In this testimonial, Paul Fallon, a former 30‑year marketing director for brands such as Costa, Davidoff and Coca‑Cola, explains his recent transition to full‑time property investment, focusing on serviced‑accommodation (SA) in the Peak District. He describes the inefficiencies he faced using traditional property sites (Rightmove, Zoopla, OpenRent) that merely present raw data, and how the Property Filter platform solved these problems by turning data into actionable insight. Paul outlines his investment criteria—price per square metre, double bedrooms, multiple reception rooms, high‑end decoration, and hospitality‑focused guest experience—and how Property Filter’s tools (deal calculators, maps, stress‑test metrics, lead pipeline) enabled him to quickly identify, evaluate, and secure a property that re‑entered the market, was reduced, and sold within six days. He emphasizes the importance of having proof of funds, legal and brokerage support ready, and the confidence gained from the platform’s quantitative analysis combined with a responsive community (Guillaume, Andy, Rhett) that provides mentorship and answers. Paul concludes that the blend of rigorous metrics (“the metric”) and the human element (“the magic”) makes Property Filter a game‑changer for quality‑focused investors, allowing them to make fewer but higher‑value SA acquisitions with greater certainty.
Chapters
I learned as a marketing person, you turn data into insight. And none of those websites I mentioned, they don't do that. They just put information out there. It came back on the market. It was reduced within 6 days. It was taken off the market. Yeah, just 6 days after it came back on. Afternoon everyone. Hi Abdou, my name's Paul Fallon. I'm full-time into property, but only recently started about 4 months ago. And before that I had 30 years in marketing where I was like marketing director for brands like Costa and Kengo. Winko and Davidoff and Coca-Cola. I found it incredibly frustrating. Rolled my sleeves up and went into Rightmove, Zoopla, OpenRent, you know, 37 windows open on your laptop and about 6 spreadsheets. And I think I worked more time. It was so inefficient to try and navigate and pick up tiny pieces of information and consolidate them. I learned as a marketing person, you turn data into insight. And none of those websites I mentioned, they don't do that. They just put information out there. So it was incredibly frustrating, incredibly inefficient until somebody suggested Property Filter. But the moment I went onto Property Filter and then joined one of the intro sessions, I was like, where do I sign? Because already I could see the amount of time that I would have. And I realised working in serviced accommodation, it's, look, it's a different business, huh? It's hospitality. Reality with property. I could see already the huge potential to reduce that legwork down, to be very, very focused and get clarity on my strategy. And then for Property Filter to unearth those sort of insights and those little jewels that were out there in the marketplace for me. I just immersed myself in it. And I think within about 4 to 6 weeks of that and joining Rhett's sessions as well, and a couple of Andy's, became really proficient and that really helped me secure my first deal off the back of that. My number 1 on the site is price per square meter. Immediately I can see a property that size of it, but the value in the market. My strategy is not necessarily about BMV because I'm not going to do a flip or BRRR. I need a property that is already a good home. I'm going to add value in a different way. I'm going to add value through high-end decoration and soft furnishings and the guest hospitality experience. I'm looking for all of the room bedrooms to be double bedrooms. I'm looking for ideally 3 reception rooms. And when I do that, I have a property that I think is going to work for high-end SA already on that metric. I live in Matlock. It's the gateway to the Peak District. It's a fantastic spa town. I had been looking for 3 beds, 4 beds in the area. The way that I found this property is almost the way that Guillaume would describe it in that classic thing is that it came back on the market. You know, it'd been sold subject to contracts. It came back, I picked it up on Property Filter. I'd seen it before and liked it. I was sort of tracking it. It'd been 90 days on sold subject to contract, but boom, just came straight back. So immediately I knew I was ready as a professional investor with my proof of funds, got the DIP, got the broker, got the solicitor. I had all that ready so that I could move quickly. The day I was going to put my first offer in, it came back on property filter that had been reduced as well. So not only came back, it was reduced within 6 days. And in between then I'd done my first viewing. I was also conscious that other people may be watching this as well with these 2 things that happen so quickly. Motivated seller, get all your ducks lined up in terms of your paperwork and move on it. And so, um, it was taken off the market. Yeah, just 6 days after it came back on. This is where it starts to come together. You get the timeliness of it coming in, but you've done all your work before. I love the, you know, deal calculators. It's so quick to do that. I'd already put that in. I just went back in, checked it again, a couple of little tweaks on that. Yeah, okay, this makes— this is a great deal. Um, did the stress test again. Okay, a fallback solution could be buy-to-let. Does it pass the interest cover ratio? Yes, it does. So that was just refreshing all that information that gives you confidence that you can move with certainty into a negotiation. I really like the amenities and the maps. With my strategy for, I say, I'm looking for a location, surrounding area, what are the amenities and services. Long-term lets are not great, so, you know, in terms of an exit strategy, that's always a worry, and it doesn't pass that stress test. And so many other indicators could be really strong. That's one for me. I go, no, it's a line in the sand, Paul. Don't, you need to walk away from that. But then they'll get packed into the lead generator and pipeline, which is fantastic because then that, that's about accountability and progress. It's not so much it's saving time. My answer's probably a bit different from what other people would say. The benefit for me is quality. It's not the quantity, it's, it's the quality of the decisions that I make. Given that my strategy is kind of hospitality, there's kind of— there's less properties that are going to meet my requirements. So that means I have to find the quality property, and that's the game changer for me because I couldn't find that in any of the usual platforms out there. To have this consolidated into one means I am much more confident in my decision-making. I could have prior to that, I could probably done some essays and they'll give me £800, £900 a month. Well, this will give me 3 or 4 times that in one property. The challenge of managing 3 to 4 SAs versus one in here, quality effective decision-making upfront is going to save me a lot more time in the future as I build my portfolio. Is get involved in the community. I found it a really welcoming community. Guillaume, Andy, Rhett, yourself, everybody, the whole team is visible, accessible. And communicates. I always feel that you just, the team's an arm away. So whether that's about the platform and how to use it and optimize that, or actually if it's a property strategy question, that you're there. Not only have you got fantastic technical products, there's a fantastic team here which are incredibly responsive. To have that reassurance and the guidance has been absolutely fantastic. So it's not just the platform, It's, I would say it's two-sided within this and those two things are symbiotic. And without the two of them, I don't think I'd have made that purchase 4 weeks ago. I don't think I'd have had that confidence and belief to go and do it because I was getting the questions that were around my head. I was putting them out there into community and I was getting them answered as well as all the data coming through. Property is a people business and I think that Property Filter, whilst it's It's so much more advanced than anything out there in the marketplace. It's nothing if it just stays there as a technologically advanced platform. You need to be bringing it to life. Show up, loads of talented people. So do your work, do all the due diligence, keep going. It's got a nice community family feel to it. Two things that you want to have that, or I look for, one is magic and one is metric. So I think Propertyfilter as a property investor offers like the metric, the absolute data that is unbelievable, that should be the base of all your decisions. But there's still this magic bit of who you are and the people side of the business. I think what you've got at Propertyfilter is you've got the two of them. Boy, is that a lot easier to do when you've got some great numbers and insight behind you. Yeah, please. Lots of different places. First one obviously is Propertyfilter, we've now got the connect feature, I think, within that. So I've got a profile on there, that would be the first one, marketing. You'll see my profile there. Love to connect with all the people on Propertyfilter because I'm still learning and I would like to share and listen to everybody else as well.
