In this episode, Paul talks to Sadun, who is one of Paul´s highly successful students. Sadun started out by doing small refurbs before transitioning to auction flipping and land deals. On his first land deal, he made a profit of £1.3 million. Sadun explains how he did that with the help of Paul´s training and LandTech. 

Sadun also shares what he is up to today, including how he has found 1,400 potential deals to pursue in London and how he gets planning there even for a property that has been turned down in the past.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Having commercial properties in the mix helps to create a rental income that covers your monthly overheads.
• Putting in an offer before the auction date can land you good deals.
• Don´t get desperate and take on something that does not feel right.
• The planning process is full of surprises. Sometimes even when a project ticks all of the boxes it will not get approved.
• You have to see the full picture so that you can conduct the orchestra of people who work for you to deliver what you need. How you instruct your architect matters.
• Spending a few thousand on a planning consultant and architect who both know the area and how things really work before putting together your plans will save you a lot.
• Before contracting your architect for the full project get them to prepare a small sketch. This will weed out anyone who does not have the necessary vision and skill.
• Before you buy, understand what your plan B is. Make sure there is still enough money in the project even if things don´t go well.
• The way councils think changes over time and often the planning decision has a lot to do with local politics. Sometimes you have to wait for the right moment.
• There are still plenty of opportunities, including in every part of London.

BEST MOMENTS

“We chose the smart route that fitted us.”

“You still need the knowledge and experience to know what you're looking for and just decipher what you're actually seeing.”

“Optimise and maximise everything you do.”

ABOUT THE HOST 

Paul Higgs is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor with 40+ years' experience in land, planning and development and a 100% success track record in winning planning consents.

Paul undertook his first refurb project when he was just 17 and then worked his way up from labouring on building sites to becoming Head of Land for renowned plc housebuilder, Barratt Developments. He managed to escape the corporate world in 2002 to set up what is now a multimillion-pound award-winning property development company, Millbank Group. 

In 2013 Paul founded the Millbank Land Academy, the UK’s first training company dedicated to property development; to teach established and aspiring developers the insider secrets the big housebuilders don’t want you to know! 

Paul is also a founding investor and former board director of the industry-leading PropTech Co, LandTech, and has lectured on Advanced Development Valuations on the MSc Property Development at London South Bank University.

CONTACT METHOD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-higgs

Millbank Land Academy: https://www.millbanklandacademy.co.uk

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/paulhiggsofficial