Property and economic update

June has seen an easing of house price inflation with all major surveys reporting a reduction in the rate of house price growth. This is without doubt good news as more modest growth reduces the risk of any house price instability. Hometrack report an overall increase of 0.4% down from 0.6% last month. However, all survey regions recorded rising house prices with Suffolk, Buckinghamshire and Greater Manchester recording figures of 0.8 and 0.9%. Only Oxfordshire recorded a fall (-0.7) with the City itself recording a drop of -1.4%. For some time Oxford has been a consistently poor achiever. Ipswich headed the city growth figures this month, recording a huge increase of 2.4%.

Alex Bannister of the Nationwide says “Compared with recent quarters, the pace of house price growth across the country is now more even; with the annual rate of inflation picking up in London (up to 11% year-on-year from 6% last quarter) and the South-East (up to 13% year-on-year from 10% last quarter). The pick up in price growth in the capital and the Home Counties partly reflects an improving jobs market”.

Comments made recently by the Governor of the Bank of England are very likely to worry a number of people, and maybe this in part is responsible for the slowing in house prices. One thing is for sure, nearly every major commentator agrees that the market is highly unlikely to crash, but will instead retreat to more sustainable levels as we see a slight re-alignment in North/South prices.

Our advice – keep investing. Just be careful where you invest.

What's New?

We say hello to Daryl Melia who joins ‘Property for Life’ as our resident mortgage consultant. Daryl has a tremendous amount of mortgage experience having worked in the industry for 14 years. Daryl brings a new level of service to ‘Property for Life’ and we are pleased to be able to offer this to our investors.

‘Property for life’ newsletter review

One year ago the ‘Property for Life’ newsletter was launched. In that time we have covered a lot of ground, so to celebrate 12 months of the newsletter we take a look at some of the best articles of the last year.

How to pick the best investment property in changing economic times
The article takes a brief look at the cycles within the property market and how they can be used to great effect by the property investor.
(July 2003)

Top 10 tips for landlords
We list the top 10 as produced by Tessa Shepperson of Landlord law online. This is a ‘must read’ for every landlord.
(September 2003)

Buying factors which affect house prices
We created a table of the factors than most affect house prices. The table – created using information from Hometrack – takes the form of two sections, one detailing positive factors and the other detailing negative factors.
(November 2003)

Math’s teacher who built a £75m property fortune
The story of the Judith Wilson who in 16 years moved from a career as a math’s teacher to multi millionaire based on an accumulated portfolio of nearly 500 properties. This just shows what can be achieved through careful property acquisition.
(November 2003)

Choosing and using letting agents
Another great article from Tessa Shepperson of Landlord law online. Divided into a 10 point list, this is another ‘must read’ for landlords.
(December 2003)

Financial intelligence
A fascinating article from Robert Kiyosaki – author of 5 New York Times bestsellers. Robert explains where his business ability comes from and why some people make much more money than others.
(January 2004)

Property or Shares?
A look at why we believe property is without doubt a better investment vehicle than shares.
(March 2004)

Property related tax – Where do you stand?
A brief look at the taxes relating to property investment. Which are relevant to you? And some ways to reduce your tax burden.
(April 2004)

How to secure good professional tenants
What better way to gain this information than to ask the tenants themselves – so we did. The top 5 points are listed in order of importance.
(May 2004)

Remember, if you would like to take a look at any of these articles again you can do so by visiting the newsletter archive at www.propertyforlife.com.

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek." - Mario Andretti Race Car Driver

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow - whata Ride!" - Peter Sage Entrepreneur and Speaker

Financial independence by Jim Rohn

Shortly after I met my mentor he asked me, "Mr. Rohn, how much money have you saved and invested over the last six years?" And I said, "None." He then asked, "Who sold you on that plan?"

It is better to be a lender than a spender.

To become financially independent you must turn part of your income into capital; turn capital into enterprise; turn enterprise into profit; turn profit into investment; and turn investment into financial independence.

Financial independence is the ability to live from the income of your own personal resources.

If you depend on your company to take care of your retirement, your future income will be divided by five. Take care of it yourself, and you can multiply your future income by five.

I remember saying to my mentor, "If I had more money, I would have a better plan." He quickly responded, "I would suggest that if you had a better plan, you would have more money." You see, it's not the amount that counts; it's the plan that counts.

If you were to show me your current financial plan, would I get so excited by it that I would go across the country and lecture on it? If the answer is no, then here's my question: "Why not"? Why wouldn't you have a superior financial plan that is taking you to the places you want to go?

I used to say, "Things cost too much." Then my teacher straightened me out on that by saying, "The problem isn't that things cost too much. The problem is that you can't afford it." That's when I finally understood that the problem wasn't "it" - the problem was "me."

© 1994 Jim Rohn International. For more information visit www.jimrohn.com

Focus on Leicester & Coventry

Leicester
Take a look around Leicester and you’ll find that things are changing for the better. Cranes are towering above building works as a string of developments take place across the city centre and beyond. You know its happening, you can see it with your own eyes. But all this is only a hint of what is to come. A doubling in size of the shopping centre, state of the art offices, riverside developments with a new marina, and a science park to build on the success of the National Space Centre.

With a population of 280,000, Leicester is the largest city in the East Midlands and the tenth largest in the country. Its importance was first recognised by the Romans and later by the Danes, who used it as a strategic stronghold to control the Midlands. Since then it has developed into a major commercial and manufacturing centre, known better for the diversity of its trade than for its dependence on a single industry. Manufacturing is still the single largest employment sector, providing work for over 25% of the cities working population.

Leicester has a very diverse population with the city's thriving ethnic minority community accounting for more than a third of Leicester's population and continuing to enrich city life.

The city has experienced huge house price growth over the last few years. 2003 saw an increase of just over 21% and the previous year experienced nearly 31%. In fact, since 1995 the average Leicester house price has increase 160.7% and this upward trend looks set to continue for some time.

Coventry
Over 300,000 people live and work in Coventry. Once one of the 4 largest cities in England, much of Coventry was destroyed during the Second World War. However, many reminders of the cities powerful past still exist, and now the post war city with its pioneering pedestrian precincts and contemporary cityscapes, is changing again.

Coventry has two universities, both helping to create a vibrant and exciting city that is full of life. New bars and eating places are springing up in the historic Cathedral Quarter. A huge entertainment and leisure complex is rising on a site where factories once stood. A major Millennium project will transform one whole side of the central area while exciting plans for more shopping promise to do the same for another, and now plans are in motion for a new stadium combining an exhibition and leisure centre in the north of the city – and future home to Coventry City Football Club.

Coventry is a city that has witnessed huge growth in the last few years, 12.6% last year and 28.6% the year before. Since 1995 Coventry has experienced house price growth of 155%, and once again all the signs are for this to continue.

Both Leicester and Coventry are without doubt great locations in which to purchase investment property.

"It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome." - William James 1842-1910, Psychologist and Author

"It is no great thing to be humble when you are brought low; but to be humble when you are praised is a great and rare attainment." - St. Bernard 1090-1153, French Theologian and Reformer

Meet a fellow ‘Property for Life’ investor

Meet investment partners Colin Chin and Roland Tsang. In 2001, Colin – who works for a Facilities Management company – was looking to move on from his first property in Leeds. When informed by the Estate Agent that the property was now worth £50,000 more than when he had purchased it 18 months earlier, Roland Tsang, his investment partner, suggested that they keep this apartment to let out once Colin had moved into a city centre apartment, which he had purchased off-plan. Together with Roland's own capital and Colin's equity they purchased two riverside apartments in Leeds. These were both 2 bed units and were purchased off-plan.

In 2002, Colin and Roland were introduced to David Austin, the MD of Property for Life. “The concept that David was offering was incredible” says Colin. “I was already very taken with the idea of purchasing off-plan property, but to be able to do this at 15% discount with only a 5% deposit was too good too miss”. Colin and Roland subsequently purchased two apartments in Crusader House, Nottingham, and shortly after purchased two more at Marco Island, Nottingham. These were all one bed units.

Colin and Roland then went on to purchase a two bed apartment in Mirfield, near Leeds, and a two bed apartment in Oxford Street, Leicester. The first of these has now completed, and the second will complete very shortly.

Colin has recently moved to a new townhouse in Leeds, which has increased in value considerably since being purchased off-plan last year. Colin says “In order to maximise capital growth we have only purchased properties off-plan, both for residential and investment purposes. Although this is my third residential property in just over 4 years (and despite the upheaval), it has enabled me to move on with considerable capital gains to further expand the portfolio with Roland”.

Colin and Roland now have 9 investment properties with an approximate value of £1.35 million, and equity in the region of £350,000. They are now looking to secure a property in Spain with the view of diversifying the portfolio. We wish Colin and Roland the very best of luck with their business venture.

What’s available?

We currently have the following investment opportunities.

- Issa Quay, Manchester
- The Litmus Building, Nottingham
- Tramway Heights, Glasgow
- Leeds 43, Leeds

Please go to our website www.propertyforlife.com for full details

Recent events

Last month we exhibited at the Property Investor Show North at the G-mex centre in Manchester. This was the first Property Investor show to take place in Manchester for 10 years and was without doubt a great success.

The centre piece of the ‘Property for Life’ stand was a detailed scale model of the Issa Quay development, complete with working street lights. This was a fantastic draw for passing attendees and ensured a constant stream of interested people onto the stand.

Those of you who attended on Sunday may well have seen our MD David Austin take the microphone in seminar room 4 and present a very interesting talk on UK off-plan property. We received such a great response from those who attended that we have decided to present a seminar on each of the 3 days at the Property Investor Show South in London during September. So if you missed the seminar this time, you will have another opportunity in September.

Upcoming events

Saturday 24th July – Following the success of our Spanish property seminars in Cobham and Derby, we will once again be teaming up with our partner ‘Alchemy Estates’ to bring you another Spanish seminar. This is a great opportunity to come and learn more about one of the fastest growing property markets in Europe and perhaps even purchase one of the properties available on the day. The event will run at the Holiday Inn, M4, Junction 4, starting at 10.00am.

17th – 19th September – Property Investor Show South, Excell, London. Look out for us at stand number 610. Our MD David Austin will also be presenting as part of the seminar programme on each of the three days of the show.
If you are interested in attending a ‘Property for Life’ seminar, please contact me by e-mail at adam@propertyforlife.com or phone on 01252 737575.

New registrations

Welcome to those of you who have joined during the last month. Many hundreds of you registered at the Property Investor Show North in Manchester and we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you, we very much look forward to working with you.

'Property for Life' Referral programme

A quick reminder that ‘Property for Life’ offers a generous referral programme to any individual or company that refers an individual or company to us which leads to a successful property purchase.

The payments are made on an increasing percentage scale based on the number of purchases. These percentages are as follows:

Nš of Purchases % of Property Price 1- 5 0.25% 6 – 10 0.5% 11-15 0.75% 16 or more 1%

Full details can be found on our website where you will also find a property referral form.

Then start earning cash rewards for recruiting new customers!

Next edition

The next edition of ‘News & Views’ will be delivered right to your computer next month.

Back issues

Please take a look at the back issues of our newsletter where you will find some really interesting articles and information. All back issues are available on our website www.propertyforlife.com