Sarah has worked as an estate agent, a home image consultant and a recruitment consultant, and since 2003 she has also been a television presenter – primarily on BBC1's 'To Buy Or Not To Buy' - and freelance property writer. She currently works freelance part-time within Platinum Property Partners and, as a Franchise Partner, has started to build a portfolio in Poole & Bourne mouth.
It was mid-2004 when Sarah first met Steve Bolton, and she spent some time looking into his methods and business proposition. It didn’t take long for her to realise that there was definitely something different and special about Steve, his business partners and the people they were working with, and she started to work freelance for the company on copy writing, publicity and shows & events. In November 2007, having known Steve for three years and worked within the company on a part-time basis for nearly a year, Sarah joined the Franchise.
"I had a fair amount of experience in the property field, but nothing like the knowledge within PPP, particularly on the investment front – it's a completely different proposition to the residential and holiday home market. And because I like to work on a number of different projects, I simply don't have the time or inclination to worry about having to research every aspect of the property business, so the Franchise is the perfect solution and, for me, a very cost-effective way of ensuring I make the right investments and have access to the best people to advise me on an ongoing basis. Plus, I've made a lot of great new friends and some seriously inspiring mentors and colleagues."
Sarah was sale agreed on her first property the day after her initial mentoring, completed on that purchase in February 2008 and it was ready to rent as a 6-bedroom House in Multiple Occupation six weeks later. Thanks to a tracker mortgage, that property currently cashflows £1,400 a month. In November 2008 Sarah bought her second HMO – another 6-bedroom property – and that cashflows £660 a month. Those two cashflow figures are after the mortgages and all bills have been paid, allowances have been made for maintenance and voids, franchise management service fees have been paid, and include the cost of employing a property manager. The combined pre-tax profit of around £2,000 a month is therefore virtually passive income, as Sarah only has to spend around 2 hours a week on administering the business.
Albert Road, Poole
Purchase price £230,000
Rental income £2,686
(5 doubles, 1 single)
Mortgage repayment £1,139
(85% LTV, 6.89% int. only)
Other expenditure £881
(utilities, c. tax, insurance, TV, b'band,
cleaner, voids & maintenance allowance,
franchise MS fees, property management)
Total expenditure £2,020
Total monthly pre-tax profit £666
Total annual pre-tax profit £7,992
Sarah is working with her father as a passive investor, and has made the most of the other investment options offered by PPP. She has invested into a development project in Romania, which is anticipated to give around a 100% return within 3 years, and also entered into a passive loan arrangement with one of the PPP founders, which pays market-leading interest rates on a monthly basis.
For the next few months Sarah will be focusing on the purchase of her own home in Bournemouth and obtaining planning permission, with the help of PPP’s contacts, to build in the garden of one of her HMOs. She also hopes to acquire at least one more investment before the end of the year.
