Geoffrey Ansell

Both writers were born in idyllic tourist destinations – Geoffrey in New Zealand, and Sharena in Fiji. They met in Wellington in 1992 and married a year later. In 1998, they decided to voyage across the world to the UK for their big overseas experience (or OE, as it’s known in NZ, which is usually undertaken by young people in their late teens and twenties, rather than adults in their thirties!). Their families were left bemused by their decision to move to a land so far, far, away, but felt safe in the knowledge that they would only be abroad for 2 years because…that’s what most people did.

On arrival in the UK, Geoffrey and Sharena established an IT consultancy company, specialising in project management and quality assurance. They have since delivered a number of IT contracts, working in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Channel Islands, The Netherlands and Malaysia. Their client list includes KPMG, PWC, Royal Dutch Shell, Barclays, Lloyds, BNP Paribas, Merrill Lynch, UBS, RBS, MUFG, TfL and Unilever.

In the last 15+ years, they have been developing properties in parallel. In 2017, after almost 20 years of consulting in the City, they decided to take a break and evaluate their options. At that stage, they were both burnt out, physically and mentally.

In 2018, they embarked on another career, doing what they were both passionate about. Combining their skills and expertise in consulting with their love for buying, renovating and selling properties, it was an ideal choice to have a property consultancy business. At the same time, they wanted to share their knowledge by writing this book about their experiences in the property market.

Following the processes and checklists in this book, Geoffrey and Sharena have secured an average of 31% uplift on the prices they have paid for their properties. This has occurred within 9 to 24 months of buying, renovating and selling each property. Anyone can benefit similarly by following their formula. Geoffrey and Sharena currently live in Middlesex. In his spare time, Geoffrey enjoys cooking, fishing, model making, DIY, listening to music and anything to do with cars. Sharena loves reading, writing, drawing, painting, listening to music and new stationery. To visit their website, please go to www.gsansellproperty.com.