Learn a step-by-step blueprint for success with Top Gun Education
Presented by Henry Davis, 34 years in property
Henry Davis
MBA
“After purchasing his first property in 1991. He founded International Property Group, Irl., based overseas, but developing in the UK. He attended Smurfit Graduate School, studying Management, Public Relations, and an MBA. Henry writes for The Times Newspaper, the NRLA, and is the author of “The Truth About Property.”
Top Gun is the leader in helping you achieve financial freedom with profitable property strategies. We teach advanced due diligence techniques, attention to detail, and meticulous course documentation backed-up by multiple case studies.
Join Top Gun – for the Gold Standard in practical, credible, education teaching you the professional gold standard of property due diligence, which lies at the heart of everything we do. Succeed long-term while building a lasting, sustainable property business.”
Top Gun Education Program
The Event
Join a two-day educational experience led by industry veteran Henry Davis. This event is designed to empower participants with practical skills, strategic insights, and networking opportunities essential for success in real estate and property development.
3 Months Free Mentoring
Exclusive access to a comprehensive mentoring program led by Henry Davis himself, providing personalised guidance and support as you navigate the world of property development.
Comprehensive Curriculum
Detailed case studies, extensive documentation, and user-friendly spreadsheets crafted by full-time developers—not just trainers. Get straight forward practical tips, tools, and specialist guidance to accelerate your journey.
Exclusive Networking
Connect with key professionals, including mortgage brokers, architects, and valuers, paving the way for valuable partnerships and collaborations.
Ongoing Support
Continue your training post-event with 3 months of free mentoring, ensuring you have the resources and guidance needed to succeed.
Strategic Insights
Discover where successful developers are making their money and how you can replicate their strategies.
What to Expect :
Pre-Event Preparation
Participants receive a curated list of pre-event resources and recommended readings to jumpstart their learning journey. These resources include credible sources and suggestions vetted by industry expert Henry Davis.
EVENT
Day 1
Participants delve into seminars on mindset management, personal branding, productivity, communication skills, data management, credible information sourcing, and successful property business models for 2024. Led by Henry Davis.
EVENT
Day 2
Participants explore property investment models and strategies for success in 2024. Sessions cover topics such as “No Money Down” strategies, Buy-to-Let, Buy-to-Sell, Joint Ventures, and other innovative approaches discussed by experienced developer Henry Davis.
3 Months Free Coaching
Participants benefit from a comprehensive 3-month mentoring program with Henry Davis, offering personalised guidance and support in implementing the strategies learned. The mentoring includes access to ongoing communication with Henry, detailed case studies, real-life documents, step-by-step spreadsheets, practical tips, tools, and specialist guidance to help participants navigate their property investment journey successfully.,
You think this is for you ?
To secure a spot in the Top Gun Education program, a down payment is required due to the limited number of available spots. This down payment ensures your reservation and guarantees your place in the program, allowing you to benefit from exclusive access to Henry Davis’s expertise and the comprehensive learning resources provided. With only a limited number of spots available, we encourage early registration to secure your place in this unique and impactful educational experience.
Henry Davis's Book :
The Truth About Property
Henry Davis, MBA, has completed 100s of property deals and presents ‘The Key to Property Investment’ on behalf of the National Residential Landlords Association. This book will teach you: How to buy property below (real and true) market value. All the tricks of the trade you will need to prosper against the competition. Due diligence, valuations, buying tricks, and the art of project management. Insider market intelligence and how to find hidden data. Interior design, planning, layouts, and detailed fit-out guides included. The truth about how the property training industry works. Achieveable and ‘doable’ investment property strategies. Henry started by walking the streets in search of real off-market deals. This is a unique and inspiring book, written by a property developer with 32 years of experience, deals, and developments in residential and commercial property.
Join us for the weekly free webinars !
Join us for a series of free webinars to get a sneak peek into the valuable insights and expertise awaiting you at the TOP GUN Education program. These webinars will offer a glimpse into the comprehensive learning materials, practical strategies, and expert guidance that form the foundation of our program. Register now to discover how you can elevate your property investment journey and gain access to the knowledge that has propelled Henry Davis to success in the industry. This is a unique opportunity to preview the calibre of content and resources that await you in the full TOP GUN Education experience. Secure your spot today!
Q&A's
What is the mission statement and core values of Top Gun?
Our mission is to inspire you and make you streetwise while showing you how to make money. Our core values are based on what we know best – Due Diligence. The cornerstone of a property business model is your ability to ask the right questions. To be able to source, assess and professionally value the best deals, at the right price, in the right location. Our mission is to focus on value creating strategies, the same strategies we execute daily ourselves. These are the most profitable anywhere in the industry. For more on our strategies and beliefs.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
Do you have examples of Top Gun course documents?
Project management spreadsheet, specification spreadsheets, 100 page PDF downloadable course workbook, packed with multiple deal examples and how to do it from deal-to-deal and room-to-room.
Henry’s book on Amazon: The Truth About Property.
What is the perfect investment model, and does hands off exist?
Yes, hands-off exists, and you can find it! Henry highlights many examples of where he has achieved this. The perfect model is one where you are an expert in property due diligence and where your tenant pays all the utilities and insurance and you, as the landlord, are not responsible for maintenance and are not involved in the day-to-day running and management of your property. Henry has been running this completely hands off model for years, and this course explains in detail all the figures and facts to help you secure this type of tenant via many case study deals. Mentoring clients will be offered the opportunity to visit several of these sites, which are based in the Northwest area.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
What's the difference between developer and investor?
We’re going to show you how to be the trade price, not retail! Developers create equity, or profit, in each deal. They recycle the same cash over-and-over growing their portfolio. Investors buy an investment property in the hope it will increase in rent/value over time. Developers like Henry sell to investors, where the profit or equity in the deal has already been realised by the developer. The investor waits in the hope prices and rents increase. We educate you how to realise profit on your deals – so you create the wealth in your deals. This model means you are geared appropriately which makes you stronger in a downturn.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
If Henry is so successful in property, why run a property training business?
Henry purchased his first property in 1991 and is one of the few trainers in the UK who isn’t a full-time trainer and receives the majority of his income from his property portfolio, development and property trading. Henry has multiple deal/property type experience and has made it from property, rather than education and his expertise on completing professional due diligence lies at the heart of Top Gun. Henry founded International Property Group based overseas after buying his first property in Wimbledon in 1991. Unfortunately, many of the leading property trainers have succeeded in social media marketing and the property education business, rather than their property activities. This is an unfortunate common trait in the UK property training industry. Property training forms are a small part of his income. Henry is also a very active developer, with projects in the planning system. His current projects include a high-end luxury detached house in Liverpool, a 24-bed HMO, and a 9-bed HMO currently under planning. He was the founder of International Property Group, an Irl based company.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
What role does mindset play in your success?
Every journey starts with one small step. You can do it! With a plan for execution, new habits and the right mindset! Doing it with the right friends around you who will stimulate, inspire, lift you up and give you energy and believe in you. Make the decision today.
Effectively, you make a choice NOW to better manage your own mind and well-being and build your tolerance for pressure and discomfort. It’s not enough to be just positive and expect results. Get your mind and body ready, so you are in the right place mentally and physically to move forward. Understand you’ll have to “work on yourself” every day. Life is too short to let your happiness depend on how someone else treats you or to let the challenges that happened in the past hold you back. Put your success and happiness in your hands, take ownership, don’t blame others or the past. You can’t control what others do, but you can control what you do and think. You can’t be your best, if you’re upset, getting too easily offended or holding grudges or thinking about what you did or didn’t-do in the past – let it go! Stop taking yourself down or taking things and yourself so seriously. Things will come to you even faster, if you can more enjoy (or cope easier with) the pressure of the full-on busy days and the general ups-and-downs of the journey. Accept these are the normal challenges of life and that being busy isn’t pressure.
There are no short-cuts. Your level of success will align with your physical activity levels and your own personal development activity. In addition, you’ll need to develop or expand your mental bandwidth, so you can cope with more. More productivity, more tasks, more exciting and boring stuff. Being busy and successful isn’t stressful and many misunderstand what stress is and self-diagnose themselves as stressed when they are just busy or disorgansed.
Acknowledge you have to “work on yourself” every day. Exercise, double your water intake, cut sugar intake by 50%, and see immediate results in energy and better quality sleep. Learn to be a good listener first. Mindset is more than just being positive, it’s about creating new habits. A whole new routine (exercise, diet) and belief system. It’s about being a person who is prepared to learn and embrace change, while being razor focused on execution. To do this, you need to articulate specific goals as part of your daily life. Write those goals down. Henry has committed to personal development as a priority pushing daily to improve his own mindset. In recent years, becoming almost obsessive in getting the basics right. However, the big gains come from being razor focused on execution and being honest with himself about his strengths and weaknesses. Most of the well known business books teach us about mindset, but few teach execution. Mindset, isn’t enough in itself to drive you forward. To be an action-taker you need to work on yourself and your mindset, routines and habits daily. Try hard to progress in your self-development, both in personal and business life. If you suffer from being stuck in your old ways, or being a perfectionist, or being a liar and denier, then growth is difficult. Henry shares the techniques he has used to grow, including learning how to play to your strengths, but being brutally focused on execution. Being completely honest about his strengths and weaknesses is the key. If you can clarify how to use your strengths to better execute, yet be honest with yourself regarding your own shortcomings. This way you can identify where to develop yourself and where you need to focus to grow! Success breeds confidence; and confidence breeds success. Don’t lose confidence because of previous mistakes. Use it as shock therapy to change and gain clarity for your goals. Being wrong about things and making mistakes is a normal part of life. But many suffer from a lie and deny culture being unable to be honest with themselves about their own mistakes. Making mistakes is part of your learning journey. Many of the most successful people have failed many times, but have refused to give-up. They have changed and reinvented themselves and started again – having this resilience is the difference between success and failure. The old saying of learning from your mistakes rings through, but equally if you are a good listener you can avoid many mistakes and learn from experts who’ve been on the journey.
Before you start to progress your life, Henry is a big believer in getting the basics right before you start to grow your mindset. A perfect night’s sleep 90% of the week, exercise at least three times a week. Improved diet where the last thing you eat before bed is healthy. Reduces intake of processed and junk food as much as possible. Many well known food choices considered healthy by most are actually processed rubbish. With much misinformation about health food choices – we recommend @tonichealth on Instagram to better understand what type of foods are good for you.
You don’t need to have a perfect diet or be extremely fit, but you do need to understand the impact of what you consume, especially, If you are taking certain prescription or non-prescription drugs or any tablets which disrupt the natural flow of your body, and ultimately your mind. The decision to be productive is made by what you eat and the quality of your sleep and by your organisation skills. Your productivity improves, if you make a basic plan the night before. Try to make a basic plan (even if only verbally in your mind) of the next day. Be conscious of how or if you execute. The longer you can absorb pressure, disappointment, stress and keep going without seeing the immediate results, the greater you can win in life. We all suffer from instant gratification, and many of us give up too soon, before the results have time to catch-up with your efforts. Henry has always struggled with his organisational skills, but he works hard every day to improve. No results? Keep working. Bad results? Keep working. Great results? Keep working. Now be consistent to keep that momentum. Building long term sustainable wealth is about being consistent and being able to do something boring, but value-creating every day. One of Rumi’s best quotes: “Yesterday, I was clever, so I wanted to change the word. Today, I’m wise and I want to change myself”.
What are the everyday challenges?
Poor service from solicitors. Mortgage offers, not being honoured. Down Valuations are almost guaranteed. Blatant dishonesty with poor quality workmanship by builders are common. You’ll never know your true LTV until the end of the drawdown process because of down valuations. In recent years, Henry noticed a trend where many valuers have little interest in your opinion or comparable evidence. Banks making an offer, then pulling out at the last minute over an issue. This (usually last minute) issue could be a relatively minor issue to some lenders, but a deal blocker for other lenders. Henry once had a loan offer at 5%, only for the lender to withdraw when Liz Trust took power. They then offered to reissue the same loan offer at 9.7%. Henry deals with specialist lenders who offer a fair rate, but they are non “box tickers” and more likely to work with the client whenever possible so common-sense can prevail. We can introduce you to these performers. Solicitors can be a nightmare to deal with, promising good service, but failing to communicate or simply do their job. This is one of the most common issues you will likely face. Options contracts being poorly drafted or running out of time. Builders or their contractors going bust is extremely common and prevalent in the industry and very challenging to hedge against. Often long established companies get into trouble. Builders failing to honour legally binding contracts is also commonplace. Even, with a valid JCT or similar contract, it can be unenforceable, if the builders’ limited company has little or no assets to sue.
Problems choosing the right specialist architect, (some exaggerate their experience) and wasting your time working on a project where they have no experience or insight. Controlling builders, because they conned you into paying too much funds in advance. Once you effectively pay in advance – then you lose control.
Also, on larger projects, because you had no professional to value each builder invoice where you didn’t instruct a QS. You engaged a “last minute” builder who was available because he gets no repeat business.. Overpaying for a property or site, because a great salesman convinced you it was “off market” and you were told to act fast or lose the deal. Sourcers charging you massive fees for a deal no credible developer would want, but where this “exclusive to-you off-market deal” has been punted around to everyone with a pound and a pulse! Making a decision to buy a site without comprehensive planning advice from a specialist planner in a particular area and field, plus failing to get draft feasibility study plans, before exchange of contracts. Selling units with a previously healthy GDV, when the market has unexpectedly slowed within weeks, not months and your target GDV has been shattered!
What was the largest project Henry completed himself?
Henry has completed every type of deal and development in almost every sector of the property industry. International Property Group, his overseas registered company, built a 44-apartment scheme in Manchester called Casa Urbano in 2007. Henry had various schemes in Manchester and Liverpool controlled by OPG. From 2015, his main development company has been Genii Developments Ltd, and Rascasse Investments Ltd., plus he also trades as HenryDavisProperty.com and We Buy Any House Liverpool. Henry usually works alone without business partners. His most profitable deals came by walking the streets and going direct-to-vendor. When he moved to Liverpool, he had no contacts, so made his own way successfully finding true direct-to vendor deals.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
Where can I see reviews and find further research on Top Gun?
There are reviews on Facebook and LinkedIn from people Henry trained or mentored. There are also over 70 reviews on TrustPilot. To find these reviews search HenryDavisProperty.com on the internal search bar inside TrustPilot.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
What are the most common mistakes property investors make?
Not understanding, it’s all about your ability to complete a professional level due diligence, to build a sustainable, profitable business model, where you create equity or value in every deal. So you can recycle your cash and grow your portfolio. We teach you to become a trade price developer rather than a retail price investor and how to find the highest cash-flowing deals where you can afford a repayment mortgage, should you decide this is right for you.
Challenges include understanding risk management, especially when vetting tenants, and getting the front-end application process right (legally speaking) when interviewing tenants, so you are in a strong legal position if you need to evict. We teach the very subtle nuances of how to spot potential bad tenants and the key additional questions and paperwork required, which are sadly overlooked by some less professional estate agents.
Difficulty understanding the planning process and then managing and controlling finances on projects and challenges managing builders is commonplace (especially without a QS). Targeting properties in areas where the percentage of DSS is too concentrated, resulting in high tenant-churn Paying high prices for the wrong configuration can make it difficult to add real value or maximise planning potential. Unlike many commentators who are critical of the planning system, and excluding the understaffing of local planning and delays in the system, Top Gun is content with the current planning system, as anything more simplified reduces the commercial value uplift when planning permission has been secured.
Many investors struggle to value property accurately, as without understanding how to value a property accurately, you never really know if you have purchased it at the right price. Top Gun has developed a system that helps anyone, even those with no experience, more accurately assess any property.
Not realising the importance of your ability to complete a high standard of due diligence, plus being streetwise and savvy enough to find the winning equity and create deals at the right price. Henry literally walks the streets to find the right deals and has a proven track record of buying genuine off-market for many decades. And by this, we mean – a property not for sale in any way. Top Gun also highlights the techniques Henry has developed to buy right, both at property auctions and via estate agents. Also, Henry is the founder of We Buy Any House Liverpool.
Is it easy to buy property at the auction?
Yes, and you can do it even with minimum experience! Henry’s most profitable deals began by walking the streets and targeting large buildings suitable for HMO conversion where he had enough cash-flows to afford a repayment mortgage. However, auctions are a great way to bag a bargain. About 70% of auction property sells way above market value, but the 30% which doesn’t, is where the money is made. Henry has considerable experience as both buyer and seller in auctions.
The key is to conduct a high level of due diligence and derisk you’re financing to the point where you have 100%. Your lender will undoubtedly back you, and you can be sure there will be no last-minute problems once your lender’s legal team reviews the legal package. Henry has extensive auction due diligence experience both as a buyer and a seller at the auctions over three decades. There are bargains at the auction, but equally, about 70% of property sold at the auction actually sells for a higher price than you could purchase it from your local estate agent. The remaining 30% is where the opportunity exists. The key is to understand what to look out for in the legal pack, and to de risk as much as possible before the hammer drops. Getting auction financing is risky. To avoid any of the usual lender last-minute shocks, Henry likes to obtain “pre-agreed legals” from his lender when purchasing at the auction to de-risk, so he’s confident his lender will close the deal after the transaction goes through.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
What are the objectives for the course?
Our content is focused on improving your ability to professionalise your due diligence skills. This and improving your deal selection and deal assessment skills lies at the heart of all our training. Our goal is to show you how to make money and is to assist you in creating a sustainable business model that consistently generates cash flow, which you can then utilise to expand your portfolio in the long run. We are here to explain where and how to find the best deals, and to help you avoid all the common mistakes typically made and avoid the common pitfalls. We want to build confidence and boost self-belief. Henry aims to encourage you to advance and enhance your practical knowledge by revealing the genuine workings of the business. Henry has developed and improved strategies over the years to provide you with realistic and “doable” strategies and tools to succeed, including detailed “how to do it” spreadsheets. We also highlight typical challenges faced by investors, so you can avoid common mistakes and time wasting activities which won’t lead to you building a long-term sustainable business model.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
Does the course cover finance?
Of course! This is a key part of your learning. You can raise money without experience. Anyone with a reasonable credit score can do so. Henry often achieves a loan-to-value ratio of 90% in his term loan deals, working with a specialist lender who will be present at this event as a speaker. The course will focus on the practicalities of dealing with lenders and valuations, so you don’t have to waste time speaking to lenders who promise much but fail to deliver. We do not advocate over-gearing and Henry utilises 90% LTV where there is strong cash-flows.
Navigating through lenders can be challenging. Some may make bold promises, but it can become more challenging to finalise the deal once the transaction passes through the legal process. Often lenders (especially tick box lenders) have last minute issues and withdraw their support. Furthermore, you never know the percentage of your actual loan-to-value until close to the end of the valuation process, where downvaluations are common.The course explains the insider secrets of the finance industry, so you can avoid tick box lenders. We work closely with lenders who are honest with clients from the outset, as a loan offer can be a very misleading term. Top Gun will introduce you directly to specialist lenders Henry has worked with for many decades, providing development, bridging, and term loan lending. We also explore the “no money down” concept heavily advertised by well-known training companies.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
How does Top Gun differ from other courses?
We are developers, landlords currently active in the property market, not full-time trainers, that’s the main difference between us and others. Our content is focused on improving your ability to professionalise your due diligence skills. This, and improving your deal selection and deal assessment skills lies at the heart of all our training. Many training course providers are unable to stop themselves from making it seem property is passive and easy money with “get rich quick” a common theme throughout the training industry. Top Gun’s common theme is: excellence in due diligence. All Top Gun presenters are inspirational and energetic, but more importantly, they are currently active in property. Our trainers are credible, seasoned, successful landlords and developers who make their living from property. They do not have full-time careers selling or running property training courses. None of our trainers produce videos with unsubstantiated claims, often posing beside a rented Lamborghini on social media, despite having little or no experience in real estate. These fake performers are often colourful, attractive, and likeable characters, but understand little or nothing about property and more especially about wealth creation. many self-educated themselves on American dominated culture on YouTube. On Trustpilot and LinkedIn, all reviews for Henry Davis are from real people who attended his courses. One of the most experienced and credible property developers in the UK, a leading expert in the art of property due diligence. Our educators have achieved more than just owning a few buy-to-let properties; they have gained experience in multiple deal/property types and are successful, inspirational, high-net-worth value creators with a proven track record of genuine success. Previous course attendees with 5 years of success will not train you. All our presenters have decades of long-term proven track records or a relevant qualification where appropriate. We concentrate on “doable” strategies that are most likely to be successful for the average investor. We highlight the most profitable yet “hands-off” business models, such as Supported Living HMOs which Henry and some of our trainers are active in.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
Does the event involve networking?
Of course! We also request that you update your LinkedIn account before your attendance. Our introduction policy is to introduce you to more experienced people. We will send you a link to Henry’s profile, which will demonstrate how to write a winning LinkedIn profile. To show you plan to execute and become an action taker, it is a condition of our course entry that you have updated your Linkedin profile. Our networking policy is to introduce you to others who have more experience than you have.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book: https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
Do you provide any spreadsheets or workbooks for the course?
Once the course is over, we want to give you every chance to succeed, and to do this, we provide detailed toolkits. After the event, we invite mentoring clients to a private WhatsApp group. Before the course starts, we email you a 100-page PDF file you can download and print with your course workbook. We also provide a library of comprehensive spreadsheets and real-life documents. These highly detailed, user-friendly spreadsheets include sections edited by Henry’s architect, structural engineer, quantity surveyor, building engineer, and a specialist in CDM. CDM is a law that governs health and safety on building sites. We also offer general guidance on Part B of building regulations, as this is an aspect with many legal pitfalls.
Click for an example of our project management spreadsheet.
What are the biggest risks?
Property is cyclical, sentiment driven, capital intensive business reliant on (positive landlord related) government legislation, a fair tax environment and a lowish stable interest rates.
Another very common risk is not doing all your due diligence before exchanging contracts on private treaty or auction. Then, if buying at auction – not obtaining pre-approval legal clearance from your lender’s legal representative, before bidding. Overgearing, and ideally you need a mix of lenders, rather than one lender having significant control over your portfolio. problems can also occur when there is lack of property type and location differentiation in your portfolio. Poor vetting procedures is a common failure point when vetting tenants, especially now that it looks likely the new government will abolish Sections 8 and 21. Henry asks certain questions to prospective tenants, and insists tenants must name a parent (rather than friend) as their next of kin. Henry also insists on seeing previous bank statements to confirm payment history. If a tenant is not a young person starting their first job or a student and has no rental history, then be very cautious. Vetting tenants is your main risk. You need to oversee the paperwork from your letting agent to confirm they have issued the tenancy correctly. Before your tenancy starts you have to undertake certain legal compliance, such as issue a gas cert and issue an EPC, and EICR.
Click here https://www.nrla.org.uk/resources/starting-your-tenancy-checklist for the latest version of ‘How to rent: a checklist for renting in England’.
Where are the futures of growth?
Areas with low house-price-to-earnings ratios often have higher potential as they are still relatively cheaper than other similar demographics on a like-for-like area. If the average home sold for £290,000, while average full-time earnings were £35,100. This means that, in England, full-time employees could expect to spend 8.3 times their earnings on purchasing a home in their local authority area. Areas with low ratios simply mean that locals pay a lower percentage of their disposable income towards a mortgage. Future growth is largely dependent on regeneration, new transport links or an increase in population growth. So areas in and around London especially with new transport links tend to grow faster where supply is constrained and demand is high in London. The North East is the area with the lowest ratios and the area in the UK with good capital appreciation prospects. Generally speaking the North East/West tend to have more buildings which are suitable for development opportunities.
Henry invested in Liverpool many years ago after he read an article saying Liverpool would likely be awarded a designation of European City of Culture 2008 (ECoC). It was a pivotal moment as he believed this would be the driver of an overall regeneration programme. In 2008, Henry purchased via IPG his Dublin based investment vehicle (completely off-market) St Julies Nursing Home in Aigburth, L17, weeks before Liverpool won. His luck and timing was perfect. He then purchased the Medici Building in Upper Parliament St from Dreaming Spires Ltd and that building was then sold off to individual investors by Henry. This is commonly known as “flipping contracts”. He also purchased several other sites including Casa Urbano, a 44 bed apartment scheme in Manchester, located right beside Asda Hulme.
How do you choose the right builder?
The best builders are usually too expensive, the cheapest builder will never finish the job. It’s trying to find the right compromise. Apart from the obvious of getting a recommendation, it’s very challenging to find an honest, professional builder at the right price. So what are the signs you need to look for? If your builder is immediately available, and not booked-up months in advance, it usually means he has no repeat business which is not a good sign. How the builder communicates with you in the honeymoon period where he is trying to secure you as a client is a tell-tale sign of things to come. If the builder has dirty and poorly maintained vans, is late for meetings or slow to reply to emails, calls, texts, or difficult to contact in general during the honeymoon period, then this will only get worse when you start working with them. If your project size is, say: £100k, then choose a builder where this is a relatively small project for the builder as you don’t want a situation where he needs your project alone, to pay his workers wages – and all his chips are on the table with your project. In the event of a dispute, which will likely happen if you haven’t employed a QS, many builders will not honour a JCT or any other legally binding contracts as most builders sign these contracts in companies with little or no assets, so it will be financially unviable to initiate a lawsuit. If a dispute arises. The best way to avoid common disputes is to employ a QS. We teach you how to manage projects and how money management and QS control are key. Top Gun also provides highly detailed project management spreadsheets – to help you avoid common pitfalls. The best projects are larger projects, where the builder has his full team on site every day and doesn’t run multiple jobs to pay the wages. See a sample project management spreadsheet.
What are the 10 most practical steps you can take now to move forward?
- Get the basics right. Move away from non-believers in your mission. Get better Sleep, exercise, improve diet, be more honest with yourself.I recommend Shawn Stevenson’s book, Sleep Smarter, Mindstore by Jack Black and Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. Self awareness is the secret sauce to change. Reading all the motivation books in the World won’t make a difference if you’re in denial about your need to change. Get into the zone and think about goals, 7 days a week, yes every single day! Understand – the truth is – you need to be “always on it” if you want to get ahead. Make a conscious effort to exercise three times a week, cut down on chips, crisps, junk food, and carry fruit around with you when moving around. Henry runs in his local park. This way you have no excuse as you don’t need any preparation to drive to the Gym. Exercise is the cornerstone of good mental health.
- Watch your local auctions live as they happen. Write down the yield each property sells for. Understand patterns and demand dynamics. This is the number one learning tool. Without understanding valuations – you’ll never know if you bagged a good deal or not!
- If using letting agents, use the letting agent with the biggest sales department where deals you can add value to, are most likely to be sold by this agent. You can start building a relationship with sales, and secure deals when there is competition or it’s a beauty parade.
- Set-up for alerts on Rightmove, Zoopla, On The Market and EIG. Henry’s alerts tend to search from 4 beds upwards, which generally eliminates most leaseholds and fits in with his current strategy of a non AST rental client where he does larger HMOs.
- Attend your local planning committee meetings and network with as many planning consultants as possible who often attend.
- Use EIG auctions and EIG Propertylink. We use EIG Property Link as commercial property is always cheaper to buy per square metre than residential, and often less controversial to obtain planning consent. Read The RICS monthly UK Market Report. And sign up for Planning News in your area.
- Start your own WhatsApp networking group. Henry runs Developer Club or network with local action takers in your area who are large landlords or doing multiple developments. Identify the real movers and shakers behind the mask of bulls*people spout when you meet them at networking events. Just trying to establish who is real is a skill in itself!
- Sign up for EIG Data, Property Data, Landinsight or similar. Subscribe to Built It Magazine. Sign up for weekly planning decisions for your local council and attend your local planning committee meetings.
- Start using todoist, simplenotes and any app to monitor your daily exercise steps as per step one above. Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
- Understand how a QS works and don’t waste time getting quotes from a builder. Get in the habit of recording/updating all spending on any project on your spreadsheet as you pay. Henry uses the Google Sheets App and will not send any funds to any payee until he’s updated. This way you always have a running live total of all spend. This is a firm habit and the only real way to understand and control projects. Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
How does the training industry work?
Most of the leading well known property trainers receive the majority of their income from property training – not property. They are in the education business and have little or nothing to do with the inner workings of value creation. However, some have completed a few deals and know the basics, some have self-educated via YouTube. These characteristic fake educators and likeable people know enough to wing-it and some. They are experts in social media and run entertaining and evangelical charged events, overblown one day motivation speeches. Effectively they wind up the audience with “get rich quick” mantra and fake inspirational strategies which expire as soon as the event ends. With no-multiple deal type of experience, they struggle with the minor details and nuances. They focus on general themes, performance, entertainment and building a good relationship with attendees, so their audience are less likely to give an honest review.
Read a free chapter of Henry’s best selling book https://amzn.eu/d/j1dAYb3
Examples of course documents: project management spreadsheets, specification spreadsheets, 100 page PDF downloadable course workbook, packed with multiple deal examples and how to do it from room-to-room.
Henry’s book on Amazon: The Truth About Property.
