I a based just outside of London where I live with my partner Samantha, and our two daughters aged four years old and our six month old .
Where my passion for property began?
My passion for property began when I was 18 years old. I wanted to become a property investor after meeting a landlord who was only 22 years old. He actually owned five properties that he purchased cleverly using other peoples money. So I made a decision to invest in property and rushed out and bought my first investment property...10 years later!
So you may be wondering why it took me 10 years to buy my first property? Well to be honest with you, as a teenager I went off the rails in a big way. I was kicked out of school aged 15 with no qualifications. As I couldn't go back to school or get a job I ended hanging around with all the other dropouts and had little ambition or expectations out of life. I ended up getting crappy job after crappy job. I worked as a waiter in a restaurant, stacked shelves in a supermarket and even zipped around on a moped delivering pizza's.
Back then life for me was pretty rubbish, in fact the highlight of my life was partying at the weekends. I loved partying so much I became a DJ. I DJ'd in clubs, bars and underground raves. I even DJ'd on pirate radio, although it was great fun at the time, the downside of being involved with the rave scene was that recreational drugs were a part of everyday life. Before I knew it I was using class A drugs. This was my way of dealing with what I now know to be a dysfunctional family. My parents got divorced and dragged myself and my brothers & sister through a very bitter custody battle. This was my reason for not succeeding in life but it was also my BIG FAT excuse.
One day I partied a little too hard and nearly overdosed on ecstasy. This was a huge turning point and wake up call for me. I knew that it was time for a change. I had to put my partying days behind me, leave my peer group behind and start thinking about my future. Deep down inside I knew that one day I would settle down and want to start a family, so I needed to do something career wise, that would not only support family life, but also give me a stable future. My mind jumped back to met the young landlord i had previously met and I finally gained the direction, desire and determination to raise a deposit and invest in property.
It was around this time that my journey into psychology, coaching and personal development began. I wanted to undertand myself better and develop myself personally. I also wanted to understand the mindsets of successful people and began training as an NLP Coach. Although I became very successful as a coach, I only had some small success's in property. It took me another 8 years of struggling to buy two more properties. I struggled to raise finance, find the right deals and was never really sure of what strategy to use? I ended up running a letting agency in hope of learning more about property investing and finding bargain properties but it didn't quite work out quite as I planned. I ended up driving 80 miles per day to a very stressful dead end job that took up all of my time and kept me away from my family.
My life changing experience in 2010
One day my whole world turned upside down in an instance, tragically someone very close to me sadly passed away. It was sudden and completely unexpected. The tragic thing was that she died very young, in fact she was the same age as me. To make matters worse she left behind young children and a loving partner.
This experience was harrowing and heartbreaking as it was far too close to home. If I am totally honest this was a real low point in my life as my experience really scared me. I questioned my own mortality and the meaning of my life? I also thought long and hard about my children and partner? What would happen to them if anything ever happened to me? How would my partner cope? The truth was that my family would struggle both financially and emotionally without me.
I very quickly realised how precious life is, so I decided to make the most of it, not only for me but for my family. I made a decision to raise my game, live life on my terms doing what is important to me, that is to spend more time with my family and children, doing the things that we love to do and to have a better quality of life.
So I raised my game to the highest level, decided to build a solid financial foundation for my family and went on several training courses whilst joining a property mastermind group to learn the best strategies to use in the current climate. My aim was to build a successful property portfolio in the middle of a recession. Fast forward just over 18 months to December 2011,
I have set up 2 letting agents, completed on just over £4 million worth of property and have more property deals in the pipeline.. In fact I won the "Better your Best" contest at my property mastermind group for making the most progress in the shortest amount of time and got the first prize of an Audi A4 Cabriolet!
Financial Freedom
I have now become financially free, this means I get to spend more time with my family on a daily basis. I get to take my daughter to pre-school which she loves especially as hardly any other dads are seen there, in fact I have become a bit of a novelty there! As a family we have more time together and go on more holiday's, we have a much better quality of life. I also get to do the thing that I am absolutely passionate about, that is to coach and mentor other people to achieve financial freedom and have what they want out of life! I now also host the London Property Meet which is a networking event that people of all levels of experience come along to and I am still continually growing my portfolio.
And here's the thing... I am just an ordinary everyday guy, there's nothing special about me. You are probably just like me. Maybe like me you have struggled? I believe that anyone can achieve this with the right model, mindset and mentor.
If your interested in finding out how we can work together to help you become financially free through property then contact me now!
"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible"