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I'm preparing to buy my first property next year, and am getting my strategy together, and want to keep really good records from the start. I'm confused about when I will start making money. Let's say I need 30k to cover the deposit, legal etc costs, renovations, insurance, all of the costs, and then after paying the mortgage I make £100 per month. In my mind I don't make a profit for 300 (plus extra yearly expenses) months, because my initial outlay was so much, but I technically would have an income of £100 more than my wage. Is it a yearly thing, like i'd make a loss in the first year and then £1200 profit in year 2, 3....., etc? I'm thinking about it partly for tax, as that would become another expense that ate into my £100 per month, but also from a strategy perspective, for when I'd break even. I'm confused about when I call the £100 per month profit.

Hello all! Firstly I just wanted to introduce myself to the community, I'm Ben aged 24 and I'm currently based in Bristol working as a Graduate Manufacturing Engineer. Throughout my life I have had an interest in property and used to love to watch programs such as Grand Designs and Homes Under the Hammer when I was younger. After I Graduated from University in 2019 I had very little knowledge about how to get into property but I knew it was something I wanted to get into! So at the start of my research I stumbled across this podcast called "The Property Podcast" after I bought 1 of Robs books - The Complete Guide to Property Investment. I started listening to the podcast from episode 1 while travelling to and from work. The Robs joke about the quality of those first few episodes on the podcast today but I found that these first few episodes helped me to relate to them and going on their journey with them has opened my eye to the fact that all successful ventures start from small foundations. This has motivated me to think bigger about where I could end up in the future if I put the work in, not just in property. So over the past 2 years I have been saving HARD to get to a position where I can pursue my first property investment and this week I have successfully had an offer accepted on a 2 bed maisonette in the West Midlands, in the area where I grew up! (Bristol is just way to expensive for me! And investing in my hometown I can benefit from my vast knowledge of the area). With many developments to public transport in this area and with the upcoming 5-7years of property growth (18 year cycle), I plan to not only get a return from rental income but also the potential for capital growth. I now have a long journey ahead of me that I am very much looking forward to - Learning about the buying process, learning how to work with solicitors effectively, setting up a mortgage correctly, get the property ready to rent and finding a tenant that I can provide an excellent service for. I can finally learn from taking action and move away from that pesky analysis paralysis! Thank you for reading! Ben.

Hello all! My partner and I are really keen to get started with building a property portfolio of Buy-to-Lets and HMOs. We have been doing a lot of research over the last 9 months and have begun saving some cash to get us started. I have around £6000 in a Lifetime ISA (and growing by the month) and we are trying to come up with our strategy for the next 5-10 years to create a property portfolio. Our aim is to be able to either quit our jobs, or be in a position where we can work/volunteer in an area that we are passionate about without having to worry about the salary. We do not have much knowledge or experience at this stage, we are just learning as much as we can from online resources like this amazing site. Our starting position isn't great and we know it's going to take a lot of time and hard work, but we're committed to making it happen. If anyone has any advice on a possibly strategy or tips on how to get started they would be hugely appreciated! Thank you Sarah

Hi guys, I feel I have found a great deal local to me. The property is currently listed at under 40k but I think it could sell for less. However, properties in the same area, even on the same street, are selling for 70k+. The property is slightly run down and so would need refurbishing, but would this boost the value to that 70k mark? My numbers at the minute are: 10k deposit 30k mortgage (or bridging loan) 10k renovation refinance at 70k 52.5k mortgage -30k first mortgage/ bridging loan -10k deposit -10k renovation = 2.5k which covers fees, interest and council tax etc while the house is being renovated. If these numbers add up then I have a no money in property with 17.5k equity. However, how can I tell if the value of the house will reach 70k? There isn't a huge amount of work to do to it and I feel it is currently being sold at below market value. Yet with new carpets, an extra bedroom added (in the loft which is practically ready to be made into a bedroom), possibly a cellar conversion, would this increase the value that much? A 75% increase in value seems a lot, yet if this is below market value and its possibly worth 55k, that's only a 28% increase. Any advice would be much appreciated. Just lacking confidence as this would be my first investment.

Good morning all, I have just written this on the way into work on the train, I am hoping to really get started in property and it would be a dream to eventually do up and sell on properties full time. I have never purchased a place before and I wanted to use this forum as a starting place to meet people and gain knowledge. Can anyone recommends some reading firstly on how I can get started? There is so many questions like how much do I need, do I buy post Brexit? Do I hope for another crash and then buy? Is help to buy good etc? If anyone can point me in the right direction as a starting off point would be much appreciated! My final question is does anyone know of any property meet up groups in and around Essex? I'm from Dagenham/Romford if that help! Thanks in advance Solomon