The 22 Year Old Who Purchased A Block Of 24 Flats

Hi Alistair
My Name is Vincent Gardiner From Meir Heath S O T .I have a number of flats and houses in Stoke , In the south of the city .

Maybe we could meet up and I will do my best to keep you informed of the Stoke Situation
I think that what you have achieved is Just great

Reply to the comment left by Rob Crawford at 31/10/2018 - 14:32
Thanks Rob, it’s not something I have really considered but maybe should. Public speaking and self promotion aren’t my strengths but it would make for a good challenge outside of my comfort zone.

Reply to the comment left by Ajtrippett at 10/11/2018 - 16:53
Welcome to Property118 Alistair, and please add a picture to your member profile, like on Facebook.

I used to drive past the flats everyday on my way to school, as soon as I saw them for sale on a London Auction house catalogue I recognised them immediately because they are such an eyesore on the busy main road into Newcastle Under Lyme town.

They were being sold with all the flats occupied generating a yearly revenue of £94,000 and were advertised with a guide price of £900,000. This would be the third property I have bought at auction and I was aware that with those figures being publicised it wasn’t likely to go for less than £1,000,000. I was particularly interested in acquiring a freehold block of flats at the time as the monthly outgoings are relatively low compared to the project I’d done previously, an eight bedroom all ensuite HMO.
I went through the legal pack and nothing alarming jumped out and I also analysed the current rent of the flats. It was immediately obvious that the rents were well below market value, no wonder it was fully occupied, I believe a 35 square metre studio flat was £275 per month!
I did some work on the numbers and felt that even on conservative predictions the annual rental income could be increased to just over £110,000 with a light refurb on each flat. There was also the potential to split the three bedroom flats into studio’s and one bed’s like the previous owners had already done on a few, with the uplifted rates this would have boosted the rental income to £135,000 per year.

I’m in an incredibly fortunate position to have two great parents that not only have a very successful business but also have full faith in my property ventures. I went to view the flats with my mum and forgot to tell my dad we were going….. Oops. After showing them my numbers we agreed we could go upto £1,050,000 but expected it to go for around £1,200,000.
My bidding was done over the telephone at the auction as I didn’t want to travel all the way to London from Stoke to be disappointed. It was to our amazement that the hammer fell on our winning bid of £930,000.

The refurbishment plan is to tackle the outside immediately and then spruce up the flats as and when they become available. To update the full block to a good standard I’m expecting a a cost of around £150,000 to £200,000 but this can be phased to suit and does not need to be rushed. Once complete we are working on a gross return of around 10-12% and net return 9%-11%.
My plan then is to refinance at around 60%LTV to pay my parents back in full.

Initially I will be managing the property myself and I will implement some new systems to streamline the processes as much as possible and reduce the labour involved, I will then look to employ someone part time to take over.

Reply to the comment left by Ajtrippett at 23/11/2018 - 09:27
Hi Alistair

Welcome back and congratulations on the completion of this deal, which I believe occurred yesterday.

Thanks also for the update.

I’m really interested to understand how, when and why you got into property and a quick overview of your first deals.

Have your parents put in all the cash to complete the initial purchases, which you will then subsequently add value to prior to refinancing the money back out? If not, how are the deals structured in terms of financing?

Also, are you running the business through a company or a private structure? Finally (for now) has age been an issue for you in regards to obtaining mortgage finance?

Congratulations! I'm impressed by your courage and humility, 2 qualities I particularly admire. Wishing you the very best.

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander at 23/11/2018 - 09:59
Thanks Mark,

As briefly covered in the main article I first got into property as a result of my parents buying a property to refurbish to keep me busy during surgery rehabilitation. A year later they did the same again and it was at that point I realised that I wanted a career in property. I've grown up to become a practical person, although I don't enjoy the building work it's been a necessary evil and I now hope that I can step back from the hands on stuff completely.

A brief overview of my projects so far (which have all been gutted and refurbed) year 1 a refurb & rent single let, year 2 a refurb and rent single let, year 3 I decided I wanted to go full time so I bought my first flip, in the same year I bought my second flip, year 4 I bought a run down property that is now a high end all en-suite professional 8 bedroom HMO, year 5 I bought a block of flats!

I am running now through a ltd company called BIG MOOSE HOUSING LTD, it's a ridiculous name and has no meaning behind it other than reflect my personality which is light hearted and not too serious.

Finally I've had a lot of cash injection from my parents, especially on something like these flats. All purchases have been cash with their help but every time I have added value, refinanced and used that money to take on the next one.
Once these flats are refinanced my portfolio will probably stand around 30% parents capital, 70% my profits and bank finance.

Reply to the comment left by Alistair Trippett at 23/11/2018 - 14:20
That's fantastic!

Given that you were only 18 years old when you started out, and you're still only 22 now, has that presented a problem in terms of refinancing?

If it did, how did you overcome that problem?

Reply to the comment left by Laura Delow at 02/11/2018 - 09:46
Hi Laura,

Thank you and apologies for the delayed reply.

It's a tough one for me to give advice to someone in a different position to myself but you don't have to look far to find someone that has done it without initial funding which proves it is possible.

I suppose my advice would be that you're going to need to use other people's money (outside of family). So be very prevalent on social media, find someone that has the funds to do your first project but doesn't have the knowledge to do it themselves, be the missing piece to their puzzle. Once your first project is off the ground take every piece of marketing material from it and put yourself out there to other investors.

On the flip side I see a lot of people doing this but they come across as arrogant like they know it all and talk a lot of BS which to someone who knows a little about property you will immediately be considered untrustworthy.

Reply to the comment left by Mark Alexander at 23/11/2018 - 14:24
It hasn't really been too much of an issue.

At the end of the day on a refinance they're going to look at what the property is worth and how likely are you to default. Then depending on the above what sort of deal are they going to present to you.

I've always been able to prove a properties worth, the income it generates (which should easily cover the payments and bills, contingency budget etc) and I've never borrowed more than 75% ltv.

From a bank's perspective that's all they need to know, I have been asked a few more questions which my broker believes is down to my age but it's never caused an issue.

The only thing that my age has caused an issue with is trades but even then I give an initial impression to them that I'm not a fool and I think that deters any messing around.