Local groups

• A self running local group with a programme of meetings and activities. 
• A property investment group,  equivalent to the share club, really an investor group where the majority of the administration and work is undertaken for them. Advantages include a wider spread of properties and therefore a lower risk. The property investors club could be for a specific task or purpose, for example to form a trust in the longer term or be for a specific sub group of members.

Self running local group

What about forming a local group of like minded people, interested in using property to create a pension, for buy to let or similar.

You, between you decide what it is exactly that the local group will do, some may look at developments, some have speakers and some just a regular meeting to compare notes. Many a mixture of these and many more.

The key features of a local group are:-

• Its your group, with its own objectives.
• We do not control your local group, you do. 
• We don't expect any contribution from your local group, so if you have a subscription, you can use it all to cover branch expenses.
• No complex affiliate schemes or rule books.
• No annual conferences you have to attend.
• A chance to work on joint projects.

Across the UK there are many share groups, looking at the stock market and some also handling group investment, and we expect likewise to see all sorts of arrangements developing. Once we do we will try to report as many formats as we can, so as to give others ideas.

Getting your own group started

The start point is to consider what you would like to achieve, as the founder you are going to have a lot of influence.

Next consider the size of group you are aiming to set up. How many people involved ideally, and if this is limited by the place you will meet.

Consider if you want it to be open to everyone or you want to select people to invite to join.

Let us know what you are trying to achieve and try to keep us informed of the progress and problems that you have. 

Consider a news release to your local media, and don't forget to include details on how people can get in touch with you.

Inform those who have a vested interest, letting agents, estate agents, accountants, banks and building societies.

Look for locations that free cards or posters can be put up, for example some supermarkets have notice boards, libraries, many places of employment etc.

Consider a small advert in the property section of your local newspaper, cards in shop windows etc.

Once you have some members, get a handout produced and selectively drop them to houses in the areas where perhaps the people to join you, might live.

Get a regular programme together and get people together regularly even if half the meetings are socials and a chance to chat.

Identify the needs and wishes of your group, perhaps have a questionnaire. We could help you design this.

How we can help

As long as you keep us informed we will be able to respond to enquiries about what you are doing. When you are ready we will be able to put a page on this site to include some details, contact information and your programme, we may be able to help you to create handouts, questionnaires etc. Perhaps we can introduce you to other local groups so as to hold joint meetings or a chance to show others around your area.

Although we are pretty fully occupied on our own activities, we may be able to help in other ways and will try to get someone along occasionally to see your group. Beyond this we will see what help you feel you want and how we can help.

We'll also be able to help your group get a flying start by putting on a local presentation on getting into 'buy to let' here and in the USA, that is open to everyone in your area, with an invitation then for people to join a local group.

So make a start, get something going and please remember its your group, but we are still  keen to be kept informed of your progress.

A final thought

The Holiday Property Club that we run very closely with, also has the capability to have local groups and there is no reason why you should not combine one local group with the dual interest of property for a pension and overseas holiday property.

Property investment groups

A property investment group, like local group is just set up by a group of you locally. In many ways it operates like any other local group but may also allow members to join together in a syndicate to hold investments together. This can be done in a number of ways, and it may depend upon the size of the group which option proves best for your group. Limited partnerships and limited companies are the obvious ways to consider, but you may get other ideas by looking at the way local share clubs operate.

You should take care to make sure that you have defined well how people can join the group, leave it and get their investment out. While with share clubs you can always sell a few shares if someone wants to leave, if your group holding is  a large commercial property then this may not be practical. The rules should be written down agreed by everyone who joins and never varied.

We cannot give you advice on running the investment group or manage a group ourselves, as we decided from the beginning that we did not want to be considered by anyone as financial advisors, neither did we want to get into a position where there could become a conflict of interest between what we were recommending to a group and work being carried out for a group or individual. Your group can collectively use the finding services, as can any individual member of the group, and we are happy to provide the same degree of help as any other group in general terms. You and we have to be careful not to promote a prospectus of a company to the public that is not a public company and approved for this. It may therefore be beneficial to start a local group first, and then allow some sections of it to form consortiums once they get to have an interest in common items.

If you can, its better to keep the management of your group independent from the services that you obtain. Although at first it may seem sensible to utilize businesses owned by members this can always backfire especially where they have a  financial advantage in the transaction. Similarly however trustworthy members of your group are its essential, given that large sums of money may be involved, that multiple signatures are required on all financial transactions and that the group has its own bank account.

We would suggest that at least initially you restrict the property holding of the group to property in the UK and USA, so as to limit risk. Later, once you have a spread of properties, should you wish, you could then look to having some properties in other countries. The arrangements as to when and what limits there are on this should be included within the rules.

So what could your investments group invest in

• Residential property in the UK - allowing more to be held and spreading the risk. Also allows people who do not have the resources on their own to become involved.
• Commercial property in the UK - not really practical for an individual due to high prices and risk of voids.
• Residential and commercial property in the USA, possibly leaving one property empty for a shared holiday home. Again like UK residential its a risk spreading advantage as well as perhaps allowing some people to make smaller investments via the pooling effects and gain confidence in the American market and services available.
• Self builds - see the self build section for more information.

What next

Go back to the top of this page and read the information of setting up a local group, and then take a look at the club services.

See also the Investors group within the club services section