I was very pleased to be featured in an article in the Guardian last Saturday, on the growth of the property market over the last 20 years.
This tells a bit about my story – if you don’t already know it, here are some extracts from the article:
the guardian
‘In 1996 … Del … bought two small, two-bed properties in Bristol for a total of £29,000. On each he put down a 30% deposit – less than £4,500 per property.
Today, his portfolio is worth around £40m and is invested in developments throughout central Bristol.
“There was hardly anyone else doing buy-to-let in 1996 – everyone told me I was mad… I did the numbers and thought I could make a small profit on the rent and, if I renovated them myself, enjoy some capital growth too.
It was hard to get a buy-to-let mortgage back then. There were no specialist lenders… But I knew how to renovate a property, so convinced HSBC to lend to me.
I scraped the deposits together using credit cards. As prices rose, I released equity to buy more. I worked long hours – sometimes from 7am through until 3am – renovating the properties for rental. Before I’d even finished their prices had increased.
By 1998 I owned six houses; by 2000 I owned 20, and it suddenly became easier to get buy-to-let mortgages… Today, I own about 120-130 rental units, all in Bristol, and employ 20 people to look after my 700-plus tenants.”
Photograph Adrian Sherratt
To read the full article on the Guardian’s website click here >>>
If you’re just thinking about taking that first step on your own property journey I hope you’ll find my story helpful – even the most successful investors all started out exactly where you are now.
You’ll also see from the article that many of those who didn’t invest in property have ended up missing out financially.
So I hope this will inspire you to come along to one of our regular PIMs – where there will lots of great advice on offer – and get started. I only wish there had been PIMs around in 1996, it would have saved me from all sorts of mistakes, in the early days!
To your Property Success,
Del Brown
