There are so many people in the property investment space that they just entirely focus on immersing themselves in education, becoming course junkies that go on course after course- never actually implementing what they have learned. So now that you know what you want to do and you have involved yourself in communities and the education space, looked at the outcomes that you want, are aware of what resources that you have available and the strategy that you want to move forward with- now is the time to take massive action!
Want to get into property investing but not sure where to start?
If you are new to the property world and are thinking about taking your first steps but not exactly sure where to start, my one piece of advice for you is to stop procrastinating and take action! If you keep putting it off for another day because you do not feel ‘ready’, are we ever ‘ready’ for anything? The longer you keep making excuses, the longer it will take you to finally decide to get started. If those thoughts do creep into your mind, the best thing that you can do for yourself is getting involved, you will never know how something is going to be until you try, so why are you worrying about everything that could go wrong and clouding your mind with negativity?
Where did I start?
I was 19 when I first jumped into property- Having no property education prior, but a blue-collar upbringing, relatives in building and plastering- I would often work in very hands-on laborious roles to earn some cash while growing up. When I was at university, I had a LOT of jobs, trying to make some money where I could, before I got into trading derivatives and spread betting and got good at it.
After a while of doing this, I had made a substantial amount of money before not long after messing it all up, selling the business and spending the money. At the time of rethinking my decision-s a lecturer inspired me to switch things up a bit and shift my mindset- and so with only around 20k left, and many years of watching Martin and Lucy on ‘Homes Under the Hammer’, I thought- ‘what could be so hard to do the same?’ And so, this was the start of my property investment journey.
Being only 19 years old and having no job security I could not get a mortgage- so when I found my first investment property- 36 Burdette Street, Burnley, Lancashire; I purchased it with cash for £21,800.00. Being at university Monday- Friday and working on evenings, a friend at the time’s dad bought a van for me and in that van, I would drive from London to Burnley on Saturday- slept in the back of the van and drove back down South on the Sunday after a solid 2 days’ work on the house.
Everything that could have gone wrong with this house- did. 9 months in, somebody broke in and completely trashed the property, but the cherry on the cake was when the next-door neighbour installed the same kitchen in his house. At this point, I decided that was it, I cut my losses and sold the property to an investor. When most people might have completely given up at this point- having experienced SO much negativity in the first deal- I did not- and this experience really opened my eyes to the importance of getting the proper education before diving into property blindly.
“But what if I don’t feel like I have enough knowledge or experience?”
If you are new to property, I know how overwhelming it all seems especially when it comes to using large amounts of your hard-earned money. As a beginner, what is your level of property knowledge? have you been doing your own research or courses to build your knowledge foundations? If you don’t think your education is ‘complete’, it never will be. You learn every day, and if you think about it, you will never know absolutely everything that there is to do with property, the market is constantly changing, as is the economic market, not forgetting that laws come and go too. Knowledge is power, but if you keep using this thought process, you will never give yourself the opportunity to learn from your experiences. As highlighted through my own personal experience getting the right education is an integral part of the journey because the mistakes can be very costly- so I would really recommend looking into this before jumping in.
What comes first?
It is natural to feel flooded with questions when you are starting something new, but with property, you might more specifically be wondering what comes first- whether you should find the property first, a partner to joint venture with, if you should raise the finance first or decide on your strategy. Try not to let these questions get in the way of you starting- once you start looking, when you come across the right opportunity- you’ll know it, and while I know how vague that sounds, the first thing you need to do is to get out there to see what there is.
There’s no time like the present!
So, get on Rightmove, get on the main portals, start your marketing, start attracting leads, start talking to people and implement the three-foot rule- anyone within three feet of you, tell them what you are doing! The more you talk about what you do, the more you are going to attract and the more you are subconsciously holding yourself accountable for doing what you say you’ll do! If you are looking for education or even a more hands-on, accountability mentorship program, send me a direct message on Instagram @jamieyorkaspire saying ‘GROWTH’ to learn more and to start your property investment journey today!