Lee Cologne

Lee’s top tip

For Lee, an important part of the property investment process, is getting your financial plan established before going to view properties.

Having a discussion with a mortgage broker to establish the current marketplace and available mortgage rates can really be critical, especially if your last remortgage or purchase was some time ago.

For example, when the Bank of England Base Rate is experiencing change either upwards or downwards, mortgage lenders will be looking at future forecasts to establish where their rates need to be to remain profitable for them, but also competitive in the market.
At times of intense volatility mortgage rate changes can peak and then recede, so, this is why costing up an investment ahead of a viewing will be a much more efficient use of your time.

Lee’s most memorable case

One particularly memorable case for Lee was with a client who wanted to become a landlord, but had no previous experience and a low income, as they were still a part time student.

Other brokers had told the client he needed to be a home owner first, before he stood any chance of becoming a landlord. However, as a specialist broker we know this is not the case.

Fortunately for the client, they had persisted in their research and ended up speaking to Lee. Lee explained that Commercial Trust could help the client fulfil his hopes to start a portfolio.

The tactic Lee implemented for the client, was to secure a low value bridging loan for him. This was achieved via a joint application with one of the client’s family members. The bridging loan, with more flexible criteria, allowed the client to buy a property and as such establish the much needed experience buy to let lenders would require.

After a few months on the bridging loan, Lee arranged an exit to a buy to let mortgage – making sure that the costs were tightly controlled and the client transitioned to a cost effective long term finance option.

From this point the client has since gone on to purchase a three properties with the help of Commercial Trust. Clearly, this was a series of life changing events for that individual which, had he not spoken to us would never have come to fruition.

Lee had this to say:

“This client case really demonstrates how influential getting the right advice on property investment is. The chances are, if that client hadn’t spoken with us, he would still be dreaming of becoming a landlord. Being able to have such a positive impact on a client’s life is one of the most fulfilling aspects of our job.”