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dear all, I am not overly excited about buying a flat in Manchester city centre or Salford, hence I was looking at buying a house outside. I was thinking about Bolton (easy to commute to Manchester and more affordable houses) and Wigan ( High Speed infrastructure project approved). In Bolton I would go for a 3 bed house, 125k ish. Wigan is way cheaper, not sure what to target there. What do you think about these places? are yields good and is there rental demand to backup this long term investment? Don't be shy, if I am missing something and my assumption are wrong shut me down thanks a lot in advance. Jac

Hi All I'm a newbie to the forum having this year listened to lots of the podcasts, read Rob's books and recently been to a meeting with RMP. I'm in my late 40's, run a small law firm, and have no pension provision whatsoever. So my plan is to create a passive income over the next 5 years of £100k a year, the majority of which I expect to be through property. I started my property investment journey last year. I live in London and would have liked to invest close to home but put off by prices. So the first property I did was a 6 bed HMO in Bolton. Had a few problems but good learning curve and now fully let and managed by agents and making about £900 profit a month. I have just had an offer accepted on my second property also in the North West. Its a former pub which has been converted into 4 flats, 3 x 2 bed and 1 x 1 bed. It also has 4 garages with it. The flats are all let out and the annual rent is £19,500. Purchase price is £190,000. Stamp duty and legal fees survey etc about £10,000. My plan is to buy with cash and then split the freehold title into 4 leasehold flats. From my research and speaking to local agents I believe the 2 beds should be valued around £70k and the 1 bed around £60k giving a total value of £270k. If I then get 4 mortgages on the flats at 75% LTV I should be able to extract £202,500 from the deal and leave myself with nothing left in. I appreciate I have to leave the cash in for 6 months from the date I split the titles to when I can get finance. The legal fees for splitting the title have been quoted at £1,500 and there will be 4 arrangement fees for mortgages. i will be left with the Freehold and possibly 4 garages to either develop or sell if I do not include them with the Leaseholds. I don't know what a garage is worth but they must be £5-£10k each at a guess. After mortgage and insurance I should make around £1250 profit a month from the leaseholds. Seems like a great deal to me but am I missing anything? I'd really value peoples feedback as I do not have much of a property network around me. I have not been to a meet up yet but intend to go to the one at Kings Cross in December and get chatting to some like minded people. look forward to hearing from anybody!

Good day Hubbers, Can anyone recommend a good mortgage adviser or broker for a BTL in Bolton? Looking to convert a residential mortgage to an interest-only BTL soon, on behalf of my in-laws ages 57 & 67 Is it better to use a local mortgage adviser or will I be fine dealing over the phone / email etc. Any advice or recommendations would be kindly received. Thanks Josh

Hi, I've got a £35k deposit in the bank but i'm struggling to decide on where to invest. I'm based in Bolton but work in Manchester city centre and like the idea of self-managing. I have formed a LTD company so will need to buy properties with a min value of £75k to make them mortgageable. Ideally, looking for a light refurb to get me started but the problem is where? My views are: Manchester - still booming and will struggle to get anything decent under £130k near the city centre but possibly the best shot for capital growth?. Salford - benefitting from the ripple effect from Manchester and Media City but fundamentally still some pretty rough areas. More uplift to come or has it seen the majority of the uplift already? Bolton/Wigan - some nice areas and good transport into Manchester - lower values and less competition but less capital growth potential? Any thoughts/tips? Cheers, Rick

Hello to everyone I'm new to the hub having discovered the podcast six weeks ago (just caught up with all the episodes!) I've been educating myself for the last couple of months and I'm now ready to act. Viewed 2 properties over the Christmas period and another 2 booked over the weekend. We're looking to invest locally initially, in the Bolton area (about 20 mins from Manchester). I'm fast approaching 50 and having spent too much time looking at all sorts of investments and sitting on cash I've finally been persuaded of the merits of property and am ready to start the real education. If anyone in the hub has any local recommendations for professionals please let me know. PS A big thanks to the 2 Robs for making the difference. Paul