else to provide for that!Women know about property. We are usually the final decision maker about which home to buy, most DIY is instigated by us (my mother used to rip the tiles off the bathroom walls herself so that my Dad would get around to retiling them!) and we spend an inordinate amount of time making our homes nice. Which follows that we would know how to make a property attractive to potential tenants – nice, semi-professional tenants.So why aren’t more women investing in buy-to-let? |