Hey 😊
So, I thought it would be a good idea to explain what made me make the decision to start my property development journey.
I have a well paid job working for the National Health Service in the UK and although I am great at my job and I realise that I am lucky to have a good job, I did start as an apprentice and work my way up to be in the position that I am currently. I kind of fell into working as an IT trainer, as I never really wanted to go to university and come out without a guaranteed job, no work experience and debts up to my eyeballs; it just didn't appeal to me when I could be working and earning straight away.
I have been very fortunate in the sense that I have had all of my education funded within my jobs in the NHS. I have completed an NVQ Level 2 and level 3 in business administration and a level 4 certificate in teaching in the lifelong learning sector, a level 4 NVQ assessor award and lots of other useful courses in the last 10 years. I have a thirst for learning and knowledge which is also part of my decision to learn and grow within the property development industry.
Just over a year ago at the age of 27, I felt as though I was not living up to my full potential, and that there surely must be more to life than going to work for someone else every day and coming out with a set income every month. I was at the point where I could not see myself having to work a 9 to 5 job, until I retire with the hope that I get to enjoy my pension later on in life. I decided that is not a life that I want to look back on and then wish I had done something differently.
This kick started a search for something that I am passionately interested in, that I could also learn a living from and be comfortable, without having to work my whole life and keep juggling my finances around.
At this point I had a mortgage on a new build property that was very difficult to acquire, just over 5 years ago, due to the fact that I was renting at the time and had to make lots of sacrifices, along with my fiance so that we could save up a large enough deposit to buy our first property. Unlike some very lucky, fortunate friends of mine we did not receive any help with money from parents or family.
At this point I also had approximately £10,000 debt on credit cards from the age of 18 (when you think that you can have everything now and pay for it later).
I was searching for more and started looking for books about mindset, business, entrepreneurship etc that I could learn from. The first book that I listened to via the Amazon Audible app was a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad. I had heard nothing about this book previously and the concepts were totally new to me. The book is focused more so in an American market, however it lit a passion inside of me, that made me realise that I needed to change my mindset more than anything - the mindset of how I look at money and debt, it also made me realise that I was more than capable and I just needed to think smarter (not work harder). I then decided to attend a Rich Dad Poor Dad seminar and dragged my brother along, as I knew that he would be very interested too. I had no idea what to expect and the seminar was prominently around how to make money from property. Some of the information made such sense that I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about it before. With that, my brother and I signed up for a 3 day intense property fundamentals course; we decided that we would both do the course but not be drawn into any upselling that we didn't feel was 100% necessary, as we wanted to learn as much as we could ourselves. I also believe that if you want it enough, you will put in as much energy as possible and learn as much about it as you can prior to jumping in. You will always make mistakes but without mistakes you won't learn.
Since the 3-day property fundamentals course, I have continued on my educational journey outside of work by reading lots of books, listening to books and podcasts, and generally educating myself as much as possible before starting my property development journey.
I have also looked at great detail at my finances and have freed up as much of my income as possible, by switching my high interest credit cards over to 0% interest credit cards, paying off the highest interest card that was left and cheekily asking cedit card companies for money back and if they can give me a better rate. I have found other ways to generate extra income, such as a small business and singing at events at the weekends. ALL of this money has gone on paying off any debt that I currently have. You have to be really strict on yourself and think about the bigger goal. I have made my credit rating go from poor to excellent in a less than a year.
One of the biggest changes in my mindset was that not all debt is bad. We are all brought up to believe that all debt is bad; however once you learn that there is such thing as good debt and bad debt the possibilities are endless. For example, bad debt would be spending on unnecessary luxuries such as holidays, clothes, eating out etc; good debt is when you use the money or credit available to you to make money on the banks money. I have stopped spending on my credit cards on unnecessary luxuries, so that I have the option in the future to use the money wisely to spend on renovating properties when required.
I hope this information has been useful and I will continue to share!
NEXT BLOG - improving your credit rating (hints and tips).
So, I thought it would be a good idea to explain what made me make the decision to start my property development journey.
I have a well paid job working for the National Health Service in the UK and although I am great at my job and I realise that I am lucky to have a good job, I did start as an apprentice and work my way up to be in the position that I am currently. I kind of fell into working as an IT trainer, as I never really wanted to go to university and come out without a guaranteed job, no work experience and debts up to my eyeballs; it just didn't appeal to me when I could be working and earning straight away.
I have been very fortunate in the sense that I have had all of my education funded within my jobs in the NHS. I have completed an NVQ Level 2 and level 3 in business administration and a level 4 certificate in teaching in the lifelong learning sector, a level 4 NVQ assessor award and lots of other useful courses in the last 10 years. I have a thirst for learning and knowledge which is also part of my decision to learn and grow within the property development industry.
Just over a year ago at the age of 27, I felt as though I was not living up to my full potential, and that there surely must be more to life than going to work for someone else every day and coming out with a set income every month. I was at the point where I could not see myself having to work a 9 to 5 job, until I retire with the hope that I get to enjoy my pension later on in life. I decided that is not a life that I want to look back on and then wish I had done something differently.
This kick started a search for something that I am passionately interested in, that I could also learn a living from and be comfortable, without having to work my whole life and keep juggling my finances around.
At this point I had a mortgage on a new build property that was very difficult to acquire, just over 5 years ago, due to the fact that I was renting at the time and had to make lots of sacrifices, along with my fiance so that we could save up a large enough deposit to buy our first property. Unlike some very lucky, fortunate friends of mine we did not receive any help with money from parents or family.
At this point I also had approximately £10,000 debt on credit cards from the age of 18 (when you think that you can have everything now and pay for it later).
I was searching for more and started looking for books about mindset, business, entrepreneurship etc that I could learn from. The first book that I listened to via the Amazon Audible app was a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad. I had heard nothing about this book previously and the concepts were totally new to me. The book is focused more so in an American market, however it lit a passion inside of me, that made me realise that I needed to change my mindset more than anything - the mindset of how I look at money and debt, it also made me realise that I was more than capable and I just needed to think smarter (not work harder). I then decided to attend a Rich Dad Poor Dad seminar and dragged my brother along, as I knew that he would be very interested too. I had no idea what to expect and the seminar was prominently around how to make money from property. Some of the information made such sense that I couldn't believe I hadn't thought about it before. With that, my brother and I signed up for a 3 day intense property fundamentals course; we decided that we would both do the course but not be drawn into any upselling that we didn't feel was 100% necessary, as we wanted to learn as much as we could ourselves. I also believe that if you want it enough, you will put in as much energy as possible and learn as much about it as you can prior to jumping in. You will always make mistakes but without mistakes you won't learn.
Since the 3-day property fundamentals course, I have continued on my educational journey outside of work by reading lots of books, listening to books and podcasts, and generally educating myself as much as possible before starting my property development journey.
I have also looked at great detail at my finances and have freed up as much of my income as possible, by switching my high interest credit cards over to 0% interest credit cards, paying off the highest interest card that was left and cheekily asking cedit card companies for money back and if they can give me a better rate. I have found other ways to generate extra income, such as a small business and singing at events at the weekends. ALL of this money has gone on paying off any debt that I currently have. You have to be really strict on yourself and think about the bigger goal. I have made my credit rating go from poor to excellent in a less than a year.
One of the biggest changes in my mindset was that not all debt is bad. We are all brought up to believe that all debt is bad; however once you learn that there is such thing as good debt and bad debt the possibilities are endless. For example, bad debt would be spending on unnecessary luxuries such as holidays, clothes, eating out etc; good debt is when you use the money or credit available to you to make money on the banks money. I have stopped spending on my credit cards on unnecessary luxuries, so that I have the option in the future to use the money wisely to spend on renovating properties when required.
I hope this information has been useful and I will continue to share!
NEXT BLOG - improving your credit rating (hints and tips).
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