At home with big risks and clever investments
A decade ago he was working for Walkers crisps – now Parmdeep Vadesha owns a property empire worth a packet.
The 31-year-old might not like the tag "property millionaire" but with a portfolio of about 30 homes in Leicester, Derby and Birmingham – it is one that fits.
-
The father-of-one, who lives in Humberstone, dreamt of being a stock broker as a boy, but after leaving university in 2001, when the dot.com bubble had just burst and the stock market bottomed out, he decided to start his own business from scratch rather than climb the corporate ladder.
Parmdeep took up factory jobs to help make ends meet, including his spell at Walkers crisps, where he drove a pallet truck.
After a day working in the warehouse he would spend his evenings on the internet scouring chat forums and reading up about a system being used in America, with people picking up properties at less than half their market value.
Parmdeep said: "I spoke to American developers who told me you had to find people who wanted to get rid of their properties – a landlord whose house has been damaged by tenants, somebody who has inherited a property and wants to sell quickly."
He spent months attending "London angels" meetings of wealthy people looking to invest their money.
There, he found a wealthy investor willing to lend him money to buy his first property outright, in Bradford, for £33,000 when he was 21.
He did the property up, put tenants in and went to the bank and remortgaged it based on its true value, releasing enough money to pay the investors off with interest.
It was a system he repeated over the next few years, while also buying, developing and selling other properties.
"The investor understands you are buying a house for less than its true value so he is happy to lend 100 per cent of the purchase price because there is equity already there," said Parmdeep, whose 30 homes are all occupied by tenants.
"People here used to say to me 'you can't buy properties, you are too young,' but the Americans I spoke to had a completely different attitude."
He believes there is still money to be made from property in Leicestershire.
Parmdeep said: "If you think about it, the best time to buy was in the 90s, just after the crash.
"You want to go in and buy them when they are cheap and need the foresight to think about what they will be worth.
"I like the current climate because all the people who were making a quick profit have gone now.
"It's sensible people and landlords who want to buy now so there are bargains to be had.
"The way to decide how much to pay is start with what the rent would be and work out the price from there."
More than a year ago, he bought just under two acres of land off Covert Lane, in Scraptoft, for £625,000 and has since sold it to a developer who will build an eco-friendly house on the site, which Parmdeep estimates could be worth £1.3 million when it is finished.
"It really is the future.
"People are living in houses they can't afford to heat and fuel prices and oil prices are going up.
Parmdeep owns a website called the Property Tycoon Method, the largest property community website in the UK.
More than 5,000 people subscribe to its newsletter and Parmdeep runs regular workshops. His advice to anybody wanting to invest in property is to do their homework.
"Risk is directly related to not knowing what you are doing," he said.
"I spent about a year reading and learning about what I wanted to do and I took good advice."
15 Comments
View all
by lance2
Wednesday, March 07 2012, 4:13PM
“Hopfully back from the naughty step, This is my last post on this subject. Please New Walk View
cut and paste from the artical that says he "is prepared to use his financial leverage to extract `bargains' from either." The line "People are living in houses they can't afford to heat and fuel prices and oil prices are going up" Do you think it might mean the are down sizeing, and could have surplus money to give them a better life style?. As I read it most of the practices originated in America.
Its you"r impression that you think the artical gives, (Am I trutfully right ?) has no significance to him at all or his practices in GB.”
by DuaneB
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 4:27PM
“This article was written about a month ago in the business pages. His technique of making money involves taking advantage of desperate people who often need to sell. He basically takes advantage.”
by New_Walk_View
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 1:37PM
“@ najam133
The article may have misrepresented Parmdeep but the impression it gives is of a young man who, in building his property portfolio through a clever, opportunistic approach (not a bad thing in itself, I agree), doesn't discriminate between professional buy-to-let investors such as himself and non-professionals (such as the elderly pensioners that I mentioned earlier) and is prepared to use his financial leverage to extract `bargains' from either.
That's the part I disapprove of.
You seem not only to approve of it but to be suggesting that such sellers should actually be grateful to a buyer who offers them less than a fair market price for their property.
If the seller was an elderly relative of yours, would you still believe that?”
by lance2
Tuesday, March 06 2012, 11:03AM
“Who"s been running to teacher?”
by najam133
Monday, March 05 2012, 9:50PM
“I hate it when some people use subjective moral reasoning as a means to allow themselves feel as if they are somehow they are better than another person? - an act which is "immoral" in it self - hypocritical if you ask me.
Look, one man's loss is another man's gain and that's that - this is the way the world works and this is exactly how we have become the country that we are - let's not deny that atleast.
I have met Parmdeep at an event and he is a very nice man. Business is business and if indeed, you are in the unique position as Parmdeep is to help somebody - irrespective of if whether you are buying their property at a discounted price, you are giving a person a lifeline to buy another house as opposed to ending up on the street! - I know which i'd rather have if I was in that situation and I also know who I would thank in that situation too!
Good work Deep - I am sure the people you have genuinely helped are thankful.”
by New_Walk_View
Monday, March 05 2012, 2:09PM
“@ lance2
Without wanting to sound rude - perhaps you should read my post a bit more carefully. The second part of it is a question not a statement.
Yes, I negotiate when I buy property and I like to meet the seller(s) because they're often more sensible and trustworthy than their agent - although not all owners want to be involved in the transaction. And I'm happy to repeat - I would never knowingly exploit the circumstances of a vulnerable private seller; particularly an elderly person on a low fixed income who was likely to be using the proceeds of the sale to pay for long-term care.
My aim is to pay a seller a fair market price. I don't pretend to be Mother Theresa but I resent being told that I'm `no different to anyone else' if by that you mean that I would happily `stiff' a granny' to make a few quid. You might but I wouldn't. And I suspect most of the people reading this wouldn't, either.
@ djmuz
I like to think that I'm enterprising and have worked hard all my life - as did my father and his father. I admire enterprise and hard work. There's clearly nothing wrong with adding value to a house that has been devalued by the previous owner. Or by carrying out an imaginative makeover on a dated property. What I dislike is the `get-rich-quick' message of the article which suggests that it's clever to exploit people when they're in difficulties and that a ruthless predatory approach is something to be proud of. Not in my world, it isn't.”
by bikeresteban
Monday, March 05 2012, 12:47PM
“Good luck to you young man. You have shown that it is possible to be successful instead of expecting the state to provide you with your income.”
by djmuz
Monday, March 05 2012, 12:24PM
“I bought my first house cheap off a landlord who wanted shot and had years of debt collectors refusing to believe I wasn't the previous tennants trying it on. Not everyone wants that either.”
by djmuz
Monday, March 05 2012, 12:22PM
“He mentions buying houses from landlords that have had it trashed by the tennants and just want rid of all the hassle. Making money is usually about selling for more than you buy for. In those cases the properties are valued for less because of the state. Too many people won't move into a house that needs work, that affects prices.”
by lance2
Monday, March 05 2012, 11:29AM
“New_Walk_View, When you used your superior knowledge to buy your houses, you paid the asking price did you? no haggling!, did you ask the reason for selling,were you happy that the seller wasent being stiffed, if you did indeed pay the full asking price, did you think that you might be preventing some body who could not find the £xxxx (by say £1000.00") from owning their first property.Did you ensure that when you sold them the purchaser could afford the bills. Your line "But it sounds as if you would." yes I would, I could not afford to be so altruistic, As I have been totally honest lets test your integrity read my post carefully if you next post only contains the words.....yes no yes yes yes/no yes, I will give £10 to Loros.
Dont hide behind "Thanks to property price inflation and the value I've added to houses" you are no different to any body else, you did it for you gain, and good luck to you, I hope you continue to provide well for your familly.”