Sharon and Steve have invested in
UK real-estate since 2004. In 2012 they established Foxdog Properties, a property management business which was born out of the realisation that property management is not just about managing bricks and mortar but also about building relationships, managing people and customer service whilst at the same time understanding and working with the myriad of laws that govern the private rented sector.
Prior to being a full-time property investor and business owner, Steve worked as an engineer in various heavy industries around the North West, starting out in the chemical industry, and ending up working for General Motors.
Sharon spent most of her employed life working in a FTSE 100 company, starting there as a graduate and working her way up the corporate ladder to a senior programme managerâs role.Â
They first started to invest in property out of a desire to take control of their own destinies, and to be financially secure in their retirement.
Over the coming years, they built up their own portfolio of single lets and HMOs, as well as embarked on a joint venture with an angel investor who was attracted to their way of working.Â
Before long, other investors from all over the world approached them asking them to source property, and importantly, asking that they manage those assets for them.
Once they completed their professional property training, and having sourced more than a few great investment deals, it very quickly struck both Sharon and Steve that no one was teaching people how to manage these valuable assets - a problem when you also find yourself disappointed in the competence of local letting agents.
It felt like people were selling courses on how to buy expensive cars below market value, but no one was offering courses on how to drive those valuable assets home once they found them - a serious flaw that left many vulnerable to falling foul of the 150+ laws that impact those of us renting properties out in the Private Rented Sector (PRS).
As their business grew, and it was becoming ever more apparent that they needed to be focusing on being compliant, and not just buying their investments professionally, but managing them professionally too.
Drawing on Sharonâs expertise, they set about systemising the business, and putting in place robust, easily execution-able processes. This work now forms the basis of The Landlordâs ULTIMATE âHow Toâ Guide.Â
With Sharonâs decades of experience dealing with government legislation, and interpreting the meaning of that legislation, and Steveâs hands-on experience dealing with tenants and trades they were ideally placed to produce meaningful training material and courses to help professional investors flourish as professional managers. And so The Property Management Programme was born.Â