H3 buy to let article

Return to buy to let main page

Can you use the clubs H3 service to get better UK property buys

The H3 service is, as you will know if you have had much to do with the club, our top and very special service. It finds 3 properties that match an agreed specification within a budget.

Lets recap what it does in relation to USA property

This member service finds extremely good value property in the USA where some really spectacular finds are possible. The USA has advantages but also problems, the size for a start, being many times the area of Europe, and different legal, tax and restrictions in each state, requires someone who knows their way around the property market there. With a lot of insider knowledge and experience, plus a lot of technology the H3 service is able to find property for people at often well under half the price that they expect. A Realtor, American estate agent, would help you, but only in a very small area, other finding services may search various realtor lists, but most other services are based in sharing part of the sellers commission so want you to spend more. The service we wanted and set up in co-operation with the Holiday Property Club works for you, not the seller, and tries to meet your needs at the lowest price possible, finding really good deals, bank re-possessions, and other special situations. The power of technology is used to survey property, photograph in ways you would not think possible and in using a private web site set up, just for you, to keep you informed of properties being looked at. Full support and handholding makes sure everything runs smoothly right through to getting the keys and then a support service takes over providing long term support if you need it. This service is an executive service, using a director with enormous experience including some years as a director of a merchant bank based in the USA.

The process is in stages so people can, if they like, start using the service and at set points take on the rest for themselves without paying for later stages. Cost wise it makes sense as they can usually save you many times the fees that you get charged to fund this exceptional service. The costs are in line with what others would charge you for a lower service.

So what about the UK

Although not designed for the UK market, it can be used here, as capacity allows, but is not the right service for everyone.

You don’t need the equivalent of the USA service, for example you wont need help with moving currency or to probably understand the legal and tax system, and the cost to provide it will also be lower in that they don’t need to jump on planes or hire cars abroad. So the cost of using the H3 service for a UK property find is just two thirds of that for finding a USA one. However its still more than some low cost finding service you may come across.

If you just want someone to do the leg work for you, collect information from agents, take a quick look and screen those you should go and see, then you will go and look yourself, then this service is far beyond what you need. We would then suggest it is not the right service for you.

If you are looking for a home to live in yourself full time, likewise its probably not so good for you, as most people select homes at an emotional level, how they feel about it, rather than at a logic, business level where the best deal has to be got that meets the specification fully.

The technology is impressive and having quality photographs, scale plans and more may help a lot, but while in the USA it is a major advantage after all you don’t want to go and look at them all again yourself, and the web site approach allows you to see and react very fast, but without having to worry about different time scales. In the UK distances are tiny and although still an advantage it would be far easier for you to pop and take a look, if needed far easier.

Where this service comes into its own is that it is, like when operating in the USA an executive service, you have an experienced and very effective director personally involved, and looking at properties so you don’t need to. Buy to let, holiday rentals and conversion projects are first and foremost a business, and as such what you really need is a businessman with the knowledge, skills and contacts to find the right property, negotiate the best price and solve any problems. You also don’t want to be sold a lemon on the basis of its an artistic challenge for your designer. Who just loves the bulging curve of the main walls, or the wave pattern created by the sag in the roof.

From your first meeting you will recognize you are in business, you will immediately see that he not only understands the property market fantastically well, but can also understand and be supportive of your needs and limitations be they budget, time or experience.

The people who will obviously gain the most from this service are those with the least experience, in that the extra help and support, can not only find them a property, buy well below what they expected, but also allow them fully to understand what risks are involved.

For many the limiting factor is the amount that they can raise. So finding a way to buy with a lower mortgage commitment can be as important as finding the ideal property.  In many cases its not the small amount you need to start that presents the problem as much as the maximum a lending institution will advance to you at this time. So clever buying can allow you to get into property where on your own you would not be able.

Speed is a problem for many, of course they could get information regularly from 100 plus auctioneers who sell property, scan the lists constantly, and visit a large amount of property to find the property they are looking for. Over time, eventually you would find the deal just right for you. However while this was happening the property has all gone up by 20%, if you had used an executive service to do this for you, then they would be likely to search and find what you want in under half the time, so the quicker find could get you in that bit quicker and allow you to get far more than the costs involved in appreciation. This is particularly important as well if you were into property but have been out for a time, as your holding in cash will not be keeping up with the spiraling property prices.

Like most things, you get what you pay for, and the H3 service is definitely not a budget service, however the director who runs it so effectively is most disappointed if he can't save people at least 3 times the fees they charge, so in most cases it will save you money as well as risk.

You may have heard that this service can source property not available by other means

It can, in cases where the right property is difficult to find. There are areas from time to time where as soon as property comes onto the market it gets sold, and often a bidding war develops. Also occasions when you know suitable property is in the area but not coming on to the market. Not being an estate agent, no commission is required from the seller, so promotional search activities are attractive to those who have been considering selling but not got around to placing the property on the market. They have a range of promotional activities that can be used to bring these opportunities into the open and to help you buy them at a sensible price without competition.

How come this service is available in only a limited numbers of cases for UK searches

The H3 service concentrates on USA property, but does look to source a small amount of UK property.

The sourcing of small amounts of UK property allows the director who runs the service to keep fully up with the UK property market, and to be able to plan to spend a little more time in the UK with his family.

The amount beyond this comes down to time availability and members/clients who want to use the service. In practice the UK based director has to spend quite a bit of time in the UK seeing clients, presenting what has been found, and desk research as well as following projects through.

The USA however is huge and while he feels that it is useful for some people to help them in the UK market and of interest to him personally, it’s the USA market that this very special service is unique in and where unbelievable bargains can be found using it.

Is it available to you?

There is no easy answer to the question as to whether you could make use of this service, its not restricted to any group of people or other qualification to use it, its just a matter of availability when you want it.

Unlike estate agents practices and simpler finding services, this service cannot be scaled up. The major reason why people want to use it is the expertise, experience and technology that is available, and it would just not be possible to find anyone else with this mix of knowledge to allow the service to grow larger and handle more requests without diluting the quality of service given. The decision was made, a while back, that this would remain an executive service, well above anything else available, and the club would over time put in a range of other services to be able to handle bulk requirements, where the skill of a director level property expert buyer is not so important.

To find out if this service has capacity at the current time, once you have decided that, if it has, you would like to use it, call the clubs main number and either enquire about it from them or ask them to get the director to call you to talk about your needs and if it would be relevant.

Concluding

This service is available to a limited number of people to source UK property, and in some cases will show a considerable benefit, and in most cases a saving well above the cost of using it.

We would not recommend its use for finding a full time home as opposed to a holiday or investment property, and is probably not an economic choice if you have considerable knowledge and contacts to find really good deals on your own within a reasonable time frame.  The people who are most likely to benefit most are those who have limited access to deals, have limited experience and therefore will find the risk assessments helpful and those who have looked but been unable in a reasonable time to come across the right property for them, plus those who have made the decision to find a property and just want to get a suitable one found as soon as possible.

From an economic viewpoint this service does cost more than others available, but the benefits we would suggest easily justify the additional cost, and in most cases clever buying will save you several times the cost. Choosing to use a top executive to provide a personal service to you, may at first appear to be going over the top, when you can get free services from estate agents, however, the difference is that the agents are working for the seller, and will sell you whatever they have to sell, and the higher the price they can get you to pay the more commission they make. The executive buying service switches the task around, the executive is working for you, will know how to get the price down, and will advise you of risks or problems he can see as well as comparing different properties and deals available. Overall using the service will either save you money or allow you to make far more in the future, and also may be able to structure property purchases to allow you to get more than you would expect within your budget.

If in doubt talk to the clubs office, and see what they have to say.

Return to buy to let main page