Dear Ozinvestor,

My fellow investors tell me that I should have got beyond using sourcing agents, but I am time poor, so still do. At the end of last year, I bought 11 properties in the Durham area via sourcing company run by Mark Ryder (not sure I can post his company on here since I'm still a junior member. Anyway, I think the purchase price worked out at about 5% to 10% BMV, but I have bought conventionally with 15% deposits, and no tie in mortgage. Now about six months into the cycle, I have 8 let for gross yields of around 7%, and am waiting about another year to remortgage, hopefully to extract most of the capital invested. Not outstanding investments, by any means, but more realistic than buying newbuilds at headline 15% to 20% below OMV, which never stack. Mark sold his inhouse letting agency early this year, but the guy who took over is very much on the ball. I'm happy with the North East purchases, and look to increase holdings by a similar mechanism to about 20 in total - just waiting for winter, hoping to get some good deals from motivated sellers.