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ollie h

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About ollie h

  • Rank
    Established member

Profile Information

  • Location
    Edinburgh
  • Areas I invest in
    Scotland so far
  • About me
    Experienced beginner, became an accidental landlord 9 years ago, renting out small house on a long let and now have 2 holiday lets, a further long let and spare room on Airbnb. Very recently quit my job to JV on a guest house :)
  • Property investment interests
    Expand portfolio in different ways, now focussed on serviced accommodation / guest houses
  • My skills
    Have general finance and commercial skills not related to property. Been doing Airbnb / Serviced Accomodation successfully for over 5 years and letting for 9.
  • My goals
    Classic financial freedom blah blah :) I have a ten year plan I am working on to retire by 50... Also find a better profile pic! *update, 10 year plan turned out to be 3 year, but although I've left the corporate world I'll be working in a guest house learning the trade :)
  • Interests outside property
    Teaching my children the wrongs of the world; KFC.

Recent Profile Visitors

1,468 profile views
  1.    heretamas reacted to a post in a topic: Property Strategy
  2.    amragl reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  3.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  4.    steven rogers reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  5.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: Buy to Holiday Let?
  6. ollie h
    Hi Anand, I am always wary of going down the route of a business that does everything for you, there will be profit in it for them which is fine but doing it yourself you'll learn a whole lot more and that profit will be yours. Why don't you look at what you can find and do a forecast of profit and loss on that then compare to an example on what they can provide and what you'll end up with in your pocket with them. Cheers Ollie
  7. ollie h
    Barry, there's a lot of acronyms and buzz words in property, especially in this thread so don't worry, although I knew in my head what this is I researched to get a proper definition and some other helpful info also found here (also a mortgage jargon page in the link): https://www.mortgagesforbusiness.co.uk/property-finance/customer/buy-to-let-mortgages/buy-to-let-explained/buy-to-let-properties/ In short, focus on ROI & net / gross yield ensuring capital growth and cashflow is optimised in either vanilla BTLs, SA or HMOs to ensure you snowball to financial freedom with a good po
  8.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  9.    Rafael reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  10.    Rafael reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  11.    john mcdermott reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  12.    seanishy2 reacted to a post in a topic: £30k to build a portfolio - Help!
  13. ollie h
    Damn forgot one of the most important! Education! Read as many books (Rob Dix's all great for beginners) and listen to as many podcasts, Property Hub, Inside Property Investing, Rob Moore etc.
  14. ollie h
    Hey Rafael, Not much to say about where you're buying or the yield you're going for but I was in a very similar situation myself in 2014.. £30k and what best to do?? I bought a tired flat just on my money limit and used credit card and overdraft to do a minor refurb, furnish and run as serviced accommodation. Just everything involved with buying the first property taught me so much, making the first step is the hardest. Some tips I can give are: Go to a local meet-up for recommendations on solicitor, mortgage broker (use one) and accountant. use one of the credit check ag
  15. ollie h
    Hi Raj, great info from Caroline there! I'm based in Edinburgh and have some holiday lets and single lets, yield is a very rough calculation but based on valuation my two single lets are around 6%. I've based on valuation as I actually got one below so would be false for you to base yield upon that. If you're going over valuation as Caroline noted you had to in 2018 unless you got an off market deal (Both mine were) then yield will be affected. One of mine has very high factor fees so again gross yield looks ok but net yield not so great. The good news is the market has
  16.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: Edinburgh Buy to Let
  17. ollie h
    Hey Joss, I'm up in Edinburgh, buoyant market here but legislation looming... If you're ever up drop me a message
  18. ollie h
    Thanks Simon, I appreciate every case should be viewed in isolation but you've given me a lot of new info already with your answers!
  19.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: Commercial Mortgage Advice / Brokers - Scotland
  20. ollie h
    Hi Bart, Sounds like some journey with the cottage, glad you made it through You've most likely learned a lot from doing that renovation alone! It's great your listening to books on Audible, do get into all the usual podcasts too.. Property Hub, Inside Property investing, Mark Homer, Property Voice, Bigger Pockets. But don't just listen and do nothing Best thing you can do is go and meet other investors at meet-ups and get started! You'll learn so much from your first BTL! From my experience although doing a lot yourself saves money to a degree, it burns your tim
  21. ollie h
    Hi Nick, As Derek says, net yield seems high, I'd be deducting mortgage interest, insurance and ground rent / service charge from the gross to get net yield. With your 80%LTV I'd expect a high interest rate. Again with Derek asking your goals this is important, especially whether you want cashflow / capital growth and how long you see this investment being for? Now as for buying new build, personally it's a no for me, now many people do buy new builds for BTL but here's the reasons why I don't and the questions I'd ask: Where is the £11k income figure coming from,
  22. ollie h
    Hi Joss, There may be a couple of Dale Smith's podcasts on IPI so have a search, here's one to start you off: https://www.insidepropertyinvesting.com/dalesmith/ The way I learnt SA was to rent my spare room on Airbnb, nothing better than learning through trying. More recently the best learning has been from meeting people doing similar to me in the surrounding are by going to local networking events. You'll be amazed at how open people are. I don't think a book can tell you about the intricacies of Booking.com and Airbnb in your specific area like a
  23.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: Am I right to remortgage now?
  24. ollie h
    Dear helpful community Me and my business partner are in negotiations to buy a vacant commercial property - small office block with separate workshops near Edinburgh. We are planning to buy cash with investor funds / bridging or a mix of both. I need to organise our exit strategy to refinance onto typical commercial lending. At the moment we only have experience in residential BTL / Holiday Let, Ltd company bridging, Ltd company holiday let but are novices when it comes to lending for a commercial property. The key areas I'd initially like some advice on are: Minimum t
  25. ollie h
    Hi Fiona, Kirsteen's response is spot on. But, in my mind there is always room for a quality product with quality service. I know letting agents who would not recommend you short letting through them as you'd lose money due to the limited time they'd be able to spend marketing your property to make enough to cover your bills, maintenance, cleaning and commision. On the other hand if you manage yourself, on a daily basis and have a flat in a good area, decorated to a high standard you can still perform well. It is definitely tougher now than before and as Kirsteen says the rug could
  26.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: Newbie targeting short term holiday lets in Edinburgh
  27.    richard d reacted to a post in a topic: Am I right to remortgage now?
  28.    richard d reacted to a post in a topic: Hello! UK Student looking for advice and guidance.
  29. ollie h
    Hi Ray, This all sounds good. If you're on a fixed two year mortgage you should be looking to re-mortgage whether releasing equity or not as generally the fixed rate will automatically revert to a higher variable rate costing you more in interest each month after you term ends. Waiting for an increase in value and releasing equity to use for a deposit is a common strategy and one I have been doing myself for a while. Being able to add value to the property before re-mortgage valuation is also very worthwhile as long as you believe you can add more than you spend. e.g. a
  30. ollie h
    Thanks Richard! And Henry, I've listened to a number of Richard's podcasts and can testify that you'll learn a lot from his detailed, honest advice
  31.    ollie h reacted to a post in a topic: Hello! UK Student looking for advice and guidance.
  32. ollie h
    Fellow Edinburgh resident here Henry Good tips from Richard and Phil! I'd follow Richard's advice religiously and as Phil emphasises; education! Even with no or little money you can always be educating yourself and doing research so when the time comes you are ready and confident in your property decisions I have a friend on a modest salary who has used some of the government schemes and bought a 2 bed house in Edinburgh with under £5k savings, it is possible once you get a job to get started quickly. I rent a room, even at my age, and it's such a great way
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