The Property Unleashed Podcast

Landlord Conversations That Close Deals

• Mark Fitzgerald • Episode 380

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Most property deals aren’t lost because your spreadsheet is wrong, they’re lost because your words are. 


Mark Fitzgerald shares a live coaching session from his Education to Action community and breaks down how he talks to landlords, vendors, and agents so the proposal sounds normal, safe, and clearly beneficial.


We start with a real question about service accommodation in Lincoln and what investors should watch for with Article 4, selective licensing, planning use, and local council policies. Mark explains how to stay protected by focusing on practical compliance like fire safety standards, carbon monoxide protection, alarms, and a proper fire risk assessment, plus the often-missed step of checking your mortgage terms or getting consent when needed. The goal is to run a short-term rental business that is built to last, even if regulations tighten later.


Then we get into the language that closes deals. Mark’s core rule is simple: don’t lead with “rent-to-rent” or “purchase lease option.” Instead, describe the value a property owner cares about most, like guaranteed monthly rent, no voids, fewer headaches, and a property kept in great condition. He also lays out a seller-friendly lease option conversation that can work especially well in a quiet UK property market, including how to position timelines, legal support, and specialist solicitors so the other side feels secure.


If you want more training on rent-to-rent, service accommodation, HMOs, lease options, refurb strategies, and BRR, subscribe, share this episode with a property friend, and leave a review so more investors can find it.

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Getting Deals With Better Conversations

SPEAKER_00

How to talk to landlords and vendors to make sure you get the deal every time.

Welcome And How The Community Works

SPEAKER_00

Hello and welcome to the Property Unleashed with me, your host, Mark Fitzgerald. In today's session, I am going to be sharing with you one of my live sessions that I have in my online community, Education to Action, which is all for property investors trying to get out there and create property businesses successfully. It's a very affordable monthly fee, or you can obviously join it and an annual fee and get some one-to-one coaching as well. Check out educationtoaction.com to see if this is something that you'd like to try out and come and join us and let us help you build the property empires that you're looking to build. So in this session, I'm going to talk to the community members about how I approach landlords, how I approach vendors, how I also talk to agents as well, with regards to getting rent-to-rent deals, with regards to getting purchase lease option deals as well. I'm sure you're going to find this very, very valuable. And as I say, if you need more help with this, then we are on hand in my community to coach you, to support you, to help you every step of the way. But this podcast is also here to do the same. And I'm out to try and help as many people build successful property businesses as possible. So let's jump into it, shall we? It's great to have you all on. Great to have you all on. So let's see what's what has been happening in the community at the moment here as well. So last week I actually put in some requirements that we have from our supported living social housing requirements all across the country. So if you do come across any of those opportunities and you would like help with those, then we can help you. I have a company that can help people with those. And we look to work with people. Whether you're just finding investors or landlords that need a bit of help with their properties, we can do that. We do charge the landlords a fee, but we're more than happy to split that fee with you guys and girls here as

Service Accommodation Rules And Article 4

SPEAKER_00

well. James, straight in there with a great question. Thank you very much. Hi Mark, I'm considering buying a property for SA in Lincoln. Good area. According to AI, whilst it's in A4 area, Lincoln's A4 policies are not currently set up to prevent SA, but to avoid more HMOs. Yeah, Article 4. That's what he's replying to with the A4. So I am thinking it looks possible to just set up an SA, but is this being naive? Nope, there are no rules and regulations. Now, what you've got to look for, I say there's no rules and regulations. Some councils do have it, James. So you are correct there. Some councils can bring in what they call selective licensing as well and make life more difficult for doing service to accommodation. But through the government and everything at the moment, I would say that there's no specific requirements in most areas. Brighton's, there are a few areas that are exceptions, but if you check on your council's website or even speak to the council about it, doing holiday lets and stuff, then there's no specific requirements that uh or loopholes that you have to jump through. So Lincoln, as far as I'm aware as well, uh, I'm not a million miles away from Lincoln, is uh is a good place for service accommodation. So yeah, no, all I would say is just make sure that you set it up with the right compliances in the in the fact that it is safe, you know, you've got specific fire doors if you need fire doors and things. And what I do say to a lot of people is go to your local council's website, look at the HMO requirements. I know it's not an HMO, but look at those requirements, and then if it's quite a big property, just make sure that you're you've got you know your fire safety standards in place. And a lot of the times I think when they do bring in rules and regulations, they'll be very much along the same lines as what HMOs need. So if you've got if this is a flat or something like that, then it'll probably have all the fire doors and everything in case uh in place. I would make sure that you've got a good fire door on your kitchens, if nothing else. Obviously, you've got carbon monoxide, your fire alarms and everything interlinked if you can have it and stuff like that. Uh get a fire inspection anyway. You can do that yourself, actually, but you can just uh pay somebody to come in and do it. But yeah, though, there's nothing there to stop you doing so right here, right now. And if they do bring any rules, and we are set up compliantly, which is why we always want to set ourselves up for success. Three-bedroom house, normal, no fire doors. That's that's not a major problem. It doesn't need to be the case at the moment, but obviously, if they bring in new rules in the future, chances are if you're already operating as a successful service accommodation, you'll get grandfather rights. Is there if there is any licensing that comes in, like Article 4, they might bring that in for service accommodation, it'll be called something else. Or you might have to change the planning usage of the property as well if you're letting it on short-term levels over a certain amount of nights per year. But if that's the case, then obviously if you've set yourself up from the word go, you've got nothing to worry about when it comes to those things. As I say, you don't have to have so don't go out there now and change all the doors. You don't need to do that at the moment, but just make sure that you know that there's a fire risk assessment done and the property is set up and and compliant for uh as safe as it can possibly be. So no, you're free, it's your property. Go and do with it as you please. Obviously, if you've got a mortgage on the property, make sure that you're not breaching any mortgage terms. Uh, you know, I've done it myself and I've worked with a few investors where we've asked for consent by the mortgage company to see if that's the case. But no, knock yourself out and have some fun. And I hope it goes very, very well for you. Lincoln, as far as I'm aware, is a good place for service accommodation. Three-bed houses are good as well. So, three bed or more, we're finding actually we're making more money on the bigger properties than the smaller properties. A lot of people are still going for flats and two-bed properties and things, but three or four beds, we're getting a lot of contractors staying in those, wanting to take those sorts of properties for a longer period as well. So it can work really, really well. At the moment, it stays as a C3, yeah. It doesn't need to be changed or anything like that. Obviously, C1 is is hotels and holiday industry and everything, but you don't have to change anything yet. They haven't actually got a planning usage for service to come. Obviously, it could be C5, it could be you know a number that's not used at the moment, but it's not there at the moment, so you can still have it as a C3. And I would say, you know, have a go with it and and it's your property, so set yourself up in the right manner and everything and see how it goes, which is always the best way to do things. So, no, that's really, really

How To Explain Rent To Rent Clearly

SPEAKER_00

good. What I would say with with rent to rent, purchase lease options, anything like that, don't call it that, first and foremost. We know it's called that, but if you think about it, I mean, if you went and walked around your local supermarket now and you went up to majority of the people in there and said, Do you know what a rent-to-rent is or a purchase lease option is, they'll all look at you weird. Ain't got a clue. No, you might get the odd person. But what we do find is as we educate ourselves and as we we get more and more into investing and everything, we start to use more and more of the lingo. Now, I've done a lot of rent-to-rent deals, I've never called it rent-to-rent, unless the landlord said to me, That sounds like rent to rent. Well, it is rent-to-rent, but I do it better. And purchase lease options, I've done a handful of those as well, but I've never called them a purchase lease option. What you've got to do is just explain what you're doing. So let's take rent to rent for argument's sake. You know, if I'm chatting to a landlord, I say we'll manage the property. We've got clientele in the area that is looking either if it's service to accommodation to stay in that property or if it's HMOs to live in the area. And what we like to do is look after our clients. So we take on the property as a management company, but we're better than a normal letting agent or management company because my company will actually pay you a set rent each and every month, whether the property is tenanted or not. Because I've got people that are going to go in there and live in there. So we manage the property, we give you a set rent that you're happy with each and every month. We take on the bills, utilities, we take on the minor maintenance as well. So that we can be very proactive with your property. A, we look after your property and keep it to the highest standard. Why? Because that's what our clients that stay or live in the properties expect. B, you know what you're making each and every month because you've got no voids over that time. And also, as I say, minor maintenance that can mount up, you know, like light bulbs being changed if a door handle comes loose, those sorts of things. We will sort those out and get those sorted for you as well. Is that something you'd be interested in? Now, I haven't mentioned rent to rent at all there. I've just explained exactly what we would do as that sort of investor or that business owner, should I say? Then they can come back. Some people say, oh, that's that sounds a bit like rent to rent. Well, it is, it is along those lines and stuff. That's what we do. So if they understand it, that's great. Now, purchase lease options, on the other hand, which is quite similar to rent to rent, but of course, as you know, we're going to be buying the property at the end of it all, is is is even better at the end of the day. You know, if you can get a lease option, happy days. But I will say, lease options at the moment, it are are great because the market's quite quiet. Now, I don't know where you are at the moment, but where I am and everybody I'm speaking to is saying that it is particularly quiet at the moment. So stuff's not really getting a lot of viewings, it's not really moving. Uh, in which case, then, of course, that means that sellers get a bit more motivated, they get a bit worried about things. Now, some people will be quite happy to just leave it on the market and sit on it. Some people might be more proactive because they might be losing money still on that property to do a lease option with you.

How To Pitch A Lease Option Offer

SPEAKER_00

Now, if that's the case, the other thing that I say is if I'm looking at doing a lease option, so let's say you've got a property that's for sale, well, take James's three-bed property that I'm thinking to myself, you know, I could do service accommodation on that, obviously, as long as everything all aligns. I would go up to my to the to the vendor myself and just say, Listen, I'm really interested in your property. At the moment, I could make you an offer on your property that is on the market for sale, but it'll be subs, you know, it'll be quite low because at the moment that property for me is only worth this. Now it might be a property you need to do some work on a BRR or something like that. So you've got to change this to what suits. But I might say, you know, I can offer you, let's say for argument's sake, the property is 200,000 pounds. I can offer you a 150. Or if you could actually work with me, I could probably offer you more for the property. And also you could make some extra money in the time being as well. Why? Because I always say this, I've got a few things going on at the moment. Now, trust me, I've always got something going on. And right here, right now, I wouldn't be able to buy the property, okay, at your asking price. I could buy it for this amount, which would be a lot lower and they won't want that deal. Or if you're happy to wait and you don't need the money out of the property right now, what I would like to do is lock that price in that you're happy with. I'm gonna spend some money on the property as well, but then I'm gonna basically manage the property and look after it as if it's my own, because I'm gonna buy this over a set amount of time. Now, in that time frame, we'll lock the price in to buy it. So if you want 200,000 pounds, I'll give you the asking price, 200,000 pounds for this property. I will also pay you a rent whilst I lease the property off of you. And we do all of this with solicitors and everything, it's legally binding and everything. It's a bit like land when people are trying to get planning permission on the land, you know, so they'll get a lease on the land subject to planning permission being accepted, but we're not doing planning permission, so we don't have to worry about that. But this is the same sort of contract, so you know, in 18 months, in in two years, you know, whatever we agree, and obviously once I've I've sold my properties, once I've done the deals that I'm doing, I'll buy your property then. So for me, it's great as an investor because I stack that up. So what we do is lock it in for 200,000 pounds or whatever you agree. I'll pay you X amount each and every month, which again, you'd already know this by you do this. So you could say a thousand pounds, and then I'll buy the property off you in the future for that price. So it's all locked in, you've got a guaranteed sale, and you're still making money on that property while I'm leasing it off of you. I'm gonna put some money into that property as well and do things up because I need to lease this out to my clients. And obviously, I'm gonna do it for you know contractors or whatever you're gonna do with it. How does that sound to you?

Real Story Using A Lease Option

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Now, when it came to my own house that I'm living in at the moment, I I've done a lease option on this. So when I was talking to the owner of the property, I saw that they wanted this property came up for sale. I thought it sold actually, and then I noticed it came up for rent. Now it wasn't for sale rent, it just came up at different times, and I was keeping an eye on it. So I came and knocked on the door here, and I said exactly a very similar thing to the owner. And I just said to him, you know, I saw that your property was for sale. I now see that you're gonna put it up for rent. What do you need? He said, Well, I've already bought another house, so we didn't need the money for this one. He says, and I was looking at selling it, but we had a few offers, but they were weren't very good or anything. So now I've put a buy-to-let mortgage on it. I'm gonna rent it out for five years because that's how long my mortgage is for. Kaching, I thought, well, this has got lease option written all over it. So I said to him, Well, I'll tell you what, I'll I'll I'll I'll do the out. I didn't say this. I went and come and had a look around and everything, started to build up rapports, chatting to him. I said to him, I understand that you're locked in now for five years with your mortgage. How about if I was to offer you the asking price that you wanted earlier this year, but I'll lease the property off of you in the time being, so you don't have all the responsibilities as a landlord per se, cost wise. I'll have I'll suck up those costs because I'm gonna buy the property, I'll treat the property as my own. But when your uh mortgage runs out in the five years' time, that's when I'll buy it off you. So you've got no early redemption penalties or anything like that, and you're gonna make that monthly recurring rent that I'm gonna pay you over the next five years. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? Rather than me just coming and renting it off you? And he was like, Yeah, and that's how we did it. So that was the way the conversation started again. Not never mentioned, you know, rent to rent in that example, never mentioned purchase lease options in the other example. I was just basically having a conversation, and then sometimes I have I have had a landlord that said that sounds like a lease option. Yes, it is. It is a lease option. Do you know about those? Well, I've heard of them. Okay, no problem. Well, I can explain a bit more about them if you'd like to know more. And I always ask that, I always ask for permission. Would you like to know more? Or how does that sound to you? And then go quiet and let them answer you. Some people will say, I've never heard of it. I don't know how that would work. In which case, then you could say, Well, do you mind if I explain that to you how it's going to work? So you'll have a solicitor, I'll have a solicitor, it's all done legally binding. Listen, if you're happy to do something like this, I'm actually willing to pay for your solicitor fee. So you'll have a solicitor that acts for you, but I'll pay their fee. So it doesn't cost you anything there. All we have to make sure is if I give you a choice of solicitors to use, like three or four, these guys are property solicitors. So they deal with property all the time. A normal high street solicitor or your mate down the pub probably won't have done these types of deals before. So you need to have a specialist solicitor. But I'm more than happy to give you a list of those, and then you just pick which one you want to use, and then I'll use one. So we'll have those representing ourselves, and then we can get a deal like this over the line. So I hope that helps you, Matey. It's all about just having a discussion and keeping it basically going over the line. It's all about rapport and it's all about making sure that you know you're building up that no-like and trust with your conversations and things. So if you have any other questions on that, or you've come across any stumbling blocks where somebody said something to you and you're like, well, I wasn't quite sure what to say on that, then then just ask away here, Matey, and I'll I'll help you every which way

Training Vault And Where To Get Help

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I can. So once again, I hope you've enjoyed this session here. If you do need any help learning more about rent-to-rent, service accommodation, HMOs, purchase lease option, assisted sales, how to refurbish, how to do the BRR strategy and more. We have all of these trainings in our vault section of Education to Action ETA. And of course, it's just a monthly fee to come and join that if you want. So do check out education toaction.com. Likewise, check out the propertyunleash.com as well for all tools and resources. We have a lot of free tools, a lot of free resources to help you all with your investing. Thank you for joining me today, and I look forward to you joining me very soon. Take care and bye for now.