The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. In this very special episode, become a voyeur as Kevin delivers a live mentoring call to Gurang, a standard landlord who owns buy-to-let properties. Gurang’s long-term plan is to move into the world of Serviced Accommodation, and is satisfied with the advice he’s received so far. But he wants to understand certain SA management aspects and strategies better. Listen in as Kevin shares with Gurang the secrets that have made him so successful. KEY TAKEAWAYS SA Management Kevin advises that it’s way more beneficial to learn how to run serviced accommodation yourself on a few properties, before taking the leap into SA management on a grander scale. What’s the best strategy for finding Rent-To-SA properties? Gurang favours the idea of enquiring through letting agents to find properties that might be suitable, but Kevin explains how this can sometimes lead to unnecessary barriers to entry. Cultivating relationships with letting agents is valuable, but can take time. It’s sometimes best to go directly to landlords. Initially, it’s wise to build a stable of properties before speaking to letting agents, so that a leap of faith on their part is not such a requirement. They can see that you’re already up and running. Letting agents are far more attracted to established credibility. Gurang favours this approach because of the ready-made pool of properties, as well as the fact that letting agents will have already determined the reliability of a landlord. But sometimes the perception of these things is not in keeping with reality. Landlords, who are often trying to avoid using letting agents, are the most likely people to have tenant issues due to not carrying out the necessary checks, and having no middleman to resolve disputes. If these landlords can be approached privately by those seeking Rent-To-SA properties, and providing guarantees, it can lead to a much better deal on both sides. Capital Investment to start? This can range from zero to anything. Sometimes it’s possible to earn even before you’ve started, as per an example from Kevin’s own history. If the property needs very little in terms of investment, then it can be practically zero. The flip side can be that the property may need rental payments, a deposit, tenant referencing, furnishing or refurbishment. The takeaway here is that every deal is different. Are there any clear advantages to accumulating a few Serviced Accommodation properties before you turn to managing others? The benefits of this approach are incalculable,. By setting up and running a few, you’ll have the necessary infrastructure ready to take on others if you’re approached to manage SA properties. The profits might not be as much in management only, but you’ll simply be plugging these properties into your own systems. You should, by the time you begin to manage others, have cleaners ready to work, laundry services in place, and accounting systems that facilitate your business. Juggling full-time employment? Gurang has a young family, and is very interested in the kind of time commitment required to kick off his venture. In Kevin’s opinion, people can become “busy fools” if they don’t prepare properly, or learn how to leverage. Having the right support network is essential. One strategy is to acquire the property and pass it on to a management company straight away. The profits are smaller, but the workload is far less. It’s always about successfully outsourcing, growing and scaling in a way you can manage, and this is only possible by leveraging other people. Another strategy would be source the entire deal on to someone else who wants to run serviced accommodations. This can be attractive as you don’t have to be operating in that area of the country yourself. These deals can be done nationwide. This is why Kevin also suggests making sure that you are fully trained in due diligence. You’ll find deal packaging a whole lot easier in terms of selling, but also in buying. You’ll be able to read the contents of a packaged deal yourself. What are the ideal qualities required in order to become successful? Kevin identifies tenacity, enthusiasm, persistence, drive and determination as the key qualities required, no matter what the strategy. Leaving your comfort zone is not an option. It’s a necessity. BEST MOMENTS ‘People can become “busy fools” if they don’t prepare properly’ ‘Quitters never win and winners never quit’ ‘If you want a different life badly enough, then you’ll do everything necessary’ ‘Focus on what you want out of life. Use a vision board. Make sure you are focussing on it always’ ‘You can make money or you can make excuses. But you can’t make both’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-serviced-accommodation-property-podcast/id1436005279?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speakin

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. ‘This quite wonderful thing called capital allowances’ In this episode Arthur Kemp, Specialist Capital Allowance Surveyor presents a detailed explanation of capital allowances, how they work for investors and the qualifying activities. It is estimated that 96% of all property transactions haven’t maximised their capital allowances so if you are investing in Serviced Accommodation, Holiday Lets or other qualifying activities it's vital that you listen to this podcast it will change everything! KEY TAKEAWAYS What are capital allowances? When you invest in your properties, in your business you can claim capital allowances on the assets you buy. Typically, these things are called plant and machinery and it is all of the second fix items in property, all of the things that make it work and are not part of the structure. If you are making profits, rather than paying tax on those profits you can use the allowances to reduce your taxable profits to not pay any tax. Capital allowances also have an intrinsic cash value which helps you to increase the return on your investment. You can claim the value of this plant and machinery as a tax deduction before you pay any tax. Often people buy a property and claim the capital allowances resulting in a tax loss that can be rolled forward against future years profit. Capital allowances can be used against any other taxable income you have. If you are still in employment then the capital allowances you get from your property investments because they are owned by you can be used to offset the income you get from your job. You could potentially get back all of the PAYE tax that you pay throughout the year. This is utilising sideways loss relief against other forms of income. When can you claim capital allowances? When you buy a property, you buy all the plant and machinery ‘the second fix items’ as part of the purchase. It’s the valuation of those second fix items that you can claim as part of the purchase price. If you already own property capital allowances can be claimed retrospectively. Under our current tax system, you can go back and make adjustments in previous years. This means if you are entitled to capital allowances you can make the adjustment and resubmit. If you are developing a property for SA you may not spend a huge amount on the purchase of the building e.g. an office block but will spend more on developing the property into SA. You will be putting more plant and machinery into the property and this is what you can claim on. Which properties qualify? If you buy a commercial property it qualifies., but you cannot claim capital allowances on dwelling houses. A mixed-use property qualifies but if the flat unit is someone’s private dwelling that part does not qualify. Holiday lets and serviced accommodation qualify for capital allowances. You can only claim capital allowances once in a properties lifetime. If you buy a house and convert it into flats it will not have qualified as a dwelling but will qualify as flats. If you buy properties from groups that are exempt from tax such as local authorities and charities then you will be able to claim all of the capital allowances yourself. You can claim capital allowances on any property that you buy around the world but you must declare tax in the UK to be able to make a claim. 150% of what you invest can be claimed against Land remediation The bulk of capital allowances are plant and machinery but there is also land remediation relief – the single biggest tax relief the government offer. It's designed to encourage people to clear up contaminated land or buildings. Any money spent cleaning up problems such as Japanese knotweed and asbestos qualify for 150% tax deduction. Enhanced capital allowances These are in place to incentivise people to help reduce the worlds carbon footprint. Investing in energy efficient plant and machinery will qualify for enhanced capital allowances in large scale projects. If you’re purchasing a residential property do you have to put in planning before claiming capital allowances? It’s irrelevant from a capital allowances point of view. It’s the way it’s been traded in a qualified activity. How can we make the most of tax relief on SA? The property company will invoice the operating company a cost for rental, if this is equal to the profits of the operating company then the profits are effectively shifted into the holding company where you can utilise capital allowances to offset the profits. What are the rules if you change back from a SA to residential? This would cause a disposal event and you will not be able to claim any further capital allowances. If I am developing holiday lets and residential on the same title do I need to segregate them to be able to make a claim? The title status has no bearing on capital allowances it's abou

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Before you start developing any serviced accommodations, it’s best that you have a projection of costs you’ll be spending on. You don’t want to be taken aback with what will hit you in the face if you see the sums of what you need to pay. So, in this episode of the Serviced Accommodation Podcast, Kevin helps you build your checklist of things you should be putting on the planning table especially when you’re doing your budgets. He also gives tips on how to approach your accountant, your insurance broker, and your assigned ‘meet and greet’ person. Everything you need to be buying and acquiring for your serviced accommodation property should be on his list too so make sure to tune in to not miss anything! KEY TAKEAWAYS Ask your accountant how much it will cost you to run your serviced accommodation property. You don’t need to have an accountant based on your town. You can just outsource your accountant and let him do his work remotely. Get a quote on insurance – e.g. professional indemnity insurance, public liability insurance, etc. Furniture and soft-furnishing: You could be buying the furniture yourself. Or, if you’re doing a buy-to-let conversion and were provided with furniture, check if they’re of a good standard and then consider if you’re going to keep them. Go to property forums and ask around who’s the most trusted supplier of furniture for serviced accommodation properties. Cleaning and laundry: Start with maintaining the cleanliness of the SA twice a week depending on the bookings. Decide if you want someone to hire someone for the ‘meet and greet’ with your tenants or guests. Your meet and greet person can also show how the appliances and other things work in the SA. Research on what broadband and other subscription plans are you going to get. Factor in the taxes and business rates that you’ll be paying when you start and develop your SA. BEST MOMENTS “Explain to your broker exactly what your business is going to look like and they will help you and advise you accordingly.” “The really really important thing about meet and greet is that your meet and greet person can show the guest how to do stuff.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast #016: Sourcing Cleaners For Your Serviced Accommodations | iTunes | Omny | Stitcher ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. House-keeping or cleaning is one of the most valued perks of why people choose serviced accommodations. So, if you’re aiming to be highly-rated on this aspect, then this episode is for you. Today on the Serviced Accommodation Podcast, Kevin, your host, reads an excerpt on sourcing cleaner for your SA units from his soon-to-be-released book. Your cleaners are your allies, your business comrades, and the people who hold the fort whenever, so it’s okay to be nitty-gritty when you’re choosing one. Kevin shares great talking points you can adopt when interviewing prospects. Aside from sourcing cleaners, we also talk about how to choose your linens, furniture, cushions and how to manage the laundry. Make sure to watch out for the book to learn more. KEY TAKEAWAYS Cleaning your serviced accommodation units should be one of the top priorities. Source your cleaners that you’re willing to work with and can stay for months or a few years. Get to know the cleaners you’ll be hiring and choose someone who can grow with you. Trust your instincts when you’re deciding. If you’re having doubts before they even get started, then don’t push through so you won’t have any regrets in the future. When you’re interviewing your future cleaners, make sure to get their quotes and make sure you lay out what you expect from them. This is a business relationship also that you’re getting into, so it’s vital also that both sides are acquainted of their expectations. Ask if they’re VAT-registered. Ask if how many hours will they charge you for the cleaning. Establish what you want them to do when they clean your units. You can ask your cleaners to: Check the guest key if it’s where it should be. Check the heating, primarily if they are controlled from the inside of the unit. Check for the inventory and damaged or missing items. Take and send pictures of the unit before the cleaning is done. Make sure everything is working (e.g. lights, appliances, telephone, etc.) Replenish spare stocks. Linens and Laundry for your serviced accommodation units. Use white hotel-standard linens. Add colour by cushions and throws. Secure 3 sets of beddings per bed. BEST MOMENTS “There’s plenty of money to be made with serviced accommodations and the cleaning of them should definitely be paid for out of the turnover. You shouldn’t be doing it yourself.” “There will undoubtedly be some initial problems that you need to work through with your cleaners, but as soon as you have entered in a business relationship with good people from the outset, they should not require too much effort.” ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent majority of this year in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. In this episode, Kevin answers a range of questions from a Mentee who is moving from Buy to Let into Serviced Accommodation. Kevin shares his extensive expertise and knowledge, so listen in and find the answers anyone moving into Serviced Accommodation needs. KEY TAKEAWAYS Do you need to inform the lender if you want to change how a property is used? When there is a mortgage on a property you have to seek the permission of the lender if you are going to change how it is used. Most agents currently don’t understand what S.A. is, so how you ask for permission is key; making the request in a different way (e.g. can I change the usage of the property to furnished holiday lets?) can help agents understand and achieve a positive response. A lenders primary concern is that the mortgage payments are being made. If you change a property usage from HMO or Buy to Let to SA the insurance product will need to be changed to ensure appropriate cover is in place. What Capital allowances can be claimed? Relief is awarded when your property has qualified as a furnished holiday let this involves the property being available for 210 days. A good capital allowance surveyor would typically be able to get between 30% and 35% of total expenditure as a capital allowance. Will the property change usage category? Most people operating SA are doing it with properties in the C3 residential category The class will be C1 if the property usage is closer to a guest house with varied people arriving at different times and significantly more parking and rubbish. BEST MOMENTS ‘There are always grey areas’ ‘The appeal for people to use SA is because it’s a self-contained property’ ‘Where there are a number of SA units in a town there still won’t be enough’ ‘SA operators are going to become very attractive’ ‘if you are assessed for business rates you may qualify for business rates relief’ ‘In any town or city, there is always a demand for good quality accommodation.’ ‘If there are hotels in the city centre then it is an indicator that there is a demand for accommodation’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-serviced-accommodation-property-podcast/id1436005279?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of his Army career, Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years. CONTACT METHOD https://en-gb.facebook.com/propertysoldier/ [email protected]

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. In this episode we have an amazing opportunity to gain an insight of the mentoring process in action. Kevin takes us through a mentoring session addressing how to start in SA as someone completely new. He uses his own knowledge and experience to provide a clear pathway into SA when renting from letting agents. An unmissable episode which demonstrates clearly the value of a skilled mentor. KEY TAKEAWAYS Renting from letting agents Acquiring properties from letting agents is about properties that are good to go, you can be in a position to move clients in very quickly. Traditional investment model Buy a property involving deposit conveyancing, completing the refurbishment process then re financing to buy to let or an HMO. Lots of time and money involved in the traditional model. Renting from a letting agent bypasses all that so you could be showing in new guests the same day you get the keys. New to SA? As someone new to SA it’s important to undertake steps to establish credibility and social proof. Research – talk to hospitals, universities large companies in your area, speak to the person who deals with booking accommodation for visiting guests, employees, clients. If you can get someone definitely interested you’ve got social proof that there is demand. Make a website in advance of getting first units showing the type of rooms you are providing. Try to hook up with other SA providers in the area Air bnb easiest way to connect – if you’ve got client interest, they could take business until you have units. How to open the door with letting agents? Will the landlord do a company let? Initial question should always be will the landlord do a company let? – the letting agent will understand this and ask what are you going to use the property for. Use your social proof when talking to the letting agent to help establish credibility and local knowledge Who will be at the property? Letting agents will often think that they need this information as part of the right to rent checks. SA sits outside of the Housing Act and is a company let so there is no requirement a short-term tenancy agreement (which is for a minimum of 6 months) The company let agreement? It is best to use the letting agents, company let agreement, but it will require some amendments, the most common being it’s not for your employees but your clients. Sourcing clients? Always be honest about sourcing corporate clients through booking.com and Airbnb name drop clients who have already used these sites – its social proof most companies are interested in cutting costs through the use of SA and use booking.com and Air bnb to facilitate this. VALUABLE RESOURCES https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-serviced-accommodation-property-podcast/id1436005279?mt=2 BEST MOMENTS ‘Get trained in SA and then you’ve got knowledge to use advice effectively’ ‘Discovery days could be free – message Kevin’ ‘Say to them before they raise it with you’ ‘When speaking to letting agents name drop companies who you’ve spoken to’ ‘If it was that easy everyone would be doing it’ ‘Use your instinct depending on who you are speaking to’ ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of his Army career, Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years. CONTACT METHOD Facebook – Property soldier Email – [email protected]

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. This episode is a fantastic presentation by Ray McLennan about how to raise finance. He provides an invaluable insight into the way lending is organised and most importantly how you can find the funding for your project. This podcast is a must for anyone in who is a serviced accommodation entrepreneur. KEY TAKE AWAYS The most common complaints from developers: 1 Getting funding 2 Finding a surveyor who understands 3 Refinancing If you can’t get it funded and its under-valued, then it’s a vicious circle and a lenders default position will be no if they don’t understand it. Key to obtaining finance is: Find valuers that understand Knowing what’s important to a lender or a JD partner is crucial Knowing what you want to do The element of work required in serviced accommodation is repelling people But anything worth having is hard work. Like anything there’s an easier way and a hard way. The hard way Banks, brokers who don’t know serviced accommodation valuers who don’t understand serviced accommodation The easy way Get a valuation Talk to a broker who knows serviced accommodation Have an exit Raising money for finance ebbs and flows, Lenders go to wholesale market looking for a particular percentage you can put an application in, but they might not have cash at that point. There are individuals and organisations who want to lend you the money and Angel Finance will facilitate that for you in the best way possible There are people out there who want to lend you money you just have to be able to find them Funding stack – when you haven’t got any money, different interest rates for different parts of the funding will be applicable as you will be dealing with different lenders. You can get out there and look for your own JD partners People with pensions could seek its transfer value and its possible to get together with others to raise finance in this way. BEST MOMENTS “They want to lend you the money and for you to do the work and they’ll charge you for the privilege” “The life of a serviced accommodation person is like that of an entrepreneur “ “Exit – may have to finance to get up and running, then re-finance if you have that in advance, it is so much easier to get first part” “We (Angel Finance) think we can help to raise alternative funding” VALUABLE RESOURCES How to raise Money Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-to-raise-money-podcast/id1370319813?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent a majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome back to another episode of Serviced Accommodation with your host Kevin Poneskis. In this week’s episode, Kevin talks through the different options for guest access and guest reviews. Kevin talks through everything from why meet and greet can be a really effective way for guest access to how to respond effectively to bad reviews? Key Takeaways Logistics: How do your guests gain access to the property? With all these options below make sure you are giving your guests clear directions, and instructions for each option. Leave the keys with Key Nest a company which can facilitate the key collection process with partner garages or corner shops. More prestigious apartment blocks might have a concierge who you can come to an agreement with around giving the guests your keys, or introducing them to your property. Key lock or key safe which is a box outside of the property with a combination lock. You can issue the guests the appropriate code for the lock and they are able to let themselves into the property An electronic coded locking system is a more expensive option but can be more secure. You're able to issue the guests a code to gain access to the property. The code is then changed automatically when the guests check out of the property. This can be a more secure option rather than having to change the code manually with a key lock. Why meet and greet could be really effective for you? Meet and greet is where someone physically meets your guests at the property. There is no right or wrong way for guest access but this can be a really effective way of gaining access for your guests. Kevin outlined that for his properties he pays a meet and greet person £15 so there is that cost to this but many advantages as well. One of the key elements for creating an effective meet and greet process is creating clear instructions and checklists for the person to go through. It is also essential at this point to have a clear check-in time, usually before 9am, and then charging for a late check-in. Make sure you source the meet and greet staff from the local area so they live close to the property. Advantages of the Meet and Greet method. The person can check if everything is ok with the property. Cleaners can sometimes make a mistake and this can be an extra backstop. Make sure the property is clean. It’s a process for discovering any problems before your guests arrive. Checking simple things like where the remote control is. That the heating is on the right setting. Is there any maintenance that needs to be done? To ensure that the guests have left the keys where you wanted them to be. They can show your guests how to use things like the central heating, the cooker, anything that could be potentially difficult to use. An important aspect is to ask your guests why they are in town? This then offers a chance to understand your guests visit and book any future business. You can offer a discount voucher for there next visit, booking directly through your website to avoid the OTA charge. How To Deal With Bad Reviews. Guests are a lot less likely to leave bad reviews when they meet someone in person. Make sure you respond to all of your reviews both good and bad. Make sure you don’t sound aggressive and defensive in your response as this can put off future potential customers. A response to a bad review should repeat any positives the customer mentions, acknowledge any concerns and thank the guest for the feedback. Kevin reads through some good and bad example responses. Best Moments ‘Good reviews make you money, bad reviews lose you money.’ ‘Meet and greet gives you a more personal service.’ ‘Make sure you ask your guests to leave a review.’ ‘Make sure you respond to all your reviews good or bad.’ ‘Your meet and greet person can check any cleaning or maintenance before the guests arrive.’ ‘You’re not going to be able to please everyone, all of the time.’ Valuable Resources Key Nest: https://keynest.com ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of my Army career, Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years. CONTACT METHOD Facebook – Property soldier Email – [email protected]

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome back to The Serviced Accommodation Podcast. In this special episode, Kevin interviews Co-founder of Progressive Property, best-selling author and property investing expert, Mark Homer. Kevin and Mark discuss the advantages of serviced accommodation and why it’s one of the most popular property strategies right now! Plus hear their take on Brexit and personal development. KEY TAKEAWAYS What changes to serviced accommodation (SA) regulations will we see in the future? There have been several recent changes to regulations of the HMO and SA property sector and there is likely to be more. After new innovations occur, we can expect a time lag in the introduction of associated regulations, but by five years’ time, there will be effective implementation of these new regulations. It’s therefore worth ensuring that you are in line with these regulations like fire safety, and room sizes. How will Brexit affect trends with serviced accommodation? No one knows exactly what is going to happen with Brexit but the uncertainty has already affected the market. When there is certainty again, ideally when Britain leaves in March, things should look more positive and there might be a sudden rush to invest. Brexit is important for the property sector, but it’s more important to the manufacturing and direct trading industries. Saturation of the serviced accommodation market? Someone, somewhere, always thinks that the market has become saturated. There might be quieter times in the summer but if your unit is better than the competition then the market takes care of itself. Even simple things like a lick of paint or lowering the rent can be effective methods to fill units in a quieter season. How do I scale up my property business? Focusing on one geographic area can have real positives for growth. With that kind of focus, you’re able to get to know your local agents and landlords better, and your staff don’t have to travel as far between properties. This is much more effective than a more scattergun approach, leaving you to knowing a lot less than your competition. How best to work with high net individuals. Often these individuals don’t want to and don’t have the local knowledge to run these businesses operationally. Doing stage work, improving your online presence, attending networking and auctions can be really effective ways of increasing your profile. Once you’ve done these kind of things over a couple of years high-net-worth individuals tend to find you. Next best thing? VR (Virtual reality) is probably the next growth area especially helping consumers choose which unit to rent. In addition, Blockchain has some interesting applications to automating arduous processes, such as making the land registry process to make it quicker and easier. Personal Development. Both informal and formal mentoring can be incredibly effective personal development tools. Finding your peer group, other people doing similar things to you, can be a great way to share ideas and learn from each other. BEST MOMENTS ‘Brexit is important but maybe more important for manufacturing or people directly trading’ ‘You can save a lot more time and make a lot more money when you focus on one area’ ‘What does your SA look like? How good is it? Whats its location? Matters more than Brexit.’ ‘Take out all those non-incoming generation parts of your day.’ ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of my Army career, Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years. CONTACT METHOD Facebook – Property soldier Email – [email protected] ABOUT THE GUEST Mark Homer is an entrepreneur investor. He has worked with investment since he was 15 years old using the laws of wealth! He is a spreadsheet analyst with an impressive following from major publications including BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, as well as co-authoring the UK’s best selling property books. Mark has always looked for the best investment vehicle, and at the end of 2007 with Rob Moore the co-founder of Progressive Property his joint portfolio produced more profit than any of the other investments he’d tried in the last ten years, combined. Facebook – Property soldier CONTACT METHOD Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome back to The Serviced Accommodation Podcast. Today, Kevin shares with you a Live recording of independent rating surveyor, Mike Powell’s presentation on how rates affect and impact on Serviced Accommodation. Hear the expert knowledge on rateable values and how you can achieve the highest rates of relief when starting, growing and scaling your Serviced Accommodation business. Mike uses examples to help explain the pros, cons and intricacies of the VOA (Valuation Office Agency), local councils and how you can calculate your liability when running your business. Stay tuned until the end to hear the Q&A session with questions from Serviced Accommodation investors from around the UK. KEY TAKEAWAYS The VOA (Valuation Office Agency) is an agency of HMRC and they are responsible for setting council tax and business rates. They’ve got a statutory duty to maintain a fair rating list. Business rates produce £26m per annum for the treasury. You have a rateable value for any given property, no matter what the type of property. But this is not what you pay. You pay according to the uniform business rate (UBR) which is set every year and is linked to inflation and for small businesses, this year it’s 48p in the pound. For larger businesses, it’s £49.3 in the pound. Serviced Accommodation is a commercial use and therefore should be officially business rated and the rating is down to how a property is being used. For example, your property being used commercially as a serviced accommodation unit. Some local authorities are trawling through sites like booking.com and Airbnb and looking to see how properties are being used and reporting them to the VOA. The VOA is set up in regions and they all value differently, however, most will consider it self-contained accommodation. Putting a price on each individual bed space, so if you have a two bedroomed, doubled bed apartment, that’s classed as four-bed space and if it’s £1000 per bed space that has a rating value of £4000. To calculate your business rates bill, you have your rateable value and you times that by the uniform business rate, so £48p in the pound for small businesses. BEST MOMENTS “I’ve seen the price of single bed space range from £360 to £6000 in some areas of London, so there’s massive variation.” “The rating list is revalued every five years with the next one scheduled for 2020.” “I don’t think that the VOA is valuing Serviced Accommodation units correctly.” ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of my Army career, Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years. CONTACT METHOD Facebook – Property soldier Email – [email protected] ABOUT THE GUEST Mike Powell has property in his blood having been surrounded by property advice since birth with his parents in estate agency, commercial property advice and particularly business rating as he grew up. He is a self-confessed petrol head with a growing interest in modern and future Classics. Mike started his career as a commercial property agent in south Yorkshire selling and letting local and regional retail, industrial and office buildings and brokering investment and development deals. When the market crashed in 2008 Mike got involved in the business rating side of the business and found his niche and has worked on thousands of properties and rating assessments nationally since. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Mike Powell on: Facebook – Michael Powell Email – [email protected]

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. In today’s episode of The Serviced Accommodation Podcast, Kevin covers Section 24, the anti-landlord tax. Kevin goes on to share real-life examples of how Section 24 can affect you, your property portfolio and your mortgage interest rate relief. Landlords have effectively had the rug pulled from beneath them and will no longer be able to offset their mortgage interest payment against their rental income, before calculating the tax due. But here’s the good news, Section 24 does not affect Serviced Accommodation and there’s still time to convert your buy-to-lets into Serviced Accommodation units and continue to offset your finance against your income. Tune in today to hear how. Look out for another episode of the Serviced Accommodation Podcast where Kevin will be discussing capital allowances and how it affects property investors. Find your host Kevin on Facebook ‘Property Soldier’ to suggest content for future episodes of The Service Accommodation Podcast. The mortgage interest rate relief reduction. The amount of mortgage interest an HMO or buy-to-let landlord an investor is able to offset against their rent is being reduced. KEY TAKEAWAYS Section 24 removes landlords' ability to deduct the cost of their mortgage interest from their rental income when they calculate a profit on which to pay tax. The National Landlords Associations has predicted that thousands of landlords will become higher taxpayers as a result of section 24, which is a scary scenario. A lot of buy-to-let landlords won’t know this is coming and will only discover this when they submit their tax returns. As a solution landlords can incorporate as a company, however, this can incur costs such as capital gains tax and likely be even more costly than the additional tax. Section 24 will affect a multitude of things such as child tax credits and student loans as it will push leveraged landlords into even higher tax brackets affecting their income status. It could be considered that professional landlords owning property in a company won’t be affected. However, most professional investors will also own property in their own name and will be affected. The advice has always been to buy property in your own name as it previously was the most tax-efficient approach. BEST MOMENTS “There’s no perfect solution to avoiding Section 24.” “Some landlords are selling up their portfolio or simply increase their rents to absorb the additional costs.” “The percentage of landlords affected will increase year on year and we will see an increasing impact of Section 24.” “Section 24 is being phased in over four years. It started in 2016 and will be fully implemented by 2021” VALUABLE RESOURCES Mortgage Interest Relief Reduction Calculator Buy-to-let calculator (DailyTelegraph) ABOUT THE HOST Your host Kevin Poneskis enjoys public speaking, travelling, exercising and keeping fit. He also enjoys working with a charity called STOLL which provides accommodation and training for homeless veterans. Kevin was in the British Army serving 24 years, mostly in a Commando unit and retired at the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major. He left the Army in 2011 and became a full-time property investor. During most of his Army career Kevin was investing in property and has been a property investor now for over 27 years. CONTACT METHOD Facebook – Property soldier Email – [email protected]

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to another episode of The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast! In today’s episode, Kevin talks to Michael Primrose, a Commercial Finance Broker and Director/Founder of TPEFinance. This is perfect for newbies out there who wants to get funding, raise finances to get their first serviced accommodation up and running in no time. Michael discusses the key things lenders are keen about, the bridge to let products, the development finances, choosing SA managing agents, how to get rent to SA funding and many more. So, make sure to click that play button and put those ear pods on to learn from the finance expert! KEY TAKEAWAYS From standard buy to let to crowd-funding rent to rent. Michael does everything related to property. Objection for lenders No experience of managing or owning SA. Get the best SA business that you can and outsource. Get it systemized to increase your profits. Lenders look at that. Bad reviews stop the lenders to lend you what you need. Bridge to let products It’s a long-term bridging lane. 6-7% annum. What you pay per month is only 4-5%. For first-time landlords. There is no exit fee. They’re not paying hefty amounts. Arrangement fee is 2-2.5%. A great product and it fits a niche. Development finance People doing refurbs, conversions and even building SAs. Normally, for a £400,000, your deposit will be £100,000. If you use development finance which covers 80-90% of your total cost (purchase and refurb), that £100,000 could cover a potential million end value. Leveraging serviced accommodation managing agents who you can partner with. Partner with someone who is more experienced than you. If you’ve got no experience in SA and given it to someone who’s reputable, lenders can take a lot them, track record, and reviews. Rent to SA funding Equity crowd-funding. Set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). Sell shares in that SPV. There are a lot of crowd-funding platforms you could use online. BEST MOMENTS “What comes down to when they’re looking at the property is the fact that you can’t uplift the value of that property because it’s a flat, house or whatever. It’s the business that’s worth the money.” “If they look for conversion or new builds, there’s actually more profit to make.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Progressive Property TPEFinance ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent the majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. ABOUT THE GUEST Michael Primrose is the Director and Founder of TPEFinance. Its purpose is to help developers and investors raise finance for their projects. Their experts help you from the very start through the end of the project and promise the biggest profit from a very little amount that you’ve put in the deal. CONTACT METHOD Michael Primrose Michael’s Facebook Michael’s contact number: 07951802602 Email Michael at [email protected] Kevin Poneskis Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to another episode of The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast! In today’s episode, Kevin focuses on the first of the acquisition strategies that he’ll discuss on this podcast to start earning through a serviced accommodation – Rent to SA. Learn how to rent to serviced accommodation by a letting agent or a landlord. What’s more beneficial for you? How do you get the most out of this investment strategy? What required process do you have to do? All of these questions and more will be answered in this episode so listen in! KEY TAKEAWAYS Different Acquisition Strategies Rent to SA by a letting agent, landlord, or management. Instead of renting a property from somebody and using at SA, you could just manage somebody else’s property as serviced accommodation. Buy-to-let conversion. Purchasing property to do serviced accommodation. Understand the due diligence process for SA in assessing demands. Lease purchase options. You fix the purchase price but you have a timeframe in which to exercise when to buy the property. Commercial Conversion. Tuning offices or factories to apartments. Straight lease a property to use as SA. Rent to serviced accommodation by a letting agent. Long-term income for less work. A professional business relationship with you and your company – that’s what the letting agent will get instead of dealing with tenants. Great incentive for letting agents. No nuisance. Benefits for the owner. On-time payments, assets are high standards, at least weekly inspections Benefits to you. Quick cash flow. “You wanna be taking the property on a company let on a letting agent. You’re not gonna take it on an AST.” AST is not the correct document for SA. Company agreement is the most suitable. Visit letting agents know what works for you. Tell them that you’re going to market the property. Be visible on Airbnb and Booking.com. “The letting agents need to know that the liability for the rent does not sit with your clients. The liability for the rent sits with your company.” Any damage sits with the company. Shoe them your insurance. Invite letting agent see your serviced accommodation properties. Letting agents may want to credit check the company. You explain that you’re just setting up the business in the area. Rent to serviced accommodation via a landlord. Where to find them? You can find them on online portals where they could advertise. You could also find them on social media. If set up correctly, they can earn capital allowances. BEST MOMENTS “We’ve had properties that we take in from letting agents. We know what we have to – just dress the bed.” “If you do due diligence correctly, then you know that there is demand before you actually pay a deposit and first month’s rent.” “They pay, you organize.” VALUABLE RESOURCES com Airbnb ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent the majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to another episode of Service to Accommodation Podcast! So, in today’s episode, Kevin discusses the acquisition strategy of managing others’ properties as serviced accommodation. Discover what types of management you can choose from before deciding on an SA. Also learn about the purchase funding, lease options, commercial conversions among others. If you’re done listening to this episode, you can also check out the previous episode for the first strategy Kevin discussed: Rent to SA! KEY TAKEAWAYS Fees are a percentage of revenue. All the bookings that are coming in for the property, you will charge the owner a fee. For full management, 15-20% to manage the property. Also, maintenance, laundry, cleaning fee is deducted from the revenue. All costs are paid by owner. The owner could get less money than they would if they do let property as buy-to-let. Full Management. Taking bookings, payments, and guests. Advertising. Prepping the properties. Maintenance. Scheduling. Cloud-based management/ bookings-only management. You’re just using your system to manage other’s properties. Taking bookings and payments. Advertising. If you own buy-to-let’s already, you can convert them to serviced accommodation. Do due diligence first. Consider strategy. do you send notice to your current tenants? You can buy property to do serviced accommodation. Refurbish and refinance. Ongoing maintenance. What’s the exit strategy? Though Kevin firmly believes that serviced accommodation is not going anywhere, if it does not work, you could opt to sell. Purchase funding. You can use commercial finance. It is the preferred way of funding. There’s also bridging finance though it’s much more expensive. You can use that until you get enough credibility. Or you can use your own money. For different pension funds, you need to seek IFA advice. You can get SSAS or SIPP. Lease purchase options. Take control of a property and get a solicitor to draw a lease purchase option for you. Commercial conversions. You can purchase a commercial building to convert to SA. If already converted and used for buy to let, the developer cannot claim their capital allowances. If retained, hundreds of thousands of capital allowances can be claimed. Straight lease. Contact commercial surveyor and ask a short lease so it will be cheaper. BEST MOMENTS “Focus on the ones that do work.” “Serviced accommodation is the best income-generating strategy today for somebody’s portfolio.” VALUABLE RESOURCES com Airbnb ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent the majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to the first ever episode of the Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast, a podcast for people who wants to explore serviced accommodation property investing and who wants to learn how to make a profitable and sustainable business! Every week, we will be joined by our host, the Property Soldier himself, Kevin Poneskis. So, in today’s episode, we won’t beat around the bush and get to the point head-on. Kevin answers questions like: What is a serviced accommodation? Why people choose this nowadays? Why should you jump on this trend? And so much more. He even gave a sneak peak on what gems you could get about SAs on the next episodes of the podcast. So, time to listen, meet Kevin and start your journey to SA investing! KEY TAKEAWAYS What is serviced accommodation (SA)? ASAP and Booking.com would define it as a furnished apartment but an SA can be a house, a boat, treehouse, etc. What’s important is it isn’t anyone’s principal prime residence. It’s where people stay that comes with services when they choose to live somewhere else. People have been staying in serviced accommodations for decades because it’s cheaper. Leisure travellers prefer instead of staying in hotels if the opportunity arises. Companies set a reasonable budget for the accommodations and expenses of their tradesmen, consultants, service people, etc. Why is serviced accommodation property a trend you shouldn’t miss out on? E-commerce Mobile Lifestyle High-speed Internet and the World Wide Web Globally-recognized booking portals SA is currently on trend. Statistics to prove this: "According to Booking.com surveyed their own customers, 33% of their customers prefer to stay in a holiday home or apartment rather than a hotel. So, that's serviced accommodation." Airbnb which was founded in 2008 has earned 3.5 Billion USD in revenue, doubling year on year at the moment. com which was founded in 1996 is doing 1.5 Million room night reservations per day. com’s home section – not the hotel section – is growing double digit year on year. Fundamentals on SAs that you’ll learn on the next episodes of the podcast so make sure to watch out for them in the next weeks! Identifying your SA goldmine area, due diligence, choosing the right property for your area, acquiring property with none of your own money Controlling rather than owning properties, understanding the tax implications (VAT, section 24, cap allowances, business rates,) Setting your business up with your strategy in mind with the right company structure to maximize profits Understanding how to operate SA units, day-to-day running of your business. Mastering customer service and guest satisfaction And many more! A little background about Kevin Poneskis, your host. He is the Lead Trainer on Serviced Accommodation of Progressive Property. 24 years in the army, mostly in the commando unit. He reached the rank of regimental sergeant major. Whilst in the army, he was already looking at property investing. Invested in properties since 1991. He got help from his dad since his dad was into investing also. He enjoys helping Stoll, a charity that helps homeless veterans. BEST MOMENTS "Yes, now is the time to be in serviced accommodation because it's the case at the moment of don't miss the boat." "I believe that the traditional education system is lacking in this area [serviced accommodation education]. Many people would agree on that, I'm sure." "It's extremely stressful having a property portfolio without knowing how to do it right." VALUABLE RESOURCES Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) com Airbnb Progressive Property STOLL ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent the majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to another episode of The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast! If you’re still deciding whether your humble abode should be turned into something that holiday-makers could use for short or long lets, then make sure to tune in. Let Kevin help you decide! In today’s episode, he discusses how to determine the appropriate use class of your SA, when to apply for ‘material change of use’, how to source more than 90-day bookings, and so much more! KEY TAKEAWAYS C3 is the appropriate use class for serviced accommodations; unless you’re letting out SA by the room with a shared facility, then that would be C1. The 90-day rule in London with Service Accommodation. This is also known as the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973. Because of the London Olympics, it was decided that there wasn’t enough accommodation. People were ignoring the 90-day rule. Then, the Deregulation Act of 2015 came to play which states that short stays up to 90 days are not subject to planning. Material changes of use. Notify the council if you’re going to do this. Are you significantly changing the parking since you turned the property into an SA? Patterns of arrival and departure. What time do your customers arrive? Numbers of People. Don’t overcrowd. The frequency of party-type activity. You can be taking deposits or limit stays. Reuse and recycling. Make sure your cleaners know what to do with the rubbish. BEST MOMENTS “You can have short stays of up to 90 days in London without the requirement to change the planning.” “Longer stays mean more money, less cleaning, less laundry, etc." “Get around the 90-day [rule]. How do you get around the 90-day rule? You don’ t need to go around the 90-day rule.” VALUABLE RESOURCES Airbnb ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent the majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to another episode of The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast! Today’s going to be interesting for a lot of people who do not realize that they could access their pension and put it into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and invest it in a property. Learn from Andrew John Ferguson, Managing Director of Penstar Developments Ltd., how accessing pension helped him accelerate his business and how is it different from what bridging loan companies offer. If it’s your first time to hear about this, then better tune in! KEY TAKEAWAYS Utilize your pension to invest in properties. The usual refurnishing and refurbishing route is a long one so Andrew wanted to speed that up by finding another way – looking into pensions. He saw it sitting there underused so why not take advantage of it. A small self-administered scheme (SSAS) was created under his limited company which was used for property purchases. You can also be creative of how you structure the deal. Agree on a certain percentage that will go back to pension pot to grow it. 50% loan to limited company – 2 residential properties 50% commercial property Find someone who’s experienced and has done it before. A financial advisor who knows about these stuff. He’ll put you in contact with a pension administration company. Navigating though HMRC is laborious so getting advice is critical. Accessing pension was a gamechanger with its impact financially. Andrew didn’t want to deal with bridging loan cost and extortion fees. If you compare of what his company was able to do with purchasing property and financing it themselves, it’s extraordinary. Andrew has spent 20 years of his life in the corporate life and doesn’t miss a single thing about it. It has been a fantastic journey. They get to do what they want to do. It gave them the freedom to build a legacy for the family through property portfolio. Building a circle with a 25-mile radius for serviced accommodation properties from where the company is situated. This is to utilize their team of cleaners, gardeners, and other contractors. They want to focus on the area near them. BEST MOMENTS “I thought I was gonna wait ‘til I was 55 before I could get my hands on it [pension]. But actually, discovering I could get to it now by a different route - by using it for SSAS - allowed us to bring those plans forward.” "The beauty of it is - the interest that we agree of the money we borrow from the pension fund is actually being paid back to ourselves. It's not being paid back to bridging loan companies." "We always expected that our career would come to a point that we don't wanna take it further and we saw property as being the next step." VALUABLE RESOURCES HM Revenue & Customs ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent the majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. ABOUT THE GUEST Andrew John Ferguson is the Managing Director of Penstar Developments Ltd., a company that focuses on buying and selling real estate. Penstar also has rental properties in their property portfolio which are located around the East Midland/East Anglia region. The are also looking into building their Service Accommodation business in South Africa. Before starting his own real estate company, he worked for corporate companies for more than 20 years. He worked as a BPO Global Capability Lead (F&A and Procurement) in Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd and as London Region Shared Service Centre Manager in Exel. CONTACT METHOD Andrew John Ferguson Andrew’s LinkedIn E-mail Andrew at [email protected] Kevin Poneskis Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn

Register your interest in Serviced Accommodation Discovery Day here, and a member of our team will get back to you to confirm your place at your preferred date. Welcome to another episode of The Serviced Accommodation Property Podcast! In today’s episode, Kevin lays out the key aspects that should be looked at when you’re choosing your serviced accommodation property. So, first things first, it’s important to be mindful of how’s the supply and demand in your area. What creates the demand will be the basis of what, where, and for whom is your serviced accommodation property – and that’s what this episode is all about. So, determine what you should be ticking on your checklists to make sure you’re hitting a goldmine when you listen to this episode! KEY TAKEAWAYS Know your location: Are there any building sites, industries, town centres, train stations, theme parks, universities, sports venues or airports near your area? Places that People who come work their need SA. Commute. Traffic of people. Longer stays are better. It saves energy, money, and time to do tasks (e.g. prepping, cleaning, etc.) Hotel futures report. it tells if there is enough demand for short-term stays in the area. Know your target customers: White collar workers? Blue collar workers? Holiday-makers? Tradesmen are less seasonal. They work all year round. What type of property of serviced accommodation? It could be normal houses and terrace houses, not just apartments. You can have high-end SA properties depending on the demand. Look at your competitors. Go to Booking.com, you’ll see where the SAs and hotels in your area. com is much better a booking agent. Try to model yours with SAs that scores higher than 8.5. Assess demand for SA through the Chamber of Commerce. It will tell you any big businesses and projects that are coming in your area. Understand your cost. Due diligence is all about getting to understand whether or not it's going to work before you spend all your money. Get quotes from accountants for insurance, furniture, cleaners, utilities, etc. BEST MOMENTS "We are noticing year on year a massive shift in behaviour... tradesmen are looking for serviced accommodation first now before they look into staying in hotels, guesthouses and B&B’s." "Remember: You only want to be modelling yourself on the listings that are getting good reviews." VALUABLE RESOURCES com Airbnb British Chamber of Commerce ABOUT THE HOST Kevin Poneskis, also known as the Property Soldier, has been a full-time property investor and mentor since 2011. This happened after he served the army for 24 years. He spent a majority of these years in the 29 Commando Regiment RA and finished his time in the army as a Regimental Sergeant Major. Even during his time in the army, Kevin was already building his property portfolio and educating himself everything about real estate investments. Right now, he is writing his book Property Soldier, in which 100% of the profit from the book will go to homeless veterans, and hosting The Serviced Accommodation Podcast which educates people who want to explore and earn from serviced accommodation property investing. CONTACT METHOD Kevin’s Facebook Kevin’s LinkedIn