New Book Reveals An Insider’s Guide To Building A Successful Property Portfolio

[atag269] A new book with detailed insider advice on how to build a portfolio of properties has been launched on 9th September 2009 by Your Property Club chief executive, Brett Alegre-Wood. The book coincides with the earliest signs of recovery in the UK property market with a 23 per cent rise in loans from May to June 2009 (Source: The Council of Mortgage Lenders).

Using real life case studies the book, The 3+1 Plan, is designed to make it easy for those with no experience in property to start to grow a property portfolio, without the day-to-day hassles of being a full-time landlord.

Mr Alegre-Wood brings over 15 years experience in property investment in the UK and overseas. He said:

"Over the past 50 years property has doubled in value approximately every 7.3 years and is a proven viable alternative to other forms of capital investment such as personal pensions and the stock market. The 3+1 Plan is designed to help readers understand the property investment market and offers tried and tested strategies in managing the growth of property portfolios."

The book provides a combination of practical and anecdotal advice on property investment. Topics such as how to raise capital, the basics of financial discipline and cashflow provide readers with vital information on setting up and managing buy-to-let properties.

Brett has developed tried and tested strategies used by investor's to pace the process of building a property portfolio. These are:

- 1, 2 Stop: buy two and stop investing, how long is up to you.
- 5 and Hold: Get to 5 and hold off investing whilst it all settles and you get the right systems in place.
- 7-10 by 7-10 Strategy: The practical application, most people don't stop at 3+1. This simply says that you buy 7-10 properties and hold them for 7-10 years. This strategy works on one assumption; that property will double every 7-10 years.

Many of the strategies are designed for investors to become familiar with the property investment market and enable them to become used to the variables that can arise with managing a portfolio of properties.

The daily financial management requirements of renting properties are dealt with using software designed by Your Property Club called Ezytrac Portfolio Management System which tracks rents, ground rents, service charges and mortgage payments.

Mr Alegre-Wood continued: "Although the combination of the recent lower interest rates and more realistic selling prices have created an increase in property transactions we still have some way to go before we reach normal levels of activity. However with the average property price in June 2009 being 11.7 per cent lower than one year before¹ and forecasts predicting that house prices could increase by two per cent from the end of this year to end of 2010², The 3+1 Plan comes at a time when I would encourage would-be investors to begin planning their strategies for property investment."

The book also offers advice on the advantages and disadvantages of buying off-plan and new build in stagnant and galloping markets as well as strategies for second hand properties. A practical 76 point checklist also provides readers with a framework within which to work as well as useful websites and sources of information.

Mr Alegre-Wood is also an experienced motivational speaker running seminars on How to Build Wealth through Property. He emphasises the need for goal-setting and personal development by accepting change and uncertainty with a positive attitude.