2-Step Calculator

NOTE:  The 2-step calculator above is designed for UNFURNISHED houses which are around £6,000 lower cost (£7,000 for H7 and H8). Please add this amount to the Upgrade Payment if wanting to upgrade to a Flexi-Furnished House in Step 2.  Also note that your Future Net Rental Income will be higher with Flexi-Furnish at 7% (rather than the 6% shown in the calculator.)

The 2-step process is a property buying method that enables you to own any property from our entire range (H1 to H8) in 2 stages, over 1 to 10 years. You buy an interim property in step 1 and then upgrade for a lower price to your desired property in step 2. You have full security of ownership, there is no interest and it works out better than a mortgage. If you have £70,000 or more, it is better to buy any of our houses in ONE step using the standard process as you benefit more. However if you do not have enough money but do have £39,999 or more, then use the 2-Step process.

• STEP 1
  • Decide on payment option for interim property which is a small 1-bed house (Option 1 £39,999 or Option 2 £59,999)
  • Rent it to us and build discount (£2,400 per year with £39,999 payment and £4,800 per year with £59,999 payment). Youalso get extra discount if capital growth rates are higher than 1% with option 1 or higher than 3% with option 2 – see calculator.
  • Continue saving yourself as well
• STEP 2
  • Decide when you are ready to upgrade (1 to 10 years)
  • Select which house to upgrade to (Select from 8 types in our rage – H1 to H8)
  • Pay the discounted upgrade payment (see calculator)
  • End up with your desired property at lower cost. Then you can take net rent at 6% of new property price, or build discount at 8% for another property purchase, or use your property as per your wishes after required notice period.

Questions and Answers

I have over £39,999. How do I get started?
Complete enquiry form and provide ID of owner (passport copy and address). We send you a draft agreement for you to look at, and we arrange a zoom meeting to cover all of your questions. You can also visit us if you wish – although this is not required. Then you can decide if you wish to proceed.

What is the buying process?
The initial steps after getting agreement and zoom meeting are:-
-Sign agreement and make £3,000 reservation payment to client account
-Have video meeting with solicitor to verify ID, provide bank statement to show funds, and get any other documents ready
-Agree the interim property – 1 bed house (within 6 weeks of reservation)
-Make remaining step 1 payment (e.g. £37,999 including £999 purchase costs)
-Get ownership of interim property (including Land Registry Title Documents)
-Later, let us know when you are ready to upgrade to your desired final property (Type H1 to H8) and make the upgrade (Step 2) payment. You end up owning your desired property. We take back the interim property.

At time of upgrade, can I select any property I want?
Yes. You decide when to upgrade, and which property to upgrade to from our entire range of H1 to H8 houses. A larger property will mean a larger upgrade payment but your future rent will also be higher.

Which payment option is better?
The more you pay the better returns you get. If you can afford £59,999 then use this option as your returns can be double, you get your desired property sooner, and your final payment is much lower. In some cases you may not need to make a final payment as the discount builds up. If you have £70,000 or more then buy in one step, using our standard process as you benefit even more.

You claim buyers benefit if future prices rise OR if they fall. How is this possibe?
This is correct. You own a house, the interim property and benefit if prices rise as you make more profit and you have yet to upgrade to the final property – so you benefit if its price falls as your final payment is less. Fall in prices does not reduce your profit as this is guaranteed. Watch the 2-step video below for a full explanation. This is remarkable but true.

Can I keep the Interim Property and not upgrade?
No. The interim property is like a stepping stone to your desired property. Whilst you own it, you get security, income & capital growth (in form of discount) and more time to save. You agree to sell it back to us when you upgrade to your desired house. (It is part of the process – we can not afford to sell it to you for £39,999 or £59,999 permanently as it is worth more). If you fail to upgrade you have to sell the interim property back to us for what you paid us.

Can I pay £39,999 now and later pay another £20,000 to get the higher discount?
Yes. You can do this. You can make this payment of £20,000 at any time after 1 year (Switch payment). This will enable you to build discount at higher rate of £4,800 per year from the date of the switch payment. The calculator doe not cover this option but we can work out estimates for you when you make the switch payment.

Is there a difference in the properyt I get with payment of £39,999 or £59,999?
The properyt type is the same but properties priced at £59,999 deliver us higher rent because they are renovated to a higher standard and may also be in higher rent areas. Where you initially select option 1 (£39,999) and then make a switch payment of £20,000 later to switch to option 2 (£59,999) you start benefiting from higher discount rate immediately the switch payment is made. Your property is upgraded to a higher standard, where possible, at next tenant change so that we can also achieve a higher rental income. But remember all interim properties are taken back by us when you upgrade – so you do not keep them long-term.

Why is 2-step process better than a buy-to-let mortgage?
-Firstly with a mortgage, the interest on the loan and mortgage fees are higher than the rent. So the rent is cancelled. In the past, with low interest rates mortgages were ok, but now, you get no income and build no discount with the mortgage due to high interest rates.
-Secondly, you pay the interest only, on the buy-to-let mortgage – so the whole loan remains outstanding in full. Even after 10 years you do not own the property fully yourself. You have to pay the full loan as a final payment to own the property, debt free or sell the properyt ot clear the mortgage.
-Furthermore, a mortgage has risk, puts you in debt, has a complicated approval process, is not available to non-residents, is not Shariah compliant, does not provide flexibility to chose whatever property you want, and works out more expensive.
-The 2-step process can end up being £10,000 better than a buy-to-let mortgage

I have more than £70,000 – Should I still use the 2-Step Process?
No. If you have more than £70,000 then it is best to buy a property in one step (E.g. H1 or H2 house) using our standard method, and not use the 2-step process. You benefit more and you have the option of taking rent or taking discount. You can still build deal discount at 8% if you wish to get another (second house in the future) as well as building capital growth on the whole property value. For a £69,999 H1 property you can build discount at £5,600 per year rather than £4,800 with £59,999 payment, or £2,400 with £39,999 payment. Over 5 years you build a discount of £28,000 and if capital growth is 5% per year, you get capital growth of £35,000. Total profit £63,000.

I do NOT have £39,999 – Can I buy anything?
No. This is the minimum amount you need. On top of this you need £999 total purchase costs for Step 1 of the process. Keep saving and get back to us when you have £39,999 or more or join with another friend and contribute 50/50 and own the property jointly. That way you only need to save £20,000 to get on the investment property ladder as joint owner.

What Security do I have whilst saving. What if your company is no longer around?
You fully own the 1-bed house as security. If something happens to our company you still have the 1-bed house which is worth more than what you have paid us. So you do not lose out.

How will a large rise in property prices affect me?
You make more profit, your future rent will be higher, your desired property value will be higher but your final payment will also be higher. Becuase you also get capital growth on your interim property, your final payment will not be that much higher. Use the calculator to see. You have flexibility to select a smaller house or take longer and could still meet your lower budget. Overall you benefit even though final payment is higher.

How will a fall in property prices affect me?
Your final upgrade payment will be lower as your final desired property will be cheaper. Your profit will not be affected as we do not reduce the discount build rates. With the 2-step process you have the minimum level of returns guaranteed on your interim property and we wlaos guarantee to pay the same price when we buy back your interim property -even if prices fall. So you always benefit if prices rise or fall. This is remarkable and is the only property deal where investors still benefit if prices rise or if they fall.

Can you fix the price of my final property so it does not change?
No – prices change with the market. But you have great flexibility in choosing the property you can afford. Higher property values give you more rent in the future and more profit.

What if I do not have ANY more money to upgrade?
You may be able to wait and pay nothing, if you used payment option 2. The discount builds up over time and upgrade payment goes to zero. Almost all people will be able to upgrade by taking longer, saving more or selecting a smaller property. See video for example. Worst case scenario – even if you cancel the deal and do not upgrade to any property, you still get your money back (£39,999 or £59,999). Your built up discount is preserved for use later by you, your family, or your contacts – against any property in our range. So even in this situation you don’t lose out.

Is there any stamp duty payable if I do not own any property and am UK resident?
No. Stamp duty is NOT payable on interim or final property in this case. (There may be one-off stamp duty payable if you already own property (3%) or are resident overseas (2%). But interim property with £39,999 payment option is exempt from both, as it is below the £40,000 stamp duty limit.)

How much is the Step 1 payment?
This is £39,999 or £59,999. You pay this as £3,000 reservation payment after signing agreement. The remaining amount of step 1 payment is made when interim property is transferred to you. You also add £999 transfer costs and any stamp duty (if payable) to this payment

How much is the Step 2 Payment?
This is the upgrade payment and will depend on several factors including the step 1 payment, the time interval, your desired property, and capital growth rates. Use the calculator above to work out what this estimated payment may be. On top of this you will need to pay £999 transfer costs and any stamp duty (if payable).

What is “included” and “additional” capital growth?
The discount you build up on the Interim property with the 2-step process has 2 components (Rent and Capital Growth). The guaranteed rent component is 5% of the payment per year. With payment option 1 (£39,999) the included capital growth is 1% – making total discount level 6%. With payment option 2 (£59,999) the included capital growth is 3% – making total discount level 8%. If actual capital growth is more than the included amounts then “additional” capital growth is added to the discount. These are all built into the 2-step calculator. Thus extra discount is added if capital growth ends up being highr than 1% with option1 or higher than 3% with option 2.

How will “actual” capital growth be worked out?
Actual capital growth is worked out by looking at our pricing on your desired property at time of upgrade and comparing with the price when you made the reservation for the 2-step process. Example: If upgrading to H3 house after 5 years and the price is £87,999 at time of upgrade, and the price was £79,999 when reservation was made 5 years previously, then the growth has been £8,000 and the percentage growth has been 10% over the 5 years. Thus the average rate of growth is 2% per year.

What if I upgrade after 5 years and 6 months – Will months also be taken into account and build extra discount?
Yes. In this case the duration will be 5.5 years and discount will be based on this

I have £80,000 – Shall I set up TWO 2-step deals?
No. It would be better for you to get two properties with the DIY2 deal. You pay in full and get one house now and build discount at 8% e.g. over 5 years. Then you buy the second house e.g. 5 years later, and pay for some of it with the built-up discount

Can I use the 1-bed interim property for own use?
No. Whilst you are indeed the owner, you agree to this property remaining rented out to our tenants. You benefit by building discount (combination of rent and capital growth). Later, when you upgrade to your desired property you sell this interim property back to us as part of the process.

What can I do with my desired final property?
It is your property and you decide what to do with it. The property is initially rented to us (we rent to our long-term tenants) and you have all of the options available to you:-
-Keep it rented to us and get net rent as per our standard system of 6% of property price per year. You have no costs and we cover everything – see calculator above
-keep it rented to us and build deal discount at 8% of property price to save and buy another property (as per our DIY deals). This is a great tax efficient way to get another property or build a portfolio over time. Many of our clients who are not yet retired take this option and end up with multiple properties before they retire.
-Give us 6 months notice at any time after the minimum 2.5 years to take full possession of your property and then you can:-
-Use it yourself or for your family
-Rent it to anyone else directly
-Use a letting agent to rent it out
-Sell it to anyone (we can also offer to buy back at the prevailing market price at the time).

How can I get more confidence with your company?
There are several things you can do:-
-Watch the 5 BBC Television videos that show how our company buys, renovates and resells low cost houses at lowest prices in the UK. These have been independently produced by the BBC.
-Visit our company at Time Technology Park near Burnley – just North of Manchester. Our team will show you around. Please book an appointment before visiting.
-Read the customer reviews on the testimonials page
-Get a list of all of our company accreditations and independently verify these with the authorities. Propertymark Member (National Association of Estate Agents & Association of Residential Letting Agents), The Property Ombudsman and others. Our full company name is International Property Specialists Ltd and we trade as Find UK Property. Our sister companies are Sell UK Property Ltd and Rent UK Property.
-Have a zoom video meeting with a senior director and ask all questions directly
-Speak with other customers – let us know after the zoom meeting and we can arrange this

Should I use the 2-step process?
Only use the 2-step process if you do not have enough money to buy your desired property outright in one step. If you do use the 2-step process, then try to use payment option 2 (£59,999) or switch to option 2 as soon as possible by making and extra £20,000 payment later when you can. This is because you build discount at double the rate and hence benefit more. So if you have more than £70,000 it is best to buy in one step using our standard process.  See the chart below

Please watch the 2-step video below for full details.

Please complete the Enquiry Form below.