How to get your feet into someone else’s shoes!

Understanding why anyone would sell their house at less than the Estate Agent’s estimated value is often difficult to grasp.  We hear people talking about buying below market value and getting discounts of 20%, 30% and sometimes even 40% – where are they finding them and why would anyone sell at such a discount?

The main big assumption we make in life is that everyone else is like us – thankfully for most of us that’s not actually true.  Many people, even in our own offices doing the same jobs we do, or living in the same street are not in the fortunate position as to have discovered that you can make money from property.  Moreover they have not managed their finances very well.

You may think that you haven’t kept on top of your finances as well as you might have, but at least now you are enlightened.

Imagine for a moment that you had no idea how much money you had in your bank account.  That your partner didn’t either, and your kids were placing ever increasing demands on your money too – wouldn’t you just keep paying for things on cards just to make sure the kids had what they needed?

You only have to pay the minimum amount on your credit card to keep the bailiffs from your door, and you have that much money at least.  There isn’t a way out as you can’t earn more in your job, or you may even have had your wages reduced over the last couple of years.  You’ve got to put food on the table after all.

It suddenly comes as a shock to you that you haven’t got as much money as you thought and suddenly the cards are refused and the cheques start to bounce – what are you going to do now?

People in this situation often don’t know what to do, or to whom to turn.  Yes, even those in your own office.  The stress starts to increase and they will do anything to get out of this situation.

Selling the house is the easy one, and the more equity they have in the property the more likely they are to take more discount as they are primarily concerned with paying the mortgage off – after all that’s what they’re aiming for as they’ve always been taught it’s best to pay off your mortgage.

Our aim as investors is to be able to help people and not to take advantage of them and so I’m forever grateful that there have been changes in the way we buy property and help people by using lease options to be able to get them a better deal rather than just offering 25% off all the time.  Sometimes just 15% is enough.

We can help by checking if there is any way out from the debts, if there is a way to get them some money now and some later, if there is going to be a way for them to get back on the property ladder at a later date, along with many other ways to provide a better deal for people.

The truth of the matter is that many people don’t know how to manage their finances and similarly they don’t know that there are other ways out without having to sell houses at such a discount now.  Whatever our situation and our attitude to finance and property, most people are not as educated, and that’s why they want to get rid of their property right now, and not get into the hassles of being a landlord to wait out the low property prices.

Remember also that as investors we know the way to make the figures work with rentals, such as using interest only mortgages, taking on LHA tenants and maximising the rooms in a property.  Non-investors just see their mortgage payments and realise it is higher than the rental income they could get, so they don’t see the profit.  They assume that just one family will rent their property and so they can’t work out the room price to see if they could increase their profit.  Most importantly they are completely averse to LHA tenants as they would be letting their own home and one of the main concerns they have is that the property would not be looked after and they would then have to pay thousands to fix it again.

Take advantage of the fact that you know what you are doing – it’s a business to you.  You can help people out by buying or taking an option on their property to help them to move on to the next part of their lives.

You can create better income for yourselves by getting in touch with people before they put their property on the market – that is their only way to get their property sold.  If you introduce them to an alternative then they will take advantage of the fact that they don’t have to pay huge fees to the Estate Agents.  They’ll get a quicker sale, which often is what they are looking for.

You know the theory, now put it into practice – imagine their lives as they are and then imagine them better.  If you believe in the product (discounted properties) then you will find them and sell the concept to potential vendors.

If you are struggling to find the right properties and would like to be part of a small group of people all encouraging each other to make more progress then call to find out more about the MINI Groups sweeping the UK www.YvonneEmeryCoaching.co.uk 0845 094 6628.

Happy investing

Yvonne