Are you coming to the Property Investment Masterclass Tuesday night? Accelerate your knowledge to invest in Clapham and Brixton

Property Masterclass - investment special! - Tuesday 26th January 8pm-10pm Come and learn all about real investors and how they buy property, using finance, their own money or other people's money! Good line up as usual. FREE as usual and some refreshments WINE for the brave non-conformist types.... Urban Village 121 Denmark Hill SE5 8EN - near kings college hospital and Denmark Hill station Tuesday 26th January '16 8-10pm Here's the lineup:

Paul Simms explains some advanced techniques for purchasing properties - including strategies to obtain 100% financing and ways to avoid new stamp duty increases. Paul has been investing and developing property since 2013 and has built a large HMO and development portfolio without having to use his own funds or give up his day job. psimms@eyeforpharma.com https://uk.linkedin.com/in/psimms

Jeroen Hoppe from the Clapham Property Blog www.claphampropertyblog.com giving real and recent examples of local sales, lets and  buy to lets. Do's and don'ts. jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com

Daryl Weston of Discover Property buying agents - specialists in property acquisition, development and investment. Working exclusively for buyers, their extensive network of industry contacts enable them to source the best properties on and off-market. daryl@discover-property.co.uk

Last but not least our resident finance guru Brian Northfield of Barlow Barton. Advising clients since 1974. Has the insider knowledge on finance and looking after your wealth in general - or at least striving towards wealth! Brian@barlowbarton.co.uk

Very happy and settled in the new agency. So far we've let 6 properties and have 2 sales underway. It's been terrific. Lots of positive ideas and plans for 2016. I found a Saturday person, thanks for your help! See you all on the 26th! Suzanne@urbanvillagehomes.com

Mass exodus of Buy To Let landlords in Clapham & Brixton - glad you're not joining the masses!

Another day and another paper. And another articles which spells out DOOM and GLOOM for the housing sector. This time it's a "woe is me" for buy to let investors. Increased taxation, stamp duty surcharges and so on and so on. There's no money in Buy to Let if you read (and believe) all the journalists have to offer. I can't comment on the brilliance (or perhaps lack of) of the journalism itself, I certainly beg to differ.

Many of my savvier client landlords are currently rushing into the market with enthusiasm. Speaking to one of my bigger clients he exclaimed "I'm completing on two this week, find me another two, quick, before 1st April!"

http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-houseprices-rics-idUKKCN0UZ0IG

He's not alone. If you read the article you'll see that many investors are rushing to get their savings; after all a deal will have to be 3% better in a few months for it to be worth the same to an investor.

A push from the government to push stock towards end user buyers as opposed to property traders. A push to perhaps slow the market? Personal thoughts are that rents will rise. Buy to let still remains a solid investment vehicle and the increased purchase costs will simply have a negative effect on "investment ripe" properties; think the probates and the doer uppers of the world. The reduction of mortgage interest deduction from the tax bill will certainly be a steady driver of rents (in the upward direction of course).

I certainly feel that long-term, it will not have an adverse effect on investors. This presents new opportunities as small-fry (accidental and otherwise) landlords leave the market. If you are a well-informed landlord and have help from the professionals around you (most advice is available free of charge, all you have to do is ask) there should be no reason NOT to invest more in to buy to let. You will certainly get a good capital growth, but buy well and you can replace your salary within 2 years.

A client of mine recently purchased a three bedroom property for 380k, refurbished for 25k and it was revalued at 500k! He's refinancing this one also, so in 6 months time he will withdraw £90k from the property, which was returning £3000pcm. Not bad for a £30,000 investment. Can you make 120% yield off an ISA, stock, bond, or share? I think not.

If you are thinking of investing (further) in the South London property market pick up the phone or drop me a line on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com I advise clients on properties all day long and along my profitable portfolio I help people with property deals, letting, management and sales. Do you want to invest? Get in touch.

Another property meeting in Southwest London!

As you may well know I am a regular at the Wimbledon Property Investor Network meeting on the first Tuesday of every month. I have been asked by a good friend of mine who is looking to invest in property whether it would be worthwhile hosting another meeting for those who live slightly further afield. My answer was of course a resounding yes! I know all too many readers who have over the years moved out of "the big smoke" and find it slightly trickier to meet up in (central-ish) London to network with fellow investors.

Always seizing the opportunity my good friend Mark Bracken-Loughnane has put together the Hampton & Kingston Property Society meeting on Monday 18 January. Great news for all those that would like to meet like-minded individuals in a sales-pitch free environment.

6:30 - 7pm Registration and networking.

7 - 7:15 Meeting Introduction and information from hosts Mark Bracken-Loughnane & Tracy Landsberg (feel free to read our bio in the member section of the meetup).

7 - 7:20 Property Developer / Investor specific Mortgage & Property Finance update from Theo Kemp of Link Capital UK. Theo is the managing director of Link Capital UK an independent, whole of market financial brokerage. Theo is also an active Property Investor in London.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/theo-kemp-founder-managing-director-at-link-capital-uk-51999171 

7:20 - 7:25 Property Developer / Investor specific Lettings Update from Jeroen Hoppe, a Lettings & Estate Agent owner in South West London for over 10 years. Jeroen is also an active property investor within the South West London area.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jeroenhoppe 

7:25 - 7:30 Richard Thorpe of National Landlord Association is going to give the NLA take on recent government legislation changes. Richard is the NLA representative for the South West London area and an active South London property developer.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/richard-thorpe-61b96a30 

7:30 - 7:50 Denise Naylor is going to talk through her journey as a London property investor since 1989 and how by combining creativity, integrity and forward planning, she has managed to survive and thrive through many changes and cycles. 

Denise Naylor also teaches Ethical Legal Cash Maximisation for personal and business success A British chartered accountant, international speaker, coach, consultant, author and property investor Denise has been helping people reach their financial and business goals for more than 30 years. Denise is also the founder of The Women in Property & Business Network https://uk.linkedin.com/in/denisenaylor 

7:50 - 8:00 Service providers announcement, a chance for all in the room to state why they are there, what they can offer and what they would like from the evening. 

8 - 8:15 Networking break

8:15 - 8:55pm Trevor Cutmore, a resident of Kingswood in Surrey is going to talk through how he went from working as a Chef to building his own property portfolio and his involvement in London property Developments. Trevor is passionate about the potential for the Hampton and Kingston area, very open to answering any questions / sharing of knowledge and keen to help everyone build up their connections within the area. Trevor also hosts a monthly property meeting in nearby Wimbledon.https://uk.linkedin.com/in/trevor-cutmore-5b979580 

8:55 - 9pm Close, chance to give feedback and information about the next months meeting. 

9pm - Some extra networking in the bar area where the hosts may even buy you a drink :) https://uk.linkedin.com/in/trevor-cutmore-5b979580 

You can also join the discussion on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1719756518255797/ 

As always do drop me a line if you are looking for advice. jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com

Happy New Year! Are you going to start your property venture the right way in 2016?

Are you ready for the new year?

I hope you have some serious property plans. I've been speaking to a number of readers over the past few days and they are keen to get their ducks in order for 2016. I've already advised on the purchase of several buy-to-let investments, one of which in particular was very lucrative. With a simple refurbishment the client should be able to withdraw £80k from the property in order to finance the next one, all within 8 months of completion. On another deal I agreed to sell the deal on to another client and both were happy with the end result. It was 20% BMV after all!

Hoping to help more of you on the way to property success in 2016!

Just a reminder - I'm giving the monthly lettings update tomorrow at Wimbledon PIN, so if you haven't already do sign up and come along. If you've never been before it's FREE! just register using the code xandermatthew at www.wimbledonpin.co.uk. It's a great opportunity to meet fellow investors as well as professional brokers to source your deals and fellow property people to help you source the next investment. Whatever you do, make your 2016 productive in property!

Hope to see you Tuesday night at 6pm!

Antoinette Hotel Wimbledon 249-263 The Broadway Wimbledon London SW19 1SD

Remember if you need advice on buy-to-let investments in Clapham and surrounds get in touch on jeroen@claphamproperty.com