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Hello, Thank you for reading myself and wife's joint BTL journey. The vast knowledge and resource that is available here is amazing. I purchased "The complete Guide To Property Investment" by Rob Dix. Which has led me here! Unfortunately I discovered this information in September 2020, few years after starting our BTL adventure. Our Journey started in 2018 where we purchased our first BTL in Coventry. Why Coventry? Well, Coventry is home is Cov university which is known for there engineering education and also home to Jaguar Land Rover engineering centres. Coventry is also experiencing growth with lots of new buildings and projects. Buying our first BTL, we was scared and excited. However with due diligence, research and speaking to the right people, we proceeded with the purchase with confidence. Because I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to Excel and spread sheets. I knew all my expenses, potential rental income, net yield & ROI before we continued with the purchase I identified. Almost 2 years on and we have achieved a ROI of 10.07% Over one year later after buying our first BTL, Jan 2020, Myself and my wife was in a position to purchase our 2nd BTL investment. This BTL has also been a success achieving a ROI of 12.21% Here we are in August 2020 in the process of acquiring our 3rd BTL investment. We have decided to purchase this property under our LTD company with the plans to buy a fourth BTL later on this year for tax benefit purposes. Unlike the first two investments which are under our personal names. The long term goal is to retire slightly earlier and have a wealthy income to support us, and eventually pass the properties down to our children. We want to expand our portfolio to other areas of the country and would be keen to hear what area's people are looking at. And how they manage properties so far away you? Thanks for reading, Regards, Craig.

Hi there, greatly appreciate some opinions on the following, Found a 3 bedroom semi-detached with garage and off road parking in Coventry, so targeting semi-professional with small families. Amenities-wise it is near a business park, retail shops, and hospital. Good motorway links to M6 and M69. The current vendor I understand is selling this from his substantial portfolio (100+ properties). I am planning on making an offer of 155k. Agent believes should be able to get £800 pcm (have asked for proof of this from agent to verify the previous tenant did actually pay this). They believe if the property is updated to an excellent finish should be able to fetch potentially £825-850. The property is in an ok state - nothing too daunting. So some new carpets upstairs, kitchen floor and worktop need replacing. Removal of wallpaper and paint required. There is no gas central heating, only electric. Thinking its best to leave as low maintenance, but I know some tenants prefer gas. There is a fence in need of repair (might be the highest cost and priority). Houses nearby of similar stature have sold for 185k this year (but that is a very good finish + gas heating judging by photos). The management fee is 12%. The mortgage broker is confident can get a 75% ltv, 5 year fix @ 2.46% for personal let. No fees. My concerns are this has been on the market since 25/12/2018 and has been reduced from 170, 165 and recently 160. Issues bought up in conveyancing perhaps? Also, Zoopla's estimate is £125k but then I take Zoopla with a pinch of salt! Based on the above hoping to achieve slightly higher than 6% yield and around 8% ROCE. Seems a quiet area, drove down there a few times at various times and no issues. Could be better curb appeal but speaking to broker and few agents have been told its a nice family area and should rent quickly. All primary schools are min rated good on Ofsted and secondary schools, nearest is Outstanding, joint distance with another with a Special measures school. Thanks in advance.

Hey guys, I'm Tom and I live in Rugby in the west midlands. I'm new to the game and have just set out my goals. I'm looking to achieve a monthly income from profit of £2000 in the next 3 years. I'm pretty busy with work so I've set the strategy of BTL with buying low and adding value, with the intention of recycling my deposits. I haven't got a lot of capital at the moment, however I have my own home with some equity built up. My first SMART goal is to buy one property in the first 12 months, which requires me to save a certain amount and release some from my home. I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone who has gone down this route to get started with their first investment. I'm equally as interested to hear from any investors in Rugby - good idea? It seems to have all the fundamentals. Thanks in advance! Tom

Hi everyone (and hi Rob & Rob if you’re reading), Feel like I’ve been on the fringes of the community for a while as I’ve been to a couple of meetups, been listening to podcasts and checked out the forum a few times but this is actually my first post. I’m from St Albans but I’m looking at building a portfolio of BTLs and multi-lets in Coventry and I’m interested in networking with other investors and landlords in the area, sharing knowledge, contacts etc. Doesn’t matter if you’ve got 100 properties or just one (or none yet), we all need support of like minded people if we’re going to build our wealth and I’m happy to share what little knowledge and experience I have too. If you’re investing in the area please give me a shout, it would be great to hear from you. Would also like to hear where property investors from Coventry are going for their meetups? As there’s not one in Coventry right now maybe if there’s enough of us we could even get one going in the future. Look forward to connecting with you all. Pete

Hey PH team My name's Joe and I'm a movie obsessed designer living in London with my wife Rachel, and we're both eager to really get going in property. Why I'm writing this post Over the past few weeks we've been crunching the numbers and building spreadsheets to assess the areas we'd like to invest in and so far Coventry is feeling right for us. It's around the right price we can afford and isn't *too* far from London. We're aiming to visit in the next few weeks to get a feel for the place and maybe visit some properties and would love to grab coffees/lunch with other investors in the area! We're also looking for recommendations for builders/contractors in the area that you have worked with. What we've done in property so far We've gone from knowing ABSOLUTELY nothing about property 2 months ago, to attending the Legacy 3 day intro course, attended two Property Hub networking events in Kings Cross, viewed an auction property for research, attended an auction for research, carried out lots of work on the business like reaching out to accountants/solicitors/brokers etc and lastly working out our area to invest in (which is feeling like Coventry). Areas we want to invest in As I've mentioned a few times we are exclusively looking in Coventry at the moment and are excited to reach out and start making connections in the area with other like minded property investors, as well as contractors and estate agents. Our plans for the future We spent half a day cutting up images we found on Google to create our 'Why' board', which we've stuck on our fridge. This is to ensure we're always keeping our reason for doing this front of mind. We definitely want to be hands off investors so any processes/techniques to make investment more passive is definitely a win for us. We love to travel (I know everyone does), but for me personally a huge part of my why is to help my family financially and to ensure when Rachel and I have kids in the next few years, that I'm as much a part of their lives as she is. We also both love learning and trying new things and dream of being able to travel to Italy for a month to learn to cook, or travel to Hawaii for a month to learn to surf etc. Any skills or knowledge that other members might benefit from I was a professional photographer for 6 years specialising in music, corporate/events and portraiture. I am now a digital designer which basically means I design (not develop) websites and apps focusing on user experience and visuals. I'd also consider myself a people person so if anyone needs any help with confidence, approaching strangers or networking I'm happy to share my approach. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I have originally posted it to Contractor advice. So, please use this topic for answers. I think legal advice is more what I am after. Link to my other post (I don't know how I can delete previous post): I need your advice - I am having a difficult time with a contractor. I will keep my story very brief (as much as I can). So, the status is that: I have paid deposit £1000 (bank transfer) for stuff which hasn't been clearly specified on Friday. We discussed number of issues, however not in detail. I said my priorities are: boiler replacement, consumer unit replacement and roof maintenance. I understood that we would continue discussion on Monday, what is going to be done and have proper quotes. So, quote for the roof will be taken after he actually has seen the roof from a ladder. However, on Sunday the contractor asked me for my full address, so he can order "cherry picker" to my address - So, I said don't do it - I want to cancel the work. He said that he would come on Monday to discuss the issues and briefly mentioned that incurred costs already! Obviously, this is a lie - as he was pretty busy this Friday (he left at least 3pm in the afternoon) and he doesn't work on weekends. Plus, what costs he could incur? We didn't specify boiler apart from it has to be conventional with silencer - I need far more than that (in his head he knows what I want). So, I don't have quotes apart values taken on the spot on Friday. Which are not on company paper, etc. I have some numbers on my discussion list - which are totally unclear for a 3rd person what it is about. He didn't give me break down of fees, nor I signed any documents for. I am afraid that he can make false receipts or ask someone to create fake ones. So, he can claim the costs and get money back from his friendly tradesman. Obviously, on Monday he called me from hidden number (around 5pm) and we discussed issues briefly. I told him that I have 14 days cooling off period and I don't have to say the reason why I want to cancel. On Friday, he said he would come to mine around 6pm. However, on Monday's phone call he moved it to 7.30 pm or 8ish - because he is in London. So, he didn't come nor sent any message that he wouldn't come. So, I sent him signed cancellation letter via Facebook's messenger around 9 pm - I don't have his "trade address" or any other address (I have used template from the Internet - stating my rights and that I want my refund and I gave him 7 days from delivery of the message). He called me again from hidden number - which I have managed to record (unfortunately this is in Polish - but if I have to go to court I will be able to prove his practices). In the conversation, he also said that he can specify a service which didn't happen and this was payment for it (despite he doesn't have any signed paper from myself - apart from cancellation paper). So, I won't see my money back. I have managed to calm the situation down and ask him to come to mine on Friday to discuss the issues and get the proper quotes. I hope, I can get control of the process in the end. My main goal for this meeting is to get his address - just in case, if I have to sue him - So, I don't have to chase him to find his address (I am not sure, if I can take him to trade standards or court without having address). I consider that someone from his team could do electrics, if I have a good quote. And I have the control who is doing the work, that he has proper certificates, etc. However, I am not making free decision here. It is rather blackmail, than "cooperation". I am forced to it - but it might do a relatively "mild compromise", if anyone could say that. And I would avoid going to court. I wonder if you could suggest possible solutions. The case seems to be difficult - but not lost yet.

Please use this topic to reply: @Admin - please delete this topic, as Legal Advice is more appropriate ( I believe ). I need your advice - I am having a difficult time with a contractor. I will keep my story very brief (as much as I can). So, the status is that: I have paid deposit £1000 (bank transfer) for stuff which hasn't been clearly specified on Friday. We discussed number of issues, however not in detail. I said my priorities are: boiler replacement, consumer unit replacement and roof maintenance. I understood that we would continue discussion on Monday, what is going to be done and have proper quotes. So, quote for the roof will be taken after he actually has seen the roof from a ladder. However, on Sunday the contractor asked me for my full address, so he can order "cherry picker" to my address - So, I said don't do it - I want to cancel the work. He said that he would come on Monday to discuss the issues and briefly mentioned that incurred costs already! Obviously, this is a lie - as he was pretty busy this Friday (he left at least 3pm in the afternoon) and he doesn't work on weekends. Plus, what costs he could incur? We didn't specify boiler apart from it has to be conventional with silencer - I need far more than that (in his head he knows what I want). So, I don't have quotes apart values taken on the spot on Friday. Which are not on company paper, etc. I have some numbers on my discussion list - which are totally unclear for a 3rd person what it is about. He didn't give me break down of fees, nor I signed any documents for. I am afraid that he can make false receipts or ask someone to create fake ones. So, he can claim the costs and get money back from his friendly tradesman. Obviously, on Monday he called me from hidden number (around 5pm) and we discussed issues briefly. I told him that I have 14 days cooling off period and I don't have to say the reason why I want to cancel. On Friday, he said he would come to mine around 6pm. However, on Monday's phone call he moved it to 7.30 pm or 8ish - because he is in London. So, he didn't come nor sent any message that he wouldn't come. So, I sent him signed cancellation letter via Facebook's messenger around 9 pm - I don't have his "trade address" or any other address (I have used template from the Internet - stating my rights and that I want my refund and I gave him 7 days from delivery of the message). He called me again from hidden number - which I have managed to record (unfortunately this is in Polish - but if I have to go to court I will be able to prove his practices). In the conversation, he also said that he can specify a service which didn't happen and this was payment for it (despite he doesn't have any signed paper from myself - apart from cancellation paper). So, I won't see my money back. I have managed to calm the situation down and ask him to come to mine on Friday to discuss the issues and get the proper quotes. I hope, I can get control of the process in the end. My main goal for this meeting is to get his address - just in case, if I have to sue him - So, I don't have to chase him to find his address (I am not sure, if I can take him to trade standards or court without having address). I consider that someone from his team could do electrics, if I have a good quote. And I have the control who is doing the work, that he has proper certificates, etc. However, I am not making free decision here. It is rather blackmail, than "cooperation". I am forced to it - but it might do a relatively "mild compromise", if anyone could say that. And I would avoid going to court. I wonder if you could suggest possible solutions. The case seems to be difficult - but not lost yet.

Hi Everyone, Me my husband and 2 kids are looking to move to Coventry in about 6 months time due to my husbands job and we really need to start looking into buying a house. Just needed some advice on the best areas to live in for a family and also if there is any estate agents that are recommended, I've come across a few below does anyone know any others that will be good to get in touch with?https://www.loveitts.co.uk/contact/coventryconnells.co.uk/wilsons.uk.com/Any help or advice will be appreciated!Thanks in advance, Sadi

Hey PH Team, Can anyone recommend any contractors in the Coventry area? We're going to be specifically looking for builders, electricians, plumbers etc to help us refurb properties we intend to flip Thanks in advance! Joe

Hello I am so pleased I have found this forum. I am a self- employed writer and live at my mums in London. A few months ago, I was in my bedroom thinking there must be more to life other than staring at 4 walls so decided to become a property investor part time. I went on that Robbie Fowler day course. Loved it! Was so inspired. Was gonna go on the weekend course but family talked me out of it. Cue researching on property courses - did not know this was such a lucrative market. I have a property in London – jointly owned. It’s rented out – to students - and it’s my main source of income. I am in the process of remortgaging and have 100k to invest. I go up to Coventry twice a week and view places and I love it. Have put in several offers – all rejected… Spoken to estate agents to find out what they went for. It’s all so interesting and am learning so much. Eg how Estate agents hold open days so that it looks like there’s loads of competition!! These are the ones you can get the deals on if you know what you’re getting! What I’ve learnt so far: I’m rubbish at negotiating – really, really need to work on this! There is always going to be a property that I really, really want – so relax I need to hook up with a good builder. Anyone know of one?? 100K goes quick if you’re not too careful! Cash is king... Maybe all this is covered in books? Anyway I am in the process of buying my 1st property so I’ve taken the plunge and feel less jittery about it all. So far I am really enjoying it… and it’s really hard to keep it part-time as it’s all I think about. I also wonder if there's a certain personality that is suited to this as I'm so indecisive but I am hoping that confidence will come with knowledge and I'll be that person who is like - yes, get it! Goals: Move out. Get monthly rental income of 10K (I am having a meeting with RMP next month to discuss goals as I feel I need to have a few more...) Take care Janice

Hi All. I'm looking to invest, probably in HMOs. Prices in my area are high so I could only invest here as a joint venture of some description. I'm particularly interested in Coventry, however, due to the relatively sane house prices, the good transport links and the anticipated rental demand. Plus, I'm from near there originally and have family in the area. My goal is to generate enough income from property so that I can give up my day job, thereby allowing some other person who might enjoy it more to do it instead. And good luck to them! That way I'd be making two people happy. Regards, Roger

Hi everyone, Mikolaj here, now from Coventry, originaly from Poland. Came to the UK in 2014, bought my home here in 2015, hope to buy something to let in 2016 or 2017 (something I understand as a terraced house 2/3 bed in Coventry, for students (as there are 2 universities) or proffesionals). No money to invest yet, my broker found a lender willing to get me a loan which could be used as a deposit for a further mortgage from the same lender - I have to change a job to make enough income to qualify for this offer so it will take time. I would appreciate all ideas/words of wisdom as I have no people around to advise me wisely (friends and family will usually tell me why it will fail). I have taken a course which didn't change my life - they charged GBP 1000 for 3 days, told me quite some stuff I would never figure out on my own but then moved to selling other courses for GBP 20k-40k. I decided to look for other sources and stumbled upon this place. I'm 32 now and would like to retire at 40. Retire meaning not have to work and my plan is to have income from rents from properties managed by an agency/agencies. Nothing like a millionaire, together with my wife we spend about GBP 1500/month so GBP 2000 of passive income will easily do the job. With future children it will be more but by that time I want to have at least my first Buy To Let. I have just started listening to the property podcast. Great job Rob and Rob ! This is really something !

Hi, I've just found out that my wife has a new job in Coventry and Warwickshire as a doctor (exact hospital tbc) and it's made me start to look at Coventry as an area for investment. Fundamentals seem good, but the student population really stands our and it's making me think about targeting student tenants. I would presume that students start to secure their accommodation for the following academic year before they break for the summer, is that right? I'm concerned that the window to find, purchase and market a property is closing fast and I would probably need to have adverts attracting tenants by May at the latest, which would be quite tricky. Does anyone have experience of this? I don't want to sink cash in a student BTL only to find that I've missed the boat for a year. Any pointers, war stories or general advice would be gratefully received, Thanks Gareth