This week on the Development Ready podcast, we have Finance Expert and Partner at Varna Capital, Simon Howlett.

We speak to Simon about his journey into the finance industry and discuss topics such as:

•    How to evaluate and assess risk in a development project
•    Why establishing strong relationships with lending partners is so important
•   How great teams make great projects
•    What really matters to a lender when assessing an opportunity, plus much more.

Remember as always to like and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see who we have on next week’s episode.

Show notes

• 01:33 - Introduction
• 02:20 - Background, who he is and who Varna Capital is
• 03:41 - How deals are made and referral partners
• 06:50 - Length of process
• 08:01 - Lender’s expectations and processes
• 09:37 - Deals involving multiple referrers
• 11:49 - Current state of the market and lending from banks
• 15:48 - Banks criteria and what Varna’s future looks like
• 19:25 - Private lenders and establishing new work relationships
• 22:15 - De-risking projects and a look at a high-risk example
• 27:50 - % of equity included in deals
• 29:16 - Projects that are sold into the local market
• 30:21 - How hard the current market is for new developers
• 33:26 - The importance of the team
• 37:24 - What makes a strong team
• 40:31 - His role and where he adds the most value
• 44:45 - The perfect deal
• 47:20 - What’s in short supply?
• 50:18 - Varna’s current outlook
• 51:12 - Best piece of advice

Links

• Varna Capital