Patrick Souiljaert

I was recently in the process of buying my UK investment property, before I was gazumped. It was a spacious 4 bed repossessed maisonette with sea views, near to Worthing seafront.

The property was on the market for £220K and my initial offer of £210K was accepted. However because it was repossession the estate agent was obliged to keep on the market (with the hope of getting a higher offer). Two weeks into my purchase someone offered £216K for the property. I then made my maximum offer of £220K, which was bettered by somebody else.

The property was structurally sound but it needed to be redecorated throughout.

My initial plan with the property, had I bought it for £210K, was to spend £20K-£30K on it (giving it the wow factor) and then putting it back on the market for £350K and accepting £340K for it. Giving me a gross profit of £100K! Even if I had sold it for £300K, the profit would still have been good.

My plan changed when I increased my offer to £220K. I was going to spend £10K on it and rent it out for a year (I would have been tied into the mortgage for 12 months anyway). I then would spend another £10K-£20K giving the property the wow factor and sell it.

Although I didn’t buy the maisonette it was a great learning experience. Apart from visiting the property twice I did everything from home. Gregg, (my mortgage advisor) came to see me at home. All I did was a few calculations and liaised with people on the phone/via email. It wasn’t complicated and I loved it. It is exactly the job I would like to do.

Greg initially came up with a buy to let mortgage. However he then realised that I could get a second residency mortgage. The monthly repayments would have been a lot lower and would have made the figures stack up in order to rent the property out!

The experience also enabled me to create my own little power team – and I owe a few people a lot of thanks:

• Maria Davies – I’m not sure how it happened but I can now call Maria my mentor. I feel privileged and grateful for all of her help and advice.
• Dave Brackpool – Dave is my builder/friend, who came from Horsham to look at the maisonette. Dave is a top bloke and I can’t wait to work with him.
• Steve Bell – my friend who found the maisonette. Steve became interested in property investment after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad (I’ve recommended the book so many times that people ask me if I’m related to Robert Kiyosaki). I look forward to helping/mentoring Steve.
• Gregg John – my mortgage broker
• Neal Ross – my Worthing estate agent, who’s looking out for good deals for me

I would also like to thank Debbie Mann, who is a wealth of information and who last week gave me the contact of a local tax guru!!

Debbie owns Independent Property Inspections in Burgess Hill. If you have tenants if it well worth asking Debbie to inspect your property – you should be protected from your tenants suing you.

The second time I visited the maisonette was with Dave and Neal – and a funny incident occurred

The maisonette was on (and still is – as far as I’m aware) the first and second floor. The stairs to the first floor are on the outside of the building. When I reached the first floor and inside the property, Dave was on the second floor and asked me:

Dave: “Have you been up here yet?”

Me: “No, not yet”

Dave: “You’ve got to come and have a look.”

I was still slightly out of breath from climbing the first flight of stairs but decided to start climbing the second flight. As I put my first foot on the first step, I could feel myself failing backwards. Instinctively I grabbed hold of one wooden banister posts. However it was no good, the wooden post wasn’t strong enough to support all of my weight.

It was a very surreal moment. I found myself lying flat on my back holding a little piece of banister post in my hand – with Neal looking over me! The surrealism quickly turned into a couple of minutes of embarrassment. After which hilarity ensued and lasted, intermittently, for a few days.

I’m not too disappointed about being gazumped. Other properties will come along. I’m now looking into new opportunities in Worthing, Newcastle and The Algarve.