What Were His Biggest Lessons? (i.e. Mistakes after enough time has passed!)

During a phone call with Kevin Green, we asked him to review his key lessons en route to being one of UK’s largest residential landlords.  We started by asking him to tell us if he had gone bust or close, but, by staying true to his cash generation rules as he went along, he came through all of the challenges. However, here is a summary of the 4 most costly “lessons” he learned along the way; you may recognise a few or be warned!

1. Never trust a government regulation to continue
2. The danger of “expecting the best” when setting up a partnership
3. What happens when the banks shut down or refuse to lend
4. Environmental issues

These details are expanded below but, importantly, at our event of Nov 5^th, Kevin will be addressing how he overcame these obstacles which would otherwise have put him out of business.

Lesson #1: Never Trust a Government Regulation to Continue

A key element of Kevin’s strategy, and one which many other UK landlords applies was basing the rents for residential properties, in certain areas, on the local housing allowance benefit rates.  The challenge came in two parts, firstly, the government lowered the amounts it would pay and secondly, worse again, the payments were paid directly to the tenant rather than the landlord which added not only the work to collect.  The greatest impact here was that non-payment became a huge issue as tenants would use the rent on other expenses, leaving the landlord exposed to mortgage payments, running costs and a much reduced income.

We have seen many cases of this in Ireland in the past few years including the effective elimination of tax benefits from the various section relief property schemes (which were sold for the tax break), reducing the amount of bank interest allowed as an expense on tax calculations, introduction of NPPR, etc.

Lesson #2: The Danger of “Expecting the Best” When Setting Up a Partnership

“Si vis pacem, para bellum” is a Latin adage translated as “If you wish for peace, prepare for war”.

Kevin has learned, to his cost, that a loosely entered partnership, be it with a person or a corporate, can become the bane of your life and end up costing a fortune in the event of a dispute or differing views.  Partnership law needs to be understood with exit strategies and dispute resolutions clarified. Kevin will cover these in more detail and has template agreements which are useable in Ireland.

Lesson #3:  What Happens When the Banks Shut Down or Refuse to Lend

Oh, this one is easy… Kevin set up his own bank!  He is licensed, pays interest to savers and loans money to borrowers.  We are very interested in this one and Kevin will cover this in detail as well as mentioning the steps to doing this yourself.  Sounds too good to be true?  Check out what he has to say…

Lesson #4: Environmental Issues

Kevin, in his role as a developer, has been the proud owner of a protected species on more than one occasion! Green issues and Environmental matters, noble as they are, need to be factored into the costs before a project is committed to.  Indeed, Kevin has seen cases where a late discovery of an environmental matter has cost people an entire venture and bankrupting them.

These are just a taste of the topics which will be raised when Kevin visits Dublin on Saturday November 5^th for a full day focused on wealth and cash creation and, as the case may be, re-creation.

More information of Kevin’s upcoming event in Dublin is at http://www.horizonspeakers.com/kevin-green.html

Best Regards,
Ian Lawlor & Keelan Cunningham