Overcoming Property Challenges.

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Preface Each & everyone of us will encounter challenges in life. Some will be more serious than others, but all are pertinent to the individual at that time. For those that choose to invest in property, you will likely increase the prospect of coming up against issues that you may not have faced before. At that moment in time, those challenges can seem so overwhelming. The purpose of this book is to provide an insight into many of the obstacles that can present themselves whilst investing in property. Whilst also demonstrating that challenges can be overcome. By sharing the past experiences of the property investors whom have contributed to this book, it is hoped that the reader will be inspired to face challenges head on & take solace from the real life examples detailed later in this book. The inspiration for this book came about after my Fiancée’s brother, Lewis suffered a serious workplace accident on 25th June 2020. I am sure there will be times in the coming weeks & months when his personal challenge will at times seem insurmountable. Wishing Lewis the very best on the road to recovery Page 1

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Let’s Keep Lewis Smiling On Thursday 25th June 2020, Lewis (on the left above), who is aged 27 & has three children went to work, like any normal day at an Engineering company in Hull. Unfortunately that afternoon he was involved in a gut wrenching workplace accident. His foot was crushed after a lifting strop carrying a 3500Kg load snapped. Trapping Lewis for over ten minutes whilst several work colleagues fought to try to release him. A traumatic experience that will change the shape of a young man & his families life for the future. Page 2

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Let’s Keep Lewis Smiling Lewis is still hospitalised, as of 10th July 2020. Lewis underwent surgery on the evening of the accident to have two toes amputated. He has subsequent surgeries, including a 17 hour operation on 8th July. Lewis has suffered life changing injuries & has remained positive, however the road ahead will have many challenges, be that physically, mentally or financially supporting his family immediately & in the future. Primary focus is on ensuring Lewis gets the necessary hospital care required to allow him to return home to his family. I have refrained from sharing graphic footage or photos of his injuries. Please donate as much or as little as you can or just leave your best wishes for Lewis if you would like to. www.gofundme.com/f/let039s-keep-lewis-smiling Page 3

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Special Thanks Without the contributions of those kind enough to sacrifice their own time in aid of supporting Lewis’ cause, it simply would not have been possible to turn this idea into a reality within such a short period of time, under two weeks from concept to completion! I reached out to those whom contributed with an unsolicited lengthy direct message. It would have been easy for that message to have been dismissed or moved to the “will reply later” pile, that we all subconsciously have in our head. I simply cannot express the gratitude I have for each & every single person whom has shared their own property challenges & how these have been overcome. For those individuals to appreciate the concept of the book & go out of their way to participate, simply overwhelmed me. If you are reading this book, then I thank you too & hope that you find the content to be of value, I certainly found the contributions to be of great interest myself. Luke Brindley Page 4

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Contributors Without the contributions to follow in the short book, it simply would not have been possible to turn this idea into a reality within such a short period of time. Page Scott Williams…………………… 7 Ryan Luke………………………… 8 Jit Patel……………………………… 9 Brownwen Vearncombe………... 10-11 Paul Fairfield…………………….. 12-13 Monique Wakelkamp………….. 14-16 Ian C. Walmsley………………… 17-18 Glenn Delve……………………….. 19 Laura Muse……………………….. 20-21 Joni Higson……………………….. 22 Tej Singh………………………….. 23 Sylwester Raczynski…………. 24 Jeanette Linfoot…………………… 25-26 Tania King-Mohammad……… 27 Jon Dale……………………………… 28 Page 5

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Contributors Without the contributions to follow in the short book, it simply would not have been possible to turn this idea into a reality within such a short period of time. Page Rich Liddle………………………… 29-30 Peter Jones………………………….. 31-35 Craig Phillips…………………….. 36-38 Robin Shaw……………………….. 39-40 Keeley D Simpson………………. 41-42 Andrew Cunningham………… 43 George Gannon………………….. 44-45 Julie Talbot………………………… 46-47 Josh Guest………………………….. 48-50 Paul Million………………………. 51-52 Derek Pape…………………………. 53-55 Louise Righton………………….. 56-58 Julie Game………………………… 59-61 Anthony Boyce…………………. 62-64 Luke Brindley………………….. 65-66 Page 6

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Trades were the bane of my life. At the beginning it seemed to be a constant battle of finding the right people to work our projects. We managed to find trades. Everything started well and then it all seemed to go down hill. We’d get someone else in and again the same would happen. We quickly realised this was our doing. Mainly due to us not planning correctly, not conducting the correct due diligence, and not having efficient processes in place. How has the challenge been overcome? We refined what we were doing and got help improving our process when approaching refurbs. We now have the correct contracts, schedules and processes in place to help us achieve efficient refurbs. Equally we don’t always go for the cheapest quote, because you more than likely end up paying twice for a bad job. Scott Williams Amplo Group [email protected] Page 7

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? As you grow and get good at finding deals the biggest challenge is to fund them all as you don’t want to give them away. How has the challenge been overcome? Reaching out to people, telling them what you do and how you can benefit them. It’s amazing how many people you know have got cash sat in the bank doing nothing g for them when you start asking around. Like a ring with property or business in general you have to get yourself out of obscurity if you want to succeed. Money follows attention ������ Ryan Luke Luke Homes [email protected] Page 8

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Many, many, many. Funding mainly Overwhelm and distraction Not enough time Balancing family life with 5 income streams More How has the challenge been overcome? Faced it head on Hustled Cajoled Built networks Got educated Wielded out shysters Changed networking behaviours Surrounded myself with peers more skilled than me Lots of personal development Belief mindset Jit Patel Hyggigam and Lloyd's Bank and JNP Investments and Jits1Bill and MyEnergySmart [email protected] Page 9

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Finding funds and investors for when we ran out of money and needed to keep growing our portfolio. It’s a common problem and having taken equity out of our home to buy the first couple of properties, we needed cashflow and capital. How has the challenge been overcome? Education is critical in the property investing world. That helps with confidence as well as reducing risk. To find private investors and to build their trust takes time, learning with an expert helped me with credibility and to prove that I had people helping me learn and progress. Then it’s about demonstrating your skills and knowledge in projects that you’ve done already. These could be projects you’ve invested in rather than done yourself or indeed examples to show how an investment could work. Bronwen Vearncombe Property Investing Foundation Bronwen@propertyinvesting foundation.com Page 10

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Getting to know potential investors well BEFORE using their funds is critical. Their wants and needs, their risk appetite and what type of investment might suit them. Sharing how investing works, what there is demand and rental profit, how different strategies work and real examples too, builds trust and confidence. They need to know your skills and the team you use in creating the opportunity. Never tell them an interest rate you’ll pay them - get to know what they are comfortable with and find their expectations. Create an investor pack for a deal showing the detail and how the numbers work with contingency, comparables in the area and exit plans for repayment. Then a potential investor can feel more confident and ask questions. Show them the property, and projects you’ve done before. Introduce them to other people who have invested with you. Then put everything in writing. Heads of terms and loan documentation. Then it’s regular communication that keeps Investors informed of progress and issues arising. Honesty is key too. Bronwen Vearncombe Property Investing Foundation Bronwen@propertyinvesting foundation.com Page 11

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Apart from the usual (finding and funding deals, which is always a challenge) I think the main issue with property is the level of misinformation and lack of regulation amongst so called gurus. The issue being is that every man and his dog can get into property. This coupled with the fact many ‘gurus’ look to sell the dream to newbie investors makes cutting through the noise and BS often difficult and timely. Paul Fairfield Qube Property ltd [email protected] Page 12

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? Experience, mistakes and thorough due diligence on individuals/companies. Initially we were more than happy to give thousands away to these so called gurus. You need to think about what strategy you wish to focus on and then commit to researching how to achieve it. This could be reading, networking or even paying for education and mentorship. I’m not against paid courses, but can count on one hand (half actually) the courses/mentor ships that I would actually recommend. Paul Fairfield Qube Property ltd [email protected] Page 13

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? At the start of my property journey I acquired an old semi- detached property which could be turned into an 8 bed HMO. Targeted tenants: students of the universities close by. I got the keys early May so had only 3 months to refurbish and decorate. It turned out that the works that needed to be done were far more extensive than the estate agent or the builders had estimated and calculated. And of course, the money involved also sort of exploded. With all the extra work, holiday season coming up and the start of semester nearing, I spent as much days on site as I could. Driving endlessly to get rid of waste, collecting stuff, learning to plaster and doing flooring myself. Also, this house was at a 90 minutes drive from my home. Monique Wakelkamp Immodito Management Services Ltd [email protected] Page 14

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES With all this going on, there was hardly any time to find tenants. The estate agents in the town weren't used to find student tenants who wanted to rent a room in a shared house. An advertisement in the local paper only got me 1 tenant out of the 8 I needed. What to do? Because after the start of the semester per September not many students would be looking for a room anymore. And I really needed the income after all those costs and expenses. How has the challenge been overcome? I got an application from a girl who was interested in a room for herself and for a friend who would also start studying at university. Happy days, I thought, another 2 rooms rented out! Monique Wakelkamp Immodito Management Services Ltd [email protected] Page 15

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES But it seemed they hadn’t yet been accepted with a place at the university yet and wanted to wait a little longer before deciding to move in. So I gave them an option on the 2 rooms. After 2 weeks, she told me that they wouldn't go to this particular university; her friend wasn't accepted and since they wanted to stay together, the both of them were looking for another university and wouldn't take my 2 rooms. However, she told me that since I had been so nice and friendly, she would be more than happy to help me find 2 new students for the rooms I had held free for them. Now that was my chance! I offered her € 100,00 for each room she would fill with a student and I would pay out after the rental agreement would be signed. She got me 6 students that summer. We worked for 6 summers together on filling rooms! So, use Other People's Time besides Other People's Money and make life easier. Monique Wakelkamp Immodito Management Services Ltd [email protected] Page 16

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Not fully understanding the opportunities that were out there for various different types of properties and not being able to find the information on the internet in 2015. What information that did exist was poor or out of date. Ian C. Walmsley Planning Geek / Leading Homes / IanWalmsley.com [email protected] Page 17

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? I decided to launch my own Planning Website - PlanningGeek.co.uk and self taught myself all the various options that are available. I decided at the time to keep the information free and available for anyone all the time. 125 pages later and the site is still growing! It was the only way that I knew at the time to learn for myself the various opportunities both for land and for buildings and to ensure that I kept fully up to date. As a result I have been able to find opportunities that others have not spotted. I have since discovered that by building websites on any topic, I can digest and learn anything property related. Ian C. Walmsley Planning Geek / Leading Homes / IanWalmsley.com [email protected] Page 18

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Undoubtedly our biggest challenge has been accessing affordable equity funds from investors. This has been exacerbated by a rapidly growing business that meant that approximately every two years, our investor base largely became redundant as our needs changed so much, progressing from investment requirements of a few hundreds of thousands, to needing equity stake of numerous £M’s. This rapid shift meant that we have occasionally been left committed to transactions without the necessary funds. How has the challenge been overcome? We have at times sacrifices some of our profit, bringing in relatively expensive funds to facilitate the continuing growth. This was done for a reason. We are now attracting interest from institutional investors BECAUSE of our scale. The prospective investors can readily see the difference their funds will make and are now convinced of our ability to deliver projects whilst consistently scaling and stepping up - this is a persuasive case for larger investors. Glenn Delve Page 19

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Where do I start, what we do is a simple process but the journey is a complete rollercoaster. We have had many things but one project that has tested us to the maximum is our current new build project. Planning refused Asbestos Walls falling down in the wind Solicitors nearly destroying our relationship with the private funder as we were about to drawn down Drainage Lockdown..... From one simple 3 build project, we have laughed, cried and said many expletives but we have always had one thing on our mind - “ To live how others dream of you must live like people won’t” Laura Muse I Squared Property Ltd [email protected] Page 20

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? Communication, Teamwork and Network 100% staying in communication and having a strong support network around us has really seen us through..... plus working with my husband/ business partner we feel we can take on the world 99.9% of the time but we couldn’t do it without the people we have around us. Laura Muse I Squared Property Ltd [email protected] Page 21

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Getting agents to call me back to make viewings as they know I am connected to an agency they probably think I am dodgy / touting for their business! How has the challenge been overcome? I go by an alias name. Meet jini Shelley! Joni Higson Higson Homes [email protected] Page 22

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Dealing with terrible builders, who have messed up Properties and cost me money. This is across a couple of properties, plus them lying continuously for months and hiding their poor quality work. How has the challenge been overcome? • Networking, digitally and physically to find people who are genuine and skilled. • Working with people, aligning our values and visions to ensure the best outcome for both. • Understanding Refurbishments and Construction better. • Having friends locally who can check in on work for me and snag properties. • Being more direct with Builders, and ensuring I do not mess around. • Having clear instructions for work, with every detail covered. Tej Singh Tej Talks [email protected] Page 23

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? To buy my first property. As a Refurbishment company cash flow is not good. We put offer with money in account. But after a year of dealing with a really bad solicitor we invest money in our new product. No funds left to buy. But the seller agreed to a 12 months option agreement and its ours, cracking on with commercial conversion to 6 flats and 4 offices. The smart self efficient green property will be completed soon. How has the challenge been overcome? Yes by option agreement. Sylwester Raczynski SBR REFURBISHMENT LTD, SBR Eco Limited [email protected] Page 24

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? In the early days of setting up our property business, which I run with my partner Chris, we were both so keen and eager that at times we would both try to do a bit of everything, which wasn’t the most efficient way of approaching things. It also wasn’t playing to our skill sets either or recognising that we also had some gaps where we needed to bring in external expertise. Jeannette Linfoot Busfoot Property Jeannette.linfoot@ busfootproperty.com Page 25

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? We overcame this by firstly recognising what was happening. Devising a very clear strategy and a plan that we both worked towards so we had absolute clarity has been hugely beneficial. Once we knew where we were going we were then able to decide how we were going to achieve our goals and how we were going to split roles and responsibilities. We had a very honest look at where we each had natural talents and where we had gaps. From that we were able to clearly allocate focus areas to each of us and then strengthen the team with external experts where we needed them. This has led to us being much more efficient and able to move ahead faster and more harmoniously! Jeannette Linfoot Busfoot Property Jeannette.linfoot@ busfootproperty.com Page 26

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? The biggest challenge I have faced is maintaining a balance between juggling and growing my 6 figure property business, a high responsibility job and a very young family. When I started my property journey, I knew the opportunities that would come my way, so I persevered. How has the challenge been overcome? I have focused on being organised, super focused and with my end goal in mind. This has helped ensure that each step I have taken gets me closer to achieving the success and goals I have set for myself. I’ve also actively made sure that I changed my network. By surrounding myself with like minded people who are as driven, focused and with big aspirations and goals like myself, I have really been able to ensure I maintain a healthy work life balance and I have achieved so much more than I would have, had my network remained the same. Tania King-Mohammad Habita Property [email protected] Page 27

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? To stop looking at the crowd. At the start of most people’s property journey you see posts on fb etc that all look amazing. You start to think why are your deals like this, why can’t I find a deal like that. OMG how did they do that. Etc.. How has the challenge been overcome? Once you meet the people who post this crap you realise most (not all) but definitely most of them are all smoke and mirrors to try to boost their own profile and look like the are doing better than they are. To sell or promote something. You learn to ignore the bull and just do you. I started to just focus on our property journey and stopped networking, following people who post shit. Jon Dale Jag Property Investments [email protected] Page 28

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? One of the biggest challenges was having a tenant turn from someone I saw as a lovely lady on the surface into the side which I never saw of a major drug dealer, not a user but one of the main local dealers. This turned into a large police investigation which I was dragged into with my ‘passive income’ rental property. Rich Liddle Blue Oak [email protected] Page 29

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? For the duration of the investigation I had to carry on as normal and when I made a visit to the property act as everything was fine. On the day the police raided the property she was found hiding in the freezer. There was kilo upon kilo of cocaine and other substances removed along with drug needles and equipment from under the floors. Again on the surface the property looked in good condition but it needed to be stripped back due to items possibly being hidden. This resulted in quite a substantial financial loss to me as obviously this work exceeded her deposit, the property was also out of action for some time while the police conducted their investigation. How did I get through it.... one step at a time, a positive attitude that what was done was done and just move forward. Rich Liddle Blue Oak [email protected] Page 30

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? When I started I literally had no money of my own. When I say that a lot of people look at me like I'm just trying to hype things up but it's totally true. You see, when I started I had been made redundant from a really well paid job (career), and because I had three small children (I now have four) my wife and I hadn't saved any money, we’d spent it all on the kids (parents will relate to this). Because I had a well-paid job and a false sense of security, I hadn't even thought I needed to save, but then one day I had no job and no income. Because of the recession at the time I knew I wasn’t going to get a job like that again. I knew I had to do something, at a basic level if only to pay the mortgage and provide food. I’d always wanted to have my own business and because I was a Chartered Surveyor it made some kind of sense to do something in property. Having said that, many people assume that was easy for me as I was already ‘in the business’ but my speciality was all about commercial properties, and there wasn’t a route (that I could see) to be an investor in commercial (I would have needed 100s of thousands of pounds, maybe millions). Peter Jones www.ThePropertyTeacher.co.uk [email protected] Page 31

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES I had a redundancy cheque which would last 6 months, perhaps 9 months if we were really careful and really frugal, and that was it. The first thing I did was to borrow a small amount of money from a relative, and I was able to use this to buy a small terraced house which needed a refurb. I made the classic mistake of trying to do a lot of the work myself. There’s a reason why my wife does the DIY in our home, she is good at it. I am not! I don’t know why I thought things would be different at this refurb. So what should have taken about 3 or 4 months took 9 months because every time I did something, I then had to get an expert (builder, carpenter, plaster) in to undo what I had done, and re- do it for me properly. But I guess that was a good lesson to learn early on. I then sold the property and made a small profit, but I realised that if that was the return on 9 months of my time I wasn’t going to get very far. Peter Jones www.ThePropertyTeacher.co.uk [email protected] Page 32

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES I thought that having a portfolio paying rent would work better than doing a series of flips, and long-term would be more passive and less work. I had this idea that I should be able to add value and refinance and get all my money back out again whenever I bought a property, meaning I could just keep buying. This was long before all the property training companies had appeared and I had to figure this out for myself. There was no one to ask. Peter Jones www.ThePropertyTeacher.co.uk [email protected] Page 33

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? Of course, the first problem was getting started with none of my own money. So I managed to get a little bit of part-time consultancy work. It didn’t pay much, but it was only 3 days a week, leaving me 2 days (plus weekends – the entrepreneurs life) to ‘do my thing’ and it was enough income to persuade my bank to give me a top-up on the mortgage on my own home and take out some equity. It was hardly a fortune but by using that money efficiently and effectively as the deposits (and topping up the rest of the purchase price with buy to let mortgages – these had just appeared in the market) I was able to buy 6 cheap properties up north (my investment area is around Newcastle). Each one was refurbed and then I refinanced. Usually I got a good chunk of my money back out again (classic Buy Refurbish Refinance) and then I rolled that into my next deal. By a bit of careful planning and lot of good luck I was able to do about 10 deals in my first year. Peter Jones www.ThePropertyTeacher.co.uk [email protected] Page 34

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES It just so happened that at that time values were increasing so as the equity in the properties increased (the difference between the value and the mortgage) I refinanced again, and got more money out which allowed me to buy another couple of properties. I was quite aggressive about refinancing. As I was relatively young (compared to now, at least!) I figured I may as well go all- in. And now I am full-time in property (but very passive) and the rest is history. But looking back, what made the difference was that I wasn’t prepared to give up. I was persistent and I kept going. To be honest I actually had no choice. It took me 4 years to work out the system which anyone can now learn in an afternoon. And I was prepared to take risks. There will always be risks. You can try and reduce them (which is sensible) but if you want things to be completely risk-free you’ll never do anything. Peter Jones www.ThePropertyTeacher.co.uk [email protected] Page 35

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? We had the last minute to purchase a 'Flip' project that required us to complete in 5 days. At the time we had no liquid funds that we could purchase it with, in addition to it being a hard deadline that needed to be met or we couldn't do the deal. A bit of background was that it was a former house that was on a development site for a large house builder, they were using it as a site office and therefore needed to sell it for their own finances, but keep it as there site office for health and safety reasons. The time was the biggest challenge, especially when we got the opportunity on a Friday and needed to complete the following Wednesday, so asking solicitors and brokers to work over a weekend was especially tough. Craig Phillips ApexxepA Ltd [email protected] Page 36

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES Additionally there was a bit of a complication that we did not want to be seen as buying the property and renting it back to them as there is legal restrictions on how this could be achieved. The vendor, needed to retain the unit as their health and safety unit or the deal would be off, as they had no other facilities that would allow them to continue working on the site. How has the challenge been overcome? We completed, at the 11th hour on the Wednesday purely down to the fact that I have a great team of people around me. This team were all working in the same direction in order to complete on time. * Luckily we had the searches in already as it was a sale that had fallen through which gave us the opportunity, so our broker was able to get the agreement in principle for a bridging product within a few hours on Friday afternoon. * We were able to pull some strings and had a lenders valuation carried out the Saturday morning after the instruction. Craig Phillips ApexxepA Ltd [email protected] Page 37

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES * I lined up investor funds for the equity tranche through our SASS investor on the Saturday morning, paperwork was signed on the Monday * Our team of solicitors held conference calls with the vendor solicitors, the lenders solicitors, the Trustees for the SASS pension so that everything was done at the same time * We got a quote for the buildings insurance, within 24 hrs and the insurance in place after it was underwritten within 24 hrs hours after quote was received. * Investor Funds were transferred on Tuesday afternoon. * A last minute hiccup with regards to the \"buy and rent back\" resulted in a lot of frantic emails when the Bridging company insisted on the house being purchased as vacant, which we were able to agree to let the current occupiers officially leave, but then be allowed to operate \"under licence\" for 6 months starting from the day after the purchase. So we purchased at 4:52PM and the occupiers returned under licence at 08:00 the following morning, paying us 6-months rent up front. Craig Phillips ApexxepA Ltd [email protected] Page 38

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Dealing with distressed vendors on the point of repossession. It’s a traumatic time for them. They are the epitome of distressed seller so it’s important to control your own emotions and focus on removing the pain as much as possible from the vendor whilst maintaining a win-win situation. Remember. How you do anything is how you do everything. Set the intention on doing right by your customer. He was in Ill health. Stressed from being repossessed. House was in a terrible state. It was important to calm them down and find a path that would help them move on in life. We could have agreed to just pay their mortgage off and stop the repossession but on closer questioning they had credit card debt that needed addressing too. The new place he was moving to didn’t have carpets or curtains. Robin Shaw Property Centre Robin.shaw@ propertycentre.co.uk Page 39

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? By listening to the vendor and genuinely exploring their needs and seeing the deal from their perspective rather than just our own we are able to create a better solution that met the vendors needs. If we hadn’t asked about credit card debt or been interested in where they were going next we might have only taken some of the pain away and missed others. By stacking a deal that not only took away the mortgage debt but the credit card debt and provided some money towards furnishing his new place so much pain was taken away the vendor was left feeling relieved and thankful that we’d taken the time to care. He was able to move on in life which was worth more than money. For us. It meant less profit but proud that we acted with integrity knowing we had helped as best we could. Listen. Care. Solve. Robin Shaw Property Centre Robin.shaw@ Page 40 propertycentre.co.uk

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? As much as the property world is exciting and varied, you really do learn something new every day. We thrive on the challenge! 3 years ago I had a car accident on the Motorway with a HGV. I have long term difficulties in cognition, focus, fatigue and over- sensitivity to sound/light to name a few of my symptoms. My property journey started during my recovery from my brain injury. I decided to educate myself and realised that property offers many different opportunities. The challenge for me has been that I love learning and meeting like minded people There are so many strategies, so many great people, great mentors and books to read/listen to. I have to limit the amount of activity I can do in a day and when you’re passionate about something that’s a real challenge. Keeley D Simpson Luna Property Group - Investments [email protected] Page 41

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? I have overcome the challenge through making people aware of my difficulties to allow me to be safe and comfortable if I’m unwell during training or a meeting. This has given me a great fantastically supportive network There are some amazing ways to systemise your property business now which I’ve used to automate many of the daily tasks. I also outsource to a virtual assistant when I’m unable to respond to messages or send out documentation. I work to the rule that if I can achieve one task per day I’m moving forward on my property journey. I outline the number one income generating task I must do each day and do it first thing in the morning. Running your own business means you have flexibility and the ability to make the business run in whichever way suits you. I may only be able to work 2-3 hours most days but I love that I have my independence and drive back working on something I love. Keeley D Simpson Luna Property Group - Investments [email protected] Page 42

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? I have encounter many challenges throughout my property journey not least a national banking crises and crash in 2008/9 and a business partner fraudulently taking monies from the business causing me to lose virtually everything and having to start again with very little. How has the challenge been overcome? I overcome both these challenges with shear perseverance and belief in my own abilities and integrity, I know 100% the journey can be hard and very testing but I also know I am true and honest and I am doing it for all the right reasons and its not just about money, I would also like to mention, Anybody can do what ever they want to do in life regardless of where you are right now, life is a mirror, what ever you see in that mirror will be your life experiences so see nothing but good in yourself and dream BIG. Andy Cunningham Best Looking Builder in Hull ACAS Investments Ltd [email protected] Page 43

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? Depression. Having built a £3.6m company before the age of 26 starting £0 capital. Along with achieving this via one of the hardest strategies out there commercial to residential conversion. I’ve often had to endure and deal with high pressure and stress. This became a normality and just part of the journey. However it was not until 2008 when all the markets crashed that I had to deal with one of the most stressful situations of my life. All developments were finished exited ok. All 100% owned and in my personal name. Great one would think, but everything was crashing and I had hired my best friends from college and university. The money had run out and I was reluctant to fire anyone. Sadly fighting for too long, trying to make things happen and keep everyone in work. The road finally ran out and I was declared bankrupt in May 2010. This subsequently resulted in serious downward spiral of deep depression and self medicating on alcohol to try and relive some of the pain. George Gannon [email protected] Page 44

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? Acceptance, acknowledgment and swallowing my pride. Admitting I had a problem and seeing the doctor was the turning point. Been completely open and getting medication to raise my mood. I know from how I use to view depressed people and speaking with other people who think the same way. There is certainly a wider held belief by a number of people that. Depressed people are just weak. They just need to snap out off it and spot feeling sorry for themselves. Unfortunately unless you have experienced this personally or are a very educated and open minded person. It can be very easy to pre judge people. By first admitting I had a problem, then by seeking out help and dealing with the issues in had. I was able to battle through and buy half of my portfolio back of the trustee before I was even discharged from bankruptcy. Never be scared to admit your mistakes and ask for help. George Gannon [email protected] Page 45

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? The challenge I have had is being distant to the area where my property business is. My property business is in North-West Manchester, whereas I have been based in London and overseas at different times in the last 10 years. Initially, I did the first few projects myself, and drive up and down the M6.... and I did everything, viewed them, made all the phone calls, stripped the walls, did the project management, organised all the trades. But then as we moved overseas I assumed I HAD to work with someone who would source deals for me, or that I had to Joint Venture with someone. That didn't quite work as intended (I'm fully accountable, I'm not blaming anyone else) and it took me 10 years to fix what had gone wrong. I saw my distance as \"the problem.\" Julie Talbot Brick by Brick Property Group Limited [email protected] Page 46

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES How has the challenge been overcome? I overcame the problem by deciding to ignore the miles. I started to think about things differently \"How can I get things done without me having to be on the ground, without me having to fly in or drive over\". Trying to figure out how to build a property business virtually, and how to systemise it so that every task wasn't dependent on me. Once I took myself as an resource for how to get things done AND believed that it was possible to do things virtually and remotely things started to change. If I couldn't answer my own phone (e.g. because of time difference, or because I was looking after the kids) who would, who could. I'd look for ways of getting things done that weren't reliant on me. I realised I had to build a virtual property machine. Julie Talbot Brick by Brick Property Group Limited [email protected] Page 47

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES What challenge have you encountered on your property journey? After a month of starting my Serviced Accommodation business and spending thousands of pounds on furniture/ deposits and 1st month rent I encountered a bit of an issue with the shower trap in a large 12 bed property. This property would rent for anything between £500-£1200 a night depending on the day of the week in the summer. It was simply just a clogged shower trap with hair so I called a plumber out from a national company to get this sorted, I pick a national company due to the fact it was an emergency as we had guests booked in every day for the next few weeks and I didn’t want any complaints or issues from them as they had all paid a lot of money to stay! The plumber came out and unblocked it with a plunge, water was dripping through the ceiling downstairs so he said you need to get your shower re sealed. I asked so as long as we don’t put any water on the tiles it won’t leak through, that’s correct and he shot off in a sweat! Josh Guest Guest Homes [email protected] Page 48

OVERCOMING PROPERTY CHALLENGES I wasn’t there unfortunately it was my cleaned with him. So I thought okay we can allow the next set of guests in, book for someone to re-seal the shower and tell these guests to only have the running water against the shower screen. 10 minutes later the ceiling collapsed into the bathroom downstairs. I had the landlord on the phone to me, then the landlords wife which runs a hairdressers below the apartment which was her bathroom. The guests were calling me saying they all need a shower... it was mayhem and also to add to this I live 4 hours away so couldn’t do anything. How has the challenge been overcome? As it was now unsafe for these guests to stay I had to relocate them which cost a lot more money than they had paid as I had to book 2 apartments! The day after I had to drive down to explain to the landlord it was not my fault and assure him it would be fixed ASAP as I had only just signed a contract with him so he barely knew who I was! That evening I had to relocate guests again, call lots of builders to get some quotes. Josh Guest Guest Homes [email protected] Page 49