82% of you said youāve been overcharged by a tradesman. This is why.
Most people have no reference point before a trade quotes them. So when the number comes in ā high, low, or fair ā they have no idea which one it is.
Iāve spent time putting together a free Trade Labour Day Rate Guide that fixes that permanently.
Every trade youāll need on a refurb ā plasterer, electrician, plumber, gas engineer, carpenter, roofer, tiler, decorator, structural engineer ā average day rates broken down by region, verified from Checkatrade, MyBuilder, and TradeCalculator.
Plus a full labour cost estimator for a 3-bed terrace refurb in the north of England and six tips on how to get better prices from every trade you hire.
If youāre a property investor ā use this before anyone quotes you.
If youāre a tradesman ā use this to know what you should be charging.
This guide isnāt public.
I only share my free resources with people who are serious about property investing ā which is why they live inside my private Telegram community, not on my page for everyone to see.
If youāre ready to be part of that:
Step 1 ā Go to https://t.co/fRr7TdCqwj to join
Step 2 ā Youāll receive an email with your private invite to the Telegram community.
Step 3 ā Your free guide is waiting for you inside along with every other resource I release.
This is where serious investors are. See you in there.
Know someone about to start a refurb? Share this with them. It could save them thousands.
Follow @jamesproperty_ for more.
p.s. Reminder how I can help you:
If you want me as your mentorš„
(https://t.co/mPAzLjRdMv)
If you want to finance your property š§”
(https://t.co/A1hkmqA8bB)
If you want weekly property tips š§
(https://t.co/4Q1oBdoRML)
#ukproperty #uklandlord #yorkshire
This car is a complete tax write-offā¦
ā¦And you should check with your accountant!
Itās the 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 Hard Top Commercial. X-Dynamic HSE. Santorini Black. 15,000 miles. One owner.
DVLA classify it as a van - no rear seats, no rear windows. For a VAT-registered business that means:
ā Reclaim the full VAT on purchase
ā 100% corporation tax relief on the net cost
ā Fuel, insurance, cleaning and repairs all deductible
Apply to buyš
https://t.co/9twi1gqpG9
Have a great week!
James x
#LandRover #Defender110 #DefenderHardTop #DefenderCommercial #yorkshire
Hereās exactly how much you need to buy an investment property - Step 2 of the JPU system š
I bought this property for Ā£74,500. Hereās every cost broken down:
25% deposit: £18,625
Stamp duty (5%): £3,725
Solicitors: £1,500
Mortgage broker fee: £500
Financing fees (4% of loan): £2,235
Survey (RICS Level 2): £600
Valuation: £250
Total: £27,435
And it can be lower. Financing fees are often added to the loan, which brings the true out of pocket cost down to £25,200.
If your strategy involves a refurb youāll need extra on top. But when I started I could only afford the purchase costs. So I bought the property first and did the refurb over time ā eventually selling it for Ā£130,000 and making a gross profit of Ā£55,500 at 23 years old.
You donāt need to have everything figured out from day one. You just need to start.
If youāve got the funds but gaps in your knowledge, comment āJPUā below and Iāll send you the link to join the James Property University waiting list. Weāve trained over 1,000 students to start their own property business in 2026.
š https://t.co/gsI61Xevrz
Step 3 coming next = should you invest in a Ltd company vs Personal name?
Follow @jamesproperty_ for more.
Have a great week + happy bank holiday! āļø
James x
#propertyinvesting #ukproperty #buytolet
Property investor explains how to invest £100k
Start your property business. Comment āJPUā to join the waitlist for the 27th June launch š
š https://t.co/MxHkzc70hi
Have a great weekend,
James x
Let me clear something up about social housing ā because the term puts a lot of investors off and it really shouldnāt.
Most people hear it and immediately think their property is going to get trashed, they wonāt get market rent, or theyāll end up with problem tenants.
Thatās a lack of understanding. Youāre giving your property for something useful.
And hereās what it actually looks like as an investment strategy.
No bills. No repairs. No maintenance. No void periods. And 3 to 5 year contracts with a registered housing provider who pays you whether the property is full or empty.
On the numbers, youāre looking at Ā£77 per person per week with no bills included. Factor the bills in and thatās roughly Ā£110 to Ā£115 per person per week ā not far off what youād get from a student or working professional let.
And with the Renters Rights Act now in force, even a few weeks of voids on a standard let can bring you below what a housing provider would guarantee you every single month.
The refurb costs less too. You still need to meet compliance ā fire regs, space standards, safety requirements ā but youāre not fitting en suites or luxury finishes. Less capital in means stronger ROCE.
And inside an Article 4 area, you can convert a property into a social housing HMO of up to 6 occupants without needing planning permission.
This is one of the strategies we teach inside the JPU ā and our waiting list is now open ahead of our launch on 27th June.
Whether youāre a complete beginner or youāve already got a property and want to do more with it, JPU will give you the knowledge, the deals, and the support to build a portfolio that works for you.
Join the waiting list using the link in my bio. We go live on 27th June at 10AM.
James
Follow @jamesproperty_ for more.
#socialhousing #propertyinvesting #ukproperty
Donāt worry, Iāll show you HOWš
Join the waiting list to invest in property and start making passive income with James Property University!
The launch date is 27th June š
https://t.co/MxHkzc70hi
Have a great week!
James x
If youāre buying a property in 2026 - watch this!
Join the waitlist to download my free viewings checklist to identify faults and negotiate a lower purchase price š
https://t.co/MxHkzc70hi
Join the waitlist to download my free viewings checklist to identify faults and negotiate a lower purchase price š
https://t.co/gsI61Xevrz
I bought this property for Ā£85,000 ā and it came with a list of problems as long as my arm!
Damp on the walls and around the chimney breast.
Bubbling plaster.
Radiators that need replacing.
A full rewire and new consumer unit.
Cosmetic cracks throughout.
A sloping floor with potential joist issues underneath.
A leaking shower.
Polystyrene ceiling tiles that are a fire hazard and need reboarding.
The boiler was the only thing in good condition.
But hereās the point. None of this put me off. Every single one of those problems is a reason to negotiate money off the purchase price ā and everything can be fixed.
Most buyers walk away from properties like this. Investors see opportunity.
Follow @jamesproperty_ for more property investing tips.
Have a great weekend,
James x
#propertyinvesting #ukproperty #buytolet #hmouk #propertyinvestor
Comment āRRAā for your free Landlord Survival Guide to the Renters Rights Act
Did you know?
The Renters Rights Act became law on 1st May 2026.
And thereās a list of questions Iām being asked:
āļø What about student HMOs?
āļø Do I need to issue a new tenancy agreements?
āļø Am I exempt from the RRA entirely?
Well, comment āRRAā and Iāll send you the free Landlord Survival Guide to the Renters Rights Act answering these FAQs
Or download it free via the link below š
https://t.co/uiYP02yiaC
James x
Buy the WORST house on the street. šļø
A rundown 2 bed in Hull for Ā£85,000 ā
converted the living room into a 3rd bedroom and rented all three rooms at £140 per week each.
Ā£21,840 a year from a property most buyers walked past.
High quality refurbs are more important than ever. This is exactly what weāre doing across Hull and East Yorkshire right now ā and weāre looking for more refurb teams to join us.
Join our refurb team.
If youāre a project manager, a trade, builder or have a refurb team, write to us. š
Apply on WhatsApp: +44 7353 764791
James x
#HMO #ukpropertyinvesting #jamesproperty
š£ Iām calling YOU out!
RICS Property Surveyors. I want to chat.
I had a property valued at £95,000.
Two weeks later, a different surveyor on the same property ā nothing changed, no work done ā valued it at Ā£135,000.
Thatās a Ā£40,000 difference on the exact same house.
Down valuations are one of the biggest deal-breakers in UK property investing right now, and Iām seeing it happen to investors constantly.
Surveyors use the RICS Red Book method, looking at sold comparables and bricks-and-mortar condition to determine value ā but when two qualified professionals can come to conclusions that are Ā£40,000 apart on the same property, investors deserve to understand exactly how these decisions are being made.
A valuation can make or break a deal.
It affects your refinance figure, your equity release, your BRR returns, and whether the numbers stack at all.
So Iām calling it out. And I want to go further.
If youāre a RICS chartered surveyor or valuer watching this, I want to invite you on to talk through your exact process.
How do you value a property?
What software or data do you use?
What makes a surveyor come in high or low?
Iāll plug your company too ā thereās something in it for you.
The investor community needs this conversation. Letās have it. It will be interesting to hear from you!
Drop a comment if youāve been hit with a down valuation. How bad was it?
James x
P.S. RICS surveyors, my DMs are open.
Hear me out!š
The UK house buying process is broken.
You find a property. You make an offer. It gets accepted.
Then nothing happens for 3 months.
Your solicitor is waiting on the sellerās solicitor.
The sellerās solicitor is waiting on searches.
Searches take 6 weeks.
Meanwhile your mortgage offer is ticking down.
Your broker is chasing. Youāre chasing.
Everyone is chasing nobody.
Iāve been through this enough times to know it doesnāt have to be this way.
The tech exists to fix this. The data exists to fix this.
Whatās missing is someone actually building it properly!
So hereās what Iām putting out there.
If youāre good with tech, AI, or compliance and youāve got the same frustration I have ā letās talk.
I want to build something that actually solves this. Not a half-assed app.
Something that genuinely speeds up transactions and removes the chaos for buyers and sellers.
A central platform to speed up the house buying process.
I want to build this and youāll have my backing to get it out there because Iām sick of the current process!
Iām ready to move fast on this. No pun intended.
Drop a comment or DM me if this is you.
James x
Squatters. Beware! ā
Squatters moved into a property the day it was purchased and now the owner is stuck!
They canāt kick them out themselves - this is against the law.
So what do they do?
The legal route is through the courts via an Interim Possession Order (IPO) - and you only have 28 days from finding out to use the fast-track route before the process gets significantly slower and more expensive.
But the part most people donāt know?
Squatters can legally apply to own your property. After 10 continuous years of occupation without the ownerās permission, a squatter can apply to HM Land Registry to become the registered owner under adverse possession law.
The UK government even publishes a guide explaining how to do it. šµāš«
Commercial property owners have even fewer rights because squatting on commercial premises isnāt automatically a criminal offence, which is why cases like the Gordon Ramsay restaurant squatter dispute dragged on for so long and cost thousands in legal fees.
If you own a property you havenāt checked on recently, or know someone who does, this is essential watching.
Share it with them!
Have you ever dealt with squatters?
Drop your experience in the comments.
James x
#squatters #squatterrights #ukpropertyinvesting #ukproperty #landlord #propertyinvestor
Donāt skip the BOILER! š„
Especially on social housing propertiesā¦
Most landlords think the housing provider covers everything. They donāt.
The boiler stays the landlordās responsibility in the majority of cases.
And in social housing, if thereās no hot water, youāve got 24 hours to fix it. Thatās not optional, itās in the contract.
If you donāt, youāll run the risk of the housing provider giving you the property back. So itās not worth the risk!
Thatās why most social housing providers wonāt accept boilers older than five years.
And honestly, itās a good rule because a brand new boiler means:
ā Full manufacturerās warranty
ā Guaranteed call-out service
ā Parts covered
So our rule at James Property is simple.
If it looks older than five years, we replace it.
It protects the tenants and it protects your guaranteed income.
The social housing strategy is becoming increasingly popular. And if you want to navigate this correctly and compliantly, check-out our end-to-end service at JamesProperty š
Go to: https://t.co/B9IFQudKdJ
And follow my page for landlords tips (@jamesproperty_)
James x
#SocialHousing #LetAndForget #PropertyInvesting #UKProperty #LandlordTips
Happy Thai New Year! š¹šš„³
Today is Songkran!! Thailandās New Year celebration - and itās unlike anything else on the planet!
The streets turn into one giant water fight
and everyone comes out to join in!
Thailand doesnāt earn the nickname āThe Land of Smilesā for nothing š
Happy New Year Thailand! š
James x
š„ Fire doors in HMOs - hereās what you ACTUALLY need to know.
If youāre converting a property into a 3+ bedroom HMO, youāll need 45mm fire-rated doors AND fire frames fitted with door closers. No shortcuts. Thatās the regs!
But hereās the bit most people missā¦
If youāre only doing a 2-bed BTL or social housing property, you DONāT need fire-rated doors or frames. We just recommend using a solid 35mm door.
Why does this matter?
Because ripping out door frames usually takes half the wall with them. That means extra plastering, extra bonding, extra cost.
Knowing the difference between whatās required for a 3-bed HMO vs a 2-bed social housing setup could save you thousands on your refurb.
Donāt over-spec. Donāt under-spec. Know your regs.
Invest with James Property here:
https://t.co/juXuO1J8ef
For bridging finance and mortgages:
JamesPropertyMortgages
Have a great weekend!
James x
š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ England was āfirst class!ā
What an amazing trip. Seeing family, JPU students, refurbs - it never stopped!
Even today Iām meeting my final partners before I get the on the plane tomorrow (unfortunately not first class this time)
Whatever it is youāre chasing, whether that be money or āsuccessā - always remember itās your family who will be there for you.
As one of my recent Instagram comments said:
āYou can always make more money, but you canāt make more timeā
And Iāve been away from my family too long so Iām BUZZING to head back to see them.
If you want my help starting in UK property, click the link in my bio and give this page a follow for more real property investing content.
Have a great day!
James x
This one simple conversion added Ā£36,036 to our investorās income over 3 years.
Hereās how:
We converted a 2-bed into a 3-bed social housing property.
That extra bedroom earns Ā£77 per person per week. Thatās Ā£4,004 per year.
Over a 3-year contract, thatās Ā£36,036 in rental income. Guaranteed.
No bills. No repairs. No voids. Just contracted, long-term rental income.
And the best part? Social housing under C3(b) use class means no HMO planning permission and no licensing required for up to 6 occupants.
This is what we do at James Property.
Education. Finance. Sourcing. Refurbs.
Management.
The full end-to-end service to help you build a property portfolio that actually works.
Ready to get started?
Head to https://t.co/fRr7TdCqwj find out more.
James x
The part nobody warns you about when youāre building somethingā¦
Iām sitting in CaffĆØ Nero. Just FaceTimed Roman, my 1 year old whoās halfway around the world.
And honestly? It made it harder.
Because you put the phone down and youāre still here. And heās still there. And you missed another minute.
Iāve been in England for 3 weeks. Three weeks isnāt long. But at one years old, three weeks is everything.
Every single day heās changing. A new expression. A new sound. Heās getting taller. His hair is growing. A new version of him I didnāt get to see in person.
Thatās the part nobody warns you about when youāre building something.
Itās not the hard work. Itās not the travel. Itās not the early mornings or the late nights.
Itās the FaceTimes.
Because FaceTime doesnāt fix it. It just reminds you what youāre missing. It makes it harder to be away.
Papa has to work. Hopefully he will understand. Thereās no way around it.
But I want to say something to any young parent reading this, especially if youāre chasing business, money, success, whatever you want to call it.
Look around you right now.
The friends, the deals, the relationships, they come and go. Money comes and goes. Business comes and goes.
But these years? You donāt get them back.
When weāre old, we wonāt be thinking about the best month we had in business. Weāll be thinking about the mornings we were there.
The bedtimes we didnāt miss. The stories we read them. The little things we showed up for.
Iād give anything to be sitting on that sofa with Roman, Kush and Cookie right now instead of writing this.
The world is a mess at the minute. You know it, I know it.
And when everything feels uncertain, the only thing that actually matters becomes very clear. Your inner circle. Your family. The people who will still be there when everything else falls away.
Business is a vehicle. Family is the destination.
Miss you Roman. Miss you Kush. Miss you Monster š¾
Back soon. š¤
Khalil lives in the south. But he just bought his first investment property in the north for Ā£108,000. š
Here is why that decision makes complete sense.
His total all-in costs: deposit, stamp duty, solicitors, mortgage broker, survey, and a light refurb - came to approximately £37,000.
In London, where Khalil lives, a two-bed house costs around £500,000. The stamp duty alone on that purchase would be £40,000.
More than his entire cost of buying in Hull.
The property is in a prime student location. At £140 per person per week across a 52-week contract that is £14,500 a year in gross rental income.
Divide that by the Ā£108,000 purchase price and Khalil has a gross yield of 13.5%. A much better return than if he were to invest where he lives, simply because the rental income isnāt comparable to the higher purchase prices.
If you are based in the south and your money feels like it is not stretching far enough, this is exactly what investing in the north looks like in practice.
Follow the page and click the links below to start š
JPU - James Property University
Learn the strategy, the structure, and how to analyse deals before you buy.
(https://t.co/PZODpug0Ft)
JPC - James Property Club
Sourced and packaged deals like this one with the numbers already worked out for you.
(https://t.co/Lq1Yw4yx64)
JPM - James Property Mortgages
Finance your purchase correctly from day one - buy to let, bridging, or limited company mortgages.
(https://t.co/g9n4bUuk9x)
James x