You’d be forgiven for thinking property investors are born that way, with phone in their hand, closing deals, appraising properties and arranging viewings but this is certainly not the case. All of the property investors I meet on a daily basis generally are the product of hard work, dedication and of course a little pinch of luck.

I am going to share with you guys my entrance into the world of property and some of the hard lessons I have learnt along the way. It is important to reflect on your journey and to take stock of where you are and where you want to go.

One of my earliest memories is going to collect rent with my father from “the people upstairs.” As a naïve 5 year old, this was how I thought all families lived, with your family occupying part of the house and some other people occupying the rest of your house and paying you for the privilege.

My father was a man who was the epitome of hard work. He grafted day and night in his steel manufacturing factory and ensured my siblings and I were exposed to the work he did regularly, so we wouldn’t take it for granted. As was typical of the many immigrants who arrived in the UK during the 60s, he landed in the Midlands with very little English and even less money in his pocket. But he knew one thing, he didn’t want to be in that position forever. He wanted bigger and better for himself and his family. However as a father of 6 children, this was not always easy. Often we would eat our evening meal circa 10pm for that was when our father returned from the factory covered in machine oil and iron filings. School trips and new clothes were luxuries we didn’t experience often but we were all on the same page, we knew we were doing this for a better life.

Having lived a thrifty life, my father had managed to save enough money to buy a property in the local area and that was my first real experience of property. I was often tasked with the job of collecting rent from as early as 10 years old and checking on tenants on a weekly basis. It was here that I learnt the fundamentals of property management. As I was the youngest child, I was the one closest to the electric meter (on the ground) and my task was to sit there and empty the electric meters and put the coins in the bag.

The one thing I really struggled with as a child was Education. Possibly because I was always knackered, from going to school from 8am – 4pm, then to going Muslim school from 5-7pm and then going to assist my father at the properties it would be rare that I would get home earlier than 9pm, and even then I would have to start my homework. Generally, bed times would be 11pm at the earliest.

As a result of the lack of studying, it was inevitable that the next rather painful lesson I learnt was when exam results day came around. I had tried and tried to study, I had done all of the things I had assumed would help me pass my exams but inevitably I had failed all of my GCSEs. As you can imagine, my father was highly disappointed and left me sort out my mess. It was during this time I realised I had to change strategy. What I was doing clearly wasn’t working so I had to alter my approach to education and analyse where I had gone and figure out another way to succeed. I therefore switched sixth form and met a great groups of friends (who subsequently are still my closest friends 22 years on!)

At sixth form, I really found myself. Having failed my previous exams, I knew that I only had this option before my father gives up on me. In sixth form, I met My friend, who told me that his uncle imports watches and lighters and novelty toys from China and wholesales them to market traders and retailers across the country, effectively, he was a middle man. I always wondered how I could potentially use this as a contact and use this to my advantage. It's funny to think, my main role today as a deal sources, is a glorified  ‘middle man.’

At the time, I did not have any capital to buy any stock, nor would I dare to ask my father for help. His stance was simple…you want it, you go and get it. And that is exactly what I did.

It eventually came to me, as I was sat in a business studies lesson and my friend sat to my right. I whispered, would your uncle do a sale or return basis? And that was the start of it all.  Admittedly, I had not met his uncle, and sounded like a nice guy. After 2 weeks of badgering my friend, I finally convinced him to allow me to meet him. My proposal was simple. “You normally sell these to retailers,  who pay you upfront for £1.25 per watch. If you allow me to take the stock, which is accounted for at the point of release, sell it on a market within my region, at the end of the day, I will return to you and we can then count how many watches / products I have sold.

In return, I will pay you £1.40 per watch, which equates to approximately 14% increase for the sake of releasing stock. In turn I would also make his nephew (my friend) a business partner so it created a real win-win-win scenario and everyone can make money.

I now had a product which I had acquired ‘No Money Down’ or an ‘Assisted Sale’ in property language

I was fondly known as ‘Market Boy’ in some of the pitches I visited, being the youngest trader they would have met, and I guess it took a while to lose my boyish good looks (some would argue I still have these!) My 2 friends and I would wake at 4 am in order to get to market pitches for 7am start and we would arrive home hoarse and exhausted from flogging cheap watches, soft toys and any other paraphernalia (crap) we could get our hands on. Any watch £3 or 2 for £5 we yelled from 7am til 4pm. We absolutely loved it as we were selling close to 1000 watches a weekend. But I couldn’t imagine doing this age 30.

It was at this time I learn the very important lesson of maximising profit. You had to buy cheap, think about what you could make on it and make sure you covered your overheads and made money after everything had been accounted for, otherwise there was no point doing it. In years to come, this formed the basis of my love for the Negotiation and BMV deals.

In the summer holidays, the operation expanded and we visited over 10 market towns a week. I guess we had learnt that when its going well, expand and maximise on the opportunity.  I went to one market whilst my friend went to another and we stayed in contact via mobile phone. It was an amazing journey and one which formed my outlook for business forever. At 17 years old, we were making more money than any 17 year old I knew (legally), but it was sheer hard graft.

My journey continued to university and upon finishing my formal education, it was time to join the real world.

My first day in the family office at the age of 21 and I thought it would be a doddle. My dad knew property well at this point, I would cruise in, push a few papers around, get paid and job done! WRONG. My father wasn’t going to let me get away with doing the bare minimum. He made sure I worked my fingers to the bone and I’m sure what he was paying me at the time was borderline infringing on my human rights.

But this was another life lesson, If you want it bad enough, you’ll make it happen. I was looking for my own approach to maximise profits, establish my own place in the family business and make a success of my own projects. Throughout this time in my life,  I spent many of my early years saying “yes” to any opportunity that came my way. I had figured if I said yes to the opportunity now, I could figure out how to make it work later and that’s what led me to the many successes along the way as well as the tough times.

One of my favourite projects was acquiring a large garden from a vendor who struggled to maintain the land. We tied the piece of land on an option, and went and gained planning permission for 2 bungalows. With the benefit of the new added value, we then sold the land for quite a bit more than we had agreed to purchase the garden for. The total cost for acquiring the property was £1, but we then had to speculate some costs for an architect and planning fees (approx. £2,000) but we were fairly certain that we would achieve a positive outcome. On this particular transaction. We then sold the land to a developer who purchased the property from me on a back-to-back transaction and netted circa £30,000. Not bad for a young lad who only spent £2,001 on the property.

I could write reams and reams about all the property deals I have done outlining the vendor’s scenarios, the structures we had created to allow us to control manage properties and benefit from the gain. No 2 deals are the same as the vendors situations are always different, which I had to cater for.

You might see my posts of social media and think I do well and things are always perfect for me. This is not the case at all. I have those terrible days when I feel like throwing in the towel and submitting myself to a comfy 9-5 where I could do the mundane and coast through life. But this isn't me and although there were days where I had bitten off more than I could chew, I have to remember why I am doing this, so I can honour my father’s legacy and do better for my own children. I guess it was during these tough times, the power of visualisation and imagining yourself succeeding became an excellent coping mechanism.

I still face daily struggles, such as :

• Deals falling through,
• Solicitors not working / communicating together,
• Properties being down valued and so on.

However in the grand scheme of things, I can handle these set backs. To sit here and say nothing bad has happened would be very deceiving. The key is to be able to dust yourself off and look at all the positives you have achieved within your timeframe of property.

I just wanted to share some of my times with you and let you know that life is tough, you aren’t alone, I have been there and I am testament to hard work, dedication and a bit of luck.

As always, you can connect with me on my social feeds.