The Inside Property Investing Podcast | Inspiration and advice from a decade investing in UK real estate
The Inside Property Investing Podcast | Inspiration and advice from a decade investing in UK real estate
He Got a “Zero” Valuation on His First HMO. Here’s What Jay Did Next.
When Jay bought his first investment property, he didn’t think it would turn into a two-year battle - delayed by a party wall surveyor, derailed by a rogue contractor, and topped off with a “nil valuation” from the bank at refinance.
Most people would’ve walked away. But Jay didn’t.
He project-managed the second half himself, found a way through the setbacks, and still came out the other side with a fully tenanted HMO, £800 a month in cashflow, and a lot of lessons to carry on to his next deal.
In this episode, we talk about what kept him going, what he learned the hard way, and how he used that painful experience to build a simpler, more resilient strategy - one that fits around his job, his family, and the life he actually wants to create.
Whether you’re just getting started, or bouncing back from your own nightmare project, Jay's story is full of honesty, lessons, and quiet confidence.
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When Jay bought his first investment property, he didn't think it would turn into a two-year battle. None of us would think that. He was delayed by a party wall surveyor, derailed by a rogue contractor, and topped off with a nil valuation from the bank when it came time to refinance. Most people would have walked away at that stage, but Jamie didn't. He project managed the second half of the project himself. He found a way through these setbacks and still came out the other side with a fully tenanted HMO, 800 pounds a month in cash flow, and a heck of a lot of lessons to carry on to his next deal. In this episode, we talk about what kept him going through that time, what he learned the hard way, and how he used that painful experience to build a simpler, more resilient strategy for his future projects. One that fits around his job, his family and the life he actually wants to create. So whether you're just getting started or maybe you're bouncing back from your own nightmare project, Jamie's story is full of honesty, lessons and quiet confidence. Well, Jay, I am delighted to have you on the show. I don't know if I'll leave this in the final cut, but it's taken us about six months to get a date scheduled in the diary. Hopefully it means we've got a little bit more to talk about but I'm thrilled that we finally got something sorted out.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, cheers, Mike.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for having me,
SPEAKER_03:finally. I must apologise for not getting it in sooner.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you're a busy man, as you were saying just before we hit record. You're still full-time employed, right? You've got a corporate day job that keeps you busy. You've got a two-year-old daughter that keeps you busy. And investing in property on this side, it feels like you've got your hands full.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, certainly, yeah. So, yeah, still working full-time as a civil engineer, running the property business on the side. Like you said, I've got a young daughter as well. So, yeah, certainly have my hands
SPEAKER_00:full. Talk to me about your start with property in terms of where the idea initially came from. What was it that appealed to you about doing something else, adding to an already full plate?
SPEAKER_03:I think initially it
SPEAKER_00:was
SPEAKER_03:about providing, getting financial security alongside my career. Overtime, and since becoming a parent, flexibility and time have definitely become more important.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. And it was around about 2021 that you started to look at it seriously, I think. So what, four and a half years or so now?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Prior to that, though, I sort of had flirted with it a little bit as well. So back in 2011, I moved out to Australia. Okay. And when I was out there, the apartment that I bought, I was renting that that out for four years while I was in Australia. Came back in 2015, 2016, bought a rundown semi-detached house, renovated that to live in. And then, yeah, it was 2020, started really sort of exploring property as a long-term investment strategy.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So that one that you did in 2016, renovation, family home, always a bit more personal.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Pros and cons. I mean, like from a financial point of view, I think renovating your own home is great, right? No capital gains tax to pay, no second property stamp duty. So from an economics point of view, fab. But yeah, I don't know how you feel about the balance of... your own property versus an investment where you can be a bit more removed from it emotionally. Did you find your own renovation was stressful or did you enjoy that process?
SPEAKER_03:I reckon, well, thinking back on it, I did enjoy it. I've always kind of enjoyed the design side of it. So getting the chance to do that and putting my own stamp on it, yeah, I really did enjoy that.
SPEAKER_00:And I guess it wasn't enough to put you off because A, you got in to property from an investment point of view, and you're also about to embark upon another renovation for your own home, right? Yeah, correct.
SPEAKER_03:So that one went quite smoothly, as we'll talk about shortly. My first investment property didn't go smoothly at all. Yeah, like you just said, hopefully back end of this year, we should be renovating our current family home.
SPEAKER_00:will you be staying there at the time obviously different life circumstances now with the the two-year-old running around are you planning on living on site whilst you do the work or will you be evacuating i
SPEAKER_03:think we'll be evacuating um yeah if it was down to me i think we'd we'd probably rough it but i think with the part of live yeah i think we'll definitely be evacuating while we're here while we do the works
SPEAKER_04:yeah
SPEAKER_00:i think she's got the right idea i've lived through a few renovations and the dust you just you can't get rid of it so i can imagine with a toddler as well no no not not fun listen to live get out of there and uh it'll go a lot quicker you'll be back in you know in in half the time versus trying to do it whilst you're still living there as well so talk to me about 2021 ish so you said you know you've done a couple of projects up to that point you'd had a bit of rental experience when you were in australia You've mentioned that it was looking for a bit more financial freedom. What was the thought process that you went through, I guess, that made you think, now's the right time to start taking this seriously? Because that position that you were in prior to that, I see so many... so many aspiring investors get stuck at. I think you said you've been flirting with the idea, right? A lot of people flirt with the idea of property. We watch Homes Under the Hammer. We maybe grew up with Grand Designs and Serebini, and we're like, yeah, that seems like a nice idea. But most people never actually pull the trigger. So I guess something flicked for you at some point that said, no, now is the right time. I am going to do this.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I mean, like I said, around about 2020, I decided I was going to get serious with it. I'd had pot of cash because I managed to save up some money whilst I was out in Australia. Originally, I'd looked at buy to let, but then looking at the returns you got from them, I thought the amount of hassle you're going to go through buying the properties and looking after them. I just didn't think the cash flow, I didn't think the rewards were there. Then I started looking at other strategies, came across HMOs. Around about the same time, came across the IPI podcast as well. Started listening to that. Then in 2021 That's when I joined the IPI HMO course.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. Okay. So, I mean, even then that was quite kind of forward thinking. Nowadays, most people, I think, acknowledge that single lets are a struggle, but five years ago, a lot of people were still saying, oh no, they can make them work if you buy them in the right area. I mean, they don't excite me. I'm not going to jump out of bed for 150 quid a month after all that investment and effort. And yeah, I'm glad you made the same conclusion that I did, that there are better ways to invest in property. But you said that the first one didn't go to plan. Now, this isn't designed to be, and it's probably, if anything, going to be the exact opposite of a recommendation for our support with the issues that you had on your first project. But was it from day one in terms of the sourcing and the conveyancing, or was it more when you got into the actual renovation side of things that the problem started?
SPEAKER_03:It was more when I got into the renovation side of things. So I I had the offer accepted back in January, and I got the keys in May, so it was fairly straightforward. So that would have been January
SPEAKER_00:22? Yeah,
SPEAKER_03:January 22 this was, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, and how long had you been looking for at that point, and were you fairly set on location, type of house, size of project, and those main criteria? Was that pretty clear in your head from day one?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so location-wise, so started looking at places within an hour where I live. Settled on Derby because it had great fundamentals, plenty of demand. Project-wise and size-wise, I hadn't really sort of like made a decision. I was just like sort of looking open to anything really. I mean, I was looking for anything for sort of mini-moves, like anything from a four-bed up to a six-bed. At the time as well, because it was around, because that was like COVID time as well, wasn't it? Of course, yeah. So it was sort of like back in the 21 and going into 22. I mean, the market was going crazy, wasn't it? It was like stuff was coming in the market. It was going within like within days. I mean, every time, I do remember actually every time we were ringing up, there would be like 15 people and 15, 20 people looking at properties. So yeah, so after, I think it was about six months, took about six months to get our first property offer accepted. And then, yeah, so like I said, conveyancing went fairly smoothly, but then as soon as I got the keys, that's when the wheels started to come off. So
SPEAKER_00:what was it you bought when, I mean, in terms of the house as it was, was, was it three bed, four bed, rundown, good condition? So it was,
SPEAKER_03:it was a, it was a two bed terrace. it's sort of fairly standard so we've got the outrigger at the back um but the upstairs so the upstairs back room was actually a bathroom but that was like it was about 10 12 what was that about 11 square meters i think it was and then so as well as going through the conveyancing process started doing all the designs you know what i mean sort of like working out like how many bedrooms i could get out of it what was going to do to the place um and yeah settled on a it was a five bed hmo so that would have putting a dormer loft conversion on it. And due to that, I had to get a party wall agreement. The surveyor that I employed to do that issued the wrong paperwork. That delayed about 12 weeks, I think. Due to that, the original contractor that I was going to use, he went off on other jobs, didn't have availability, so then I had to go back out to market. Again, like I've said, because of COVID, prices are going through the roof. You know what I mean? People are really busy. I thought I'd found a decent contractor, but as soon as soon as the work started really it was just it became clear that he was Not the best. Yeah, incompetence is the word.
SPEAKER_00:So he was on site doing the work and from site visits or pictures he was sending you, maybe you kind of thought, actually, no, this isn't the, he's not doing things the right way or this isn't the quality I'd expect.
SPEAKER_03:He wasn't doing what he said he was going to do. It was poor workmanship, structural errors when he was putting the dormer on, wrong materials used. It was just, yeah, everything and anything, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00:Was your background, you said, is in civil engineering? Yeah. So you're used to construction, I guess, at a far bigger scale than renovating a two-bedroom terraced house. But was that helpful in spotting these issues? Or do you think to even the inexperience, you would have seen that this builder wasn't up to scratch?
SPEAKER_03:It definitely helps having my background, certainly. Yeah, because I'm used to sort of like dealing with, dealing with trades on a day-to-day basis. Obviously, building... renovating a house is a lot different to what i do because i usually sort of constantly most of my experiences in is in infrastructure so it's like roads and bridges and that kind of thing um but yeah it certainly did help and um i think it definitely helped me spot the the issues quite early on um and i think Yeah, eventually, because basically what I had to do was I got the building watertight and then I got rid of him. And I think if I'd allowed him to carry on, I don't think I would have got the finish that I did.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So the intention was for him to come in, main contractor, and deliver the whole project?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah,
SPEAKER_00:hands
SPEAKER_03:off. I mean, because I was 50 minutes down the road. I didn't want to be going up there sort of like two, three times a week. So I had to want to be visiting site once a week, having a meeting with him, check and see what he's done. Everything's hunky-dory. jump in my car, disappear again. You know what I mean? Didn't want any of these issues.
SPEAKER_00:How did you finish up the project then? Did you bring in another main contractor or did you then sub it out?
SPEAKER_03:No. So we got it watertight. So this was, he started in November 2022 and then it was February 2023. So hold
SPEAKER_00:on, that was, you said you bought it in January. So like 10 months, 11 months from completion to starting on site. Yeah. And that was because of, I guess, COVID, party wall issues, then having to go back out to market for a new contractor. You just ended up losing the best part of a year before you even got into the issues on site. Correct.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. And then, yeah, so it's February, the building's ward's tied, and I decided I just needed to get rid of him. So, yeah, sacked him, and then decided I was going to have to project manage it myself. Did a little at the idea of trying to get another main contractor to come in did speak to a few but obviously because some of the work had already been done a lot of them were reluctant to actually sort of go near it the ones that did look at it just were giving ridiculous prices to like to finish it off okay yeah so with my background with my experience what i'll do is i'll just i'll make just list everything out that needs to be done and then just also contracting it out which is uh which is what i did how did that go for the the second half of the project It was fairly smooth. He still wasn't plain sailing. There was the plasterer that I'd employed, he decided that the day before he was about to start, he sent me a text message saying that he was going to another job and he'd be starting in two weeks. So that wasn't ideal, so I had to pivot quickly. But the joiner that I was using, he had a plasterer, so he put me in touch with him in fair play to him he pulled all the stops out for me pulled the lads off another job got it started and yeah got the plastering started within I think that was within five days because if Hans got the plastering done or started at least it was just the knock on effect for everything else because I had plumbers, sparkies, kitchen fitters everything else lined up after that and as I've said because of how busy everybody was if I'd lost those slots that was it you know what I mean it would have been months and months again before we could get them back on site And then to finish the project off, right at the end of the project, this is when interest rates started going crazy again.
SPEAKER_00:So your refinance was a bit punchier than expected?
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Well, I thought that I had this covered, Mark, to be honest. So I started the refinance quite early and had a decent rate locked in. When the value came out to do the valuation, came out, did the valuation, and it came back as nil. Lovely.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it happens. But just for anyone who hasn't come across that before, they're effectively saying, I mean, they're not saying your property is worth zero, but it has the same effect, right? Because they're saying we're not going to lend against it. But it can be a whole bunch of different reasons. Sometimes, you know, if there are structural issues, sometimes the bank just, it's the wrong lender for the property. Like you go to Halifax and say, oh, I want a mixed use service accommodation and commercial mortgage. And Halifax is like, no, we lend against three bedroom residential houses. You can, so it can be a whole bunch of reasons, but what, what was the, the value is logic in your case?
SPEAKER_03:Apparently it was a niche product with limited comparables. Okay. Even though where the HMO is on that street, there's at least another four HMOs. Yeah. There's countless more. So whether they were inexperienced or I don't, I don't know, Mike, but it was just, it was just one of those things. And, and as I've said, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong on this project. It was just the perfect storm.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know. There's a couple of directions I want to go in this. Let's finish up the numbers first of all, I guess. So you... kind of claw your way to the end of this project. You keep battling off all these problems that are cropping up and you get there through grit and determination. Talk me through the numbers, high level in terms of purchase price, renovation costs, eventual end value, assuming you got more than zero at the end of the day and what the income looks like as well, if you don't mind.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so purchase price was 115. Refurb and fees was 151. GDV, I got 245, which gave me an ROI of 11.7%, and cash flow is about 800 pound a month. However, if I got the original lower interest rate, that net monthly cashflow would be close, well, it'd be a thousand pound a month.
SPEAKER_00:So you're all in for like 265-ish?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And you said the end value, did you say 245? It was 245, yeah. So
SPEAKER_03:because of all the problems I had with the refurb, there was, yeah, I think it was about, probably about 15 to 20,000 extra that I had to put onto the original.
SPEAKER_00:So you were expecting it to come in more or less at the end value maybe of about 245 so you'd spend what it was worth but
SPEAKER_04:yeah
SPEAKER_00:project overruns resulted in so that the valuation that was more or less what you expected it to be but your costs had gone up during the project
SPEAKER_04:yeah
SPEAKER_00:got you okay um sitting in your portfolio now making you you 800 pounds a month and 11 percent roi i mean it's not and you mentioned this again before we started recording right like it's you you see a lot on on social media and in magazines. And, you know, as a podcast host, I'm kind of guilty of focusing on the good stuff as well. I'm probably part of the problem, but the reality is this is what some deals will look like. Not every deal goes, well, I mean, most deals don't go to plan. I don't know anyone who's bought something and it's gone exactly the way they expected it to at all stages. But, you know, how do you feel looking back on that thinking, you it didn't go to plan. This is what it looks like now. Would you, would you still do that deal again? Um, yeah, I'll definitely
SPEAKER_03:still do the deal again. Um, obviously I do differently, um, different contractor.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, having said that though, um, with the, the amount of experience that I got from it, um, It was tough at the time. I mean, it was a brutal first project. I can imagine. However, kept on pushing through, got the project done, learned the lessons and came out of it far better equipped.
SPEAKER_00:So just thinking back to the timeline then, you started looking at this seriously with us at least 2021. You'd been thinking about it for, you know, since 2020 maybe. I think it was maybe eight or nine months to get that first offer accepted, a couple of months through conveyancing takes us up to january 22 yeah 10 month delay on site planning um not planning sorry party wall issues that sort of stuff takes us up towards november 22 when you start on site so what mid 23 ish when you're finishing and refinancing and moving your tenants in yeah
SPEAKER_03:so it was yeah it was back in the july when i finally got it finished and i had tenants in in august
SPEAKER_00:How did you start to think about what was next from that point?
SPEAKER_03:After that, I decided whilst I was going through that, that traveling, even though it was only like an hour away, the distance wasn't working and I needed to simplify things. So yeah, I kind of did a debrief, looked at what went wrong. That was one of the main things. I decided like the distance, because if anything does go wrong, you know what I mean, if you've got to drive up there, It was like a 50-minute drive there and back. It's the best part of two hours, isn't it, just to drive up there and back. It's a big chunk out of my day. I decided I need to simplify things. I was going to focus on investing closer to home. Returns aren't as good as they are in Derby. However, for the convenience, I'm willing to take that. Also, as well, there was parts of the design that I thought were just overcomplicated, increased the cost and the risk as well. And then I also decided as well that I was going to expand my tenant pool. So I was going to look at students as well as professionals because I was kind of like always set on professionals. So, yeah, it's given me more chance and more opportunities that I'd also target students as well.
SPEAKER_00:I thought I remember you asked about supported living at one point as well was that just a fleeting notion or is that something you you got involved with no so that
SPEAKER_03:that was it's something i've considered um and from a latest project it was something that was i was looking at um and that was it was almost i suppose a plan b you know i mean give me give me like another exit strategy should have needed it um it's not something i'm gonna discount completely it's um potentially something that maps you in the future but Yeah, it's on the radar, but it's not something I'm looking at doing sort of anytime soon.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So project wise, what have you done since then? I think you've just finished a project a little bit earlier this year. So I guess that was next in the pipeline.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So that was my second HMO. It's another five beds. That was right on my doorstep, 10 minutes away from where I live. It's a student, student HMO, five bed, three bath. didn't as i've said need to simplify things so just use the existing um floor space rather than going like uh creating creating space by doing an extension or going into the loft um was quite creative um used every inch of of of the property that could but use clever design to do it um and yeah so we started that's when did i get the key so are they all accepted on that in march got the keys and said September, pretty much started the renovation straight away and finished that at the start of March this year.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So it sounds though, I mean, we're maybe glossing over it a little bit, but it sounds as though it was a much simpler, easier, smoother process than the first one.
SPEAKER_03:Oh yeah, definitely. Without a shadow of a doubt. As I've alluded to earlier, I've got trades that I can rely on. So yeah, so I used a main contractor to do most of the building work. But then I used my own plumber, own electrician, kitchen fitter, joining to do the second fix as well. Just because I wanted to control that finish, just wanted to make sure I was going to get like a really good quality finish.
SPEAKER_00:So, I mean, I guess there's a few things at play here. It's on your doorstep versus an hour away. It's trades that you know and trust already. No dorm or loft conversion. I guess, you know, aside from those other things, maybe luck plays a part in it as well to an extent. If we look back at your first project, you can beat yourself up and you can say, I could have done this differently. I could have done that differently. Like the party wall surveyor, totally out of your hands, right? You pay an expert to do a job. You expect them to do it. They cock up and it hurts you, but but there's not much you could have done to change the outcome of that. You couldn't have prevented a global pandemic pushing up your build costs. And I'm not saying we should, oh yeah, just that's fine. I can't make any lessons from this, but there is an element of fortune that comes into it as well, I think.
SPEAKER_03:Oh yeah, certainly. Yeah. I mean, especially on that first project, it just seemed that, like I said, it was the perfect storm, to be honest. It was anything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. But hopefully, I've got this all out of the way on that first project. And then moving forward, everything's a lot easier.
SPEAKER_00:And talking about moving forward, what else is coming up for you? I know you've been offering on a lot of things over the past six or nine months. So you're still kind of actively looking to grow the portfolio. Have you got anything bubbling away in the background?
SPEAKER_03:None of the many. As you've said, I've been offering on properties. I have had two offers accepted. One was around around Christmas back end of last year. That one ended up falling through because I couldn't get the finance sorted in time. Had another offer accepted on a property that was starting this year, and then that's recently fallen through. That was because the vendor was asking for more cash. I wasn't willing to pay it. So yeah, so I've had two get into conveyance and then fall through, but it's just all part and parcel of the process, isn't it? So yeah, actively looking at the minute. Plan is to try and get another one done this year and then another two done next year. So by the end of 2026, I'm going to have five properties in the portfolio. Okay. Trying to get three done in the next 18 months.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I mean, it's doable. It's aggressive, but definitely doable. Are you finding enough deals on the market? What's the constraint for you just now other than vendors being problematic when you get to conveyancing?
SPEAKER_03:I'm quite particular about the area that i invest in quite a small area yeah it's quite a small area it's quite um concentrated as well so um yeah i'm quite particular it does limit my options but i think long term it's definitely gonna definitely gonna pay dividends um the other thing is as well it's the the size of the properties because where i look they tend to be quite small so you're either looking at creating space which again i've said it just as adds another layer of complexity um so um yeah there's a few things at play there but um I'm confident I'll be able to find the properties and get those three done by the end of 2026.
SPEAKER_00:Good. I'm glad to hear it. What will that look like? I mean, you said the first one's about£800 a month. The second one, is that similar? Yeah,
SPEAKER_03:no, that one was a lot better. I'll just look at the figures here for you, Mike. So that was purchase price of£137,500. Refurb plus all the fees, conveyancing, et cetera, et cetera. It was£102,000. GDV on that one is 237,500.
SPEAKER_00:So more or less what you spent again.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. ROI on that one is 21.8% and the cashflow is about 1100 pounds.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So that ROI figure is a lot stronger, more of your cash back out, more monthly cashflow on it as well. So you're kind of, we talk about ROI as one of the most important numbers in terms of how hard the capital you've got tied up in a deal is working for you, but obviously you want a decent amount coming back into your bank, you could have a project that's effectively an infinite ROI because you've got all your cash back out, but maybe it only gives you£200 a month and you're thinking, oh, was that worth it? But£1,100, that's a nice bonus to anyone's salary. Oh, definitely, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Especially after the first project as well. So yeah, it certainly helps anyway.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. But if we average that out over the five projects and say roughly£1,000 per HMO, assuming they follow the model of the second one, and a bit more closely than the first. What does that mean to you, to your family? You know, 2026, we're looking at five years more or less from you starting, five HMOs, five grand a month. What sort of impact will that have for you?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, massive. I mean, as I've said originally, when I first started out, it was just trying to get that financial security. As I've started going through the process and especially since becoming a parent as well, having flexibility and more time has definitely become more of a focus. So yeah, if I can get to the back end of 2026 and I've got five grand a month coming in, it just gives me more options. I'm definitely not looking to sort of like get out of the day job anytime soon, but it will definitely and give me more options.
SPEAKER_00:Great. I mean, I don't want to talk on your behalf, on Liv's behalf, but I guess with a two-year-old, if that allows her to spend more time with your daughter or even just... I think it's... For me, it's not so much about it being a... a kind of predefined or a specific end goal that you're looking for but just having that flexibility that that option maybe not everyone wants to quit their job but should something happen you know a kind of unforeseen life event knowing that you've got that ability to take a pause for six months but still have money coming in or you have more kids you know whatever life throws at you to to have that buffer that safety net over and above that that day job salary because you But right, like not everyone is in this to step away from the day job. It is more of an additional investment. there's there can't be much wrong with having an additional five grand a month coming in
SPEAKER_03:oh certainly um and yeah and i mean as you've just said there mike as well um if we do decide to like have a second child or anything happens like a big life events having that cash there knows everything i know that everything's covered then it just takes all the pressure off um i mean one of the things because i'm actually freelance civil engineer as well so um i mean when we when we had penny i'd like two weeks off and then i was back at work so it would be nice next time around if I could take a longer period off and just knowing I've got that cash flow coming in. Yeah, it's huge.
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Now, I think it's probably pretty clear to anyone listening to this what the biggest struggle has been so far with that first project. Not exactly going to plan, but... Based on that, based on what has gone well, is there any advice you would give to somebody who is looking to start out maybe in the position that you were in a couple of years ago thinking, yeah, I like the idea of investing in property, but maybe not quite pulled the trigger yet? How would you advise your younger self? I think the biggest thing
SPEAKER_03:is, well, two things is try and keep it simple. And then the other one is be patient as well. So property investing, take time, consistency, resilience. So focus on the learning, take the small steps. Don't be afraid to make the mistakes. Just make sure to learn from them and keep moving forward.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And I think something else you mentioned as well, I think we spoke about this before we started recording, but I think it's just worth touching on again, this idea of, I guess, not comparing yourself to anyone else. Social media, there's a lot of value there. I certainly get a lot of value from it as a community for advice, for inspiration, but it can be, I don't want to say a negative place I don't think the intentions are ever negative but it can have a negative effect on you I think if you are comparing yourself to am I going as fast as somebody else or their deal's a little bit better or like it doesn't matter I think the only thing that really matters is are you doing what's right and what you need for yourself and social media sometimes that's where it can be problematic I guess.
SPEAKER_03:I mean I've definitely definitely done that I mean you start comparing yourself to some people out there who are doing I mean five plus deals a year aren't they and you know what I mean and really sort of scaling up very very quickly but everybody's circumstances are different so I mean like I say for myself because I work full time I don't have a lot of time that I can spend yeah so I don't have a lot of time that I can spend like on property so you just have to be very very economical with your time concentrate on the important stuff as well but yeah I think it's just about going at your own pace isn't it and doing it for you rather than sort of like for likes on Instagram or social media.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. Now, maybe slightly ironic for me to ask this after that conversation, but in terms of keeping an eye on what you're up to, getting in touch with you, I don't actually think we mentioned where you're located. So you're in, you're in Stoke, right? Or Newcastle? Yes, that's it. Yeah. So North Staffordshire. So it's, yeah, Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyne. That's it.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So anyone that's kind of interested in what you've got going on on what you're up to is social media the best place to keep tabs on that or yeah
SPEAKER_03:definitely so I'm on Instagram I've got Facebook as well but the majority of my social media is concentrated on Instagram so you can find me at Morales Property
SPEAKER_00:nice and easy I will make sure we put a link to that in the show notes as well that's all I wanted to cover today Jay I appreciate you being so open with the numbers on the project and the issues that you faced on that first one because you know, it's not easy to sit here and reflect sometimes and say, you know, it didn't go to plan, but it'll be useful for other people to get that real insight into what a project can look like, but still know that you can come out the other side and go on to keep building your portfolio. So I really appreciate that. I've enjoyed having you on the show today and I hope we get a chance to speak again soon.
SPEAKER_03:No, great. Thanks for having me, Mark. Really enjoyed it.