Top 10 Tips for remaining productive while working from home

When we first started working from home full time, we thought it would be great.   A 30 second commute to the office meant no more fighting through the rush hour.  We could listen to our favourite music while working, stay in our dressing gowns all day, and generally enjoy home comforts.  Not to mention the joys of not having a boss breathing down our necks or having to ask permission to go to the toilet (yes, really!!).

And then, a little thing called "reality" kicked in. It's not easy to stay productive and effective when you're working at home, especially if you are easily distracted. The techniques which served you well in the office environment don't seem quite so useful when you're working from your home office, or your sofa and things feel all together more "casual".

Here is our guide on how to remain productive when working from home:

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1. Not having a reason for doing this. Over my five years of speaking at property events and presenting at workshops and seminars, I have come across hundreds of people, who, when asked why they want to get involved in property say "I wanna be rich". That, in my opinion, is not a clear enough reason. There must be some specific goal that you want to aim for, an outcome, a purpose that will drive you to achieve success. "Being rich" is too flaky, too undefined, too wide a goal to aim for. Think carefully about why you want to get involved in property - to fund your child's education, to prop up a pension, to allow you to follow your dream, whatever that may be. Without a clearly defined goal, your efforts will be unfocussed and you will not be committed to moving forwards step by step.

2. Thinking one size fits all. Property investment is highly personal to you, your financial situation, your attitude to risk, how much time you have to devote to it, how much support you have from your family etc. The type of properties that suit my investment strategy to reach my goals, may not be right for you. You must acquire properties that are suited to your personal strategy and will take you one step closer to the goal that you have clearly defined in your own mind. This is why property clubs, passive investment programmes etc are flawed from the outset, because property is never one size fits all.

3. Not doing enough due diligence or research. Before investing in any property purchase, you MUST do full due diligence and research. We come from the school of find the demand, then create the supply. Unfortunately, most novice investors create the supply, and then wonder where the demand is coming from. In other words, it's no good buying a property, no matter how good the deal might appear, if no one wants to rent it! You must fully research an area in terms of rental demand, amount of stock on the market, etc. Understand who your prospective tenant is and then find properties that will meet their criteria.

4. Taking someone else's word for it. It is your money, so satisfy yourself of the veracity of any deal you are considering or the integrity of the company you are thinking of doing business with. Do not take anyone's word for anything. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH EVERY TIME, WITHOUT FAIL.
Never pay large fees upfront for anything. You should only pay for results achieved, not promises.

5. Focussing too much on the deal. Time and time again, I see novice investors focussing on the deal. They are intent on getting it no money down, with a rental guarantee etc. The focus should be on pre-acquisition (due diligence) and post-acquisition (ownership and management). You may be in a business relationship with a property for 25 years. The acquisition stage is a blink of an eye in that context. There's no point in acquiring a property, even NMD, if no one wants to rent it!

6. Becoming a seminar junkie and addicted to guru's. Whilst Nick and I are all for education, there are many people out there who "follow" the wrong people, and end up paying for more and more seminars because they haven't registered that the information they have already been given has not enabled them to produce any results. They then pay to go on another seminar with the same guru, to get the missing piece of the puzzle, but that is never revealed. These people become trapped into paying more and more for information, while they should be going out and putting the original information into action to see if they can achieve any results. There are many sharks in property who make a lot of money from telling others how to make money. Be sure to follow someone who talks the talk and walks the walk. Too many novice investors do not realise when they are being "sold to".  In fact, they often pay for the privilege!  Do not fall for marketing hype, spin, and promises of get rich quick. If you adopt that attitude of wanting something for no effort, you will fail, EVERY time.

7. Lack of massive and sustained action. To be successful in any walk of life, you must be committed, and engage in massive and sustained action every day. Many people make excuses to themselves why they will do this next week, next month, after Christmas, etc. The net result of that is that there is no result.

8. Not treating your property portfolio as a business. Cash flow is the life blood of any business, and property is no different. If you do not focus on cash flow and manage it appropriately, your business will fail. Property is no different. Too many people focus on the acquisition, with no thought of the cash flow prospects etc. A property portfolio based on capital growth/equity release is a VERY HIGH RISK strategy, and one to be avoided by novice investors or those of limited financial means.

9. Lack of education and networking and lack of commitment to learning. When working in isloation, it is easy to make mistakes and lose direction and momentum. There is so much free information available on the web, that there is no excuse for not learning something new every day. Forums such as this allow you to expand your contacts and knowledge and learn from others who are more experienced than you.

10. Thinking that property is a race or a competition. It's not. It's about you taking responsibility for your financial future and doing what is right for YOU and on one else. Take your time to build your team, research deals that work for you, and triple check your research. Never be pressurised into anything in property. There is ALWAYS time to take a step back and reflect on what you are about to do to make certain that it is right for you.

1. Arrogance/not sharing information: Thinking you know it all. The day that happens is the day you will fail! When getting involved in property, you should acknowledge that you are committing to life-long learning. As Nick and I like to say, you can never learn less and you can never know it all! Be generous with sharing your knowledge with others. A measure of a person is what he will do for someone who can do absolutely nothing for him! It's costs nothing to light someone else's candle from your flame of knowledge.

2. Treating tenants like a rent payment instead of a person: Tenants are our "clients". By paying their rent on time, and treating our properties with respect, they are allowing us to have a business and create wealth over the long term. As a landlord, you are a "service provider", and to be successful you must provide a high standard of service and accommodation. Tenants increasingly have a choice and they know it, so treat them with respect. You will only be a successful LL if your properties are fully occupied with happy tenants. Sounds obvious, but too many amateur LL just focus on rent payments, not the fact that they have to provide a service to the person paying the rent.

3. Not keeping up to date with government legislation. As a LL, you are bound to comply with certain legislation to ensure the health and safety of your tenants. These include Gas Sure certificates, EPC's, HMO licencing (where appropriate), operational smoke alarms, correct insurances, etc. By not keeping up to date with these, you are not only putting your tenant at risk, you are putting your business at risk.

4. Ostrich syndrome. Not changing with the times. Business is changing at a faster pace than ever before in history. We are in the era now of the linked economy. This has huge implications on your property business. To bury your head in the sand, and not recognise these changes, and try and change with them, may lead to the demise of your property business. Networking events and forums like this are great places to keep your knowledge up to speed and help you move with the times.

5. Not having systems in place to manage your business. LL's should have systems in place to keep track of each individual property in terms of mortgage product, cash flow, keeping tax records, etc. Failure to do this, will lead to problems down the line.

6. Absolving all responsibility to a third party. Whether it be to pay for a portfolio building service, hand over your properties to a letting agent, or pay for property deals, you MUST take responsibility overall for your decisions. Third parties generally do not care about your business or your money as much as you do. If you cannot be bothered to take responsibility, then don't expect others to. There is no such thing as an "armchair investor". It's your business, so take care of it, or face the consequences. "Get rich quick" mentality is one of the deadiest sins in property!

7. Not taking consistent and massive action. The only way to be successful in any business, is to take consistent and massive action. Many people pay to go on seminars and courses, and then never put the knowledge into practice. Other people start out with the intentions to build a portfolio or property business, and then give up at the first hurdle. The only way to success is by setting big, fat, hairy goals, keeping them in sight, and taking steps towards them every day.

Any more deadly sins to add?  Have YOUR say!  Join the debate here on the Property Tribes forum.

1. Lenders have such little appetite to lend that they are cherry-picking who they lend to: According to my personal reseach only one in 20 mortgage applications where the person applying has the 25% deposit are going through to completion. What does that mean for the NMD borrower?

2. Credit rating: Credit reports are now scrutinised more than ever before by lenders. Any missed payments and they will think twice about giving you a mortgage offer.

3. Source of deposit: Most lenders now ask for the source and proof of deposit. They are suspicious of where this is coming from and now check in more detail.

3. Demise of the deal packager: Many NMD deals used to be pushed through by packagers who oversaw the whole process and used a "friendly" valuer who they could "influence". There are no deal packagers left as far as I am aware.

4. Brokers no longer allowed to choose which valuer goes out: Brokers used to be able to select a valuer from a "panel" of approved valuers. This meant they could work with a "friendly" valuer. This practice has now largely stoppped and many lenders are using an in-house valuer who cannot be "influenced".

5. Property Valuation: RICS valuers have been briefed how to spot signs that someone is trying to get a false valuation. If in doubt, they will down-value. By law, they have to value the property at the purchase price, or market value, whichever is the lower. By lying to the valuer about the price, or not disclosing the net price or how the deal is being structured, you are committing mortgage fraud!

6. Rental Valuation: Rents are dropping, making it harder to get a deal to stack. A down-valuation on the rent will stop any deal in its tracks.

7. Contesting a down valuation: Until recently, you used to be able to contest a down valuation by supplying comparables. These are now no longer accepted. The decision of the valuer generally stands.

8. Solicitors and lenders require full disclosure to all parties: If there is any evidence of non-disclosure, or the lender gets wind of anything fishy, they will withdraw the mortgage offer. This happened to one person I know the day before completion, and that person has been left on a bridging loan of £2K per month. It is extremely risky to buy anything on a bridging loan for the above reason.

9. Seasoning of title: Lenders now require you to have proof of ownership of the property for a minimum of six months before remortgaging or re-financing. This means bridging loans are no longer a vehicle for purchasing NMD.

10. Education: The internet has now provided education and transparency to allow people to understand the truth about NMD deals. This can only be a positive thing for the property industry as NMD was simply not sustainable and was largely a factor in causing the first credit crunch.

Conclusion: No matter how positive a mental attitude, how many courses you go on, how many NMD mentoring programmes you join, how many times you pay for a valuation, if you don't have the 25% deposit, it is very unlikely that you will be able to buy a property. Sorry for the cold hard truth. Yes, sometimes life it tough and it hurts, but better find out now than waste your money and time on something that is defunct.

Do other tribe members agree that there is a definitive decrease in activity on the NMD deal front. Is the message that there are no legitimate ways of doing NMD deals finally sinking in? Are the reports of more and more people being jailed for mortgage fraud putting people off talking openly about how they are doing it? With the transparency of the web, only the most foolish person would post on a forum advertising their NMD scheme!

We also know that the CML and the FSA are using forsensic accountants to see which brokers are doing a lot of business in these challenging times, and doing audits on people buying a lot of property to establish the legitimacy of the money trail and where the deposits are coming from.

Are the purveyors of NMD schemes changing their business model or have they just gone underground? Will they all start talking about lease options as the "new NMD"?

I personally believe that the legitimate NMD deal was dead and buried in April 2008, when Mortgage Express withdrew their bridge/same day remortgage product. Is this finally having an impact on the NMD industry?

 Join the on-going discussion at www.propertytribes.ning.com.