Doing company research is always an important part of due diligence, especially when it involves such a large purchase as a property.
Researching the company itself is the only way to find out about the top property development companies on the market. There is a range of things you should look out for when researching different real estate development businesses.
Here are seven things to keep in mind when researching different property development companies in the UK.
1. Find Out Who Is Behind the Company
During your research stage, you should look into the team behind the property development company you’re interested in.
This should involve finding out who the managing director/directors are, learning about members of the team, and learning about their industry background and reputation.
You can usually find this information on the ‘about us’ page of the company website or look on Linkedin to find team members who work at the company.
2. Look for Evidence of Industry Experience
The first step should be for the property investor to determine how long the company has been around.
If a property development company has been operating for many years, it’s likely that it will be more established and successful than those who are just starting out.
Experience means a lot, and if the residential property development companies you’re researching have only recently launched and haven’t yet successfully completed any projects, you may feel less secure in making a purchase.
3. Look For Evidence of Company Growth
You should look for any evidence of company growth for the property development company you’re investigating, whether this means they’ve won awards or expanded their business in some way.
If a company is always looking for new ways to excel, this can be a good sign that they’re committed and will continue to grow over time.
Similarly, you can pay attention to the type of development projects they have in their pipeline to work out whether they have good industry knowledge.
If the developer is constructing exciting new developments in thriving UK cities such as Liverpool and Manchester, rather than focusing only on London for new developments, this shows that they’re forward-thinking and understand what buyers want.
4. Look For Strong Reviews
Reviews are such a crucial element of any purchase. Buyers will check customer reviews for pretty much every product they purchase, and property shouldn’t be any different.
When researching a property development company, check their website for any company reviews, or refer to review sites like Trustpilot, Feefo, and Google Reviews.
Some of the top property development companies in the UK will have built up many customer reviews.
To identify a strong company, keep an eye out for 4 or 5-star reviews which paint the property development company itself and the developments they create in a good light.
Qualities like strong customer service and high-quality properties are things you should look out for when reading online reviews.
5. Look For a Proven Track Record
If a property development company doesn’t have any evidence of completed projects, then it can be difficult to identify whether they’re reliable or not.
The top property development companies in the UK will likely have a portfolio of successfully completed sites that potential investors can browse.
When researching a company’s track record, you should pay attention to the finished development and how it looks and consider whether or not the project was completed on time and within budget.
Delays in a property’s construction are sometimes unavoidable, so if there were any delays, try and find out the reason for this.
6. Keep an Eye Out for Positive Press
When it comes to property development companies, UK investors should also spend time looking online for any news or press that mentions the company.
If a property development company’s latest developments have made the headlines for all the right reasons, this is evidence of a strong track record and solid reputation in the industry.
If a company lacks news or press coverage online, this isn’t necessarily a sign that they can’t be trusted.
Some property development companies who have been around for less time than others may not be known by any major news outlets just yet.
However, if the company has been around for a long time and you can’t find any press coverage about them or find more negative news stories than positive, you should be cautious before going ahead with an investment.
7. Research Their Collaborators
When considering a property investment, residential property development companies are not typically the company you would purchase the property from.
Property development companies will usually collaborate with property investment companies who will sell the properties on their behalf.
This is why researching the property investment company, and the property development company is a helpful step to identifying the strength of a property developer.
Well-established property investment companies are unlikely to work with bad property developers. After all, they only want the very best for their clients.
The majority of these companies will research the developers they work with by carrying out in-depth due diligence and would be sure to avoid any companies they suspected to be unreliable.
At RWinvest, for instance, we only work with industry-leading property development companies in the UK, offering our clients the best possible developments in the top-performing locations.
When researching property investment companies that work with the developer, take all the same steps you would when researching the development company.
This includes learning about how long they’ve been operating, reading customer reviews, checking for news coverage, and looking at their track record.
If the property investment company looks reliable, experienced, and trustworthy, it’s likely that the property development company that they work with will be too!
