Steven Clark: there is a need to educate investors (pic: Terry Murden)
Steven Clark spoke to TERRY MURDEN about his experiences as a property investor and the courses he offers for those who want to get involved
Even before he left school, Steven Clark was sure he wanted to get on the property ladder. While most 15-year-olds are focused on getting through their education or the next computer game, young Clark had other ideas. His eye on the property sector went beyond owning his own home to becoming an investor, and as a means to build something that would secure his future into retirement.
Now, as he approaches 40, he’s not only set himself and his family up with a portfolio of properties, he’s learned a few lessons from his experiences and is advising other people on how to invest in a sector that has not been without its challenges thanks to inflation and legislation.
Covid, the soaring costs of building materials, new laws on rent controls, frustration with planning departments. Clark has been through a few hoops, but having caught the property bug early, he’s found a way to overcome every hurdle he has faced and says others should not be put off.
“There is a need for people to be educated about property investment,” he says, explaining how he took his first step into the sector at the age of 21 after initially signing up as an apprentice engineer in the oil and gas industry.
“I was chasing the money and I was offered overtime. That meant more money and it was a light bulb moment when I realised I could now afford to get on the property ladder,” he says.
A friend’s parents were renting properties while another was flipping them, buying old barns and converting them into million pound homes. Clark says he ran the numbers through his head, realised it “made sense as an investment strategy”, and he was emboldened to make his first move.
It was pre-2008 crash, and he was helped by a climate in which money was virtually being given away by lenders battling for a bigger slice of the mortgage market. With a 100% loan, he didn’t need to put down a deposit and within a year that first property had seen a significant rise in value.
However, he says “it was never a get-rich-quick-scheme and was always a long term investment plan” and he held on through the market fall that followed.
“I was still only 22 and all I heard was the doom and gloom and fearmongering that the property market would never be the same again, that property is a mug’s game.
“I probably listened to the news for six months licking my wounds and thinking that I thought I was going to be this property mogul, and now I’m not.”
It didn’t take long for him to see another opportunity among the market rubble.
“I spotted the re-possessions that were coming on to the market. Some were half the price and I started buying them to flip them.”
Steven Clark says recent legislation has backfired (pic: Terry Murden)
Even so, his property investment was little more than a “side hustle”. He was still working in the oil and gas business which provided him with his biggest source of income.
When his daughter was born he decided to give up working offshore and build on his modest portfolio of about 10 rental properties. He began investing in his own education in the sector, including personal development courses, and worked on a business plan.
There were soon other lessons to be learned. Changes in mortgage relief, the introduction of the additional dwelling tax which he blames for “stifling investment” and forcing buyers to demand lower prices from sellers who are taking the hit. Those who buy multiple properties are entitled to a lower tax rate, but he believes this loophole will be closed.
He shares the sector’s frustration with other changes imposed by the government, such as the rent cap and eviction ban.
“Those policies have changed the landscape dramatically over the last couple of years,” he says. “But it has backfired. I had tenants in properties for eight or nine years without having to put the rent up once in that period. I was happy with the tenants, they were happy with the properties. They paid on time.
“The minute the Green party interfered with the free market was when investors and landlords made sure rents were at market rate and this is what caused the huge inflation in rents in the last couple of years.”
Clark says it has not put him off investing as “I always spot an opportunity”. He says: “We have a housing crisis. We need quality accommodation so the private rental sector is only going to get stronger if the people in it are able to stick it out and take a long term view.”
He admits the changes in policy have Imade him more cautious and defensive against accusations made against landlords and investors.
“It has made me build the portfolio on firmer foundations rather than just buying any stock,” he says. Landlords who have been put off the sector have been offering their portfolios for sale and Clark has recently acquired 39 units in Aberdeen and five in Kilmarnock.
Criticism of property owners has also made him more determined that the accommodation he renovates and offers to the market are good quality and that tenants get value for money.
All this feeds into the educational programme he now offers. It was also triggered by the Covid pandemic when there were reports of mortgage and rent holidays to help people keep their homes and avoid building up arrears.
“There was a real panic across the industry. I thought that we had a real issue here and people would stop paying their rent. Thankfully, it didn’t happen. I had one arrears because of Covid.”
“There is quite a negative perception around property education. Everyone jumps on the hate train because you get the guy who poses with a Bentley in front of a castle and says you too can become a millionaire if you pay for my £10,000 course.
“I felt I could offer something from the point of view of the blue collar worker who used his own money and can teach someone to build their own wealth.”
Clark realised he had been offering free advice to people, including those working in the sector. He set up his first ‘This is Property’ course in 2020 “wondering if I could talk for two days”. Instead each day was heavily subscribed and he extended the course to three days and then four.
The course, which includes guest speakers, embraces all aspects of property investment from identifying the opportunities to renovation, to working out the costs, legal fees and taxes. They are in-person and limited to about 10 people.
“I had one guy of 69 came on the course who had been in the business for 30 years. I asked why he wanted to come on and he said he wanted to learn about flipping properties. I was delighted that I could help someone with that amount of experience.”
PERSONAL CHECKLIST
Occupation: Property investor
Birthplace: Kirkcaldy
Age: 39
Education: Six-months at Aberdeen University studying sports and exercise science, left to sign up at a college in Kirkcaldy studying petroleum engineering.
Career highlights: Apprenticeship at FMC (oil and gas) in Dunfemline; co-owner of own property investment company Inchwood and sole owner of training company This is Property
What are your other interests?
I teach martial arts, mainly Brazlian Jiu Jitsu
What sort of things make you frustrated?
People failing to do what they say they will do.
Optimist or pessimist?
Always the optimist
Who would you invite to a fantasty dinner party?
Bruce Lee, who starred in martial arts films
Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Duncan Bannatyne, Scottish entrepreneur and former panelist on Dragons’ Den
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