Clearstream Property Limited

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Clearstream Property Limited

We create homes for young people who want to live together with like-minded people and enjoy a commu

16/01/2023

Not my ideal weekend or Monday.

As soon as you hit your mid fifties (I know I don’t look it) you get bombarded by screening programmes from the NHS.

I recently completely the bowel screening test which is a kit through the post with a little wand to collect a sample to send off. (Imagine that analysis being your job! 🤢). They look for microscopic traces of blood which can have multiple causes from piles, polyps to bowel cancer.

Mine have a positive result though I have no symptoms so the next stage is a colonoscopy - a camera up the back passage. I debated with whether or not to do this - as I say I have no symptoms - but thought how much I would kick myself if anything came to light later and I’d missed the chance to test early.

So three days ago I had to start a restrictive diet. No fruit, veg, nuts, seeds or potatoes - “low residue” they call it. And for the whole of Sunday I had to not eat anything and take some powerful laxatives to make sure that the camera would have an unobstructed view. Not a fun day!

So here I sit in the recovery suite, having my first cup of tea and biscuits for over 24 hours - heaven! They found a polyp which was likely the cause of the positive test result. This was removed during the colonoscopy. Apparently it could have become a problem in 4-5 years. So thank goodness I went through with the procedure, unpleasant though it was.

So my messages for this week - the NHS are fabulous (of course) and in the words of the late Dame Deborah James CHECK YOUR POO

11/01/2023

🎨Paint// colours, brands, finish

👷Those of us who have a few projects under our belts will all have had the debate about paint at some point. And no, not all paints are the same.

📋We specify a particular brand and particular finish that we require in our projects because we know that it looks good and, perhaps more importantly, it lasts.

🚩The contractor who hides the sh*tty cheap tins of discount paint that they’ve used because you’ll “never notice” and thinks they’re getting away with it – we can tell!

Are you as fussy as we are about paint? ⬇️

08/12/2022

Maintenance ⚙️

👷All landlords know how important regular maintenance is to keep your property in good order. But no more so than in a shared house or HMO.

🛠️We’ve just done our regular checks at one of our houses today. I doubt if the tenants can tell what we’ve done, but they’re certainly pleased to know that the house is well looked after.

I’m please to report that even after 4.5 years, today’s house is still in tip top condition. 🏅

If you’re new to this, swipe ➡️ to see our typical checklist.

📋Anything you think I’ve forgotten?

07/12/2022

A tidy desk is a tidy mind//

It’s that time of year when we get a bit whimsical and reflective. For us, 2022 has been HARD. Our last project, 2 x 7-bed HMOs was very tricky and just goes to show that, just because you’ve done it successfully before, doesn’t mean it’ll be plain sailing next time. The houses themselves are fabulous and a great addition to the portfolio but the project was a very painful process and is still hard for us to reflect on.

But it’s time to clear the decks, sweep the bad experiences out of our minds (crossing a few people off the Xmas list in the process!) and focus on the positives. Tidy up and ready ourselves for new projects next year.

We have plans for 2023 that see a change of direction from income generation to capital growth. We have investors keen to work with us, though always happy to talk to more.

So, our head space is tidy, a bit of digital housekeeping to realign ourselves with our new goals and then I guess I’ll have no choice but to actually physically tidy my desk. (The desk in shot is in one of lovely new HMOs - certainly not mine!)

Are you getting ready for new things? Interested in sharing the ride?

19/11/2022

Saturday morning checkins//

I used to hate Saturday morning checkins. Rushing to one of our shared houses, waiting around for new housemates to arrive when they were “stuck in traffic”, aka had overslept.

Now, thanks to an email our VA sends a new housemate the day before arrival with keysafe codes and a short video message from me reminding them of importent things from their tenancy, my weekend checkins are now a decent cup of coffee and a lovely text message.

It pays to get those systems in place for managing your HMOs!

26/10/2022

It’s all in the preparation//

It’s revaluation day next week for our first HMO that we’ve owned for 5 years. Since the original valuation, we’ve obtained planning for sui generis, enabling us to go from a 6 bed HMO under permitted development to a 7 bed.

The house has had probably 99% occupancy since we launched it 5 years ago and various rooms have had a refresh between tenancies. Our longest staying housemate lives here having been with us for just over 3 years.

So we’re revaluing to lock in a decent mortgage rate for another 5 years. The valuation pack is done with all the background information for the surveyor. And poor Rupert’s even been up ladders washing the guttering as our usual guy was away for half term. Clean guttering helps to present a fresh, well-cared for house.

Let’s hope the surveyor looks up!

07/10/2022

Want a run in with HMRC or the FCA?

How on top of your responsibilities are you? Do you know who you can talk to about investing in your property projects? Do you know what written warnings you are obliged by the FCA to put in your deal documents?

All these things are super prescriptive and the penalties are severe (as in criminal). But statistically these usually only come into play if something goes wrong and an investor makes a complaint.

One more regular responsibility that everyone working with investors should be on top of is towards the HMRC. If you have a loan for more than 365 days, you (the limited company) are obliged to deduct the basic rate of tax from any interest paid, declare it on a CT61 Return, and pay the tax to HMRC. Your investor then declares the interest on their tax return as paid net of tax and, if they fall under the threshold for interest on investments, can claim that tax back.

Best not to argue with the FCA or HMRC!

05/10/2022

Do Joint Ventures open doors to new opportunities? 🚪

We’ve recently been investigating the pros and cons of joint ventures as a way of raising investment finance and also of branching into new areas. 🕵🏻‍♀️🕵🏻‍♂️

Up until now we’ve used debt finance to grow our portfolio but now we’re looking at ways to diversify and continue our growth. Joint ventures allow you to combine forces with other parties either for finance or for knowledge, or simply to share risks. This is way more complex than straight bank or private investor borrowing and isn’t something to be rushed in to. Hence why we are playing the long game and starting our research early. 🤓

Do you joint venture on projects? Why? 🤝

Has it been great for your business? 📈 Or have you experienced one of the horror stories we are warned of? 😱

22/02/2021

When is it too soon to start?

Children don't get taught about money at school. We've been struggling with how to teach our girls that there are alternatives to a traditional career as a means of making a living, partly as a way to alleviate pressure that schools pile on for academic success but also because we had fairly non-traditional work patterns ourselves.

Yesterday, after a bracing walk at the beach, we played our first game of Cashflow. This focusses players on building passive income streams to take the pressure off regular payday and to escape the rat race. I thought there'd be little enthusiasm for the game but we played for 3 hours - the main incentive being that Dad was a lowly paid office worker who kept landing on squares that made him buy expensive golf clubs, jet skis, stereo systems etc which depleted his cash fund. Much hilarity and hopefully some lessons learned.

How important is quitting the rat race for you?

For us is was hugely important that we built alternative sources of income and we are helping others to do so through investment opportunities. DM us if you'd like to hear more.

18/02/2021

Ready for Your Future?

How financially prepared do you feel for the next 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?

We worked in the film industry as freelancers for years and know that long term financial security and future retirement provision were areas that we had neglected in our heady days of high earnings and high spending. Pensions were for old people, right? Hmm, with the arrival of a family (children are expensive!) and the approach of middle age we knew we had to address this shortcoming and make some plans.

Property was the answer and something which we always had an interest in. We had an opportunity for a development project in London which we seized, developing a fabulous penthouse apartment out of the fresh air on top of our Southwark flat.

This provided us with the seed capital to launch our property business and grow a portfolio of property which will provide us with an income for life and which we can pass on to our children.

Our business continues to grow as we are work with investors to provide returns on loan investments both long and short term.

If you’d like to learn more about our business and how you can become involved, do drop us a line for a chat and a copy of our Investor Information Pack. You never know, this could help you map out your future too!

11/02/2021

We'd love you to find out more about us and to get in touch. To be honest, we use Instagram more often than not so do have a look for us there

Address

Chichester

Website

http://www.clearstreamproperty.co.uk/

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