Crime and the immediate area
Crime rate and deprivation for the actual location, not the town average. Two roads apart can be a different price and a completely different tenant.
From first call to keys
Eight steps. You do about five things.
This is the whole process, in order, with the awkward parts left in. You'll notice that almost all of the work sits on my side of the line. That isn't a selling point I invented, it's what you're actually paying for.
16 properties sourced at 10 to 20% below market value
4 written up in full on the case studies page
6 weeks my fastest conveyance, offer accepted to keys
28% below the original asking price on 23 Beech Grove, my best result so far
The process
All eight steps, in the order they happen.
Steps one and two happen before you pay me anything beyond the instruction stage. If we're not the right fit, you find out on the first call rather than three weeks in.
-
A straight conversation
What you want the money to do, what you can deploy, and what your timeline looks like. If we are not the right fit we will say so on this call rather than three weeks in.
-
We agree the brief
Written criteria: area, budget, strategy, the returns you need and the things you will not accept. Terms are signed so you know exactly what you are buying from us.
-
We search and we filter
Estate agents, direct to vendor, auction and off-market. Most of what we see fails the checks. You do not hear about those, which is the point.
-
We view it for you
In person, on video, with honest notes. You see the damp patch and the neighbour’s garden, not just the wide-angle lounge shot.
-
Full due diligence
Crime, flood, EPC and the route to a C, legal title, comparable sales and realistic rent. You get the workings, not a summary.
-
We negotiate
We work for you and only you, so there is no seller-side commission pulling the other way. This is where the discount is made.
-
Through to completion
Solicitors, brokers, surveys and the chasing. Our fastest conveyance was six weeks. You get updates without having to ask.
-
Keys, and what comes next
Refurb managed if you need it, utilities set up, management put in place. Then it is an asset that pays, not a project that nags.
Due diligence
What I check on every property, before you see it.
Most properties fail at this stage, which is the point of paying someone to do it. You get the workings, not a summary with the inconvenient bits removed.
Flood risk
Checked before anything else gets my time. Flood risk is cheap to check and expensive to discover after you own it.
EPC, and the route to a C
Current rating and the realistic potential rating, so you know what it would cost to get there rather than finding out from a letting agent later.
Legal title
Title, lease and service charges reviewed before I recommend an offer. Freehold where I can get it.
Comparable sales
What similar properties on similar streets actually sold for, which is the only honest way to know whether the asking price is fiction.
A rent figure that holds
Based on what comparable properties are really letting for, not the optimistic number on the listing. The yield is only as good as that figure.
Condition, in person: Damp, Roofing, Subsidence, Windows, Ventilation. I look for the things that cost five figures to fix and never appear in a listing photograph.
The actual division of labour
Your list is 5 items long. Mine is 14.
This is the product. Not the finding, not the negotiating, though both matter. The product is that buying 200 miles away stops eating your evenings.
You
What you have to do
- Have one straight conversation about the goal, the budget and the timeline.
- Agree the written brief and sign the terms.
- Read what I send you and say yes or no.
- Provide ID, proof of funds and source of funds. Anti-money laundering law requires those from you, so this is the one bit I can't do on your behalf.
- Sign what the solicitor sends, and pay the fee at the three agreed stages.
No viewings. No days off work. No drive up the M1 to look at a house that was flattering in the photographs.
Me
What I do
- Search estate agents, auction, off-market and direct to vendor.
- Reject most of it before you ever see it.
- Drive to the property and view it in person.
- Film the full walkthrough and write honest notes the same day.
- Check crime, flood risk and deprivation for the area.
- Pull the EPC, current rating and realistic potential rating.
- Read the title, the lease and any service charges.
- Look for damp, roof, subsidence, window and ventilation problems.
- Price the comparable sales and a rent figure that survives contact with reality.
- Build the numbers, including the costs most people forget.
- Negotiate the price, with nobody paying me from the other side.
- Get the memorandum of sale issued and the solicitors instructed.
- Chase solicitors, brokers and surveyors, and update you weekly.
- Manage the refurbishment, the utilities and the handover to management.
Honest answer
How long it takes.
It varies, and anyone giving you a fixed timeline before they've seen your brief is guessing at best.
The search is the part nobody can schedule. It depends on what you'll accept and on what comes to market that month. I'm not going to send you something that failed the checks just to look busy.
Once an offer is accepted, the legal work is largely in the hands of solicitors, lenders and surveyors. The one figure I'll stand behind is my own record: 6 weeks from offer accepted to keys, on my fastest conveyance. That's a best case, not a promise, and I won't pretend otherwise.
You get an update every week during conveyancing whether there's news or not, so you're never left wondering.
When it goes wrong
Not every deal completes. Nothing is binding in England until exchange, so a vendor can pull out and a survey can turn up subsidence. When that happens the search restarts and there's no second fee. I'd rather lose the time than sell you a problem.
Where this applies
I only do this where I know the streets.
South Yorkshire and North Nottinghamshire, centred on Worksop and roughly 10 miles around it. If you want to buy somewhere I don't cover, I'll tell you rather than learning a new area on your money.
- Sheffield
- Doncaster
- Rotherham
- Worksop
- Retford
- Carlton in Lindrick
- Bentley
- Clowne
- Wood Avenue
- The Willows
- King Georges Road
- Ely Road
Four more of the properties I've sourced, photographed at handover. The full record, with the numbers.
Straight answers
What people ask at this point.
How many properties will I see before one is right?
Fewer than you expect, because you only see what survives the checks. Most of what I look at fails on crime, flood, title, condition or a rent figure that doesn't hold up, and you never hear about those.
Do I have to travel up for the viewing?
No. I attend in person and record a full walkthrough with honest notes, then send you the video and the notes the same day. One of my completed purchases was for an investor who never set foot in the country.
What happens if the deal falls through?
The search restarts and there's no second fee. Not every deal completes, because nothing is binding in England until exchange, so a vendor can pull out or a survey can turn something up. I say so rather than implying a clean run.
How long does it take?
It varies, and anyone quoting you a fixed timeline is guessing. The one figure I'll stand behind is my fastest conveyance, which was 6 weeks from offer accepted to keys.
Start at step one.
Five questions, two minutes. If we're a fit I'll book the call. If we're not I'll tell you, and point you somewhere better.
Connor Blades, Founder and Director. You'll be speaking to me, not a call centre.