Julie Condliffe from Creative Legals shares her journey from homelessness to becoming a top property investor and legal expert. She offers tips on navigating property auctions, understanding legal documents, and ensuring due diligence. Julie highlights the benefits of auction sales and provides strategies to maximise investment returns. This episode is packed with practical advice for all investors, with a focus on empowering women in property investment. Tune in for an inspiring and informative discussion.
In this episode of WealthTalk, we chat with Julie Condliffe, a best-selling author and award-winning solicitor from Creative Legals.
Julie shares her remarkable journey from homelessness to becoming a leading property investor and legal expert.
She provides invaluable insights into property auctions, including common pitfalls, essential legal documents, and the importance of due diligence.
Julie also explains the differences between freehold and leasehold properties and how to handle service charges and rental arrears.
Her strategies for turning auction purchases into profitable investments and empowering women in property investment are must-hear advice.
This episode is packed with practical advice for both seasoned investors and newcomers, helping you make informed decisions and maximise returns on property investments.
Resources Mentioned In This Episode:
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Christian Rodwell (00:02.018)
purpose of Wealth Talk is to educate, inform and hopefully entertain you on the subject of building your wealth. Wealth Builders recommends you should always take independent financial, tax or legal advice before making any decisions around your finances. Today's episode is brought to you by Wealth Builders Membership, a proven step -by -step process that helps you achieve financial security within two to three years. find out more, head to wealthbuilders .co .uk forward slash membership.
Welcome to this week's episode of Wealth Talk. My name is Christian Rodwell, the membership director for Wealth Builders, joined today by our founder, Mr. Kevin Whelan. Hi, Kevin. Hi, Chris. Good to be with you again. Yes. And we're continuing on a theme that we started a few weeks ago, which was auctions, a strategy used by many, of course, to maximise returns when it comes to the property pillar. And today we're focusing more on the aspect of what you need to know when it comes to the legal packs, because if you make mistakes,
When it comes to where your due diligence are buying at auction and that boom, hammer comes down, then it's too late to turn back. So we talk about DIYing in some areas of wealth, Kevin. This is definitely an area that you shouldn't be DIYing. Yeah, auctions, they're an interesting thing because they stir up the emotion. They get the FOMO very frequently. I bought a property at auction myself.
And I know what it feels like. Obviously that was pre -COVID and the energy is different now. But nonetheless, the whole concept of auction has been around for centuries. I think the danger is people don't appreciate that once the gavel has gone, once the hammer has fallen, you've got to follow through. And we'll hear that there are two types.
you know, in terms of that time frame, very fast or still quick. But the whole point about this is it's good to hear it from a legal perspective because they're the people who see where all the challenges occur. They see where the pain manifests when people get it wrong. So, yeah, there's always a challenge when you listen to lawyers, no disrespect intended to our guests, absolutely not. But
Christian Rodwell (02:30.126)
can drop into legalese pretty quickly because it's so customary, it? It's so easy for them to use short words or use acronyms and so on. So you're going to have to pick out some of those things. I'll mention something about that in the debrief, Chris, that I think is really important to recognize whenever you're building wealth. And we've brought in a true expert in this area today, Julie Condliff from
Creative Legals, who are an award -winning property law firm. Julie comes with many years of experience in property herself and she's definitely at the forefront of this industry. In fact, bestselling author on the topic as well. It's an interesting discussion with Julie today, but we'll be talking obviously about those common pitfalls that Julie comes across. We'll be back with the debrief and let's have a listen to Julie Condliffe.
Julie, a very warm welcome to Wealth Talk today. How are you? Yeah, really great. Thank you so much for having me, Christian. It's an absolute pleasure, Julie. Of course, you're the solicitor and partner of the award -winning property law firm Creative Legals. And not only that, they're your speaker, you're a property investor yourself and award -winning as well. Tell us a little bit about that. Thank you, Christian. Sometimes when I hear all these titles, I'm thinking, okay, who is this person we're talking
But yes, I am a solicitor. I am an author, best selling, and I also won an award for being the best auction solicitor. So, honoured to have that. And that's because I specialize in auctions. I've personally bought and sold quite a lot of properties at auction. So now I also advise people from a legal perspective as to how to buy successfully at auction.
and how to sell at auction as well. So that's what I do. That's what I love doing. Brilliant. And doing it very well by the looks of things. So congratulations on that. And yeah, we're going to dive into some of the legal side of auctions today. And we've talked on previous episodes about how to maximize returns from buying auctions and selling auctions as well. But of course, you need to know what you're doing, right? You can't just turn
Christian Rodwell (04:47.336)
and hope that everything's going to work out fine. let's actually take it back. Where did it begin for you, Julie? Why are you so fascinated and why have you now dedicated so much time to helping other people really understand the legal side of auctions? I started off way back when, but I think when it comes to auctions, I bought and sold quite a lot of my own properties at auction. So as I was buying properties at auction, I struggled
I know really good conveyances and at the time I was one of them, obviously I still am. But I couldn't find a solicitor that could deal with matters as quickly as I needed to. Some solicitors firms, Christian, were taking 14 days to just onboard me to complete the AML, you know, the KYC and all the rest of it. And then there are times when I had like a 14 day deadline to complete. So the hammer falls, you've got 14 days to complete.
If your solicitors are still doing their anti -money laundering checks, you could be in a spot of bother. You could be in quite a lot of trouble. So because I experienced that myself, I just thought, surely there must be another way. There must be a better way. So what I've always learned in life is if you face problems and if you can't find the solution out there, why can't you be part of the solution? So luckily, because
a solicitor anyway, I thought why not specialize in this particular area, help other people like me, because I understand their pain, I understand what they're going through, I speak the same language as they do. So why not just plug that gap and be the difference that I want to see. And you mentioned speaking the same language there, but perhaps there's some language that you know others might not. So AML, mentioned anti -money laundering and KYC.
Can you explain for anyone who perhaps is not sure about these terms? Yeah, sure. And the thing is, Christian, I don't know why we do this as solicitors. We always use jargon or we always use that language. I don't know whether we do it to sound more educated or whatever we do. But KYCs know your clients. So we've got legal obligations to make sure that we actually know our clients, that we know that they are who they say they are.
Christian Rodwell (07:04.748)
because sometimes you have identity fraud and obviously that's a very, very serious matter. So when we take on a new client, when we onboard a client, we need to check their ID, we need to check their proof of address. So that's all part of the know your client KYC process. And the AML, like you rightly pointed out, that is the anti -money laundering checks. So those are checks that we need to carry out as well. So we carry out robust checks in relation to those.
We also carry out checks in relation to source of funds. So where did the money come from? If you're trying to buy a property, we need to be able to trace the origin of that money. So it's all part of the onboarding. So we take that very, very seriously. Whilst we can do it quicker, because we've got systems in place, we've got automations in place, we've got machines, we've got companies that we work with, we still do and we still must do tarot checks. So even though I say some solicitors take 14
They probably have good reason to take 14 days. know, it may be the systems that they use or whatever it is. But I think it's just trying to do the same job, getting the same job done, but in a faster, smarter and better way. That's what we do. And who would be your typical client? it the buyers at auction, the sellers at auction or a combination of both? A combination of both, Christian. So we have a lot of people who come to us before they bid. And those are my favorite people.
Obviously, I love the sellers and I love YouTube buyers. But it's the people who come to me before the hammer falls. Those are the people that I'm madly in love with. Why? Because I help them out the most. Because you've got a lot of potential pitfalls in auctions. You've got the small print and all the rest of it. So if people come to us before the hammer falls, we can help them. We can help them save a lot of potential stress.
We can help them save a lot of money. We can help them save themselves from a lot of legal problems. So that's why I love it when people come to me before the hammer falls. So if you read a legal pack and you're uncertain of some of the legal jargon, legal terminology, it pays to pay attention and it pays to read or, you know, send it to somebody else, you know, like me who can help you do that. And it's not just you can go wherever you need to go to. But the bottom line is, you know, get the legal pack.
Christian Rodwell (09:26.806)
reviewed prior to avoid pitfalls. We talk about wealth building and sometimes there are things you can DIY, some things you can do yourself. There are some things you really shouldn't do yourself. And when it comes to going through legal packs, if you're not experienced, I'm imagining that's something that you shouldn't really be DIYing. And so what are some of the common pitfalls when it comes to legal packs? What are areas that you see people coming unstuck, Julie? Yeah, no, thank you for that, Christian.
And of course, loads of things you can DIY. And like you said, I really wouldn't recommend DIYing something that's got quite a lot of legal jargon. So one of the pitfalls is we may not understand the legal jargon. there's quite a lot. Some of the documents are still from way back when. So you've got some leases, you've got some transfer deeds that were drafted in the 70s, you know, where we used to use quite a lot of Latin, know, Latin maxims and loads of other different things like
which don't make any sense to an ordinary plain English language. That's changing now for the better. I'm pleased to say, but it's still there. So if we don't have a clear understanding of something, that could be a potential problem. And some of the actual pitfalls start from right at the outset. You want to buy at auction. Have you actually read the legal peg? Some people, Christian, you'll be shocked, don't actually even bother.
reading the legal pack, you've probably seen people on, know, homes in the Bahamas saying, yeah, I this property, super excited about it. I didn't even read the legal pack. I just knew it was the right one. And I got it. Okay, that's not even an achievement. Do you actually think it's an achievement? Because it isn't because at the time you may think you've actually won at auction, but it's not every bit, you know, it's not every successful bid. That's actually successful. Yes.
So sometimes you may win, but you may end up losing a lot because of these actual pitfalls. So reading the legal pack is very, very important, but not just reading it, reading and understanding it. And secondary to that, you also want to know what should be in a legal pack. Yes. So you want to have a good understanding of what should be in a legal pack. Is it there? Is it not? Because that would be problematic. And you also need to know what to look out for in the documents that are in the legal
Christian Rodwell (11:52.152)
Happy to expand on all of those. Yeah, and someone could take the time to try and research and find that out themselves. But, you know, why not just come to an expert like yourself who's already experienced and can spot these things and identify them a lot quicker, ultimately probably saving money over time anyway. And when it comes to auction, you know, the need for speed does exist, doesn't it? There is an account timer. Let's talk about freeholds, leaseholds. What are some of the differences there that, you know, someone might need to be aware of, Julie?
Yeah, sure. Freehold leaseholds, first maybe defining the difference between freehold and leasehold or what a freehold property is and then what a leasehold property is. So a leasehold property, you get the actual unit, you get the property itself, but not the land that it sits on. So because of that, you may have to pay ground rent. So you're paying for the ground that the land actually sits
because you don't own that. So that is what a leasehold property is. So you pay ground rent because you don't own the ground and you may also pay service charges for the communal areas. So depending on the services that are provided there, the service charges could be very little or they could be extortionate. In my experience, they've been super duper extortionate because one of the properties that I bought earlier on in my career was a property in Swindon. I bought it because I fell in love with the property.
and I use my heart instead of my head. So when I bought it, it's got like amazing facilities there. It's got an electric gate and, you know, everything that you would want to get in a property. But what comes with that though, Christian, is the expenditure, the service charges. I pay over six thousand pounds service charges only. And that doesn't really help me because I already have an issue in that I don't have a lot of cash flow.
So the little cash flow that I get, most of it is going to the service charges. So when we're buying a leasehold property, we want to check service charges. We want to look at the previous accounts. We want to be able to see how much service charges were paid this year, the year before. And if there are any forecasts for next year, how much is the service charge is going to be? So that's going to be very important because that could eat into your profits, your cash flow. So that's important.
Christian Rodwell (14:09.15)
And then freehold is a lot better in my view, because normally with freehold properties, except a limited few, you don't need to worry about service charges, you don't need to worry about ground rent, because not only do you own the property, you also own the land which the property sits on. So that's the fundamental difference between a freehold and a leasehold. Now, when you're buying at auction, the fundamental differences would be in the documents contained in the legal pack. You want to look out for
service charges like we've just said. You want to look out for information on the ground rent. So you want to look at previous years, how much ground rent has been paid. Ground rent is a lot easier because if you read the lease, you'll be able to figure out how much that is. And the lease will define the current ground rent and it will show you if there's any stair casing over the years. So that's that. But what do you look out for in a legal pack when it's a leasehold property?
you look up for those documents that I've just pointed out. But you also want to make sure that you've got a copy of the lease to be able to read into all these other documents that I've said. And you also want to ensure that there is a management pack because that's like detailed information about the lease and all the associated costs. And I guess also thinking about if someone perhaps has not paid those service charges, and then maybe some arrears, would that be something that would show up? Or would that be another process of finding that
Yeah, that's a really, really good point. So that leads us naturally, Christian, to the special conditions and the general conditions. Now, some special conditions would actually spell out the fact that if there are any service charge arrears or grant rent arrears, you'll be liable to pay. Some will define rent and you'll say if there are any rent arrears, and then rent will include grant rent arrears, service charge arrears, arrears from the tenant. So you need to be fully aware of that. You need to read and understand.
exactly what you're getting into. But not just that, it's not just the service charges touching on the rent. You've got a standard condition in the auction conditions, it's G11, which basically speaks to the fact that if there's any current rent, rental arrears, you as the incoming buyer will be liable for those arrears. So sometimes we see a rent schedule in the legal pack and we don't
Christian Rodwell (16:29.038)
know what that means. We just think, okay, they're being super transparent. They're being very kind. They're showing us, you know, the rental arrears from, you know, the current rental arrears. And we don't understand what that actually means in law. But that's why it's so important to get somebody to help you and understand because if there are any arrears, you'll be liable. I had a client who ended up paying 25 ,000 pounds worth of arrears because there was an arrears schedule in the legal pack. They were current
And he didn't know. He just thought they were being, you know, transparent. And that was it. So when we sent him the completion statement, because we didn't review the legal pack for him, he only found out afterwards. You know, you get the completion statement and you're thinking, OK, I've bought this property for 250 ,000. I just have to pay my STEM duty and the legal fees. And then you're lumbered with an additional 25 ,000 pounds. That's not fun at all. Not nice. No.
That's great to know that. What would be some other areas perhaps that people don't often consider, Julie? So any other sections of the legal pack that you'd like to highlight? So because we're talking about leaseholds, perhaps let's start with that. So sometimes in a leasehold building, if there are any planned works, let's just say there's a problem with the roof and they need to replace it or repair it and that's going to cost 50 ,000 and there are like 10 leaseholders
So in the legal pack, there could be a Section 20 notice. So a Section 20 notice will show you if there are any works that are going to be over 250 pounds. So look out for Section 20 notices because that notice could be the precursor to something huge because you may be liable to contribute whatever, however much I failed maths in school. So that's going to be perhaps 5000 pounds or whatever. And sometimes it's even
a lot more than that. So you want to look up for Section 20 notices, but the Section 20 notices could be in a Section 20 form. It could be written, you know, on the face of it, Section 20, but sometimes it isn't. So sometimes it's the property information forms that you want to read, because in there, there's a specific question as to whether there are any Section 20 works. And if the vendor says yes, automatically, you've been put a notice. So reading the documentation is super important. And
Christian Rodwell (18:51.566)
So that is true. If the vendor says no, and if they knew that there were Section 20 notices, then they could be liable because that is a representation. And if a representation is not true, then it's a misrepresentation and you would be able to sue them based on that, potentially. Yeah. So what happens in the event that obviously there's a very limited window of time that you can, you you have to buy the property.
the falls at that point. If there is an issue that arises in this period of time, is there any way to extend that? you know, how do you address these things in such a short period of time? Because we know legal normally takes a while, right? Yes, it normally takes a while. You're absolutely right, as rain. I remember selling one of my properties last year conventionally, took seven months, Christian, I was way too long thinking, my god, this needs to complete. So yes, you're right, it could take a very, long time.
But the unfortunate thing is once the hammer falls, you have exchanged contracts. Once you've exchanged contracts, that means you're in a legally binding agreement. So there's no turning back. Answering your question directly, can you extend it? There's always room for negotiation. But 99 % of the times, why would a vendor want to extend a timeline that they've actually set?
So they've set that timeline for a reason. It could be a commercial reason, financial reason, business reason, whatever the reason, but they've got a reason why they've got that timeline. So some vendors can be flexible, dependent on their circumstances, but it's highly unlikely. So I think it's of paramount importance for us to understand that once the hammer falls, we're in legally binding agreement and really there's no turning back because if you renege on that, you could be lumbered with costs.
damages will ensue and the purpose of damages is to put one back into the position they would have been in had the mischief not been committed. So in this case, it could be onerous. By way of an example, if perhaps you were buying a house for 100 ,000 and you didn't complete and then the vendor then resold the property because it's a fire sale, they really want to sell it quickly and the next buyer bought it for 70 ,000, you're reliable for the difference.
Christian Rodwell (21:11.758)
So initially it would be the 30 ,000 pounds, which is the difference between the 100 ,000 and the 70 ,000. And then in addition to that, whatever other incidentals, so their legal fees initially for trying to sell the property, their legal fees now, the auctioneer's fees at the beginning, the auction fee, I can't even speak, the auctioneer's fees now. So it could be a lot. So just don't do it. Don't bid unless if you're absolutely sure you can compete.
it makes it a lot more important to know what you're getting into, read the legal pack, understand it. Yeah. Well, if that doesn't emphasize the importance of doing your homework upfront, and due diligence is just such an important piece of the wealth building process that we teach as well. And people have different personalities, you mentioned at the beginning, those that really go with the heart and don't worry about reading things too much detail, right? It just feels good. It feels right.
And that's where you need to have the right people around you who love doing the things that you don't enjoy so much. Why do you enjoy auctions, Julie? Why do you feel that auctions are a great way to buy a property other than the advantage of speed perhaps? But for anyone listening now who is still traditional method of going to an estate agent perhaps and researching online, what are some of the benefits you found? The first one is, like you said, it's the speed.
but more personally is the certainty. Because as I said, I sold my other house and seven months down the line, I'm thinking, are they going to complete? Are they not? Are they going to pull out? Are they not? And in this country, you can pull out at any given point. So just because somebody has made an offer on your property doesn't actually mean they're going to complete. So I think that is disadvantageous. I don't actually think it's the best route. And I just wish that as a country we could change
because other countries' conveyancing is a lot quicker. And in this country, it isn't, which is why auctions actually successfully plug that gap. So you've got the speed, you've got the certainty, because some of us have got children. So we are trying to sell a house. You've let loads of people come viewing in and out, and you think, yay, we've secured a buyer. But seven, eight months down the line, you still don't know. So you start packing the boxes, and then afterwards, you've got to unpack.
Christian Rodwell (23:30.894)
if the whole deal falls through and that's a possible, yeah, it's a reality, it's a possibility. So for me, auctions are very attractive because of that, because you've got your marketing period, which is maybe just a month. And then after that, the hammer falls, you've got 28 days to complete, you've got 14 days to complete. You decide that, you put that, you define that in the special conditions. So all of a sudden, you you're in power, you've got your power back. And I think auctions,
do that for you, there is no other way in Great Britain of getting around that. So that's one of the reasons why I love auction. And as a vendor, cash flow is very important to me. So that works too. But also, even as a buyer, most of the people who buy now buy limited companies. It's a business decision to buy. You want to be able to complete in good time. So that's attractive too. I think we're focused
Obviously, the need for due diligence, there's no doubt about that. But some people can read legal packs themselves. Some people have got great solicitors, you know, like me. Some people come on my training program and they learn how to read legal packs, you know, themselves. So if you can do that yourself, you can beg a bargain at auction. Auctions can be brilliant. You know, some people are super successful because of auctions. So there are loads of positive reasons why you would want to buy at auction. And I also think
Sometimes buying at auction is actually a good thing because you are helping somebody else. Because some of these people who are selling at auction, they're super desperate. The property landscape has really changed for us as property investors lately. know, mortgage interest rises, regulatory changes, quite a lot of different things. And some people have become mortgage prisoners. They want to sell, they desperately want to sell and they want to sell quickly. So auction provides that escape route for them, you know, and as an auction seller.
That will work. And when you're buying an auction, you're helping the troubled person. So that's how I see it, Christian. I say misconception. Maybe you can dispel this or confirm it. Is that someone who's looking to sell a property, if they sell free auction, they're going to get a lower price. So it's a way of selling quickly. But the other side of that is you might get less. Is that the typical case or
Christian Rodwell (25:50.784)
in my own experience, having sold a lot of my own properties at auction, I've never felt that to be the case. You know, I've sold properties and I've actually got more than I needed, than I anticipated, not that I needed, I always need more. I think the key thing is when it comes to auctions, it's just getting two or three or four people fighting against each other. And depending on how passionate they are, you could get a lot. That's how I see it. So as long as you've got two bidders, you
is then the chance of getting a really, really good price. also, you've got the right to set your guide. So you set the guide. Well, you set the reserve, you know, and your reserve is a figure that you're comfortable with. So whatever you're going to get, open market, obviously, I'm not an auctioneer. But for me, it's whatever I was going to get, whatever I'm comfortable with is what I will set as my reserve. So I sit tight, sit comfortably, because I know that if I don't get it, the property just won't sell.
I'm not going to sell it. And 90 % of the times I sell anyway. So that's how I see it. Yeah. So are there any drawbacks to selling an auction that you can say? no. No, none at all. But I just think that you have to be very, very clear in relation to your reserve. I think that's very, very important. And I just think that in as much as sometimes we're desperate, the sellers that I've come across who've perhaps been not overly
happy with the process, we're the ones where an auctioneer has persuaded them to reduce the reserve to a price that they're not comfortable with. My message to them is the auctioneers are not your boss. They should not dictate to you what you should do. Of course, they should advise you and their role is advisory. I respect that. But it should never get to a point where it's super uncomfortable for you, such that after the sale, you've got remorse about it. You're not in a good position because somebody's influenced you to do
So I think that's the only negative, but I think it's probably the absence of knowledge or sometimes it's just desperation, isn't it? When you're told that this is the only way we're going to sell your property or this is the only price that we're going to sell. But then again, that could be even with a traditional, you know, sale, isn't it? You could get to a point where the price is determined by willing seller, willing buyer. So if there's nobody who wants to buy that price, I'm actually really fishing for negatives and I can't find
Christian Rodwell (28:17.41)
I think I'm struggling to find any negatives of selling at auction because I've successfully sold at auction. I have had one property which was sold literally at reserve. I wasn't overly excited about that. But maybe that's because I'd been used to all my properties going way above what I'd expected. But I said the reserve so I should be able to live with that. And since COVID, we've seen a big shift, I imagine, to online auctions. Has that changed the way the legal process works in any way?
Legal process? Not really. I don't imagine it has. But I think as legal professionals, we are just becoming more educated on the different, know, kinds of options. You've got your modern method of auction, where obviously it's almost like it's a conditional offer, isn't it? So they haven't actually exchanged contracts. We deal with the exchange a bit later on, but you pay some fees right up front.
So I don't think there's been any real changes, but I think there's a lot of traction when it comes to auctions, just generally, Christian, and I don't think it's necessarily COVID related or post -COVID. I think it's all more the changes generally in the landlording landscape, that's driving the traffic, driving people to want to sell quicker and sell through auctions. So that really is my experience.
And do you feel it's a buyer's market at the moment as a property investor? Yes, I do. I do, I do, I do. And a lot of my clients who buy at auction, they're not even bidding. They're waiting until after auction. I'm whispering because I don't want them to hear. So they're literally waiting until after auction, Christian, and they're bagging some real bargains. They genuinely are.
because some of them have got great relationships with the auctioneers. So the auctioneers want to sell, obviously the sellers want to sell too. So after auction, they get calls to say, hey, that one didn't sell, what are you willing to offer? And obviously, now there'll be a lot more legroom in terms of negotiations. So it is a buyer's market. That's the long and short of it. The same relationship exists then with the auction houses and the buyers, the investors.
Christian Rodwell (30:38.286)
as it does with the estate agents where they have their little black book and they'll give someone a phone call and maybe let them know that, as you say, something hasn't sold and they might be interested. 100%. Yes, the same game. Yeah, great. So just tell us a little bit more about Creative Legals. Who's your perfect customer for our listeners now who are into auctions or want to get into auctions? When would be the right time for them to get in touch with you and how would they best go about that?
So I'm really, really keen on helping people who want to buy at auction because that's very, very important to me. Because as wealth builders, we want to build our wealth. We don't want to leave a legacy of liability. We don't want to get a legacy of liability. We want a legacy of wealth. So one of the key ways of doing that is making sure that we don't fall foul of these pitfalls, know, the small print and things like that. And we can only do
by knowing what we're getting into, by reading and understanding the legal pack. I'm really passionate about that. So I want to help people do that. That's why I've got a training program to help people read and understand the legal pack. But not just that, we also offer as a service, just reading your legal pack and we can do that even as little as 24 hours before auction. I have been instructed.
on the auction day in the morning when it's like lots 200 of something. And I've managed to turn that around. So we'll act for people who are selling, we'll act for people who are buying. And that's across the UK? Across the UK. Yes. Absolutely. We just don't deal with Scotland because it's outside the jurisdiction. And what's the socials, the website, if people want to go and get in touch, Julie? Thank you. Yeah, they can contact me directly, Julie at CreativeLegalsWithAnS
Just follow me on LinkedIn, Julie Condeleve, website, creativelegals .com. More than happy to connect. Thanks so much. I can see your passion coming through on this topic, Julie. And thanks so much for sharing your insights and your wisdom with our listeners today. Christian, it's been brilliant. Thank you so very much for having
Christian Rodwell (32:48.76)
Good words of advice from Julie there. She's certainly experienced some of those things for herself and many of her clients that she's helped along the way too. Before we dig into some of those lessons, wealth lessons, we've had reviews on Trustpilot once again this week. Let's quickly read out the latest one from Deborah who says, I have just had an exceptionally insightful session with Gary Re -Sass, life insurance, trusts and legacy building.
I now have a roadmap to utilize and I'm very grateful. I would highly recommend Wealthbuilders as genuinely helpful and unconditional with all advice provided. Thank you again. Interesting and all the better for it coming from another member of the team. Of course, the integrity we hear so much about from Wealthbuilders is in not just the DNA of the company, but the DNA of my family because that Gary being spoken of is Gary Weelan.
who's my younger brother and a SaaS expert. So well done, Gary. And we're always pleased and proud when anybody says good things about our team, which they do often. let's tackle some of these areas that Julie brought up today. And we talked about buying auctions a couple of weeks ago with Ruben. Some of the benefits of selling at auction we know with speed and certainty, avoids lengthy conveyancing.
So Julie, of course, works with both buyers and sellers. So she sees some of the mistakes perhaps that happen, but she identified some of the challenges. I found it interesting when she said some people don't even read the legal pack, which seems astonishing. I guess it highlights the different kind of dynamics and personality types that exist. does indeed, Chris. know, wealth dynamics is a very powerful tool and we see that. whenever you see people who have a challenge
often it's the more creative type, the big picture thinkers who will skip over things, gloss over things, and in many cases go entirely on their gut instinct. And we see that play out. And when I meet people, we look at their wealth dynamic inside wealth builders, and I see where they're extraordinarily high in the dynamo energy, but extraordinarily low in the steel energy, the detail side, I always kind
Christian Rodwell (35:08.908)
Have a little sideways glance at them, Chris, and say, have you ever made a mistake in building your wealth? Did you ever cut a corner on a bit of due diligence and you paid the price for that? And usually that's where it is. So it's hidden in the wealth dynamic. So you should know yourself and obviously Chris, people can go and do their wealth dynamics and it's a great tool to help you discover not just yourself, but your partner, your business partner.
joint venture partners, all kinds of relationships. Good to know that. there's people who can get their wealth dynamic assessment from our website, don't they Chris? They can indeed, yeah. It's wealthbuilders .co .uk and you'll find it there. You know, the issue for me though is while that can kind of raise its head and people can be challenged by their dynamic, I think I'd like to raise a point. I mentioned it at the beginning.
that there's a wealth lesson for everybody irrespective of your dynamic, which is when you go on a journey to build wealth, it's like going on a journey to another country. There's some language you have to learn. And it was very easy to see that you picked up on that with Julie, what's the definition of this, what's the definition of that. And you could see very easily you could get lost in the legalese.
But the point is, no matter what it is you want to do strategically or tactically, there's going to be new language to learn. When you're studying language, you need a vocab book. You need a vocabulary book so you can remember the words. And I would say, if you're serious about building your wealth, just get yourself like an old exercise book or something that you're comfortable with. And every time you hear something that's new, put it in your vocab
You know, put it in something that you can refer back to it because you won't remember everything. And you certainly won't remember everything that Julie mentions. I think that's a very powerful thing because in property and business, in auctions, there's language you have to learn and become familiar with. And it's not difficult language as long as you note it and you can recall it and review that. Otherwise you can easily get lost.
Christian Rodwell (37:31.042)
because for the most part people are dipping in and out of things as they go on that journey of discovery, am I going to be interested in this? Am I going to be interested in that? So I would be very careful to note those things and start to build your own wealth vocab book. And good for the kids as well. So if you ever want to teach your next generation, then like I did and my kids laugh at me when I taught them.
the French and Spanish, but they all got grade A's, right? And that was helpful because I taught them the building blocks of the language and having a good vocab is critical and it's very important to give confidence when it comes to wealth building as well. And a case in point, I was talking to one of our members just the other day and I mentioned, as you sometimes do, you slip into it without meaning to, in commercial property and FRI.
Lisa and I could see his face just went, oops, I went, right, full repairing and ensuring what that means is this, this and this. I went, I've got it. Took me three minutes to get that. But had you not stopped and seen the expression, I wouldn't have got it. And I would have sort of even not been concentrating because I'm thinking I don't really understand that. So very important never to get stuck on some words, go back and revisit them. I didn't mean to over labor the point, Chris, but you get what I'm saying.
I indeed. I guess just to conclude, auctions might not be a strategy that someone listening now is engaged in, but as an ever -changing economy, we've just had a new government come in, you have to adapt when it comes to wealth building. And there will be cycles where certain strategies might work well for a period of time, and then you might have to move into a new area. perhaps auctions now is a new area for some people. Yeah. And I think Ruben said in
Previous one, it was touched on there by Julie, two different types of auction, the sort of conventional auction that ends straight away on the gavel, then you've got the 28 days and others you've got a little bit longer. So for some people who think auctions is only, you've got to complete in 28 days and they need a mortgage. But in fact, there are auctions that allow you to have a little bit more time. So maybe it can be included where previously your
Christian Rodwell (39:55.32)
Thoughts were, it's excluded because I need to raise finance from somewhere. Well, thanks go to Julie once again for sharing all of her insights today. And we'll link to everything that's been discussed on today's podcast in the show notes. And if you've enjoyed this episode, please hit the share button and send it to a friend and we'll be back same time, same place next week, We will indeed, Chris. And until then my friend, see
Christian Rodwell (40:24.056)
We hope you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget that we are constantly updating our resources inside the WealthBuilders membership site to help you create, build and protect your wealth. Head over to wealthbuilders .co .uk slash membership right now for free access. That's wealthbuilders .co .uk slash membership.