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This
biography is chiefly intended for journalists, radio and TV
researchers, magazine editors, and anyone else who might be interested
in it.
If
you need any additional information, please send me a message by e-mail
using the 'envelope' button above right.
Born
1957, the only son of Dorothy (a district nurse) and Gerald (an auditor
for British Leyland). Childhood years spent in the small village of
Adlington, near Chorley in Lancashire. Attended St Joseph's School in
Horwich where my favourite subjects were art, biology and, not
surprisingly, English. On leaving school I had many jobs including a
pet shop assistant, waiting-on at a motorway service restaurant and
being a petrol-pump attendant (prior to the introduction of
self-service). But the most enjoyable job I ever had was running
'Hudora' dog-boarding kennels in Adlington, which I did for four years.
When I look back, I realise these truly were the best years of my life.
Left
home in 1975 and moved to Manchester to start my three year psychiatric
nurse training at Prestwich Hospital. After being a cadet-nurse for a
year and then completing the course, I qualified 'RMN' in 1979 and
became first a staff-nurse and then, a year later, a charge nurse.
Resigned from nursing in 1987, having become disillusioned with the
'Cinderella' approach to psychiatry by government. The site on which
Prestwich Hospital once stood is now a Tesco superstore. So much for
progress.
In
1987 I bought my first ever investment property, a run-down double semi
in Prestwich that cost all of £48,000 (that equates to just
£24,000 each). I spent the next two years as a novice
plumber, builder, electrician, decorator, gardener and all round
general dogsbody, improving the property and converting it into
self-contained flats, which was then let to tenants. I discovered,
quite suddenly, what being a landlord actually involved and found
myself completely out of my depth. So began the 'learning curve' ...
One
of the best things I did at this time was to join a small local
landlords' association (the Bolton & Bury
District Landlords' Association). This had just 18 members in 1989. I
soon became its membership secretary and, together with three other
landlords, we formed the new North West Landlords' Association
(NWLA). Within three years, membership grew to over 500 and my role in
the organisation quickly became a full-time job. I later became
publicity officer, appearing on TV and radio for the first time, and
then later I was the editor and chief writer of 'The Letter', the
NWLA's bi-monthly magazine. We produced just under 50 issues of this
publication and, during this time, I researched and wrote articles on
just about every conceivable 'landlord' related subject.
 The
early 1990's were a very busy and productive period. The flats at
Prestwich were sold, raising funds to extend my property portfolio (now
a business called 'AGB Properties'); my partner and I moved to Salford
Quays, a canalside development that had grown out of the old Manchester
Docks; I was continuing to work for the NWLA; and my writing career
began paying for itself. Writing had always been a passion, right from
being a teenager, but now magazines were actually paying me for the
material I produced. The first article I ever had published was in
'Lancashire Life' in 1985. It was a piece on ghost-hunting (I would
write on 'any' subject, as long as it got into print and this piece
referred to a night I had spent at Chingle Hall, so called the most
haunted house in England). By 1995, the articles I produced all
revolved around property related subjects and this quickly became my
forte.
I
was delighted to be asked to write regular features for the 'Letting
Update Journal', a subscripted publication produced by the highly
respected 'Letting
Centre'. Whilst continuing to write 'The Letter', I was also
having articles accepted by national newspapers and magazines, and all
this helped raise both my profile and credibility.
By
1997 I had opened the Salford Quays Letting Centre (SQLC) with a
colleague from the NWLA, letting other people's property at the top end
of the market. By 1998 I had studied for and passed my entrance exam
for the National
Association of Estate Agents and began selling property under
the new business name of 'Quay Estates'.
In
2001 I made contact with the publisher's, 'How
To Books', and submitted an idea for a book on selling
property. It was accepted and "Save Thousands Selling Your Own Home"
was written within 3 months and on the bookshop shelves by 2002 (2nd
edition released in 2005 re-titled "How To Be Your Own Estate Agent").
As all writers will tell you, there is something uniquely satisfying in
seeing your first publication on the shelves of bookshops in every town
and city you visit ... and we all do the same thing ... moving our own
books to the front in the hope they will sell faster! These days, I
often wonder if half the people walking around Waterstones are actually
the authors of books sold by them.
The
first publication was swiftly followed by another contract from 'How To
Books' to produce "The Buy To Let Handbook" ... and then "Build Your
Own Home" ... and ... well, the rest is history. Publication has opened
up many new doors for me and I have had experiences that I could only
once have dreamed about, including being whisked off to London by a
television production company to spend a day filming a submission pilot
for the BBC. I have also now appeared on radio programmes so many times
that it has become second nature and have been consulted by
cornerstones in the financial and property world, including the Royal
Bank of Scotland.
Most
recently, I was invited to submit an article for publication to the
property magazine "In The Sticks", on how the media
tends to scaremonger us into believing we have either a bubbling or
crashing property market - but NEVER one that is just doing fine, thank
you very much!. As a writer, it is always good to have a 'bit of a go'
at the very industry you are involved in (but hope I didn't upset too
many newspaper editors out there).
 ..........  ..........
I
was also invited to act as one of the experts on the LandlordZone
property forum. This is one of the very best landlord related websites
there is and it was an honour to be asked to get involved with it. The
same goes for Tessa Shepperson's excellent LandlordLaw
website. I have written articles for this site and have collaborated
with Tessa on several interesting projects.
In 2008 I began writing for the highly respected and much acclaimed property investor website Property Secrets,
run by the Visium Group. I supplied them with over 250
articles covering all aspects of UK buy-to-let, landlord legislation,
mortgage supply and relevant topical material. I acted as
consultant and columnist throughout the period and I also provided
a regular Landlord's Clinic for Property Secrets' members. Property
Secrets itself suffered badly from the worldwide property investment
crash during 2009 and finally ceased trading in September of the same
year.
The
Manchester Evening News surprised me in January 2006 by putting my face
on its front pages (see below). It was a rather curious feature but one
that I was very grateful for, because it not only publicised the house
sale but also my books. The editor was clearly intrigued by the fact
that a local property writer was in the process of selling his own
home. Never before have I seen so many cliched headlines.
  
 I
now live in Blackpool with my partner, having moved from the hussle and
bustle of Manchester in 2008. We are just a stone's throw from
the beach, which is just as well as we share our home with our
treasured
rescued loopy-lurcher, "BB", and the ever energetic "Giro". Other than
my passion for writing, I enjoy
keeping fit and reading everything from Stephen King to the latest
housing reform legislation (both being horror stories in their own
right).
My
motto for life is: 'Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never have
to work again!'
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