Buy-to-let franchisee benefits from expert guidance

Gertie Owen has become an award winning landlord with the help of Platinum Property Partners

Platinum Property Partners (PPP) is an established, highly respected and successful property investment franchise. With a tried and tested model, PPP provides the specialist expertise and support to help you purchase, adapt and let your own profitable residential property portfolio.

Gertie Owen joined PPP in August 2010 after 20 years of looking after her children and being, in her own words: “A lady of leisure”. Various changes in her life cemented her decision to join PPP; as her children had grown into young adults Gertie found herself with increasing amounts of free time and with this came a lust for a new challenge. Around the same time, her husband was made redundant, so there was a potential need for an additional income stream to consider.

Asset base
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PPP appealed to Gertie as it offered a proven system to begin investing in property, providing cash flow as well as a growing asset base. She had no previous buy-to-let experience, but it offered her the ability to achieve the income she wanted with the challenge she craved. All this, plus support on hand whenever she needed it from PPP and its growing network of partners.

Since joining PPP Gertie has bought, refurbished and fully tenanted five houses in multiple occupation properties and has met her personal target. This wouldn’t have been possible without the expert guidance and support PPP offered her.

In fact, Gertie has gone from having no experience of buy-to-let or HMO property development to becoming the 2013 HMO Landlord of the Year, awarded by Landlord & Buy-to-Let Magazine. Gertie is in good company - the award’s previous winner held the title for three years, has been a landlord for over 30 years and is a director of the Residential Landlords Association.

Speaking of her triumph, Gertie said: “The awards evening was really special, it was wonderful. I had lots of landlords telling me I inspired them to do more for their tenants after hearing what I do for mine and I’ve been a landlord for less than three years.

“It was a dream come true to win and I was delighted to have my hard work and caring attitude towards my tenants acknowledged. I feel being part of PPP has made me the landlord I am. It taught me so well to be the best and I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Expectations
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Gertie believes what sets her apart from other landlords is the way she cares for her tenants: “I show it in all the things I do, from decorating all my houses at Christmas so it feels like home for them to giving each tenant a Christmas present and also hampers to share. I take note of all their birthdays to make sure I give them cards and give them all eggs and cards for Easter. When doing viewings I always pick them up from the railway station and do my best to match the personalities in my houses, so they become good friends.”

The new challenge Gertie craved has led to her being heralded as the best HMO landlord in the UK. However, the financial benefit has been beyond her expectations.

“When I joined PPP my five-year goal was to be earning £100,000 per annum, but after just three years I am already earning approximately £126,000 per annum, so I feel a great sense of achievement,” she explains.