#03 - The Money is in the Follow Up! David’s Best practises for Finding & Securing Investment

Investors – David shares where you can find them, where you can work with them and how you can make sure that they want to continue working with you.  KEY TAKEAWAYS   In deal packaging you need money and deals to build your business. If you are new to this industry, look for the money first, look for an investor and afterwards you will be able to get the deals. Attend the property network events to build your network database. You have to attend those events and keep on going, become a regular in the community and get yourself known. Get close to your network meeting host. He has everything you need, he knows everyone in that room and who could potentially be your future investor. Working in the events team of your community, above the ordinary delegate, will raise your profile. Stand up, speak, tell people what you do and be heard. You need to do this in order for the investor to notice you and be interested in your business proposal. If they come and talk to you, make sure you are always ready and you have an elevator pitch prepared.  I usually say, “Hi, I’m David Siegler, I work in property and what I do is increase the wealth of my investors."   The money is the follow up! If you find someone who seems interested in what you do and how you do it, meet up with them and talk about your business.   Arrange to meet as many times as it takes, just follow up! Just tell them it was very interesting talking to them and ask them if they don’t mind, you could give them a call this week to meet for a cup of coffee? If they say yes, you have to give them a ring! Don’t forget to remind them about you and ask them when it would be better for them to meet, give them different options, they might be quite busy. When you meet up, explore with your investor what common ground you have to build a portfolio together. When you stand up and make yourself heard in the meetings network make sure you won’t say what everyone else says, stand out from the crowd and be memorable. Make yourself different from anyone else in the room. Once you have got your first investors, it is very important you take care of them. Serve them properly because they will be your reference for your future investors.  Another amazing source of investors is online networking. You could advertise your business, explain what you do and show picture of you being productive. You could edit your video and upload it on Facebook, telling people in no more then 90 seconds, everything about your property business. LinkedIn is the other amazing source of investors, like Facebook, just that this platform is designed with a professional purpose.   BEST MOMENTS  When I first started out, I found out everything by myself. It wasn’t as easy as it is today, we didn’t have the availability of the knowledge there is today. A tip I have learnt from Rob Moore, cofounder of Progressive Property, is that to build a portfolio, you need get yourself a folio. By folio he meant a really smart presenter and inside it there are clear plastic wallets in which you can present your own deals concluded. That will help you prove your credibility with the investors. At one network event I stood up and said: "I bought a pub, it's very, very ugly. I don’t know why I did it, it cost me £80k. On the other hand, I have spoken to the planners and they said I could convert it in ten beds HMOs, but that is going to cost another £80k. The good news is that the pre-evaluation is roundabout £400k. If anyone is interested, please, do approach me during the break. "One man came and bought the deal as a result of that conversation, for a £15k Deal Packaging fee. Don’t only sell deals to your investor, identify your clients' needs and what worries them and find a solution to their pain. It will get you friends, not only investors. If you produce those solutions for your investor, you will have a large amount of business because they will refer you to their friends, seeing your good performance. Ask for recommendations/referrals! You could say: “Thank you very much for spending this time with me, now that you understand what I do, is there anyone that you consider might benefit having a cup of coffee with me and talk it through?" VALUABLE RESOURCES Progressive Property Deal Packaging Course Commercial Conversion Course ABOUT THE HOST David is a property expert with over 25 years’ experience and his own portfolio of 26 units. His current rent roll is in excess of £10k per month. He is also a partner in a Deal Sourcing and Packaging business in the North West of England and has sourced over 250 properties for investors since 2004. In recent years he has, by necessity, had to develop an expertise in LHA strategies. This area is increasingly becoming a niche for him and he enjoys empowering other landlords by sharing the knowledge he has gained. The ultimate purpose when sourcing properties in this sector for investors is to minimise risk while maximising profit. He has had to find answers to the challenges of Tenant Find, Management, ensuring rents are paid and the transition to Universal Credit. These are strategies he uses in his own business and also on behalf of investors. His investor clients regularly achieve annual gross yields of over 20% with high occupancy rates and voids resolved, sometimes within hours. CONTACTS David’s LinkedIn David’s Facebook Rob’s FacebookRob’s Instagram Rob’s LinkedIn