THE RANT: The Right Stuff

Wes De Leur – Buy To Let Property Group founder says you need to be militant about your due diligence or you’ll get your marching orders or worse!

Often, I see individuals entering the market for the wrong reasons. Maybe they have seen or heard somewhere that someone is making money from property and think it’s a good idea for them to do. Ironically, since I set up the Buy To Let Property Group on Facebook, in a roundabout way I blame social media for this sort of recruitment. However, people who answer the property draft of these ‘influencers’ without properly vetting them only really have themselves to blame.

I’ve been made aware of a recent spate of people getting into financial difficulties due to not fully understanding the processes and obligations of servicing of debt down the line. I even had someone call me a few weeks ago asking for advice. They had previously followed someone on social media who seemingly made a strategy look hassle-free to execute.

When asked about financing deals, the influencer told the individual to look at leveraging their own home, as well as personal loans to proceed in building their dream portfolio. The individual duly followed ‘influencer’s’ orders.

Here’s how it played out.

Attack – The new investor purchased three single lets. So far so good… Skirmish – But wait… they are now unable to refinance due to affordability and interest rate changes.

Retreat – They are now facing the prospect of having to possibly sell either the investment properties, their own home or both, depending on a few factors.

I really do feel sorry for the individual however, they were not properly informed of the consequences of their actions. And you know what Gunnery Sergeant Hartman would say about poor planning!

Please do your research on people you are following, do your research on funding, do your research on debt servicing and make sure you have a robust plan of action on how you intend to move forwards, as well as a plan should circumstances change. It really does need to be militarylevel preparation – the stakes are high.

Happy investing all.