Honest Property Investment with Natasha Collins

GET ACCESS TO CROSSING OVER TO COMMERCIAL BY CLICKING HERE If you’re not here for Pregnancy content, you can skip this weeks newsletter/pod.But let me tell you it’s been my most requested podcast and so here it is, warts and all. Currently I’m on Maternity leave. Team NCRE have me covered and are still running the ship because I have the best team of Surveyors and  Property experts so service was never going to slip. But I may have got ahead of myself. I originally recorded this pod on the 28th Jan, thinking that I had a planned C Section a few weeks later so was feeling pretty together after just handing everything over to my interim MD and then planning for a 2 week crossover period… well I ended up having a real living baby in my arms 4.5 hours after I finished recording.  One of my good friends and mentors once said to me ‘there’s a reason pregnancy is 9 months… its so you can get everything ready and in your case that means your business too!’ And so I had two choices, stop NCRE during maternity and pick up any pieces after (because I just didn’t have the capacity to keep it running) or spend time putting in place the right team and make it better than its ever been… knowing full well that it would be hard (and it was, I have never been so unwell in my life). But the decisions I’ve made over the last 8 months have allowed me to have some sort of Mat Leave (yes I know whats going on in my business I haven’t disappeared completely, we have targets and deadlines!) which means I get to be Mum to Harry and Get to know him AND I’m not trying to give my best advice whilst my new Mum brain is swirling around because no one wants that (and seriously my team are just as good if not better!) With that, I’ll leave you to listen to this Pod!  Natasha

Have you started my free mini-course Crossing Over to Commercial?  It’s prompting a lot of questions, which I’m more than happy to answer… here’s a biggie: ‘You say only search in one location, but I can’t find any BMV deals there, so can I expand my search?’ No 👏 no 👏 no Mainly because… BMV (below market value)  just isn’t a thing in commercial property (I don’t believe it is in resi, but we just don’t have time to go through that right now). Commercial properties are priced based on risk and its investment value… as well as what the seller wants to sell for. SPOILER ALERT a commercial property that can immediately be increased in value isn’t going to jump out and punch you in the face whilst you’re scrolling RightMove. You have to delve deeper into the deal than that. To increase the value of a commercial property, you either have to decrease the risk of the deal by making sure the rent is secured and will be coming in for a long period of time OR you have to increase the rent. Therefore, you have to analyse a deal and see where you can do that. It can take hours… when we do that for clients it can take days to get a deal right and to see where the value add comes from. It’s not about expanding your location, it’s about looking at every single deal that is going on in that area and exploring the possibilities. Yes it takes time, but yes that’s where you find your deal! In todays podcast I’m going to go through exactly how to do this, find a commercial property that you can add value to.

I’m going to start by celebrating the fact that after 3 valuations I finally got a valuation for my remortgage that is what I wanted it to be… the RIGHT VALUE! I had to get to that figure mainly because I had my second charge mortgage relying on it and quite frankly, anything less and I was going to be out of pocket, which I’m not doing. To keep you in suspense, I’ll give you the names of the lenders and valuers in my pod ;) All I can say is, if you know the Comps state your property should be higher, keep pushing for it! Next Topic… Asset Management 101. When was the last time you ACTUALLY looked at the stats for your property portfolio? I mean really and truly compared them to see what’s working and what’s not. As an Asset Manager that’s the very first thing I do, I look at the figures, as they don’t lie. They give a true picture of how the portfolio is performing. From there I can make changes. If you want details on how to use it and what to measure, you are going to need to follow along with this weeks podcast. I challenge you to get this done! Let me know is there anything that surprised you about your portfolio? Will you be making changes as a result? Also don’t forget you can still pick up my Crossing Over to Commercial mini-course just CLICK HERE

You can sign up to Crossing Over to Commercial HERE First things first, I need to get a public announcement out there to ask… please, commercial agents, stop with the Catfishing! I just can’t… What do I mean?! Pricing property deals way too low so that you get eyeballs or bids and then being shocked when I call up and give you an offer at the market price and you saying ‘No that’s way too low!’. Errm yass… so why bother listing at that price… grrrr! The problem being that I have to look into it because I couldn’t possibly tell my clients I overlooked it, in case it’s actually correct and I’ve found myself a unicorn. **Rant over** Second point I want to cover today is ITZA’s. I’m noticing a lot of commercial property investors ignoring this because they just don’t understand. NOTE: You cannot ignore this if you want to be successful here!! This is about valuing retail rents! I'll explain in the podcast...

It may sound obvious that you MUST be good at decision making in order to be a property investor… But it truly shocks me the number of investors who say to me ‘is this a good deal, would you buy it?’ Because that’s not the question you should be asking. That’s asking me to judge a deal based on decisions I’d make for my own portfolio… that’s not your portfolio and your goals. I know for a fact that clients of mine and friends definitely wouldn’t buy the same things that I buy and that’s brilliant because I’m not led by what they do. Instead the question you should be asking is: ‘I've found this deal, my goals are X, Y and Z, does it hit those goals?’ But before asking that, you have to make an important decision. What is it you’d actually like to achieve?! Yield / Purchase Price… any other stat you’re measuring by. That way, when it comes to purchasing property the next decisions become easier: Choosing the right location Identifying if a deal really works for you, or deciding to let it go Knowing what finance option works best Want to a dig a little deeper into how to think about these decisions and a step by step guide into how to buy your next commercial property; Listen to this weeks podcast. And now I have something even more special for you a freebie unlike any other freebie before it… Crossing Over To Commercial, my mini-course on everything you need to know before delving into the world fo commercial property. It will take you 60 mins to complete, but once you have, you’ll be more clued up as to how to make these decisions!!

Now it's time to focus and I want you to listen closely because there are some tripping hazards in 2022, that if you don’t concentrate on, will slow your property investment success this year. The biggest tripping hazard… F👏I👏N👏A👏N👏C👏E (Finance) Firstly, if you need an affirmation, use ‘There will always be finance for my property’... I firmly believe that. However, it’s taking longer than ever to find a product that suits that you’re aiming for. This is across the board for both residential and commercial. The reason being is that lenders want to do due diligence, but also don’t want to get sucked into the hype bubble from last year, where there was a lot of overpaying for properties. So, you are going to have to stay resilient when it comes to finding finance. You are going to get a lot of NOs and you are going to come across a lot of products where you think WT eff is this?! Ultimately you will get the finance you need but it could take 3-6 months (or sometimes longer). The investors that will succeed this year will build relationships with lenders and be able to present why a deal works to a lender so that they can get the best rates and loan to value. Those who will fall flat in the mud, won’t prepare and won’t spend the valuable time needed to get this right. I delve into this in more detail on my Podcast and share some things I’ve learnt recently in regards to refinancing property (Oh and some super exciting news!)

This weeks podcast is a Mail Bag episode, I answer your questions, including what keeps me up at night and: What is your advice for first time buyers and do you have any tips for doing your APC? How to source and finance mixed use property? Have you come across any property investment scams? Why would an agent pass to you without putting it on this market and getting the best price for their vendor? Why don’t you negotiate on your fees? How would you buy a property in America if you are living in the UK? How do you buy a property in the UK if you are nowhere near it? This is the last in this series BUT don’t fear I’ll be back in a few weeks time with Series Three AND I’d love your input what would you like to hear more of FILL THIS FORM IN HERE If you need to reach out to LIONHEART you can do so HERE.

Part 1 - I talk through why it's important that you have a strategy AND give you some homework! Part 2 - Take a break with LionHeart  Part 3 - #ditlos is Dr Samantha Organ  Part 4 - Planning for retirement through property investment with Felicia Flinders  Come follow me on Instagram @honestpropertyinvestment P.S This episode is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute professional advice!

This is a Jam Packed Show (P.S There is some swearing in here so be warned if you don't like the F-word)! 1. I start off by talking about Mental Health Awareness Week and how perfectionism can ruin property investors 2. Break with LionHeart --> http://lionheart.org.uk/ 3. #ditlos is James Greenway, Director of Estates, Facilities and Business Services at Highways England 4. Finally my good friend Danielle Bell joins me to talk about How to avoid disasters in Commercial Property & Residential Property Investment PLUS the forecast for what to look out for post-pandemic Please come and follow this pod on IG @honestpropertyinvestment

After a few weeks of downtime to recreate the podcast, it’s back AND rebranded. I present to you… Honest Property Investment with Natasha Collins, for investors who aren’t taking shortcuts. (If you’re already subscribed to the NC Podcast, this will automatically update!) So here’s how I’m going to run this, each week I’ll start with a 10 minute catch up on the things I’ve been working on, industry trends I’m seeing and things to watch out for. This season I’ve partnered with LionHeart, who will get the break (I’m one of their mental health ambassadors, I take no £’s for this… just go use them if you need them PLEASE!!). Next up is a new feature, A day in the life of a Surveyor or #DITLOS, where colleagues and friends of mine leave me a voice note explaining who they are and what they do and why it’s so important to the property industry. Buckle up, Pasq a Project Management Surveyor is up first! Finally, you’ll get an interview with an industry expert or advice from yours truly… I listened to what topics you wanted this season so watch this space, I’ve got most of them covered. This week I have to tell you about why it’s so important to start picking up the phone more! Yes we can listen to the naysayers about the market being problematic right now and yes it’s trickier than pre-covid times, but seriously where there is a will there’s a way. I’ll tell you about how I use off the record conversations and why they should be a staple of your communication. It’s a good one!! Last request, go follow @honestpropertyinvestment on IG. That’s the community for this podcast. It’s where you can leave feedback or requests for future topics PLUS ask questions for my mailbag episodes. Woop! I’m so excited about this Natasha P.S If you don’t use IG you can always email natasha@ncrealestate.co.uk with your suggestions!

Lets talk housing disasters and where I've thought for a while the next one is coming from. You can sign up for the news letter HERE Follow me on Instagram @ncrealestateltd The original Economist article is HERE

This is what you need to do if you're still not getting offers accepted on commercial properties, even if you listened to my podcast from the 2nd April 2024 - 7 Reasons your offers still aren't being accepted on commercial property. If you want to get an invite to our Masterclasses, you need to be on my mailing list. You can join that HERE.

On this weeks podcast I go through the three commercial property deals that completed this week: Dereham, Chippenham and Burton-Upon-Trent. Each were purchased in a SSAS, however there were different risks associated with each and the yields show this. Remember to sign up for our commercial property resources HERE.

We're over the first quarter of the year! I know frustration can be getting to you if offers aren't being accepted, but there are some easy tweaks you can make to your offer which can see some serious results in getting deals agreed. In this podcast episode, I'm going to go through what this is. To get on my mailing list CLICK HERE To see the outline of an offer on Instagram CLICK HERE

If I was in need of creating £2,000 net profit per month from a commercial property portfolio and I had capital to spend, this is how I would make it happen in 20 minutes. Plus I answer your questions on interest rates and valuations. HERE'S THE LINK FTO DOWNLOAD MY COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SUCCESS FORMULA FOR FREE

If you remember I put down the deposit for a commercial property purchase using a revolving credit facility. I've got an option for a revolving credit facility for you. Plus, are rent guarantees a good idea and how I could get all the rent paid up for my lease in my Charleston property, I wish I had that option for my Bath property! Follow me on Instagram @ncrealestateltd

Make sure you follow me on Instagram @ncrealestateltd and LinkedIn

Remember to come and follow me @ncrealestateltd

This week I go through my tough decision about Charleston AND the 10 skills you must learn to be a successful property investor. You can download my goals spreadsheet HERE Follow my instagram @ncrealestateltd

This week I've been asked to give you a property portfolio update... here it is! If you ever have any questions you want answering on the pod, please reach out to me natasha@ncrealestate.co.uk