This book can easily be read in a few hours and although it isn’t the best written, by the time I reached chapter five I felt like the information I had gained from it had paid for itself ten times over. It is incredibly useful to anyone looking to make money from investing in rental properties. Someone like myself, who is a complete beginner at property investing, would get the most from a book like this. In fact, I now have a long term goal of purchasing my first buy to let property within a year and gain financial freedom in the next six.
It teaches you how there is a formulae to property investing which doesn’t involve emotion or feelings. The most important thing in purchasing rental properties which a lot of people overlook, more so than the cost of the house or the location, is what rent you can get from it. Ugly houses are best, don’t get hung up on the appearance of the outside because you aren’t going to be living in or visiting it that much.
Tenants are more concerned with the speed of the WiFi than with things such as whether or not it has an ensuite. Location is important with regards to how far to the centre or commute to work or the bars and most put that as more important than crime rates or history in the area. Convenience such as being close to transport links or being furnished in what people are looking for.
Samuel Leeds explains the key five point checklist when looking to buy –
Area (close to town or transport links)
Decent condition (to get tenants in quickly)
More rooms are better (four is sweet spot, five need two bathrooms)
Get a letting agent that specialises in HMO (don’t deal with bog standard ones)
Price (Dividing the house up, don’t spend more than £25k per room – roughly, rents are about the same up and down the country)
He goes on with some valuable tips such as how most estate agents are sales people that aren’t property experts and how to make friends with the estate agents because they have some excellent properties. Lease Option Agreements are a really interesting way of purchasing property without any money!
Favourite quotes from the book:
“the same wind blows on us all but it is the setting of the sail that determines the destination” – pg 21
“don’t wait to buy property, buy property and wait” pg 31
“Formal education will earn you a living, but self education will earn you a fortune.” Pg 33
“Capital Growth does not pay the bills” – pg 36
“Do not be a person of success but a person of value” When we add value, the success will always follow. – pg 89
Overall: 90%