property sq2
BEST PRACTICE TRAINING IN THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY
Property SQ2 Limited is a leading provider of online education and training
courses related to the property business. We proud members of the Property
Educators Accreditation Scheme.
Between us we have 25 years experience in Property Investment and the Property
Industry, and over 20 years experience training people in skills and techniques
for best practice in the industry via a combination of face to face, live
online, on demand and 1-2-1 training events.
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE
From building a retirement pot, to replacing your current income. Property is
the vehicle to create financial freedom, choice and security
Drawing on over 30 years of property and business experience with over 20 years
of training, coaching and mentoring people in property investment strategies,
Our training courses and 1-2-1 coaching and mentoring solutions are here to
help you succeed in the property business.
Whatever your goal, whatever your background, whatever your experience.
Whether you want to...
* Build a safe and sustainable portfolio to bolster your retirement pot
* Create a passive income to generate job-leaving level profits
* Learn how to add value and recycle your precious savings through multiple
property deals
* Need a way into the property industry without a big deposit we can help.
ARDEN HANLEY
Arden Hanley is a property investor, business owner, consultant and trainer.
Having experience across multiple property investment strategies and related
businesses such as lettings management, sourcing and property consultancy. A
landlord and business owner for 20 years, trainer, mentor and coach to the
property industry for 12 years, member of the Property Educators Accreditation
scheme, Arden has not only extensive experience in the industry, but also a
track record of using that experience to train others to achieve their property
goals.
Buy To Let & Social Housing
With previous buy-to-let experience in Australia, Arden was immediately drawn to
this as a primary strategy. Today, Arden has an extensive buy to let portfolio
in the UK that he has built in Northampton, Nottingham and Hull. He has a range
of houses for family lets, rented to both working tenants and within the social
housing sector, and flats serving the young professional market. Arden says, “I
think buy to let is the foundation of any successful property portfolio and this
part of my portfolio was what allowed me to first achieve financial freedom. I
think every investor needs to learn the fundamentals of buy to let, even if they
ultimately choose to focus on other strategies within their portfolio because
there are so many simple but important lessons to learn around being a good
landlord and managing tenants effectively that you get from understanding this
core strategy.”
HMO & Rent To Rent
HMO was a natural progression from initial Buy to Let purchases to “increase my
cash flow and take advantage of market conditions in my target area at that time
being Nottingham.” With an extensive HMO portfolio, his preference are a larger
number of smaller HMOs i.e. 4-6 tenants rather than a smaller number of large
HMOs, although he has experience of both. How can an investor make this strategy
work for them? “I believe HMO provides an excellent income stream and if done
correctly can be a very stable income stream as well. I think the key to a
successful HMO is setting it up correctly from the outset to make it as
attractive and user friendly for tenants, and identify potential cost centres or
savings before tenants go in and empowering my lettings agents to put together
the right tenant mix to create a harmonious environment.”
Distressed Property & Adding Value
Every property that Arden has purchased has been distressed to some degree, as
he says “I believe this is the one true route to make money out of property.” He
has applied the lessons he has learnt on smaller projects as he has moved on to
larger more complex investment properties. It’s also given him the opportunity
to work with distressed sellers which he regards as a core skill in a property
investor’s arsenal. As Arden says, “With a distressed seller, you are a solution
provider trying to create a win/win situation where you can offer a route for
the seller to sell the property that removes their financial burden, while at
the same time offering an opportunity for you as an investor to make a fair
profit.”
Commercial to Residential & Development
As his confidence has grown, so has Arden’s willingness to commit to more
complicated projects and he has successfully adopted commercial to residential
conversions as a strategy since 2013 primarily working with either disused
retail or office space which is in abundance in the UK. It’s not hard to see the
appeal, as Arden says, “I find that there is a huge opportunity for value uplift
in this strategy as the closer you get to effectively a shell, the more
opportunities you have to make money.’
Portfolios
There are a number of options for approaching the acquisition of a portfolio,
whether it’s title splitting a block of flats, via a freehold/leasehold
strategy, organising a share buyout of a property company, or structuring a
staggered sale to maximise buyer and seller value and tax savings. Arden has
experience dealing with the simple acquisition of a portfolio to the complex and
sometimes challenging world of dealing with portfolios in trouble, direct to
owners, via agents, liquidators or administrators.
Complimentary businesses and deal structuring
Having an interest in a lettings agency, experience running a sourcing
business/property consultancy for 7 years and working with multiple business
partners has taught Arden the value of building business clusters to support
each other and working with business partners and private investors to make
business happen. ‘Property deals can come together from your own resources, time
and effort, but as your ambitions grow and the opportunities get bigger, it’s
important to think about how private finance and joint ventures can create
profit for you and your partners. I’d rather have a cut of something than the
whole of nothing.’
Mentorship & Training
For Arden, it’s an honour to be invited to mentor to share his knowledge with
others which provides enormous, personal satisfaction. Even though he’s not
naturally outgoing, Arden admits that “As a self-confessed property geek, if you
ask me questions about property, I’m happy to talk for days.” He encourages his
mentees to “Soak up as much as you can from people who have done it before and
been successful. Soak up the knowledge for sure, but also the motivation and
mindset.” He concludes, “I don't think there is any better way to start in
property than to work side by side with someone who has been where you are
starting from and has proved how to make it work.”
CHRIS CORMACK
Chris Cormack is a property investor and business owner with a vast experience
working with people to develop their property investments and business growth.
Helping people to succeed has been a large part of his business focus over the
last 16 years as a mentor, trainer and coach. His understanding of the industry
through building his own portfolio across a range of strategies enables him to
work with clients around their goals so they achieve whichever outcome they are
looking for. Chris is recognised within the property industry and is member of
the Property Educators Accreditation scheme.
From a standing start in November 2004 Chris built his property business across
various strategies within the property industry. Property had a great appeal for
5 reasons:
1. Being his own boss
2. Recurring monthly income
3. Large lump sums of income
4. Long term capital growth
5. Opportunity to help others benefit from the same reasons 1-4.
BUY TO LET & SOCIAL HOUSING
Chris believes "Buy To Lets are the foundation to any successful property
portfolio because it's the quickest way to generate income while you learn the
initial fundamentals of the business. Demand is high across the country for BTL
which other strategies don't necessarily have. Within our portfolio we have a
wide mix of tenants including families, couples, singles as well as fixed term
guaranteed social housing contracts." Understanding the industry and our
responsibilities is paramount and gives us the necessary grounding to progress
income across other strategies. A number of his properties have been used as
serviced accommodation through a commercial contract. These have resulted in
guaranteed income, ensuring a hands off pain free outcome.
HMO
Chris continues "For larger income, having HMOs brings considerable changes to
your monthly bank account which was our natural progression. A major learning
moving into HMOs was all the necessary fire requirements and additional
management needs. These of course add costs which are not present with your
BTL's. Having this knowledge prior to committing to this strategy is important
along with a deep understanding of who will be your tenant market. Generally
this is less flexibility so more targeted research initially is imperative to
achieve your successful outcome.
ADDING VALUE & FLIPS
Lump sums of income is an area Chris has targeted when buying properties,
modernising them and selling them. A key component to achieve these returns is
looking to see where true value can be added, increasing value is paramount
here. His view on this is that while it generates substantial income it also
gives the opportunity to allow faster growth within his portfolio. Having
addition capital to invest gives a wider deal choice and opportunities to
structure deals. "Having greater tools while in front of a motivated seller
allows you the facility to be more creative especially if you can offer a
solution to their current situation."
STRUCTURING SOLUTIONS
Over the years he has been able to structure deals which has helped the seller
which in turn helped him dramatically reduce initial capital to acquire the
property. "The key is to focusing on them, the seller and come to a win, win
scenario." Achieving this has added numerous properties to the portfolio.
With a deal seeing what is really there gives Chris an edge. Where most people
see a single outcome in a deal Chris likes to look for multiple outcomes across
strategies. As his experience has developed the confidence has taken him into
larger projects which can deliver multiple opportunities. Understanding the
finance and tax implication can give additional advantages. Having bought a
portfolio with land created multiple flip opportunities which resulted in the
land cost him nothing, free land. Having free land gave him further choices
around planning. Sell with planning or build out and sell with a decision based
on whichever gives the greater return for time/money invested.
MENTORSHIP, COACHING AND TRAINING
Chris has been mentoring property investors since 2007. He himself had the
benefit of a mentor and fully understands how it accelerates your portfolio
growth, "money well spent" and that's from a Scotsman....! "It was a privilege
to be asked and was something I had wanted to do, so I enthusiastically jumped
at the chance." Being able to pass on market experience, as well as working with
people to develop the best strategy for them is extremely rewarding. Sometimes
it's the smallest thing that creates the biggest impact and it does not matter
if you are new or have some experience in property, accessing another person's
experience is a springboard to a new set of outcomes, for the better.
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