AW Academy

Thinking About Investing In Property?

Join the Aspen Woolf Academy and get up to date insights and market news into your inbox.

Learn about:

• The best property investment strategies
• Why invest in property vs stocks
• Residential vs commercial property
• Completed vs off plan
• Avoid common mistakes made by first time investors
• Best cities to invest in
• Legal advice
• FAQ’s on buying property
• When is the best time to buy property, and sell
• Key property investment terms

And much more. . .

Learn From An Award-Winning Team

Aspen Woolf have been at the forefront of the international real estate sector for over 15 years. We’ve bought, sold, developed, managed, we’ve done it all. We know a lot about property and we’re well placed to discuss and offer the best advice to both first time property investors and experienced investors.

We carefully choose markets, we look for strong growth opportunities within city regeneration areas, offering high rental returns and long-term capital growth.

Some of the main reasons why property can be such a sound investment:

1. Steady returns, safe property markets offer reliable capital growth and regular yield
2. Investing in property is often less impacted by global economic events and maintain asset value
3. It can generate ongoing passive income and can be a good long-term investment
4. Property can provide better returns than the stock market without as much volatility

The basics, things you should know:

• Due Diligence – Make sure you do your homework, take reasonable steps to ensure you’ve done everything you can to reduce your risk before entering into a legal agreement or contract with another party.
• Reservation Fee – A nominal fee to reserve the property, normally this fee will hold the property until your lawyer has reviewed contracts.
• Deposit – Deposit follows the reservation fee, once you have conducted all your legal work, you would normally pay the deposit/down payment.
• Payment Plans – staged payments throughout construction, sometimes these payments are linked with construction milestones.
• Lease – A contract by which the owner lets their property to a tenant for a period of time in return for a regular payment.
• Stamp Duty – You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. Each country will differ and have their own version of stamp duty
• CGT or Capital Gains Tax – Capital gains tax is a levy assessed on the positive difference between the sale price of the asset and its original purchase price.
• Loan to Value (LTV) – is an often-used ratio in mortgage lending to determine the amount necessary to put in a down-payment and whether a lender will extend credit to a borrower. Most lenders offer mortgage and home-equity applicants the lowest possible interest rate when the loan-to-value ratio is at or below 80%.
• Off Plan – Off-plan property is a property before a structure has been constructed upon it. Pre-construction is usually beneficial as the purchaser can secure more favourable terms in which to buy. But off plan does come with risks.
• Rental Yield – Rental yield is the return a property investor is likely to achieve on a property through rent. It is a percentage figure, calculated by taking the yearly rental income of a property and dividing it by the total amount that has been invested in that property.
• Equity – Home equity is the market value of a homeowner’s unencumbered interest in their real property, that is, the difference between the home’s fair market value and the outstanding balance of all liens on the property.
• Mortgage – A mortgage is a loan in which property or real estate is used as collateral. The borrower enters into an agreement with the lender (usually a bank) wherein the borrower receives cash upfront then makes payments over a set time span until he pays back the lender in full
• Completion – Completion of the build of your new property
• Long Stop Date – A contractual term, this is the deadline date for the property to complete. If this does not occur on or before this date, there are penalties and you can even request all your monies back.