So if you want to get into property investing but don’t know where to start then look no further.
The train stops here.
In this article I’ve listed every single property investing strategy there is available in the UK.
So if you’re a beginner and never knew where to start your property investing journey from then by going through this list you’ll have more clarity as to what’s available to you and what is right for you.
If you’re reading this during the lockdown and in 2020 recession. Then I highly recommend Cash In a Property Market Crash.
1. Deal Packaging / Deal Sourcing
This is where you find a property investment deal and sell it off to an investor for a fee. Commonly known as a “finders fee” so basically they’re paying you a fee for the hassle you went to find the deal.
This goes both ways. As an investor, you can buy a deal from a deal sourcer as well.
Deal packagers need to be compliant before they can sell deals.
A great book on this is Property Sourcing Compliance by Tina Walsh.
Deal packagers can source all kinds of deals but usually specialize in particular types such as BTL, BRR, R2R, HMO, Land etc.
2. Joint Ventures (JV)
This is where you partner up with an investor to finance your deals for a 50/50 split of the profit.
It’s a mutual partnership where one partner puts in the leg work to find the deal and the other partner finances it.
JVs are 50/50 split.
A lot of books cover this in one way or another.
It’s hard to pick one book. So I’ll suggest two books: One by Rob Moore and one by Simon Zutshi.
Okay, I can’t help myself. I have to mention Your Property Jumpstart by Paul.
3. Vendor Finance
This is where a seller helps to finance the purchase of the property by the buyer.
A book that covers this and many other no money down investing strategies in detail is… wait for it…
the No Money Down Property Investing by Kevin McDonnell.
It’s full of creative investment strategies that require little to no money (or non of your own money).
4. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT)
A REIT is a company that owns income different kinds of producing assets. These trusts have been available in the US for decades but were introduced into the UK only in 2007.
I personally don’t know much about these so I can’t recommend any books on this particular one, unfortunately.
I don’t know anyone who teaches this in the UK but there are plenty of US authored books on REITs.
5. Property Crowdfunding
This is where a group of people come together to buy a property usually through a crowdfunding platform.
The main benefit to property crowdfunding is that you don’t have to invest the typical large sums you would have to when buying a property. If you were to buy a property on your own you’d have to put in around £20,000 for the deposit and that’s on the lower end of the market.
But with property crowdfunding depending on the platform you can invest as little as £100.
No books to recommend here either. Just do your research on the property crowdfunding platforms before you proceed.
6. Rent to Rent (R2R, R2HMO & R2SA)
This is where you lease a property from the landlord and let it out (with their permission). But isn’t this subletting? Yes, it is. But…
You take the property from them on a company let agreement which typically includes permission for you to sublet it for “super rent”.
R2R is just a way to take control of a property without actually owning it.
R2R is done with HMOs or as SA.
The best book on R2R in my opinion is Rent to Rent: Your Questions Answered by Jacquie.
7. BTL
This is the traditional model of investing that everyone knows. It’s where you buy a property and simply let is out to a tenant.
Also known as single lets because you’re letting it out to a single tenant compared to a HMO where you would let it each room to several tenants.
Again I’d recommend Property Magic by Simon Zutshi or Property Investing Secrets for this.
Also, a book I like is Buy Low Rent High which talks about several strategies.
8. Buy to Sell (B2S/Flips)
This is where you buy a property with the intention to sell for a higher price. Usually, these properties are bought below market value BMV or by buying a distressed property that needs repairs and you add value to it then sell it off for a higher price.
Usually, most property investors prefer to hold as the property will increase in value over time anyway instead of making a quick sale. You can combine BRR with B2S or BTL. Since BRR is an acquisition strategy.
The Property Handbook covers exactly this strategy in detail.
9. Buy Refurbish Refinance (BRR)
This is where a run-down property or a property that is in need of refurbishment is bought, refurbished, and then refinanced after the value has now risen due to the renovation.
This is a great strategy as you typically pull out your money from the deal or at least part of your money from the deal.
So you can basically recycle the same deposit again and again to buy properties.
Especially in a property crash, I like this book in particular. Regardless of what economy we’re in, you can still make a profit with property. Check out the Complete Guide to Property Investment by Rob.
10. House of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs)
House of multiple occupancy or a house of multiple occupation is a property that is let out per room and where the tenants share a common space (usually a living room, bathrooms and kitchen).
Generally speaking, they usually make more than single buy to lets due to that reason.
A lot of the books I’ve already mentioned so far include HMOs. But if you want a book that goes all in about HMOs then check out HMO Property Success.
11. Serviced Accommodation (SA)
Serviced Accommodation also known as holiday lets or short term lets.
This strategy can be combined with R2R (Making it a R2SA) or any other acquisition strategy such as BRR.
For SA… apart from Optimize Your Bnb (which is about improving your ranking on Airbnb)I recommend The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast by Kevin Poneskis (iPhone & Android).
With Serviced Accommodation, you can get bookings from holiday renters from sites such as Airbnb, booking.com etc. Or you can get bookings from contractors (i.e. people coming to work in the area). Holiday renters usually fill up your booking calendar in holiday periods and weekends. Whereas contractors stay during the week or book an entire week, month, or a few months.
Ideally, at some point (and depending on where your property is) you want to rely on your own direct bookings.
12. Lease Options (LO)
This is where you take control of the property for 1GBP with an option to buy in a few years.
Why would anyone want to give you their house for free? Well, a seller would usually accept a lease option if they’re struggling with making the mortgage payments.
For this, I recommend the book in strategy #3 by Kevin and the Buy Low Rent High book.
13. Delayed Exchange / Delayed Completion (EDC)
This is pretty much the same as LO but you’re obligated to buy. In fact, you practically own it but get to pay for the property in installments. I believe if you’re in Scotland then Lease Options are not available to you, but Delayed Exchanges are.
Refer to the book in strategy #3 by Kevin to learn more about delayed exchanges.
Of course, this falls under the no money down investing strategies and the seller would have to be motivated to accept such a deal.
14. Assisted Sales
You basically JV (partner up) with the owner to pay for the refurb and sell it.
An owner would do this after the property has been on the market for a while and nobody is buying it from them. You have to bear in mind that most home buyers are looking for something that is ready to live in. So most people won’t buy a property that needs renovation. This is where you come into the rescue…
You offer to pay for the renovations (let’s say £10K), they get the amount they wanted to sell the property for and you get the extra profit from the added value the renovations created… win-win. (tip: Ideally you do this to make at least a £10K profit)
This falls under no money down investing strategies (NMD) so refer to the book in strategy #3 I mentioned above by Kevin.
15. Commercial Property
This is where you invest in commercial property such as office space, retail units, shops, etc. There are commercial estate agents who specialize in these kinds of properties.
With a lot of retailers moving online and a lot of commercial buildings being converted into residential buildings… I probably wouldn’t get into this unless you know what you’re doing or you’re acquiring businesses (like I do) and the property happens to come with the business you’re buying.
I haven’t come across any books about investing in commercial properties in the UK so I haven’t read any books on this topic yet. However, I did find this book called Mastering the Art of Commercial Real Estate Investing… but I can’t say if it’s good or not as I haven’t read it yet… but the reviews look good even some UK reviews.
16. Hotels
Pretty self-explanatory. And this is an advanced strategy. You’ll notice that there is less educational material on these advanced strategies such as hotels and investing in commercial property.
Hotels are a much higher-end and larger scale of the Serviced Accommodation model.
So I think it’s a good idea to get into SA before making the big jump into hotels.
Also, I’ve seen some developers who convert commercial buildings into hotels or hotel-style apartments. Which brings us to the next strategy…
17. Commercial to Residential Conversions
Also simply referred to as commercial conversions. This is where you convert a commercial building such as a pub and convert it into a residential building. Such as an apartment block.
I personally love this strategy although a bit advanced, it’s great if you want to make large sums of money usually in the 6 figure range or more.
There’s a huge demand for housing so councils typically love it when investors convert commercial buildings into residential.
The best book I recommend for this strategy is Commercial Property Conversions by Mark and Rob and Commercial to Residential Conversions by Mark Stokes.
18. Property Development
For property development, I recommend this book by Lloyd Girardi. The above books on commercial conversions are great too. As it’s pretty much the same concepts. They both involve building. 🙂
Property development isn’t as scary as it sounds. You don’t need years of track record. You can actually start with small developments and then grow your portfolio from there.
19. Rent to Own
This is a government scheme that helps people get on the property ladder. You rent the property and then have an option to buy in the end by paying a final payment at the end of the term.
Multiple Streams of Property Income book talks about rent to own.
20. Probates
This is when people die and leave a property behind. You can acquire those properties.
Again the same book that I mentioned above by Rob Moore talks about making money from probates.
21. Repossessions
When people fail to pay their mortgages, the mortgage provider repossesses the house and you can acquire it from them.
Cash In a Property Market Crash talks about repossessions and as the title says… making money from property regardless of the market situation.
22. Title Splitting
This is where you acquire a property and then divide it into several units. Such as a large house divided into several apartments then let out or sold. So you end up making more.
Refer to the book in strategy #3 by Kevin to learn more about title splitting.
23. Planning Gain & Adding Value / Land banking
This is when you buy land with no intention to develop or build anything on it. The sole purpose is to hold it or apply for planning permission for it which adds value to it. As a developer can now save the time for waiting for planning permission and paying for expenses associated with the application. A developer can just come in and develop on it.
Refer to the book in strategy #3 by Kevin to learn more about planning gain and adding value.
24. Buying Shares in Property Development Companies
As property values in the UK generally go up and property companies are always growing. You could buy shares in property companies if you feel that’s something you want to do.
I recommend Trading212 as they’re an easy platform to buy index funds and shares in the UK without any fees. In fact, if you join from my link you’ll get a free stock worth up to £100 and I’ll get a free stock too. You just need to register from my link and deposit £1 into the account.
Of course, there are also courses out there that teach these strategies in-depth but I decided to stick to books as they’re a smaller investment and I’ve invested in books that are just as good as the courses for a fraction of the cost.
I’ve taken courses myself. So if you want to go with a course then feel free to do so.
But make sure to do your research on any courses and programs you take.
Remember no course will give you a magic pill.
A great way to start is to read books, join FB property groups, and learn from others in the community.
Good luck on your property journey.
BTW you can pin this image 👇
