By Christopher Browne

Shock! Horror! Shame! If anyone asked me if I had a recipe for success I’d say “stealth”. But it’s nothing to do with those sneaky taxes that gobble up our hard-earned profits or a sinister plot to destroy the state.

This is a far healthier version - a sort of wealth-by-stealth. Unlike the big-time pros who build their portfolios on strategies and five-year business plans, I prefer off-the-cuff decisions and pure, old-fashioned instinct.

I bought my first investment property in 1990 during the UK property recession. I had been left some cash in a will and property was my sector of choice. I took a day off from work and made my first and last grand plan - to visit every estate agent in the area until I found a suitable buy-to-let.

After scouring my home town of Twickenham I crossed the River Thames to Richmond in Surrey. Ten estate agents and 25 well-trodden pavements later I spotted a two-bedroom apartment on offer for £41,000 - almost £10,000 below any of the others I had seen. Even more remarkably it was in the block where I lived.