TL;DR / Key takeaways
- A packaged property deal is a researched opportunity presented as a single document — the deal pack — so an investor can assess it quickly and hand it to their own solicitor and broker.
- A solid pack runs to around twelve pages: property summary, location analysis, valuation, refurb schedule, financial model, tenure, risks, photos, fee/terms and compliance.
- The valuation should use a six-comparable, RICS Red Book-aligned method, with any discount expressed as a discount to RICS valuation and the comparables shown.
- The numbers should appear as a four-yield model — gross, net, return on capital, and post-refurb — with assumptions stated. None are promised returns.
- The sourcing fee is paid by the buyer on completion, disclosed up front, after AML checks and reservation — never a share of profit.
- A deal pack is research, not a survey, mortgage valuation or legal advice. This is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice — seek independent professional advice.
A packaged property deal is a fully researched investment opportunity presented to an investor as one document — the deal pack — that pulls together the property, a comparable-backed valuation, a costed refurbishment, projected figures and the compliance information needed to make a decision. In plain terms, it is the difference between being handed a raw listing and being handed the homework already done — though the investor still completes their own purchase, survey and legal due diligence. This guide opens up that pack page by page so you know exactly what a credible one contains and what the language really means.
If you want London exposure without spending evenings trawling portals and modelling spreadsheets, the deal pack is the artefact you are really buying access to — so it is worth knowing what separates a serious pack from a sales sheet dressed up as analysis.
What is a packaged property deal?
A packaged property deal is an investment opportunity that a sourcer has researched, valued and documented, then presents to an investor as a ready-to-assess package. The core deliverable is the deal pack: a structured document covering the property, the numbers, the strategy and the compliance, designed so the investor can make an informed decision and pass it to their own professional advisers. The sourcer does the legwork of finding and analysing the opportunity; the investor remains the buyer and retains full responsibility for their own due diligence.
The phrase covers a spectrum — from a thin "deal sheet" with an optimistic yield and a couple of photos, to a properly underwritten pack you could hand to a chartered surveyor and a conveyancer without embarrassment. The contents below describe the latter: the standard a serious investor should expect and a serious sourcer should meet.
What's inside a 12-page deal pack
A credible pack is comprehensive without being padded. A typical one runs to around twelve pages, structured so each section answers a specific question an investor would otherwise have to research themselves.
| # | Section | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Property summary | What is it, where, and at what asking price? |
| 2 | Location & demand analysis | Who rents here, what's the tenant demand and pipeline? |
| 3 | Six-comparable valuation | What is it really worth, evidenced? |
| 4 | Discount to RICS valuation | How far below market is the entry price, and why? |
| 5 | Refurbishment schedule | What works are needed, costed line by line? |
| 6 | Four-yield financial model | How do the numbers look from four angles? |
| 7 | Tenure & lease details | Freehold/leasehold, term, ground rent, service charge? |
| 8 | Risks & assumptions | What could go wrong, and what's assumed? |
| 9 | Strategy rationale | Why this property, this strategy, this investor? |
| 10 | Photographs & floorplans | What does it actually look like? |
| 11 | Sourcing fee & terms | What does the investor pay, and when? |
| 12 | Compliance & disclosure | AML, redress, conflicts, disclaimers. |
The two sections investors skim but shouldn't are risks & assumptions and compliance & disclosure. A pack that states its assumptions plainly and discloses how the sourcer is paid is far more trustworthy than one that leads with a big yield number and buries the caveats.
The RICS six-comparable valuation
The single most important page is the valuation, because every other number depends on it. A credible deal pack does not assert a value — it evidences one.
The sourcer identifies six recent, genuinely comparable sold properties — similar size, type, condition, floor and location — and adjusts each for its differences against the subject property to triangulate a defensible market value. This follows the principles of the RICS Valuation – Global Standards (the "Red Book"), which sets the professional benchmark for property valuation in the UK.
Where an opportunity is below market, a compliant pack expresses this as a discount to RICS valuation — never as a vague "below market value" claim — and shows the six comparables so the investor can check the working. This matters: an unevidenced "BMV" headline is exactly the kind of claim regulators and serious investors distrust. A discount you can trace to six real sold prices is a claim you can defend.
One clarification: a six-comparable valuation in a deal pack follows RICS principles but is not a formal RICS valuation report unless a chartered surveyor is separately instructed. The pack is the basis for an informed decision; the investor still commissions their own survey and the lender its own valuation.
Refurbishment costs — line by line
Where a strategy involves works, the refurb schedule has to be costed properly, because a refurb under-estimate is the fastest way to turn a good-looking deal into a poor one. A serious pack itemises rather than rounds.
- Structural and compliance first — anything affecting safety, damp, electrics or the building fabric.
- Kitchens and bathrooms — usually the biggest single line items, costed to a defined spec.
- Decoration, flooring and finishes — to a rentable, not luxury, standard unless the strategy says otherwise.
- EPC and energy works — increasingly relevant given the direction of minimum-rating policy.
- Contingency — a sensible buffer (commonly 10–15%) for the unknowns every refurb produces.
The test of a good schedule is whether a builder could quote against it. If the refurb is one round number with no breakdown, treat the whole model with caution.
The four-yield model
This is where a serious pack separates itself from a sales sheet. Rather than one flattering headline yield, it shows the opportunity from four angles, with assumptions stated, so the investor can stress-test it. None of these are promised or guaranteed figures — they are modelled projections an investor should challenge.
| View | What it shows | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Gross yield | Annual rent ÷ purchase price | Quick comparison metric only |
| Net yield | Rent less all running costs ÷ price | Closer to reality; service charges and voids bite here |
| Return on capital employed | Income against the actual cash invested | Reflects leverage and deposit, not just price |
| Post-refurb position | Yield and equity after works and revaluation | Tests the strategy, not just the starting point |
Showing four numbers forces honesty. A property can look attractive on gross and weak on net, or thin on day-one income but strong on capital once refurbished. An investor who only ever sees the gross figure is being sold to, not informed.
A solicitor-reviewed pack
A well-built pack is designed to be handed to the investor's own solicitor and broker, not to replace them. That is a feature, not a limitation. The tenure and lease section, the title and search pointers, and the clearly stated assumptions all exist so a conveyancer can pick the pack up and verify it independently.
Be clear on the boundary: a deal pack is not a survey, a mortgage valuation, or legal advice. The investor still instructs a RICS building survey, the lender still runs its own valuation, and a solicitor still handles conveyancing. The pack accelerates the decision; it never short-circuits the independent checks.
Reservation and the sourcing fee
Two process points cause the most confusion, so let's be precise.
Reservation
Reservation is the point at which an investor formally takes an opportunity off the market while they proceed. In a compliant process the sequence is: the investor reviews the pack, the sourcer completes anti-money-laundering identity and source-of-funds checks, terms are confirmed in writing, and the opportunity is reserved to that investor. Reservation comes before solicitor instruction and completion. Practices vary between firms, so always read the specific terms.
The sourcing fee — paid by the buyer, on completion
On a packaged deal the sourcing fee is paid by the buyer, normally on completion of the purchase, and the amount and terms are disclosed clearly in the pack before the investor commits. Important distinctions:
- It is a fee for the research, sourcing and packaging work — not a share of any profit or any guaranteed outcome.
- It is disclosed up front, not hidden in the price.
- A compliant sourcer only proceeds after AML checks are complete and the investor has reserved.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice — fee structures and timing should always be confirmed in the specific written terms of any deal.
Who's behind L&M
Underwritten like an investment, structured like a portfolio
L&M was built by two disciplines most sourcing firms never combine — a property operator who has built and run a real-estate portfolio (sourcing, refurbishing, financing and exiting), and a wealth manager who has advised serious capital (underwriting risk, structuring, protecting downside). Every deal is researched, modelled and stress-tested before an investor ever sees it — underwritten like an investment and structured like a portfolio.
In practice that means a pack valued on a six-comparable RICS Red Book method, a refurbishment costed line by line, a four-yield model with assumptions on the page, and a buyer-paid sourcing fee disclosed up front. Packs are prepared to be solicitor-reviewed, our process is compliance-first, and our anti-money-laundering framework is built ahead of opening. We show the working so an investor can check it, not just trust it.
How L&M packages a deal
Bringing the pieces together, the sequence an L&M opportunity moves through before it reaches an investor:
- Source and screen — identify a property that fits a defined investor strategy, not a generic listing.
- Value on six comparables — triangulate a RICS Red Book-aligned market value and express any discount to RICS valuation, comparables shown.
- Cost the refurbishment — a line-by-line schedule with contingency, quote-ready.
- Model four yields — gross, net, return on capital and post-refurb, assumptions stated, nothing guaranteed.
- Document risk and compliance — risks, assumptions, disclosures and the buyer-paid fee terms, all on the page.
- Prepare for solicitor review — built to be verified independently by the investor's own advisers.
Only then is an opportunity presented — the work done so the investor can decide with evidence in front of them.
Join the founding investor register
L&M is opening to a first cohort of investors who want London opportunities researched, valued and stress-tested — and packaged so their own solicitor can verify every figure. The founding investor register is limited to the first 50 investors. Register now to be first in line when the service opens — invitation-only, no obligation.
Join the founding investor register → AML supervision pending. Waitlist only. This is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice.⚡ Why this guide is trustworthy
Verifiable sources cited in this guide
Every methodological and compliance claim is traceable to a public, dated standard. We update this article whenever the underlying standards change.
- RICS Valuation – Global Standards (Red Book): source for the six-comparable valuation methodology and "discount to RICS valuation" framing.
- HMRC Anti-Money-Laundering supervision for estate and letting agency / property sourcing: source for the AML and source-of-funds requirements.
- The Property Ombudsman / Property Redress Scheme codes of practice: source for sourcing conduct, disclosure and redress standards.
- National Trading Standards Estate & Letting Agency guidance: source for fee transparency and material disclosure expectations.
- Energy Performance of Buildings (EPC) regulations: source for the energy-works element of refurbishment costing.
Last fact-check pass: 2 June 2026. Author: L&M Property Sourcing Editorial Team. This article is for information only and does not constitute legal, financial or tax advice — always speak to a qualified solicitor, broker and accountant.
Frequently asked questions about packaged property deals
What is a packaged property deal?
What is inside a property deal pack?
How is the valuation in a deal pack worked out?
What is the four-yield model in a deal pack?
Who pays the sourcing fee on a packaged deal?
Is a deal pack the same as a survey or a mortgage valuation?
How does reservation work on a packaged property deal?
How does L&M package its deals?
Be first in line when L&M opens
Deal packs underwritten like an investment and structured like a portfolio. Founding cohort, invitation-only, no obligation.
Join the founding investor register → AML supervision pending. Waitlist only.