Landlord Voice Magazine September 2015 - Sheffield | Page 18

Slowly, slowly,
catchy monkey >

F

or many landlords trying to build a property
portfolio the lure of using interest-only mortgages
as a way of building a property portfolio is
tempting but the risks are many – and the biggest is that
if house prices fall you could be left with a bigger debt
than your property is worth.
And with property prices static pretty much
everywhere in the UK apart from in the south-east it
might take a shrewd investor to achieve success in this
way.
Tom Entwistle, editor of property website
LandlordZONE believes the safe way to build a portfolio
is the hard way.
He started out in buy-to-let in the mid-1970s by
investing in dilapidated flats, shops, offices and other
commercial spaces and refurbishing them – mainly in
Lancashire.
But, after 25 years working as a marketing and
management lecturer in
Manchester, Tom decided
to take early retirement
and use his knowledge of
property and marketing
to set up what has become
one of the most successful
property websites in the
private-rented sector.
He said: “I have always
enjoyed passing on information and helping people to
learn, and this venture came at around the same time
Google started out. There was very little information on
the internet about renting properties, so in these early
days virtually everyone anyone searching for anything to
do with rental property came to us.
“And that gives us an advantage even today because
the site has been established such a long time – 16 years.
“We now have more than 110,000 subscribers and
our forum is really busy and provides a real service to
landlords in need of answers for a problem they have –
they normally get a quality reply within a few hours.
“And contributors to the forum comprise all walks
of life – from qualified lawyers and accountants to your
average experienced landlord like me.”
As well as LandlordZONE, Tom has used the building
and project management skills he has learned during the
last 40 years to build up a steady property business.
“Most of the properties I have owned are self-funded,”
he said. “I rarely needed to borrow any money because I
have done it over such long period of time.

“Nobody can start off in this business without some
savings behind them, despite what some people say – it
is very difficult without taking massive risks.
“There are property events where people tell you to
take out as many credit cards as you can and max them
out to buy a property, but that is just a crazy strategy to
my mind.”
This does not mean there aren’t opportunities in buyto-let, said Tom, but investors need to have an eye for a
bargain and the know-how to manage the renovation of
a fixer-upper in the right way.
He added: “I’m not saying that mortgages are not
a good way to go - these days with property prices as
they are most investors could not get started without
a substantial loan, and right now there are some really
good buy-to-let deals out there.”
And in Tom’s opinion, the most important decision
a landlord can make about their business is who to rent
their properties out to.
He said: “You have
to minimise the risks by
using a detailed tenancy
application and doing
thorough checks and
referencing.
“But I have always
believed in having
properties in good order
before renting them and treating tenants fairly. In all the
years I have been renting to people I have found that 95
per cent of them are no trouble.”
LandlordZONE attracted 3.6
million unique visitors last year,
and as well as a constantly
updated property news
section, the website offers onsite and e-mail advertising
for those in the industry who
want to target a large private
landlord audience.
For more information visit
www.landlordzone.co.uk or
follow @LandlordZONE on
Twitter.

“ I have always believed in
having properties in good
order before renting them and
treating tenants fairly.”

18 | LandlordVoice | September 2015