Anybody landing on this site is normally here to do one of two things, check out the staff profiles and to see if they are single, or, and I would hope more likely, to purchase an investment property in the UK or Abroad. Anyone that has arrived for the first option, I would suggest attending one of our networking events, as pictures can be very deceptive.

The reason for this blog, and there is one I promise, is to explain why buying with Bueno is something we all do, even those of us that work here.

When I first joined Bueno Investments, I knew I did want to invest in the UK market with them, having known Scott and Phil for many years, and I can now proudly say I have one house in Halifax and am on the verge of completing in Hull, all through this company.

So, what made me buy?

Having worked in the Overseas property investment world for six years, and churning out websites and working with partners that only dealt with this kind of product, joining Bueno Investments opened up a whole new world of the UK Property Investment side of things.

It was different, much different, but some how seemed more appealing than Bansko or the Costa del Sol. Granted, a two bedroom house in Hull was not exactly a dream like my mansion in Spain was, but in terms of security, appreciation and feasibility to sell on, it was a safer bet.

My brief to Elliot was quite simple. I would like a new build, 4 bedroom house in West London, no money in, guaranteed tenants for 10 years and £5,000 cash back, money that I was going to use to renovate the bathroom on my own house.

Surprisingly, we didn’t have any thing on our books on that Tuesday afternoon that matched my requirements, so it was time to sit down with Elliot and work out exactly was possible in the real world.

I am the final link between what the guys in the office secure to sell and what you, the investor, client or website visitor actually see. I publish it to the web and send out the newsletters, so I see everything that actually comes to sale.

What most of our investors do not realise is, for every 100 deals we get offered or find, we might carry out the due diligence, surveys and valuations on 10, and then only one will make it through that meets our criteria and be offered to our investors. Because we try to minimise the risk, we are very, very, very choosey when it comes to the deals we accept, we do not send out anything we get offered, like a few other investment companies can tend to do, we only send out the deals we feel are suitable for our investors.

The process of buying with the guys is easy. Elliot handles the preliminary stuff and then Alison takes over the sales progression. Apart from the forms and normal paper work you, as the investor have to do, everything else is taken care of for you.

Buying with Bueno IS different to buying with any other investment firm. As I mentioned, the risk is kept to a minimum by only offering the deals that we feel are financially structured to the degree of being an excellent investment. The majority of our stock will sell out in a couple of days, some even the same day, and with more and more of our investors buying multiples deals with us, I would hope our reputation is beginning to speak for itself.

Buying any property offers risk, we wouldn’t tell you otherwise, but by only passing on the deals that we, as staff, investors and good looking people of the world believe in, we hope the risk to any of our investors will be far outweighed by the potential returns from any of our products.

Ian Spencer
Web Manager
Ian.Spencer@buenoinvestments.com

On the 17^th of November we held our first Southern Ireland event.

We held it at a great hotel on the outskirts of Dublin called the Red Cow. We decided a trip to Ireland would be a good idea as we have many Irish investors and it allows both us and them a chance to put a face to a name and also give the opportunity for a one-to-one consultation.

Click any of the pictures to enlarge.

Phillip Bueno, one of the company owners started off proceedings with an hour talk explaining what our company offers and different ways of structuring your portfolio. He went through Low money down investments, commercial investments, high yield investments and overseas developments. This went down well and we then proceeded to the bar where the attendees could have consultations or just network between themselves.



Click any of the pictures to enlarge.

By 5pm everyone was ready to head home, so we said our goodbyes and headed into Dublin to sample the Guinness which, as it turns out, does taste much better in Dublin.

Our next event will be held in Birmingham in January, so keep your eyes on the site for further details.

Elliot Roe
Sales Director
elliot.roe@buenoinvestments.com

Continued….

1pm and I was back at a mutual office in Birdwell for a meeting with a very pleasant member of the RightMove team. We had been looking to join for a while, and we had finally been able to schedule a time which worked for both of us to discuss requirements. We will feature on rightmove.com from the last week in November onwards. RightMove is predominantly used by owner occupiers to find new homes, but with the creative finance and legal packages we are able to add to deals for investors, there is no way our deals are not going to appeal to the owner-occupier market as well.

By 2:30 I had met back up with Phillip to look over some further sites we had been offered in the Barnsley and Sheffield area. In Barnsley in particular we are well known by developers, agents and portfolio owners as reliable buyers and so get offered a lot of stock. Not much of it we even consider looking at after a quick review of the figures, but on this day we had 4 new build sites which looked appealing on paper. Our letting agent joined us again to view all four sites to give us rental appraisals and to offer his local expertise of the area. Unfortunately, all four sites were not quite what we were looking for as rentals were slightly tight compared to likely mortgage outgoings and the discounts we had been told were on offer we felt did not represent discounts from a true market value. This is too often the case when offered a discount from a perceived ‘Market Value’. Even with a network of finders filtering through hundreds of deals a week to pick a select few for us to look at in further detail, there are very few that actually warrant investment from our point of view. This is what sets us apart from many other property investment companies, and my personal portfolio from many other investors I hear of and speak to.

By now it is 6pm and time for Phillip and Joe to travel back to Colchester for a busy day in our Essex offices on Friday. For me, Surrey is my next stop of call, ready for meetings in London on Friday after checking and replying to my emails from that day.

Scott Goodall
Managing Director
scott.goodall@buenoinvestments.com

Thursday November 8^th

A business partner we have ventured into several successful Joint Ventures with in the past, Arv Soar, had brought us to Nottingham on Wednesday afternoon. We discussed for many hours some interesting ideas we have all been throwing about for a while now with regards to structuring investment funds aimed at investors who wish to prosper from property but with a fully hands off approach. We figured that there are many investors out there who would love to invest in property to a greater extent than they do now, yet do not have the time to carry out the due diligence they feel is necessary. This is where we could help; by offering shares in a portfolio built and managed by us personally, and more importantly that we invested in ourselves. Conclusion of the meeting was that we had to take things further, and so Ken Rohde will be speaking with several top solicitors next week to find out how we can structure something as user friendly and tax efficient as possible.

After a lovely meal and a few beers on Wednesday evening, we were up early on Thursday to travel to Barnsley, a journey which is never too strenuous from Nottinghamshire. In Barnsley, my fellow director Phillip met our estates manager Joe Thompson to introduce to him the next freehold he will have under his belt to manage. The site was Imperial House in Barnsley, for which we secured a very good price for the block and were able to pass great discounts on to investors. Wherever possible these days we will secure the freehold on apartment blocks where our investors have bought as there is value in these, and perhaps more importantly we can ensure the sites are looked after properly on an ongoing basis. A great example of this is Unnet Court in Smethwick where we have added tremendous value to investors’ apartments by refurbishing the block’s communal areas and have made improvements to increase the overall appeal of the site. This has added value not to the value of the freehold, but to the apartments themselves which our investors and I own.

Phillip Bueno at Imperial House in Barnsley

Imperial House 3 Months from Completion

I left Phillip and Joe at this stage to meet our local letting agent Kierron Hirst of Qualitas Lettings. Kierron’s company manage more properties for our investors and members of our team than for anyone else and come highly recommended. I had some keys to give Kierron for deals which had just completed, and so we proceeded to look over the properties and check out the general condition. As anticipated all in order for Kierron to begin showing potential tenants around from Friday. With over 95% occupancy levels at any one time, nothing stays on Kierron’s books for long.

Part 2 To Follow …

Scott Goodall
Managing Director
scott.goodall@buenoinvestments.com

As Customer Relations Manager I have a varied working day.

My organisational skills are certainly put to use when liaising with team members, investors, solicitors, brokers and agents on a daily basis to make sure all property sales reach a sound completion as promptly as possible. My main priority is to keep the investors happy; if they have any questions or concerns they can address them to me and I will work to satisfy them without delay.

A recent working day went as follows:

I arrived at the office at 8:45am and checked all emails. I prioritised them to ensure they were all actioned by the end of that day. I then chased all solicitors and brokers for updates on investor-purchases, and then reported these back to the investors either by phone or email.

I liaised with a number of surveyors and made appointments for valuations to be carried out on properties currently being purchased. I then worked through the diary to organise and arrange meetings with developers, finders and agents on behalf of the Bueno Directors for the upcoming weeks.

Following this, I contacted the Sales team to take record of all recent reservations and action the sales progression with solicitors and brokers. I also made calls to these investors in order to introduce myself and the role I would be playing in their investment.

I then proof-read and edited all new website and newsletter content for grammatical accuracy and legibility. I then ran a number of small errands, taking me through to the end of the day. I left the office at 6pm, but continued to make calls and respond to emails from home.

Alison Zalecki
Customer Relations Manager
alison.zalecki@buenoinvestments.com