Video 21/30 - 7 Top Tips to Refinance Your Investment Property Like a PRO!

I have purchased rather a few properties in the last few years, all of which I have added substantial value to. Naturally it's key to refinance in order to take some of that newly created equity out. I thought I'd share 7 Top Tips with you, so here we go!

Remember - if you're looking to acquire an investment property and you need help, drop me a line and let's start the conversation. Whether you would like to have me help you acquire your next property or whether you would like a more hands-off investment, there's never been a better time than now to enter the market. I am currently fundraising for further projects so if you have savings in the bank that are not earning enough get in touch to see how you can earn 10x returns.

Video 16/30 - Bridging Finance!

You'll have heard me talk about bridging finance before, primarily because I use it to expand my portfolio rapidly.

Here's a video explaining the ins and outs.

Are you looking to expand your buy to let portfolio? Sign up here to receive my hand-selected buy to let deals straight to your inbox. With all the sums done for you and my team and I sorting out the

The Changing Face of Property Finance - effects on your Clapham Property Investing

This month at the Clapham Property Meet...!

Trevor and Jeroen welcome Martin Smedley, a property finance expert with 30 years' experience in the financial services sector working predominantly in the commercial mortgage sector. Martin has extensive experience with Commercial mortgages, Development Finance, Refurbishment Finance, HMO funding, Bridging and of course Buy To Let.

This month's talk will be on the changing lending landscape and how you can make sure you can finance your next investment! 

Jeroen and Trevor discuss adding value to rental properties and how to seek out the best yielding properties.

And the monthly Q&A where you can get your questions answered! Please feel free to email your questions in beforehand to questions@claphampropertymeet.co.uk.

Format of the evening:

6:00-7:00: Arrival and networking

7:00-7:15 - Introduction and Market Update with Jeroen and Trevor

7:15-7:45 - Martin Smedley - the Changing Face of Property Finance in 2017

7:45-8:05 - Jeroen talks about maximising rental returns by adding value

8:05-8:30 - Question time! A time to bring your questions to the floor to get answers!

8:30-8:45 - Round the room introductions for networking

We look forward to welcoming you back at THE JAM TREE CLAPHAM, 13-19 Old Town SW4 0JT!

Tickets can be reserved by joining the Meetup Group and RSVPing YES

BTS, BTL, Single Let, Multi-let, HMO, BMV, LTV - what?

If you're new to the investment arena you will have more acronyms thrown at you than you can count. Difficult of course to make sense of it all. The acronyms you'll be dealing with will be largely related to your strategy - Buy to Sell or Buy to let. Single let (letting as one unit to one (set of) tenant(s)) or multi-let (letting individual rooms), which can be classed as a House in multiple Occupation (think lots of bedsits - but realistically these have drastically improved now). Buying Below Market Value is always preferred but difficult in London of course where demand is so high. And ultimately your leverage will determine your Loan to Value %. Banks reward lower LTVs with a better interest rate, although the flipside is that "leaving a lot of money in a property" means you aren't investing it elsewhere. You are paying 4% interest - can you get a better return if you borrow that money and invest in another project? I would hope so!

So... have you thought about your investment strategy? Are you looking to buy for the long term gain or hoping to flip things around quickly? Do drop me a line if you fancy a chat or give me a call in the office on 020 3367 4474. I'd love to talk to you about your next investment. I'm on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com. If you need advice or if you would like to run a deal or scenario past me please do so. I'm all ears.

Listen up, I'm talking about Clapham & Brixton Property at the Property Masterclass!

For those of you who follow the blog closely will have notice that more and more topics are being addressed thanks to the beauty of interaction. Those not keen to comment publicly can always reply to me via email and receive a personal response. After all, why not make use of my years of knowledge to help you build your property portfolio? Which leads me to the next thing which is even better – a meeting in person. You may be an aspiring landlord, you may be a seasoned developer. All the same you will value the face to face contact. So let’s meet!

An old colleague and good friend of mine Suzanne Vincent has asked me to speak at her Property Masterclass at the end of this month and I'd like to invite you to come along. There will be a free drink on arrival and a reduced table menu. Whether you are a seasoned investor looking to network with local professionals or whether you just want to find out more about investing in property and saving on inheritance tax for your children, there will be something for everybody. A good chance to meet local people, network with like-minded professionals and ask questions relevant to your circumstances. So please join me on Tuesday June 30^th 8pm at the Cambria - lovely pub off the beaten track and tucked away in a lovely residential area on the Camberwell/Brixton borders. Loughborough Junction and Brixton are your closest stations and no more than 5/10 mins from those respectively. The food is fantastic and the company will be too for sure.

The topics we'll be covering are:

• Property Finance
• Lease extension and freehold enfranchisement
• How to present for a sale or let
• Investing in Property

Please RSVP directly to Suzanne so she can organise accordingly on suzannelvincent@gmail.com.

If you are looking for a friendly chat about property or the weather by all means give me a call in the office on 020 3397 2099 or drop me a line on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com. 

Invest more in Clapham & Brixton - with no more of your own money. And here's how.

So, when was the last time you did a portfolio review? I’ll bet it’s been a while. Landlords are long-term strategists after all. I spoke to a landlord who lets properties in Brixton over the weekend and he was keen to hear more about my thoughts on the market. He had read an article or two on the blog in which I mention that it’s “trendy” to live further from the station and cycle to work or get a bus to the station. Train station of course, tubes are so passé…

I had found a few properties which would suit his newly found love for Outer Brixton (Or Streatham Hill – sorry I still speak like an estate agent!) but he said they’d be too expensive as the deposit he had saved up wasn’t enough. Property prices had gone up more than he thought. I said “that’s a good thing!” and he looked at me curiously.

You see here’s the thing: if property prices are going up and you already have a portfolio it means the loan amounts you have stay static whilst the value of your assets is going up. So the “Loan to Value” percentage is lower. Imagine if you had a 300k property (5 years ago) and you put in 20% deposit the loan would be 240k. Over 5 years thought the value of the property would have gone up about 5% year on year (roughly speaking, valuation is a bit more of a science than simply a calculation, but bear with me). Today this property would be worth about 380k, in which case your 240k loan only represents 63% of the property’s value. So you could do one of two things:

a) Remortgage to a better rate (lenders are keen to lend to people that represent low risk – 63% exposure is better than 80% so they will lower their borrowing rates for you)

b) Remortgage and RELEASE SOME EQUITY AND INVEST MORE!

Nothing says savvy investor like taking out your gains and reinvesting – if you remortgage up to 80% LTV again you can borrow 304k, leaving 64k to play with after you've paid off the first mortgage. This particular landlord had 5 properties that he could do this with, so essentially giving him enough cash in the bank to purchase a further 5 properties. With which he was yielding 5.5% per annum. You do the sums!

In essence buy to let is a balancing act. Never have all your eggs in one basket of course. Buy a few further from the station, a few close to the station, look for a few high-yielding investments, play the long game on a few and so forth. If you are just starting your BTL journey you will love the gains – if you are close to retiring you may be looking to sell. Take advice of course, wherever you are on your journey.

If you are looking for a friendly chat about property, weather, or Wiggo’s latest triumph on the track by all means give me a call in the office on 020 3397 2099 or drop me a line on jeroen@claphampropertyblog.com.