King of buy-to-lets pearls of wisdom

Fergus Wilson also known as the King of buy-to-let has been investing in buy-to-let properties for the last 20 years and has amassed a portfolio of 900 buy-to-let properties down in Ashford in Kent with his wife. Their investment is now conservatively worth near a hundred million making him one of the wealthiest buy-to-let landlords in the country.

I spent a couple of interesting mornings chatting with Fergus and gained some real pearls of wisdom on building up a buy-to-let portfolio which I want to share with you.

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Firstly, Fergus was very clear. In his view landlords should buy houses not flats.

Why?

In his view there are two types of landlord. A property investor who buys property that they can sell at a profit in the future. The other sought is a professional landlord who manages a portfolio of properties and lives off the rental profits generated by their properties.

Most landlords fall in to category 1 that of property investor.

Therefore, a landlord is not buying for themselves. They are buying to then be able to sell the property to somebody else down the line. In terms of property "people buy what they aspire to and rent what they need." In his view most people aspire to own a house not a flat or apartment. He thinks landlords who sell to owner occupiers will always get a better deal than those landlords with flats who then sell to fellow landlords.

So remember landlords "buy houses not flats."

More pearls of wisdom from the king of buy-to-let coming up soon.

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