This Week In Property Podcast

Today's guest, Charlie Lamdin, the founder of BestAgent, is truly a man on a mission.

There are many entrepreneurs and business owners that think of themselves as being on a mission.

Goals and targets, turnovers and profits, growth and scalability.

However, Charlie has a mission and a purpose in mind behind everything that he does, which goes way beyond business, beyond his company, and beyond himself...

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In today's show...

> You'll hear Charlie's impressive wealth of experience in the property world and specifically that of the estate agency sector...

> You'll learn how Charlie has brought the world of tech into the property sector and bring value to consumers and investors...

> Listen to Charlie speak of the benefits and the value in capitalism when used in the right way...

> Charlie shares some of the shocking statistics and horrific stories that too many people are having to endure...

> You'll see and hear the passion and purpose that radiates from Charlie as he chases his central mission...

Today's guest, Iain Balkwill is a partner in the Structured Finance team at international law firm Reed Smith.

With a career path winding through several blue-chip companies such as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, and Bank of New York Mellon, he's an expert who has worked in and witnessed many of the cyclical and the unforeseen changes that have hit the financial world.

And there's one area in particular that his team are seeing changes and rapid growth in, that could see it not only survive the pandemic and recovery, but actually thrive from it...

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> Iain speaks about the European CMBS market recently exceeding the 1.7bn Euros mark...

> Iain explains why the blips and bumps of world and financial events can be smoothed out with an investment vehicle not burdened by short time frames...

> From the 2008 crash, to Brexit, to ESG, Iain covers the obstacles that CMBS has faced and how they can be overcome...

> and Iain explains why the removal of previous confusion and secrecy has now led to a more open-book and publicly accessible environment where investors and financiers can find security and clarity...

The challenges and trauma of work colleagues being separated from each other through the pandemic year of 2020 are well recognised.

The loss of human contact and the impact on productivity and creativity have hit companies of all sizes.

Therefore, the drive and the desire to return to those gathering places of work - the office - are felt by such companies. Especially the 75% of them who confirmed in OSiT's recent survey that they had chosen to keep and maintain their office space through the lockdowns.

What is OSiT? And who are today's guests, Niki and Giles Fuchs? Well, they just happen to be the children of the lady who started the very first Serviced Office in the UK, so they know a few things on the subject, to say the least...

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> Hear Niki and Giles reminisce on family dinner table memories that inspired their entrepreneurial journeys...

> Giles explains the pain points of the costs, effort and 'noise' that can be taken away by OSiT from companies when it comes to running an office...

> Niki speaks to the power of an office space, and how OSiT can provide the flexible options and services that will best serve companies...

> From Estate Agency, to family business, to drinks company, there's no holding back Giles the Entrepreneur...

> and just what are the Pros and Cons of working with your sibling...

We all know how good UK property is as an asset class for investing.

And so do the army of investors that work with today's guest.

From the UK to the Middle East, from Canada to Vietnam and New Zealand, they all see the benefits of investing in UK property, no matter what cycles the economy as a whole goes through.

And if you're looking for someone with global, varied, and intense experience to handle those investments for you, then you won't do much better than today's guest, Dave Ashley...

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> Listen to Dave's remarkable background story prior to doing business inside the much more mundane world of property investing...

> Hear Dave talk about the life-changing moment where it all nearly came to a spectacular end...

> Find out the kinds of projects and returns that he and his wife Heather are providing to their investors...

> From portfolio building to multiple flips at one time, to analysing commercial-to-residential projects of empty hotels, there are not many projects that he doesn't get involved in...

> Not content with already running a hugely successful UK business, Dave shares the breaking news of another brand new venture that he's launching in the Middle East...

A tight-knit family can live, grow and enjoy life's pleasures together.

They can also be rock-solid and spring into action when life's knocks come along to test them.

And the stronger and more resilient those people are, those life knocks can end up leading to the most surprising and rewarding success.

Someone who can attest to such a journey is a lady who's smashing it in business and property investing in Northern Ireland, and she's today's guest...Tanya McGeehan...

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> Hear Tanya speak about being the eldest child who had to step in and step up when tragedy struck her family, and the 3 toughest years in her life...

> A strong mother and all-girl siblings that brought strong feminine energy, and a hard-working and entrepreneurial father who brought the masculine energy. Tanya's childhood built a powerful foundation...

> A Friday that came with a message of tragedy, a Monday that came with a major career decision, and the weekend that sat in between them...

> Tanya shares how as a busy and focused property investor, she's also a mother juggling very active and socially engaged kids, the family values they operate with, and how life and work are all tied together for her...

> The secrets behind why Tanya gets the exact same Estate Agent who helps her buy a property to then sell it for her after a refurb...

> And Tanya shares key information about the Northern Ireland market, the yields, the growth, the sectors and the supply and demand...

"Horses for courses," is an idiom that nicely describes how specific elements are best suited for specific situations or locations.

When it comes to property investing there are certain locations that will suit specific strategies and tactics.

In today's show, we hear from a successful business owner and property investor who knows all about those choices, which is why he deliberately chooses a certain area to capture strong cashflow yields for his BTL portfolio building and another area entirely for a focus on capital appreciation.

And not only does he use that awareness and those skills to succeed in business, to generate profits, and to build wealth. But his upbringing and his character ensure he operates with very strong principles in mind. That gentleman is Joe Warren... -----------------

> Joe shares his journey of acquiring 16 buy-to-let purchases inside an 18-month period of business...

> Hear Joe's simple but profound turnaround with the overused "Work Life Balance" paradigm...

> Listen to Joe's upbringing in a single mother family that defined his character and belief system for life and work...

> Listen to how the 7-year-old ice cream entrepreneur evolved into the successful property investor of today...

> Hear Joe's takes on character, integrity, honesty, and just treating people right...

> Find out what was in the wooden box from his 5-year wedding anniversary gift that speaks of the man and husband that Joe is...

> Hear Joe's perspectives on "letting buildings breathe," and "giving people what they need to live," that ensure money and profit become nice by-products rather than the desperate obsessions to chase...

30+ highly successful years in property, a portfolio of over 1,000 properties, and several successful businesses that have helped him become semi-retired.

Investments, profit, and money.

And yet, the first set of many golden nuggets shared by Van Sturgeon in today's show are the same key principles that other successful guests on This Week In Property routinely share with us: having the right mindset, networking, and seeking to help others...

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In an enviable position of being semi-retired, Van Sturgeon continues to invest and develop, but also spends a lot of his time training and mentoring other property investors to succeed.

A vast experience in residential flips, commercial renovations, and land and new build development, there's not much this man hasn't seen.

> Van shares his key points on keeping complex projects and investments simple...

> His principles for assessing and evaluating opportunities quickly before you lose them...

> The challenges that face every property investor...

> Choosing to focus on cashflow or capital appreciation...

> And the key item used in massive value commercial developments that Van believes should be used to ensure success in every much simpler residential refurb...

"Yes, Northern Ireland is still part of the UK," and "No, 'The Troubles' are not something that's still going on here," are some of the answers to exasperating questions that today's guest sometimes has to dish out to, thankfully only a few, of the less well-informed of UK property investors that reach out to her.

When she then goes on to explain just how good the market in Northern Ireland can be, how impressive the yields can be, and the range of services that her company can provide to savvy hands-off investors, it's a whole new appreciation that these investors have with today's guest, Eimear Gourley...

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The conversation shows the abundant knowledge and expertise that Eimear has in the world of property, and her specialism in Northern Ireland in particular.

Eimear covers the vast majority of identical processes of investing in UK property when it comes to this particular area.

She then also goes on to cover some of the few subtle differences, such as the different selling portals and lack of sold-price data, that make having a hand-holding expert like Eimear a godsend.

> Juggling the launch and growth of a business around a hectic home life of pregnancies and growing children...

> Racking up a string of successful projects both for herself and for other investors...

> Being an expert sourcer in her own area, enabling her to find the very best of deals...

> And her unique blend of project management skills and engineering knowledge that combine with her ability to translate any complex process or issue into the most understandable language for her team and her investors to feel completely comfortable with...

"It's nice to see a young woman doing well in property," is one of the simpler but one of the many compliments that today's guest has received during her time in business.

That guest is Yorkshire lass, Rochelle Gilburn, and she knows more than most that whatever life throws at you, it's how you respond that will determine your success...

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As a young mother, life certainly threw a spanner in the works of the plan she had for her young family.

However, with a strong mindset, Rochelle refused to give up and has pushed on in an incredible and admirable fashion.

Pushing on through every potential obstacle and limitation, Rochelle has built for herself a successful property business specialising in the Yorkshire area that not only brings impressive returns and yields for her investors, but has also seen her become a well known and trusted source for house sellers across the region.

> Rochelle tells us about the 2nd 'curve ball' that life then threw at her right at the start of her property venture...

> Rochelle also shares some of the impressive details and numbers involved with some of the projects she's managing for her own company and for investors...

> Listen to Rochelle speak about some of the interesting condition of properties she comes across, and also the special connections that she forms with people she works with...

> Single unit refurbs, flips and portfolios, and conversions to high-end apartments, there's a lot of the property world that busy Rochelle is involved in...

When building our own business, creating our own life, and deciding our own success, we have to be careful not to fall into The Comparison Trap.

We shouldn't try to exactly copy someone else's path in life. We shouldn't compare our areas of health, wealth, and happiness with others. As Mark Twain once said: "Comparison is the death of joy."

However, we can certainly take inspiration and encouragement from others who are doing well in life.

And if we're looking to be inspired about what kind of things are possible, encouraged about just how fast business and success can be built, motivated by what results can come from hard work, then you'll be hard pushed to find many better examples in the property world than Jaclyn Robinson...

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> Hear Jaclyn reflect on her blistering start in the property world... > Jaclyn reveals her code for how to do things 'fast' and how to do things 'big'... > Listen to the mistakes made, the lessons learned, and how Jaclyn's mindset has been the key through them all... > Be amazed at the size and scope of some of the huge development deals that her team and she are managing... > Hear Jaclyn speak about how crucial home life has been for business life to succeed, and how her kids have been immersed into the positive environment around them...