Sourcing via direct to vendor (DTV) is always touted about via  property course sellers and on various forums as being the keys to great deals. It brings a lot of skepticism from other quarters and in some respects this view is well deserved. I say this only because of the way it's being presented as an easy method of securing great deals.

As some may know we use direct to vendor as our principal method of securing deals within the genre of 'off-market leads'. One such DTV lead was sourced by us recently, which is still in the throes of being negotiated, but it is one I would like to mention.

This particular site is in east London which consists of a piece of land circa 9,000 sq ft which is owned by five parties. There is a potential 31% margin on a £2.4m GDV. Potential only as there is currently no planning and of course five parties to negotiate with. However, with no competition and a potential £747,000 profit over 12 months it's worth investing our time in. We are looking to acquire planning for a block of four flats within a 4,000 sq ft build area.