Today I’m delighted to be joined by Kath Gibb, an investor who has put her and her husbands previous business experience towards a focus on commercial to residential conversions that have enabled them to create a monthly rental income in excess of £10,000 in only 2 years.
Their approach is one that I find fascinating, and her detailed breakdown on the individual deals that they’ve worked on gives you a real insight into both the ups and the downs of this strategy.
It’s either going to make you sit up and think “Yes, that’s exactly what I want to be working on!”, or it will rule out commercial conversions for you, as with the increased upside also comes increased risk and stress.
Whichever side of the fence you’re on by the end of the interview, I’m sure that you’ll agree that it’s yet another great example of how to profit from property investing and I’m sure it will give you inspiration and ideas to apply to your own business.
Listen to this episode below:
Here’s a sneak peek at what we discussed this time:
05.27 – Kath’s reflections on the benefits of local investment, Stockport as a rising star town and the potential to be found in the North.
10.53 – From Kath’s corporate London life, and her husband’s entrepreneurial background including a bar/restaurant in Andorra, Kath discusses life before property.
18.11 – Kath’s first foray into property, a 600m² French chateau.
“I’d got a bit disillusioned with the corporate life.”
22.43 – From business changes in Andorra, experimenting with joint ventures and the eventual sale of the chateau, Kath discusses the circumstances that led to a few quick flips and pursuing property full time.
26.22 – How Kath realised she needed a strategy with less stress and a better return on investment, and how she discovered the benefits of holding property instead of flipping.
“We saw the opportunity that if you hold a property, refinance it and increase the value of it, then you can get quite a large chunk back out, and a monthly income.”
30.43 – Kath’s first experience of a mixed-use buy-to-hold project, adding real value.
40.48 – A closer look at the project figures.
42.42 – Kath’s next project, a leasehold property in need of heavy renovation.
“Leasehold can be tricky, because you’re not in control of everything – you have to have balls of steel!”
49.46 – A bad experience with a zero valuation, and Kath’s reflections on how specific lenders and surveyors feel about residential above commercial mixed-use properties.
57.35 – Kath’s current project, an old social club, and how every deal has the potential for negotiation.
“You need to know what the seller’s motivation is.”
1.07.35 – How COVID-19, and a connection with someone working in supported living, changed Kath’s exit strategy for the project, and the property adaptations that were required to meet it.
1.18.48 – How an existing pot of money, and taking on more ambitious, creative projects, have got Kath to where she wants to be.
1.22.31 – Kath’s plans for the future.
Show Sponsors
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They bridge the gap between your traditional bank account and your financial management system whether that’s a spreadsheet or bookkeeping software, and the results are awesome.
First of all, it tracks your income and expenses, either through your new hammock current account, or whichever bank you currently use. It will then automatically monitor your rent status, alerting you to any missed payments across your portfolio so you can follow up quickly with tenants. And it also provides live analytics at a property and portfolio level to show you insights like your profit and loss, arrears, occupancy rates, yields and much more.
It’s a single app that can replace multiple different tools you currently use in your business, many of which you’re probably paying monthly fees for. This will reduce your monthly outgoings but the value it provides goes way beyond that with the real time overview of your portfolio finances.
I love what I’ve seen so far from Hammock, and if you’re on the hunt for a new current account for your property business or if you’d prefer to make the most of Open Banking and connect your existing bank accounts to Hammock then the best bet is to check it out yourself with a 30 day free trial at usehammock.com/insidepropertyinvesting.
Links Mentioned
Follow Kath’s progress, and find out more about her latest projects, by connecting with her on Instagram or Facebook.