INTRODUCTION TO PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
As Ayrshire’s only dedicated investment company we offer a unique perspective on property investment. Estate agents simply want to sell properties, often regardless of whether it will work for you. Letting agents are looking for nice easy letting properties and don’t concern themselves whether they will be financially strategic for landlords. Homesure takes a totally different approach by taking the time to evaluate the investor’s needs and long-term goals. We then develop an investment strategy, generally 10+ years, with regular check points along the way to constantly evaluate its success and make changes as required if the client’s circumstances change.
We have products to suit first time, one off investor’s right though to professional sophisticated investors and are just as excited to work with both types of client.
TYPES OF PROPERTY INVESTMENTS
The traditional property investment consists of buying a property and letting it out to rent paying tenants. This can be something locally or in an area where rental demand is high or there may be scope for good capital growth. This type of investment makes up the majority of investors and is the most well know. This type of property cannot be placed into a pension though (see the following section on pensions for more information).
Property investment has become really exciting over the last 5 years with many new products becoming available. Hotel room investment has become very popular alternative recently and offers fantastic returns (often guaranteed). These are located overseas and also here in Scotland and offer some of the best possible investments available in today’s market. Other investments include UK car parking spaces, UK storage facilities (both quite boring but extremely stable and offer great returns), property investment funds and overseas buy-to-let. These types of investments can be placed in your pension making them extremely tax efficient.
INVESTMENT SOURCING AND NEGOTIATION
Homesure search the whole market and assist in sourcing the perfect investment property for you. This can be from private sellers, people on our investment database but often it is from other estate agents. We carry out all negotiations on your behalf to ensure we get the property for the best possible price and guarantee to save you at least our investment sourcing fee (the average saving from the purchase price for clients using this service in 2012 was £4500).
INVESTMENT CONSULTATIONS
It is important to select the best property to invest in that your budget allows. An investment consolation helps develop a strategy, prepare projections and select potential investments. Sometimes a property at one end of a street can let easily and be a nightmare at the other end - it is this type of knowledge that can make or break your investment. There are many things in lettings that professional agents have knowledge in that only comes with experience, so from a purely lettings point of view it is invaluable to take advice from someone in the industry. From sales point of view it is important to take a “bricks and mortar” approach on valuations and resale possibilities. Finally, an investment point of view considers the numbers – will this property actual achieve your goals? By combining all of these viewpoints you can select the most appropriate investment which has the best chance of having your long-term goals.
PORTFOLIO REVIEWS & VALUATION
This service is for clients who already have a portfolio of properties and wish to evaluate how it is performing. We will evaluate each individual property and how it contributes to your overall investment strategy. The portfolio as a whole is then evaluated. Is it balanced? Is it under-performing Can it be improved? A full report with recommendations will then be provided. (This is included in our Professional Elite Full Management Service).
PENSIONS
Many investments can be placed into a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). This is by far the most tax efficient way of property investment. All income is tax free – no income tax, no capital gains tax, and no inheritance tax. If you have an existing pension this can easily be transferred into a SIPP. Homesure do not provide pension services directly but we can assist in selecting the products to place within it and arrange a free independent appraisal of your existing pension to see if it will achieve your retirement goals in its current form.
Another form of pension investment is via a Consolidated Pension Scheme (CPS). A Consolidated Pension Scheme operates under occupational pension rules and provides an ideal platform for clients who would like to transfer private or occupational pensions and spread their investment funds over a range of products. It will also appeal to those who would like to see their pension funds invested into alternative products without the ownership obligations of a Self-Invested Personal Pension. The minimum investment is £20,000 with no upper limit. Some of the benefits to clients are: no entry or exit fees, no direct asset purchase fee, simple transfer method with no associated SIPP ownership obligations, details of typical investment spread are transparent and that normal pension rules and associated tax benefits apply.
