Thanks to everybody who messaged me to ask when I’ll be updating you on my progress, it’s nice to know people are listening in blog land!

I am still very keen on the land finding opportunity and I can really see the potential.

I have currently seen 2 plots in my local area which I think would be good sites.

I’ve had my eye on this first one for ages. It’s a car park to a local pub, the second car park on the left never seems to be used. It seems to be an ideal plot.  You can see the pub on the bottom right of the picture.

The only thing that concerns me is the trees. I would need to find out if they have tree preservation orders on them.  I’m also going to post this on the land finding forum as we have planning experts on there to answer our questions. I’ve done all the calculations and measurements (using the land finder course to help) and it looks like I could get 6 mews houses on there. This would be in keeping with the houses across the road, so would be good for a planning application. With 6 mews houses on the plot in this area this would give a GDV of approx £840,000.  My desired profit for this one would be £60,000 which would be possible with the GDV figure.

The other plot I’ve seen is funnily enough by another local pub – not that I frequent local pubs that often (honestly!).  I’ve not researched this one at all yet, but there seems to be a lot of empty space on the bottom left side of the picture.  I’ll be researching this one shortly.

The thing I like about the land finding course is that you can dip into when you have the time, so it gives a great deal of flexibility.

I know quite a few of you have bought the course also, let me know how you’re getting on with it too.  It would be great to compare notes!  If anybody has any questions about land finding please add a comment or email me at julie@justdoproperty.co.uk I’ll be happy to help.

Lyndon even gives information about dealing with the land owners and provides letters to send to them and responses to any questions that they may ask.  It really does cover you for any eventuality and makes you seem like a professional developer or land finder.  Even if you are just getting started you can seem like a seasoned professional.

I went over the course as I want to progress with one of the pieces of land that I have found in my local area.  I’ve done all my desktop research, following Lyndon’s course.  I now need to build relationships with my local commercial agents and surveyors.

I visited the site today and the only concerning thing is that it has a line of trees in front of the land. So I’m not sure if they’ve got tree preservation orders on them, so I’ll need to check that out.

The Land Finding Masterclass has given me the confidence to move forward with my research to see whether it’s a viable project or not.

The great thing is you may not need to buy the course as a lot of information is contained in Lyndon’s free report.  It’s easy to download, just click on the image below.  Why not do yourself a favour and download it, it could be a life changing decision for you!

I was really looking forward to attending and giving myself some motivation to move forward with the land finding.

It was great to meet Lyndon and all his Brothers – there are a lot of them in the family business!  Funnily enough I was expecting mostly men to be attending the land finder day but it was 50/50 men and women.  I don’t know why I had that view but I was obviously wrong.  There were only 10 of us on the day, so it was the perfect number of people for an interactive day.

The Workshop was focused on sourcing and evaluating potential development sites. It was a very informal day, Lyndon started off by showing us some sites on the UDP map and on google earth.  It was useful to see how he spots land.  He then split us into two groups and asked us to spot land sites in 2 different areas.  The groups spotted at least 20 from just 15 minutes of looking on a small area.  This shows you how much opportunity there is. 

 After a great lunch we had a Q&A session which was fantastic. We were able to quiz Lyndon about vital aspects of land finding.  We started discussing Tesco and spotting opportunities for them.  This could be a very lucrative business as they give a £15,000 finder’s fee!

 We then went on a field trip in a mini bus that Lyndon had hired for the day.  We drove around Bolton and Lyndon showed us sites that he is working on now.  Also we spotted some of the sites that we had seen on the UDP.  Some of these could be potential deals!  I think Lyndon will be knocking on their doors very soon.

 The next stage for me is to learn more about landowner negotiation, option agreements, obtaining planning permission etc.  So it’s the next stages after spotting the land that I need to research.  I’ll be completing the last modules on the Masterclass to learn about this.  

You can also get a good feel for land finding by downloading Lyndon’s free report. It’s excellent value and I still can’t believe he gives this away!  You can click on the book below to download.

 Lyndon looked at a few sites that I had spotted in my local area and gave his opinion on them. This was extremely useful and I know which ones to move forward with now! 

If he runs another day I’d definitely recommend it, just to be able to consult with Lyndon! 

If you’re already land finding please comment and let me know how you are getting on.

In my last blog I was talking about some derelict buildings and land that somebody had spotted for me.  It turned out to be not a good one as there was an order on it, making it impossible to knock down the building.  Somebody would have to redevelop the existing building, which is not the business that I am in, so it fell out of my criteria.

Onwards and upwards! I have 3 sites which have been sitting on my desk for weeks that I need to do some desktop research on.  I only have limited time as my daughters are only in nursery for 2 days a week.  But the good thing is I have found the sites and they’re not going anywhere at the moment.

I have now booked on a Land Finding Day with Lyndon Forshaw at the end of July.  10 of us will be going up to Bolton, Lyndon’s home town. We’ll be doing some practical land finding.  I can’t wait, I’m very excited to be actually learning from the expert and seeing how he does it! Hopefully this will spur me into action and put more priority on the land finding!

I’ll update the blog once I’ve been on the day to let you know how I get on.

Are any of you interested in land finding?  Please get in touch or comment on the blog if you are.

The piece of land is an old derelict farmhouse, it’s gone to rack and ruin over the last couple of years apparently. It’s such a shame as it must have been an amazing building at some point.  I’ve been doing my desk research on the land, as I’ve been taught in Lyndon’s course.  I’ve found the right council’s website to search for the UPD.  This is not as simple as it sounds. After many phone calls to the planning departments I eventually found the UPD this morning.

The building is not in a built up area so it’s been a difficult one to locate.  However I have now successfully located it on the UPD map, and it looks like it is in a residential area.  I’m just waiting for a phone call to double check and clarify this with the council though.  As I don’t want to do any more work if it’s unlikely to get planning permission.

It’s very exciting to be doing the investigations into this possible deal, as the research is enjoyable (if you like that sort of thing) and it could lead to a large profit!

I’ve not got much time to put into my land finding at the moment as I’ve got 2 young children as well as running our website and investing in property. But I’m finding that it is something that I can do whilst I’m out and about anyway.  I’m always on the look-out for land.  I’ve just had a meeting with my business coach and she came up with a good idea.  I’m now asking other people to look for land for me, and once the deal has completed I’ll pay them a finder’s fee.

The course is still to be completed, but I have it scheduled to finish in a month’s time.  Lyndon has also released a bonus module, which contains a detailed case study.  There’s a lot of value in the course itself, but you also get the fortnightly teleconferences, which are invaluable.  The forum is great too, because we can get advice directly from the experts.  It really gives you a hand to hold when you are first starting out.

If you are at all interested in land finding, then I would highly recommend that you download the FREE report that Lyndon put together.

Land Finder Free Report

I also spotted a site in Stockport where I live. It’s been for sale for ages and had had planning permission refused for a retail site, as it’s a residential area.   It’s an old garage and petrol station, so I enquired about the price so I could look at the figures. The great thing was that I knew what to do, after being part way through Lyndon Forshaw’s Land Finding course.  I was able to do the analysis to see if the deal stacked up.

Unfortunately the deal didn’t stack.  It was for sale at almost £500K and I’d worked out that the potential GDV was only £1.08m, so I don’t really know how they are going to sell it at that price, unless somebody wanted it for the same use.

I’m only half way through the course but it’s been invaluable so far. I’ve got lots more sites to investigate too and I’m sure one of them will stack up.

It’s very strange in blog-land, you wonder if anybody is actually reading what you are writing. It’s a lonely place, so please feel free to leave comments on the blog – as long as they’re nice of course!!

Read Lyndon’s free Land Finding report:

Land Finder Free Report

Module 2 shows you how to estimate the land value of the plot you have found though desktop research.  It also gives step by step information on how to identify a potential site.  This is before you have even got into your car to do a site visit.

There was an excellent negotiating tip in module 3, which is useful fact about Capital Gains Tax and garden plots.  I will certainly be using the tip in my negotiations. These are the nuggets that you pick up from courses like these.

I am out an about a lot and am always spotting plots of land.  Even my 80 year old Aunty is spotting land plots when she’s out and about on the bus!  I’m not quite sure what to do with these possible plots of land just yet. But I feel my knowledge is growing as I go through the course.  I’ve found about 10 spots of land so far, which I know is a drop in the ocean really.

The course is great because you can do it at your own place, which I like. It’s perfect for busy people. There’s no pressure to complete the modules in a certain time, but there’s help and support if you need it.  The forum is a great place to share ideas and to ask questions and the fortnightly teleconference is also very useful.

The free report is a great start:

Land Finder Free Report

However I’m a bit behind with the tasks as my printed UDP hasn’t arrived yet.  I rang the council this morning and they apologised for the delay, so should be with me soon.  As I said last week I can’t see the online UDP as they have removed it.

The thing that I like about the course is that Lyndon uses his practical knowledge to show you what is possible. In module 2 he shows us a practical example, where there is a possible profit of anything between £75,000 and £250,000 depending on the development that is proposed and how much you can option the land for.

I have learnt a lot so far, you should start off looking for land in an urban area – particularly brownfield land.  I also understand how to find a potential site using the UDP, Google Earth and Bing Maps.  Module 2 covers desktop appraisals, where you can assess whether a site is worth proceeding with before you even get in your car. 

It’s Friday and my UDP map has just arrived, wow it’s big and there’s two of them!  I can now go through the tasks in modules 1 and 2, to actually find some land sites.  It’s quite daunting but I’m going to just jump in and see how I get on.

Click on the link below for Lyndon’s excellent 60+ page free Land Finding report.

Land Finder Free Report

I must admit the map on screen is really difficult to look at, and at the moment it’s a bit scary as I don’t really know what I’m doing!! However I’m working my way through module 1 now. 

There are accompanying videos with module 1.  Just beware as I’ve had to watch them in windows media player and not quick time that it recommended.  It took me a while as I had to call in the help of my husband, Alec, who’s a technical whiz!  But that’s all sorted and I can watch the videos now.  I’m sure it’ll be easy for most people to watch the videos.

I went on to watch the Google Earth video and Lyndon was pointing out all the possible development sites in his area, which is West Houghton in Bolton.  There’s only 25,000 people live there, but so many land buying opportunities!  It’s very exciting to see all the possibilities in such a small area.

I called in to Lyndon’s fortnightly teleconference, where you can ask him whatever questions you like about Land Finding. I must admit this course is amazing value when you get support like that.

Out and about today with my 2 young children and I spotted a couple of sites that could be possibilities.  It’s exciting as I’ve not even completed module 1 and I only have a small amount of knowledge but it opens your mind to know a bit more about what you’re looking for.

I think I’m hooked!

Click on the link below for Lyndon’s excellent 60+ page free Land Finding report.

Land Finder Free Report