If you read my last blog post you’re probably wondering what those Ninja Investor Strategies I mentioned are:

• Strategy 1: 50% Below Market Value (BMV) strategy
• Strategy 2: 100% refurb strategy
• Strategy 3: 90% flip strategy

They’re all possible using bridging finance with the right lenders to turn you into an investor who can operate like a cash buyer.

Here’s a brief overview of each one:

50% Below Market Value (BMV) strategy

This is based on finding properties that are really cash-buyer only territory.  This is usually because the vendor either wants a quick sale for some reason or because they are considered unmortgageable by buy-to-let lenders.

When a mortgage-dependent investor finds a property that clearly can’t be mortgaged they walk away.  This leaves the field clear for the few investors that have the knowledge of how to buy this type of property.  Generally, these are cash buyers, but with the right strategy you can operate as a cash...

Most property investors start out using buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages to finance their property purchases.  The problem is that then your capital is trapped – at least for a while – and your ability to buy more properties is limited.  But not if you’re a Ninja Investor!

What’s a Ninja Investor?

Property investment is not just for people who have substantial cash reserves – anybody can become a successful property investor with a relatively small amount of available cash. 

Ninja Property Investors have developed a mind-set that isn’t limited to only buying properties through a mortgage.  With the right techniques they can buy any property that they’ve assessed as a profitable investment – whether it’s mortgageable or not. 

This speeds up their property portfolio growth – or profit generation because they know how to buy more property, faster, with less cash.

The secret is to think like a cash buyer...

THE QUESTION

For the last six months I've been trying to find the route into the property sector known as Serviced Accommodation.

The first problem was finding the right property that ticked my boxes, as well as being 'fit for purpose'. Having found the elusive house, I went in pursuit of the pennies to pay for it.

Most local lenders seemed totally unable to comprehend the concept of SA.  Did I mean Buy to Let? No; I’d have asked about BTL if that's what I meant.  Did I have the last 2 years accounts for the business? No.

But yesterday I got a breakthrough. Yes, my new broker friend could get me a mortgage for a SA purchase. The only problem is I have 'no experience' of managing an SA unit.

Is there a way around this?

THE ANSWER

Let’s put some perspective on the post.  Your frustration is both evident and understandable but, as the saying goes 'walk a mile in another man shoes' and what you have been told may not seem so baffling.  For anyone...

Most people who embark on property investment are not cash rich.  Usually they have successful careers or may have run a business and have built up substantial equity in their own home, but don’t have massive savings.

To get started in property newbie investors often decide to release some of the equity in their own property to put down deposits on others.  Property values are rising so the more properties you own, the more value you’ve got – and the price rises will go a long way to recovering the equity you’ve released.  It all makes sense.

Or does it?

If you have more than 75% equity in your property then you could remortgage and get a chunk of cash out ready to buy your next property.  Then you have to find that property – and that could take a while.  So the cash is in your bank doing nothing and you’re paying interest on a bigger mortgage.  Not so sensible, perhaps.

You could negotiate a loan against your...

If you’ve been in property a while you’ll remember the balmy days of 100% mortgages and 24 hour remortgages.  Things are tougher today and property investors need to be innovative to continue to invest in property and not end up with your capital trapped in bricks and mortar.

Many investors now think the only way to invest in property is to have saved up a substantial wad of cash to put down the 25% deposits required by most buy-to-let (BTL) lenders.

That’s not true – and a smart investor can actually increase their profits, rather than barely get by – if they know how.

Lenders have rewritten the rules

Before the credit crunch you could get 85% loan-to-value (LTV), you could get a same day remortgage and you could buy below-market-value and remortgage at true value.

Now things have changed.  These mortgages no longer exist and ‘no money down’ strategies are usually the result of hiding how the property is being financed from the...

THE QUESTION

I'm not a homeowner, but looking to purchase - either residential, BTL or to buy a derelict property and flip.

I have a limited company with a turnover circa £200K and projected to double that in the next year.  I have no personal debts or defaults and a good credit rating.

I'm entrepreneurial, confident I can flip properties, and would like some guidance in funding purchases.  I've heard bridging finance, but don’t know if it’s the right strategy for me.

THE ANSWER

You have several potential options:

Use your main residence to flip

Advantages: no tax (CGT or income) payable on the profits

Disadvantages:

1. Slow turnaround, as you will need to live in the property for at least a year to qualify for the no tax advantage
2. Your ability to borrow is income-dependent and lenders are not interested in how much your company turns over, but how much profit you make i.e. make £20k profit on your £200k turnover and you won’t be getting...

Many investors see the Estate Agent as the adversary – or at best a necessary evil.  After all, their client is the vendor, that’s where their commission comes from.  But the smart investor knows better.

Unless you’re good at building rapport with estate agents, you won’t have many deals to consider, but there are ways to get estate agents to take you seriously.  They need to realise that the more sales their vendors make, the more commission they’ll earn.  If you are a multiple purchaser, they’ll start looking at you in a different light – if you know how to use the magic words that make them pay attention.

Look the part

Create a powerful, empowering first impression.  You know that old saying:

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Your appearance and mannerisms must portray confidence.  Confident people have a way of holding themselves that oozes positivity.  You can be sure that this...

Many people aspire to become a full-time property investor, but I wonder if they’ve considered the adverse effect it has on their ability to raise a mortgage.  They might find it better to slow down and take their time reaching that pivotal moment when mortgages are less critical to their property investment.

To be able to create enough passive income from property to be able to give up the day job and become a ‘full-time property investor’ seems to be a highly desirable state – a nirvana.  It is frequently encouraged on property courses and at meetings.  It is held up as the definitive status symbol, to be worn almost as a badge of honour.  Property speakers often spit out the term ‘wage slave’ as a form of derision.

There is undoubtedly great merit in finally being able to throw off the shackles of an unrewarding and unfulfilling job.  There is a huge sense of achievement in bringing about such a momentous life...

Most property investors grow their portfolio by:

• Searching for suitable rental properties
• Putting down a 25% deposit
• Getting a mortgage
• Maybe refurbishing
• Then waiting six months and remortgaging to get as much of their money as possible out for the next property purchase.

It works, it’s taught on training programmes, but it takes a long time to grow your portfolio – and doesn’t allow you to buy and sell properties as your cash is tied up.  That makes it tough to buy your next property within that six-month waiting period.

To get momentum investing you can’t afford to wait the best part of a year before you can get your cash out of one deal in order to move on to the next.  It limits you, it holds you back, it doesn’t allow you to explore your full potential as a property investor.

So, if you’re impatient to move on, you definitely need to learn about inspired funding.

What is inspired funding?

It’s focusing on ways to achieve...

People say that a low-cost way to get your cash back out of a property purchase is to use the small group of Buy-to-Let lenders who offer mortgages that have no redemption penalty to finance the purchase.

After you have owned the property for six months, redeem that mortgage and get a new mortgage with a different lender.  If the property can be valued at this point at more than the purchase price, you will get some of your deposit money back out to use in a new purchase.

It seems to make good sense – happy days for the investor.  The only problem is it also leads to some very unhappy lenders.

The point here is that No Early Repayment Charge (NERC) mortgages are offered by no more than a handful of lenders and they were not created to give investors a cheap way of getting their deposit out of a property.  The lenders expect borrowers to sit on them for years at a time and, amazingly perhaps, that is exactly what the vast majority of borrowers do.

Lenders think...