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Co Londonderry woman Tanya McGeehan tells HELEN MCGURK why she is on a mission to become Ulster’s top female property entrepreneur.   Who hasn’t watched a TV show like Homes Under the Hammer and dreamt of buying a dilapidated property with a 1970s avocado bathroom suite and Artex ceilings, doing it with up swish new fittings, and selling it on for a cool profit? Let’s face it, the idea of ditching the humdrum nine-to-five to make a quick buck doing up a horrible house is a seductive one. But, of course, TV programmes make property developing look like a cinch, when the gritty reality – as NI property entrepreneur Tanya McGeehan points out – is it takes strong foundations of “resilience, determination and passion”… and, one should point out, money. The 43-year-old Magherafelt woman who has completed some 15 ‘flips’ (industry lingo for buying a property doing it up, then selling it on for a profit) developed her ‘love’ for property out of very tragic circumstances. “My mother and father had their own property business, which my father started after taking early redundancy as a bank manager when he was 36. In the early 1990s he purchased his first buy-to-let property and went on from there to build up quite a successful property business. “I have grown up with property from I was a very young age. I always say it’s in my DNA. I am also the eldest of four girls, so we were all very much familiar with property. All my dad’s portfolio was primarily in Belfast, so we spent many times when we were at university driving around collecting rent from students. Myself and my friends in my first year at the University of Ulster lived in one of my dad’s properties off the Lisburn Road.” Tanya, however, did not go straight into the property business; instead after university she worked for her local council. “During this time my dad started to get unwell and at the very tender age of 53 was diagnosed with early frontal dementia – he was literally struck down in the prime of his life . “None of us girls worked in the property business, it was something he ran himself along with my mum, a community nurse. In April, 2009 my mother reached out to me, being the eldest, and asked me to help her with it. “So, due to the tragic circumstances of my father, I ended up going into the family business, not having had any real desire previous to that to work in it. But I ended up falling in love with the industry.” Tanya’s father died nine years ago at the age of 57 and she still looks after his property portfolio. “I was really loving the whole industry. I had a lot of experience working in the rental side of things at that point, as well as managing the properties, as you are constantly having to upgrade and maintain them, but I wanted to get into refurbishment, the ‘flipping’ side of the business.” Tanya established her business, MCG Investments, and set about following her dream, working alongside a team of tradesmen her father had worked with to transform run-down properties into desirable homes. “We are about to start project 16. The properties are all in Belfast, mainly around Ravenhill, Ormeau, Saintfield. We’ve just completed three units in South Parade and we’re just about to embark on one on the Malone Road and one in Rosetta. “We tend to go for highly-sought after areas with high demand from professionals; the more affluent, higher income areas.” With the ‘flips’ going well, she saw a niche in the market and decided to branch out. “Primarily when I first set out it was just with a view to doing ‘flips’ for myself. I was fortunate enough to have a pot of capital that I was able to start off the business with, and then I simply worked for myself and nobody else was involved. “Then at the start of last year I did a property training course in Glasgow. On the back of that training we pivoted the business and started opening up to investors to come on board with us and started promoting the business and talking about what we do and how we can help other people who have absolutely zero experience or knowledge of property, but are interested in getting a foot on the ladder. “Also, we identified a real gap in the market for people that want to invest in property long-term, as a buy-to-let investment, whether it be for a pension or to hand over to their children, whatever their reasons, and are simply too busy with their own primary jobs or businesses. “That is one of our main services, a consultancy service where people that are time-poor hire us as consultants to do all of the work for them – from sourcing and acquiring the properties, negotiating the price, doing all the searches and viewings and communicating on behalf of the client with their conveyancing solicitor, broker, surveyor, whatever professionals are required. “We’ll also set up an appointment with a letting agent to find suitable tenants and also a management agent that once the tenants are placed they are managed by a local agent. The only involvement that the client has is collecting their rental income at the end of each month. It is a very seamless, one-stop shop service, which has proved very popular.” As anyone who has ever bought a house knows, the process can be incredibly stressful, but Tanya believes the key to being a successful property entrepreneur is passion. “It is stressful at times, but I absolutely love it, you must have a passion for it.” The attributes she deems crucial are organisational and numerical skills. “You have to be a numbers person, which I am. I can very quickly calculate the numbers of a deal.” When she does up a house and it’s looking gorgeous, isn’t she ever

Mid-Ulster based company, MCG Investments, has experienced in excess of a 300% in growth in the first quarter of 2021 as a result of changing its business model due to the pandemic.   Moving from working solely on its own property portfolio, it has expanded its service to include private investors and joint venture partners, which has led to the creation of four new jobs. Since its formation in 2017, the company had completed 12 property projects up to March 2020 and after implementing its new operational plan over the last year, MCG Investments has secured 10 new residential property projects from January to April 2021 already. Tanya McGeehan, Managing Director of MCG Investments said: “The last year has been a very challenging and worrying time for most business-owners. At the beginning of the pandemic, we looked at our business model and put a strategic plan in place to ensure our company would survive first and foremost. We decided to be brave and pivot and in addition to working on our own property portfolio, we launched a new service to facilitate private investors and joint venture partners. This has transformed the company and I’m pleased to say that the results have been hugely successful for us. “We have increased the number of projects we have across Northern Ireland with a similar number of projects in the last four months as we had in the entire three years before, and we have also been expanding our reach with a development in Doncaster working with UK investment partners. Our ‘Buy to Flip’ service, which had a modest turnover of £350,000 in the accounts filed in January 2020, has achieved sale agreed on over £1.48m worth of property transactions in the first quarter of 2021.” “Our new strategy of working on behalf of investors who wish to utilise our expertise in property sourcing and portfolio building services has been really well received. This will continue to be a key focus of our business growth in the months ahead and we have secured a number of new clients, including one who is in contract to buy 20 properties in Belfast in 2021. “The success of MCG Investments over the last four months has resulted in the creation of four new jobs and we have plans for further job creation in the months ahead as we prepare for continued growth.” And as the property market looks set to thrive for the remainder of this year and into 2022, MCG Investments is encouraging people across Northern Ireland to think of their future and consider the benefits of an investment property as it is more achievable than most might think. Tanya McGeehan added: “There is a perception that you have to be wealthy to embark on an investment property journey. That is simply not true. With it being estimated that over £2bn has been accumulated in bank accounts in Northern Ireland over the pandemic as many were fortunate enough to be able to save money, now could be the time to make an investment, as the local property market is currently very buoyant with levels of activity not seen in almost 15 years. I would advise people to seek professional advice if this is something they are considering. At MCG Investments, we are on hand to provide the help and support if you don’t have the experience or the time to go out on your own – our success can become your success too.” Newsletter Article by Claire Cartmill https://www.newsletter.co.uk/business/consumer/mcg-investments-announces-300-growth-and-creation-of-four-jobs-3219291

The ‘Buying Your First Home During Covid-19’ webinar will look at how the first-time buyer market in Northern Ireland is currently performing and the types of properties and associated price ranges that this particular customer are most interested in. The panel will look at the trends and insights into how the market will perform throughout 2021 and some of the important economic indicators that first-time buyers will need to be aware of. There will be information on the current mortgage market for first time buyers and the types of finance available to them. SPEAKERS Samuel Dickey In 2016 Samuel joined one of the largest independent estate agents practices in Northern Ireland as a Partner. Simon Brien Residential cover the entire province and are involved in sales, rental and valuation of property of all types and sizes.  In 2004 Samuel qualified as a Chartered Surveyor and is the Residential Spokesperson for the profession in Northern Ireland.  Samuel is also a Board Member of Co-Ownership Housing.   Jordan Buchanan Jordan Buchanan is the Chief Economist at PropertyPal, acting as the spokesperson for the company and a trusted subject matter expert on all UK and Northern Ireland economic and housing matters. He currently sits on the Board of Co-Ownership, Northern Ireland’s shared ownership provider. Jordan is an experienced economist and research professional and has published extensive analytical research on key issues affecting the UK and NI economies. His recent work includes research on Brexit and other macroeconomic risks, the labour market and the housing sector. Jordan is skilled in economic modelling and alongside colleagues in the University of Cambridge, has developed a macroeconomic forecasting model of the UK economy and a gravity trade model to estimate the economic impact of Brexit. Jordan has also developed economic forecasting models to understand future growth patterns in Northern Ireland. Jordan lectured in Economics in the Ulster Business School and is a regular commentator across a range of media outlets.   Neil Conlon NI Property Finance LTD MD Neil Conlon is a Chartered accountant and Financial Adviser. Neil has over 15 years’ experience in Finance and Property. Neil was previously a Finance Director of a leading Northern Ireland estate agent for 8 years, joining the company in the aftermath of the Property Crash, and help guide it to Estate Agent of the year in 2016 and 2017. During the downturn Neil acted as Fix Charger receiver on the largest administration in Northern Ireland, furthermore he took property strategy and disposal instructions from the PWC, EY and BDO during the recovery phase of the property market. NI Property Finance and Wealth offers a full range of financial services and also provides a bespoke personal service for assisting clients to purchase buy to let properties and build property portfolios. >>>SIGN UP TODAY<<<

Managing Directory of MCG Investments, Tanya McGeehan has had a profile written on her that is featured in the Belfast Telegraph. We have a copy of the profile provided below.

MCG Investments’ recently shared their reaction the recent budget from Rishi Sunak with the Belfast Telegraph. We’ve provided a snippet below for you to read over. Please check out the full article to see various other reactions with the link below. Tanya McGeehan, managing director, MCG Investments “In the property industry in Northern Ireland for the short term the two key areas of focus for MCG Investments were action that might be taken by Government to support first time buyers and confirmation of the expected decision to extend the freeze on stamp duty. “We are delighted that the Budget has announced positive news on both fronts. The government ‘help to buy’ scheme which we must see operational in Northern Ireland will assist new buyers to the market with a minimum 5% deposit. Those buyers will also have the additional comfort that the treasury will underwrite a chunk of their loan as part of a guarantee agreement with lenders. We also welcome the extension of the freeze on stamp duty until the end of June which will in the first instance ensure that deals on the brink of completion do not collapse, and more importantly continue to stimulate the local market which remains buoyant as we move into the spring.”  […] Source: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/ulsterbusiness/analysis/the-budget-reaction-from-across-northern-ireland-business-and-industry-40156010.html

The ‘Commercial Investment in 2021’ webinar will examine the impact the pandemic has had on Belfast and look at the regeneration plans for the next five years. There has been an increased number of retail brands permanently closing their doors in recent months, leaving behind numerous derelict commercial buildings in Belfast city centre, and the panel will provide an insight into the current demand and supply for commercial property in Northern Ireland, discuss the barriers to UK and international investors investing in Belfast and what areas need improved on, to increase the demand from investors. SPEAKERS Robert Mulligan Robert Mulligan is a property developer with projects in Northern Ireland, London & the South West of England, active across various sectors including student, commercial & residential. He founded Farleigh Property, based in Wimbledon before forming the Bristol based Farleigh Rengen which is a leading developer focussing predominantly on Bristol and Bath including having completed over 100 new student units in 2020 alone. Robert’s group of companies currently has 11 developments under construction employing approximately 300 construction workers across the UK.   David McNellis David McNellis is a graduate of the University of Ulster and a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He joined Lisney in 1986 and was appointed a Director in 1994. David heads up the Commercial Agency Department and has approximately 26 years experience in the property industry. He specialises in the acquisition, sale and letting of commercial property across Northern Ireland acting for landowners, property companies, institutions and private Individuals. Simon Hamilton Simon is Chief Executive of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce. After graduating with degrees in history/politics and law from The Queen’s University of Belfast, Simon began his career as an auditor at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Prior to taking on his current role with Belfast Chamber, Simon served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Health and Minister for the Economy in the Northern Ireland Executive. SIGN UP TODAY

MCG Investments’ recently announced two free webinars which have been mentioned in the Belfast Chamber and also in Business Eye. We’ve supplied a small snippet below for your reading. Please navigate to the links below to see the full articles. MCG Investments has announced two free online events that will bring together some of the leading experts in the local property industry to provide insights into the future of Northern Ireland’s commercial market post pandemic and advice to help first-time buyers hoping to buy their first home. The first of two webinars, Commercial Property Investment in 2021, will take place on Tuesday 2nd March at 10.30am, and in discussion with Tanya McGeehan, Managing Director of MCG Investments will be Simon Hamilton, Chief Executive of Belfast Chamber of Trade & Commerce; David McNellis, Director of Lisney and Robert Mulligan, Co-Founder of Farleigh Rengen. This will be followed by, Buying Your First Home During Covid-19, on Wednesday 10th March at 10.30am, when Sam Dickey, Partner of Simon Brien Estate Agents; Jordan Buchanan, Chief Economist of PropertyPal and Neil Conlon, Managing Director of NI Property Finance will provide much-needed advice and tips for first time buyers. […] Source: https://www.businesseye.co.uk/property-experts-online-webinar-series/ Source: https://belfastchamber.com/news/latest-news/mcg-investments-brings-property-industry-experts-together-for-series-of-webinars/   Our webinars were also featured in some other news media, you can find copies of those in the gallery below. Belfast Telegraph 19.02.21 Webinars press release Newsletter Webinars Coverage 16.02.21

This is my first property blog, so that’s an important fact to get out of the way first. The second fact, is that I am writing this between the joys of home-schooling three hyper children and trying, like many of you, to keep my business going at the same time. That said, no excuses, as I intend to give you my own thoughts on where I see things in the residential property market, here in Northern Ireland, in the time ahead. Better still, I intend to go further than that, and bring some other industry leaders in to this conversation in the weeks ahead to pick up on the insights I am offering in this piece. The Why – Covid-19 outbreak As I write this, the fundamentals are sadly that over 1m people in the world have been diagnosed as positive for this virus. In UK and Ireland terms we have lost in the region of 8,000 of our neighbours, family and friends to this disease. That is a shocking loss of life and obviously the most important thing right now! After we have recovered from being ill, the world economic outlook would suggest that financially we may also become sick. These really are unprecedented times. In response, to a greater or lesser extent, the entire private sector is technically being nationalised by the Governments. There is a myriad of problems with this both short and long term but those issues are not for now. In these very uncertain times for us all there is a lot of noise out there. It is important, in this new normal, to use our new found ‘head space’ to assess how we are going to position ourselves in the weeks and months ahead. Put simply we need to focus on what our plans are to position for success on the other side of this tsunami. Recently I have read publications from some property experts offering their views in the current challenging climate. One earlier this week, from Jordan Buchannon, Economist at Property Pal was particularly noteworthy and I found it, in the main, merging with my own recent assessment of where things stand. Thanks to my business mentor Gavan Wall for encouraging me to share my own thoughts in this blog. I am doing my best to become more comfortable being uncomfortable! The Fundamentals – Why Property “As safe as houses” is not an accidental term. Property has proven to be an obsession in Ireland and the UK and here in Northern Ireland citizens continue to be driven to “get on the property ladder”. It has proven reliable in the long-term for growing our assets and wealth or simply in having the security of owning our own homes. When my late father retired from the Bank in 1993 and started his property journey interest rates were at 12 %, hardly an incentive to borrow money to start investing in bricks and mortar. Despite that reality, he did just that and built up a very sizeable portfolio that is still performing solidly to this day, long after we lost him to illness sadly in 2012. The attraction to property, apart from the emotion of owning something, is that it provides safety, security, capital growth, cash-flow and when done properly, can enable us to reap rewards in the short and long term. Covid-19 has not, and will not change that basic pillar. Property remains, for me, the place to invest funds now and in the future. At the beginning of this year, despite the first two months of stormy weather, do you remember that? (we all complained!) yet the property market in Northern Ireland was having its best start in several years with lots of activity and signs of a prosperous year ahead. Our current prices remain well below the pre -financial crash (2008) and it looked as though 2020 would be the year to see those differences with other regions of the UK market close. Put simply, we had in the region of 35% to grow in to compared with others. Why is this different to the financial crash in 2008? Let’s be honest… This feels different, this is different! If you were in property back then, we all made mistakes. We did too! Anyone who was dealing at a reasonable level had at least one bad deal. We had one really bad deal and a couple of smaller ones! They hurt, but they weren’t fatal thankfully. The truth is we all royally messed things up! Banks, developers, agents, everyone! We all got carried away in a haze of easy credit and inflated values! We all deserved some pain and boy did we get it! It was, in large part, of our own making and now 12 years on, we are at least able to admit that! This time, we aren’t to blame. Unless we were working in the World Health Organisation (WHO) or leading governments (Get well soon Boris, if you are reading this in St Thomas’ Hospital) we didn’t see this coming and now we are all, as the hashtag suggests “in this together!”. I have other views on that! As I have been writing this blog the seriousness of the potential economic situation is emerging. The ‘R’ word recession is everywhere. There is talk of the EU project failing. There is talk of output falling by 10% in NI alone. My take on this, is that this is all about the uncertainty of things! Remember Brexit… When we have a clear exit strategy from the measures in place currently, a certain level of confidence will return in my opinion to enable us to switch the lights back on! MCG Investments – Six Success Steps I do not claim to be an economic expert and there may be readers who disagree with my assessment, and that is absolutely fine. They may be better qualified and better placed in their fields. For me, what I am absolutely clear on, is that we