Why I Buy Properties Nobody Else Wants

Bellway just posted impressive numbers. 14.3% growth in completions, £42 million cash position, strong forward orders.

Everyone's celebrating another sign the housing market is bulletproof.

But here's what those numbers actually tell me: Bellway built 8,749 homes while the government needs 300,000 annually. Even if every major housebuilder matched Bellway's output, we'd still fall massively short.

The real opportunity isn't in competing for new builds.

The Hidden Goldmine

While investors chase marketed properties, 502,000 empty properties sit abandoned across England. That number grew by 4.5% last year alone.

These aren't just statistics. They're real opportunities in every town, waiting for someone willing to solve problems instead of hunt deals.

I've built my approach around finding owners trapped in impossible situations. Properties with prohibition notices, negative equity, renovation costs they can't afford.

Most investors walk away from this complexity.

I see it as where the real money lives.

The Purchase Lease Option Strategy

Here's how I structured one recent deal that shows exactly what I mean.

A landlord approached me with a property requiring extensive renovation. The quote was beyond what they could afford. They couldn't renovate, couldn't rent in its current state, couldn't sell due to negative equity.

Classic catch-22.

Instead of walking away, I offered a Purchase Lease Option. I agreed to pay their full asking price, but only after I'd renovated and tenanted the property.

The numbers: £72,000 option price, £25,000 total costs including purchase, final value £110,000.

I gave them small rent payments during the 12-month process to cover their costs and remove all financial pressure. They got certainty and peace of mind. I got the property with essentially no money down and captured the £13,000 uplift in value.

Win-win for everyone involved.

The Mindset Shift

Most property education teaches people to hunt motivated sellers.

I teach people to become problem solvers.

When you shift from "finding deals" to "solving problems," everything changes. You stop competing with other investors for the same marketed properties. You start creating opportunities where none existed before.

The UK has a backlog of 4.3 million homes. Councils spend fortunes on antisocial behaviour schemes in areas where empty properties drag down entire neighbourhoods.

Every empty property represents someone's problem that needs solving.

Beyond Individual Profit

This approach does more than build wealth.

When you renovate an empty property, you bring it back to life. You provide housing where people already live. You inject income into communities and remove the negative effects of rundown properties that increase antisocial behaviour and drag down local prices.

You become a community regeneration partner, not just a profit-seeker.

That's why I started Property Legacy Education. I realised that coaching and mentoring others to solve these problems would have far more impact on communities than me working alone.

We all have ears to listen. The key is listening for people's pain points and looking to solve their issues with property strategies.

While everyone else chases Bellway's success story, I'll keep buying the properties nobody else wants.

Because that's where the real opportunities hide.