1. PN has had the pleasure of
interviewing Andy Graham, a very
successful property investor and
owner of Smart Property. He is 28
years old and describes himself as an
opportunist as he has used a variety of
strategies to develop his personal
portfolio and business which he now
runs with Nick Morris and Ed Dovison.
Within this article we find out about
Andy’s background and his journey into property. We get to talk through a number
of deals with him and then find out all about his latest buy to sell project.
Andy is originally from Manchester and among other things a keen surfer who also
loves the mountains, snowboarding and travelling. Property enables him to do these
things. Andy is a musician who plays the guitar. He studied for his degree in
Sheffield although he immediately moved to Cornwall after graduating into the
medical world, drawn by the surf and the ability to save some money as he had
access to rent free accommodation. From this point he got his first job and
saved hard but wasn’t able to get a residential mortgage so bought a BTL
instead knowing property was a good investment.
YPN: So it seems like you go into property just after university. Tell us more?
Andy: Yes, I graduated in 2009 as a physiotherapist and I moved down to
Cornwall as the job situation was a little bit easier down there and had the
opportunity of living somewhere rent free. Life was comfy and unlike many
people at the time I was able to save, I feel very fortunate about this.
YPN: So in the depths of the recession how did you venture into property?
Andy: I think like most people at the time, in this country, I thought investing in
property was a really good idea. However it wasn’t that easy for me to get a
residential mortgage. This could have been due to the fact that I wasn’t earning
enough or perhaps I hadn’t been earning for long enough. It could have also
been due to the fact that property prices in Cornwall are so great. So the
entrepreneurial side of me encouraged me to think about looking at more
unconventional ways of getting into property like buy to let.
This month at YPN we have been looking at younger people who have chosen property investing as
a career path. In this special feature we look at what drew these young investors into the world of
property, the strategies they use, their deals, the challenges that younger people in property may face
alongside the advantages that they may have. Property allows people to achieve truly amazing things
and these two young investors highlight whatever your age property can be life changing.
Andy Graham
1Your Property Network 86 • August 2015

2. 2 Your Property Network 86 • August 2015
YPN: So most people would look at investing in something close
to them but this is not what you did is it?
Andy: No! I wanted to get on the property ladder and was very
aware that after the recession house prices could be the lowest
price they were ever likely to be in my lifetime. My parents were
very apprehensive about me doing a buy to let and I didn’t really
know much about them if I am honest. However, I had just been a
student and I could see that landlords of student lets were making
quite a lot of money from them.
So this is what I did. I saved and borrowed a bit of money and then
I went and bought a house about 350 miles from where I was living.
I knew the student town reasonably well as my sister was at
university there but didn’t do the amount
of due diligence that I would do now.
I originally went up to see a three
bedroom house and when I looked around
it needed so much work doing to it and I
just couldn’t really see how it was going
to work as a student let. I think that the
estate agent could see what I was feeling
and told me about a property that was
just about to go on the market about 100
yards up the road. So we walked up and
this property just immediately felt right
and I could see the potential. So I put
an offer in there and then which is again
something that I wouldn’t necessarily do
now and got the house for £109,000 and I
was happy with this as they were going to
put it on at £125,000.
It was a 3 bed semi and it was owned
by an old lady who had to go into a care
home. The sale was being organized by
her daughter. The house wasn’t in a good
state of repair and looked like it hadn’t
been touched since it was built. There
was a single skin extension on the back
and to be honest it wasn’t really habitable.
But the mortgage lender did lend against
it, although I don’t think they would now.
YPN: So the less experienced property
investor may not realize quite how much the student market may
have changed. Students now require really good standards of
property don’t they?
Andy: Yes and it was always my belief that if I am going to do
something, then I am going to do it well. Firstly because it will rent
out quicker than other properties but also I believe that if you offer
a quality product then not only will people want to live there, they
will want to look after it. This has been fundamental to my portfolio
ever since.
YPN: So did it remain as a 3 bed semi?
Andy: No, I, with the help of lots of people, completely transformed
it into a (top spec) 5 bed student house and when it rented out for
£1500 per month that gave me an annual gross profit which wasn’t
far off my annual salary.
YPN: Wow that is amazing! This was your first refurb property,
how did you go about changing the layout?
Andy: There were 3 bedrooms upstairs, which remained as
bedrooms and then a large lounge downstairs which we turned into
a bedroom, I also did a lot of work on the extension at the back and
turned this into a bedroom and changed the large kitchen into a
kitchen diner. So it went from a three bed to a 5 bedroom
(5 doubles and one single) student property with a large kitchen
diner.
The quality of the property was a really high standard and I think
this is what impressed students the most. It was a really high
standard and we developed a great relationship with them.
YPN: How much was the refurb budget? And how did you go
about finding the right contractors in a location so far away
from you?
Andy: I budgeted £12,000 and this went
to £18,000 as it needed a new boiler and
some other things as well. With the legal
costs as well it came to around £19,000,
which considering what we had done to
the property I was really happy with.
Finding builders was really tricky and to
be honest I am not sure that we really ever
did find the right ones on that project but
we did get the job done. I would drive
up every weekend, which was both
exhausting and very expensive but I
wanted to be involved.
One of the most difficult things I found
was being 23 with little experience at the
time and getting people to listen to me
and respect me.
YPN: Builders can be tricky at the best
of times however much experience you
have but we can really imagine that at
23 you would have needed to been really
clear on what you wanted doing and
pretty firm to get it done.
Andy: Yes, we did have to be pretty firm
and I couldn’t have done it without my
families help. But we got it done in a
reasonable time frame and at a pretty
good price. And, I learnt a lot from doing it.
YPN: Mortgage wise, who did you work with?
Andy: I worked with the high street lender ‘The Mortgage Works’.
They were happy to lend on the property which I don’t think they
would be now. And I didn’t have any landlord experience at the time
which again at the time wasn’t a problem but I think it would be now
as things have got tighter.
I got a 25% loan to value mortgage and paid for the refurb costs
with cash.
YPN: We all come into property with a fixed amount of money but
we all need to establish ways so we don’t run out of it. Were you
able to release equity on this property?
Andy: The aim was always to just give me an income. It was never
the aim to raise capital from it although I did release some from
it but the majority stayed in the deal. The goal was only ever the
cashflow, the small addition in value was only a bonus.
One of the most
difficult things I found
was being 23 with little
experience at the time and
getting people to listen
to me and respect

3. 3Your Property Network 86 • August 2015
Thomas Road
BTL HMO (East Midlands)
• PP £109,000 on 25% LTV BTL mortgage
• Refurb + costs £19,000
• Remortgage/Revalue £150,000 on 25% LTV BTL mortgage
• Monet Left In (After Remortgage) £15,500
• Gross Monthly Rent £1,500
• Gross Annual Rent £16,500 pa
• Annual Profit £11,265.00
• Annual ROI (after remortgage) 73%
CASE STUDY 1
FIRST
PURCHASE

4. 4 Your Property Network 86 • August 2015
YPN: How did you manage the property? Did you use a letting
agent?
Andy: Yes, I did and it was a good move to make as I made a great
contact with the agent who is not only a letting agent now but
an estate agent and has really helped me move forward with my
property journey. It was also nice not to have the worry about the
property as well.
YPN: So how did you budget for bills?
Andy: I left it all to the tenants which at the time was the norm.
This has changed now and people tend to prefer all inclusive
packages. I literally just had to watch the rent come in and check
there were no missed payments and pay the letting agent.
YPN: So was it the success of this first property that gave you the
bug for property or was there another reason?
Andy: This property grossed about the same as my annual salary
and I was still living relatively rent free. Life was very comfy and
I didn’t have to keep travelling back and forth anymore to the
property. I was also surfing lots which was great. However
working in the NHS things started to change, my pension which
I had been paying into had changed for one and I soon realized
that even in something like the NHS there was no such thing as
job security.
At the time I hadn’t been feeling that well and had been having
some odd symptoms. It transpired that I had a rare form of cancer
in my neck. I was only 25 at the time and this was a real shock and
totally out of the blue.
So with this and changes that were happening at work, I packed my
job in. I got some treatment and decided to go travelling. It was a
pivotal point in my life.
I’m absolutely fine now and always will be and I’m fitter than ever.
But it was a bomb shell for me and more significantly, my family.
That for me was hard to deal with. Soon after recovering from my
surgery I took a long trip to Canada to the mountains, I just wanted
to have some fun and take a break. I reflected on everything and
had the very cliché realization that we are all in fact on borrowed
time, it doesn’t matter how fit you are, where you are from or what
you do – so we really should make the most of it, do what we enjoy,
pursue our dreams. I made a bucket list of the things I wanted to
do and achieve and it was extensive – traveling all over the world,
exciting adventures, achieving personal aspirations. But this was
going to need a sustainable and passive income stream. Property
was my answer! And this would allow me to take advantage of my
entrepreneurial side too.
Over the next eighteen month I utilized a Buy, Refurb, Remortgage
Strategy, developing HMO’s, pulling my money back out of deals as
I went, developing my passive income stream and now I’m
financially free and the income from my portfolio of HMO’s is
almost entirely passive.
My dad has also been able to take early retirement and I helped him
double his pension in 18 months.
YPN: So your focus became a little more on how to recycle your
fund. How did your approach change?
Andy: The properties were very similar but I was very focused on
how to add value. They were bigger refurbishments. I have
extensively changed floor plans, added bedrooms, added en-suites,
extended under permitted developments and with planning
consents and significantly modernized to a very high standard.
YPN: Your buy to sell property strategy that you have been
posting amazing pictures on social media sites seem to indicate
another shift in strategy. Is that the case?
Andy: Now I’m an opportunist, I don’t just do HMO developments,
I do some flips (a recent flip I did was Clifton Road) and I work on
larger developments (currently a new build development of GDV
£2M – FLAXMOSS)
I realized I was inadvertently developing a business. I was getting
more and more offerings of private finance that I had previously
been reluctant to use. So I set up Smart Property Investment and
brought Nick Morris and Ed Dovison on board both of whom are
highly experienced in developing and own HMO portfolios in their
own right.
Now we utilize private and commercial finance, working on HMO’s,
large developments and residential to commercial conversions is
our focus for the next 24 months. Nick is the figures man
(previously a Deloitte accountant), Ed specializes in acquisition and
I’m the man on the ground making sure the projects happen and
pushing the finance around. But there is a massive overlap and we
are a great team and our investor network has expanded ten fold.
YPN: Can you tell us about one of your buy to sell flips?
Andy: I moved back up to Manchester about 12 months ago and
bought a cute little property at Auction. I did my due diligence and
the figures stacked. It was in an area I knew well.
Flip (Manchester) – 3 bed end terrace, complete refurb
• PP £109,000 CASH at auction
• JV finance £80,000 at 10%pa (6 month pay back)
• Refurb + costs £28,000
• Sold (after 3 days on market) £175,000 (asking price)
• Net Profit £34,000 (after JV partner paid out)
• ROI 25%
CASE STUDY 2

5. 3 bed terrace converted to 5 bed top spec HMO
(and used for summer holiday lets)
• PP £180,000 (25% BTL mortgage)
• Refurb + costs £61,000
• Remortgage/Revalue £300,000
• Money Left In (After Remortgage) £16,000
• Gross Monthly Student Rent £1,800
• Summer Short Let Rent 6 weeks @ £1000 pw
• Gross Annual Rent £25,800 pa (11 months rent cycle)
• Mortgage Repayment (INTEREST ONLY)
£623 PCM (£7,476 pa)
• Net Annual Rent £15,744
• Annual ROI (After re-Mortgage) 98%
CASE STUDY 3
5Your Property Network 86 • August 2015

6. 6 Your Property Network 86 • August 2015
We had a few problems when renovating it but managed to
catch up particularly when the weather was on our side. We paid
£109,000 and put it on the market recently for £175,000. We
dressed it as we do and it sold within three days at the full asking
price. We spent around £26,000 on the refurb so this was a great
little project.
We are looking on focusing on bigger projects now and we have
been doing much larger projects already, this was relatively small
in comparison to everything else – refurbs for the last few HMO’s
have been in the £60k mark.
YPN: Can you tell us about any of these?
Andy: Well we have just obtained a plot which had planning for a
Mews development and prior to this planning for four detached
properties. We have taken about £300,000 JV funds for this project
and plan to develop four properties. The land is £425,000 and
development is going to come in at just under a million. So with all
costs and everything considered we are looking at a net profit of
over £550,000 and it will take around 12 months with an additional
6 months contingency.
YPN: Do you have a set way that you JV?
Andy: We will only work with people that we are comfortable with
and this is the most important thing for me. The second point is
establishing how the JV investor wants this to work. We then sit
down with our solicitor to go through this, and establish what will
be best for everyone.
YPN: Have you found that things progress more rapidly working
with others?
Andy: Yes, we all bring something different to the table and this
pushes us forward. We cover three areas now and we find that
people really want to work with us. Our investor network has grown
ten fold and the business has really gathered momentum.
YPN: How is the best way to contact you?
Andy: The best way is through our website
www.smartpropertyinvestment.com or by emailing me at
andy@smartpropertyinvestment.com.
YPN: Andy thank you so much for sharing your amazing property
journey with us.
NOW LISTEN IN FULL
TO THE INTERVIEW
WITH ANDY
http://bit.ly/1dbEPpl
4 new builds detached properties
each 2,500sqft (Manchester)
• Land PP £425,000
• Development Costs £900,000
• JV finance £250,000 (equal equity share 1/3 of GDV)
• Development Finance £900,000 @ 0.89% per month
(12 months)
• Additional Costs and Interest £120,000
• GDV £2.0M • NET Profit £555,000 • ROI 130.6%
CASE STUDY 4
CURRENT
PROJECT
imon Wilson is a young property investor who at the age of 23
has been very successful. He is passionate about supporting
and encouraging other young investors and wants to share
his experience to show just what is possible in property if you
have the right attitude, mindset and work ethic.
YPN: So tell us about your life before property?
Simon: I left school and did a year at sixth form but then dropped
out and got a job working in the Youth Justice department of the
Wrexham County Borough Council whilst trying to complete a
degree which I again dropped out of. I just didn’t seem to find
anything that quite suited me.
Whilst studying at uni and I started driving lessons and my driving
instructor (Nigel Richards) told me about a book he had been
reading which was about property. He basically explained to me
what a lease option was, although I must admit I didn’t totally un-
derstand it at this point,
and the money that could
be made without doing a
lot. I was very interested and
excited and asked him how I could go
about doing one. He mentioned that there happened to be a
property meet in Liverpool that night so I persuaded him to take me
there and we both went!
YPN: We don’t want to make assumptions but we assume that
you must have been like most 18 year olds at the time and not
had much money. Simply due to the fact that you hadn’t probably
had time to build up equity or been working long enough to have
much savings. Were you aware that you would need to do things
differently?
Simon: Absolutely, at the time I was on about £540 per month
with the Council and I had rushed into renting a flat which took