Charles Dicken’s fictional character Mr Micawber gave a famous quotation which some property investors and many in the wider populace regularly ignore: “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen (pounds) nineteen (shillings) and six (pence), result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure ought and six, result misery.”

Having a sound grasp of the basics of finance is something that every property investor must have in order to succeed.

Of course you don’t have to have an accountancy qualification but it’s no surprise that over the years I have come across some very successful property investors and developers who are financially very literate.

And this is certainly the case with the Northampton based Gary Bees who is a qualified accountant who I met up with recently to talk about his latest commercial conversion projects.

Gary explains how he made the leap of faith into property investment in a meaningful way some ten years ago. “I made the decision in 2007 to leave my accountancy career and become a full time property investor due to health reasons. Initially I refinanced a property that I had previously bought off-plan and then went on two education courses to learn more. Unfortunately I used all but about £5,000 on making mistakes with some poor investing choices until the point where I went to meet a couple in Aylesbury who were in an awkward situation. After a lengthy discussion with them about their options, I offered to buy their property from them but on the condition that they could become my tenants and that is what occurred.