Hey everyone! 👋
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​What an exciting and crazy few weeks (as usual) in the world of property. My buy to let is now rented out to a lovely family. The average cost in the area to rent is about £650 for a nice home, mine had 75 enquiries and ended up going off the market at £780pcm.

It's a great area, lovely schools nearby so with the current market, and quality of the home - worth it. I also made sure whoever I put in the house would have enough income to be able to ride the waves of the energy increases this year both tomorrow on April 1st, and again in October.

I did have a few applicants on very low income, but it wouldn't be responsible giving them a house which would be 60 - 70% of their income without factoring in bills, council tax and energy bills, so a smart move to fully vet my applicants and understand their jobs, income and situations to best protect them and protect my investment into the property as well.

Everything is automated via GoCardless that collects the direct debits, so it's nice to see rent finally coming into the company bank account!

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Finding a personal home

I'm hoping to look at investment property number 2 later this year, at the moment we're looking at a new personal home up in Sheffield, the golden postcodes there are on fire with properties going well above asking price. We spoke to a broker and strategist in the area who said there's a lot of consultants and 6 figure earners who are just spending silly money on houses.

We viewed 3 homes, and put 10% over asking on each one (they still stacked after considering GDV after extensions / refurbs).
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We've been top picking or second picking so at least our offers are firstly strong, and secondly in the right ballpark. We did actually bid the highest at £640k on one property, but the vendors were acting very irrationally and giving prefernece to another bidder who they hastily accepted via the online platform after 12 hours of being on the market and they felt an uncecessary loyalty to them after their hasty mistake, they went for a £630k offer even though we were offering £10 - £15k more, but goes to show - you could have the best bid, but vendors still make crazy decisions either through being embarassed through their own mistakes or other underlying issues. Both unchained offers with mortgage, similar position so not like it was a cash offer.

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Here's 3 examples of how crazy the market is right now

Property 1 Listed for £580k - We were highest bidders @ 640k - Lost
​The vendors acted strange from the start on this one, we offered up to £645k & substantiated it as the highest offer, but vendors weren't interested and went for £630k, unsubstantiated, no difference (mortgage & unchained), the estate agents tried so hard to change the vendors mind as they preferred us and couldn't understand it themselves, the agents revealed a lot of info to me that they shouldn't but both us and estate agent speechless at the vendors decision. You can do everything right - but still lose a great property due to strange, unlogical decisions.

Property 2 Listed for £425k- 2nd Highest Bid @ £470k - Lost
​Great do-er upper. Worth about £580 - £600k after a side and back extension, but needed 120k+ on refurb. Highest bidder was tens of thousands above us so happy for them to take it at a loss. Estate agents also recommended us as the best bidder as the top person was quite frantic. This could possibly fall through so maybe a call will come through in a few weeks when they get a down valuation.
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We created a great relationship with the estate agent off the back of this which is better than anything else, they'll be rooting for us on future bids with a preference on viewings because they know we'll put in a solid offer. Relationships matter in this market!

Property 3 Listed for £525k - Highest bidder @ 560k - Best and finals next week.

We might stick to our guns on this one at £560k, maybe at a push go up a bit but happy to let this one go for higher and wait it out, or in the chance nobody actually submits a best and final when they see the disclosed £560k price, the location is a little further away from where we want to be. Our bid was the disclosed one to all bidders for best and finals so maybe we went in too high to start on this one.

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🏡 1-1 Coaching

My coaching has been live for a while, it's been great meeting a few of you and going through your property plans.

I'm offering a 1-step-ahead one off or regular coaching to help you get off the ground.

I get it, you're feeling a little bit frustrated, not quite sure where to go and how to start in the world of property.

This is about giving you clarity on your problems. I can't change your life in an hour, but I can give you clarity, direction and challenge you on your problems, concerns and challenges by injecting my business, financial and property knowledge.

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​Let's help you get started in the world of property investing, realise your goals and build a wildly successful business 🚀

​🚀 Book 1-1 Beginners Coaching​

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🏡 Property Latest

Some facinating data from Zoopla that I wanted to share

You can see, starting from 100% normal levels, since the pandemic, demand has shot up and still remained really high, still about 50% above normal. Later this year things are expected to cool a bit due to the war, cost of living crisis but due to high levels of buyer demand as more supply comes on the market at this time of year, house prices will remain very stable and still increase.
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I suspect we'll go from 'very hot' to 'hot' market which will barely be any different, it will still feel like a mad house trying to get a property.

Northern cities leading the charts at the moment on price increases as we've seen the past few years now so a good time to get in.

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That's it for this month!

If you're having property issues, get in touch and lets chat or drop me a DM or voice note on Instagram, always happy to help.

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Matt