Against fierce competition I have just exchanged on a one bed flat in Olympia with a five day completion sourced via my website.

This was an interesting one as all communication was done by email with two long distance phone calls. Obviously, one has to have a certain amount of caution with extra due diligence when dealing with overseas property owners. But this purchase was achieved with no hiccups. My strategy for this deal is to wait for the existing tenancy to expire in December or provide an incentive for the tenant to leave early. Once the tenant leaves I will start the refurbishment with the intention of putting it on the market, either in late-January 2014 or earlier pending tenant incentive acceptance. Prior to this I will extend the lease and pay for the works to the whole building. The figures are as follows:

My sale comparables are very strong for this area and prices are still heading upwards. With a touch of patience I'm hoping to do very well out of this. What really made me smile was beating four other companies, two of which were 'big guns'. We were all offering the same price but it came down to good all fashioned business ethics - honesty and transparency!