Get The Free Checklist that Stops You Overpaying for a Property
Seven Checks to Run on any Property Before you Make an Offer
Print it, take it to every viewing, and tick it off as you go.
Why seven checks?
A property can look like a fantastic deal when viewed on online property portals or an estate agent’s listing, and still lose your money.
The headline yield doesn’t show you:
- The running costs,
- The empty months,
- The licence you didn’t know you needed, or
- What happens when your mortgage rate goes up.
Here’s an example from our Newcastle outlook. A flat bought for £130,000 and let for £1,000 a month shows a 9.23% gross yield. After:
- Running costs,
- Stamp duty,
- the deposit and
- Interest at 6.0%.
The return on the cash you put in is 6.93%. Put the rate up to 7.0% and it drops to 4.56%.
One flat. Two mortgage rates.
A worked example from our Newcastle outlook.
What your cash earns is the return on the money you put in (deposit, stamp duty and purchase costs) after running costs and mortgage interest, before tax. Every cost in the example is an assumption.
Nothing about the flat changed. The numbers did.
What's inside
Two printable A4 pages, with tick boxes for every step:
- Verify the price. What it’s really worth, from sold prices rather than asking prices.
- Test the rent. Whether a tenant will actually pay it.
- Count every cost. To buy it, and to run it every year.
- Check the rules. Tenure, EPC, planning and licensing.
- Stress-test the figures. A higher rate, a few empty months, a lower rent.
- Think about the exit. Who buys it from you later.
- Recheck the evidence. Whether it’s all still true on the day you offer.
You also get the questions to ask the agent, and a short “walk away if” list for the deals to drop.
Who It's For
- You’re buying your first investment property and want to know what to check.
- You’ve bought before and want one way to judge every deal the same way.
- You’re looking at several properties and need to compare them fairly.
Get your free checklist
Who we are
Coresworth Properties sources investment property for investors, against their own written criteria. We run every property we find through this same test, and you decide whether to go ahead.
Coresworth is paid fees by the investors it works with, including a sourcing fee on completion. This checklist is general information and is not investment, financial, tax or legal advice. Confirm legal, tax, mortgage, planning and licensing points with your solicitor, accountant, broker or the local council on your own facts before committing to a purchase.
Coresworth Limited, trading as Coresworth Properties, is registered in England and Wales (company number 15989333).