So, you want get started in a career in property, but there’s just one problem: you’ve got no money. Does that automatically mean that you’re out of the game? Not necessarily.
There’s no denying that having a good amount of capital behind you will stand you in good stead – after all, very few (if any) financial institutions or investors are going to look twice at you if you don’t have at least some skin in the game, but if you can apply a little creative thinking, you’d be surprised at what you can achieve.
However, it doesn’t matter how outside the box you’re able to think, there are some things that are just common sense, and if you don’t heed them, you’re going to be tripped up. So without further ado, here are my 6 Top Tips to help you get started, when you’ve got no money!
Beware False Economy
When you’re watching every penny like a hawk, the temptation to cut corners can be overwhelming. But such a strategy can come back and bite you in the ass if you’re not careful!
This can be something obvious, like buying something on the cheap for a refurb and then having to replace it sooner rather than later, whereas paying more initially would have stood you in better stead, or it could be something more damaging, like cheaping out on your insurance and then not being adequately covered when disaster strikes. Either way, you need to be sure that you’re actually making savings and not at risk of paying double or more down the line.
This goes for paying for peoples’ services too: when I spoke to Michaela Wain on Episode 164 of the podcast, one of her biggest pieces of advice was ‘Pay for the experts’. You might resent paying that little bit extra for, say, an accountant, but they’re going to understand the ins and outs of finance that you might not have a clue about, which is going to save you an awful lot of money in the long run.
Cashflow is king
If you’ve found a deal, it doesn’t matter how profitable it is, if you run out of cash, you’re out of business.
Keeping a proper handle on your outgoings is vital, especially if you don’t have a war chest of capital acting as a buffer. I talked to Susannah Cole in episode 195, and she told me that in her very first business (a shop), she would sit down on a Monday, work out what her takings for the week would be, and then buy stock based on that predicted income. Even now, running a hugely successful property business, she says she still sits down each week with an advisor who runs her cashflow predictions, to make sure things can keep running the way we should.
Cashflow can hamper so many businesses, not to mention the amount of stress it can cause (Susannah also told me about the time she had 38p in the bank and bills to pay during our conversation), so making sure you’ve got enough set aside to actually pay your bills is paramount.
Automate/Systemise
You might be wondering how automation is going to help you, if the bigger problem you’re facing is lack on money, but just hear me out.
Being able to automate payments (eg your mortgage) means that, if you’ve got a ton of other things going on, you’re not going to inadvertently miss the date something is due. This can have more of of an impact on your dealings than you might realise: anyone doing their due diligence and digging into your financials is going to be keeping an eagle-eye out to make sure you pay your bills on time.
So, by putting systems in place and automating things where you can, you’re actually doing yourself a massive favour – and you won’t keep waking up at 3am wondering if you’d made your mortgage payment or not!
Manage your time properly
Again, you might wonder how time management is going to help you out when you’re trying to get started with just shirt buttons in your piggy bank, but just hear me out.
If you’re not managing your time effectively, you might find that you’re spending too much time on things that are relatively inconsequential, and not enough time on the things that matter. Guard your time the way you would your money. Keep a diary for a few days on how long you’re spending on specific tasks, or use an online time tracker.
Don’t spend more time than you can afford on things that ultimately don’t matter, or don’t push you forward in achieving your goals.
Get yourself a mentor
This kind of goes hand in hand with my point about paying for the experts. If you’re just starting out and are a complete novice, you can waste an awful lot of time and money trying to learn things as you go along, or by getting things wrong and then having to circle back to correct any mistakes.
A mentor is a great idea as they’re bound to have seen and done, if not all of it, then at least most things! Whether that’s by investing in a course (like my own Foundations course), or by having a trusted advisor that you can call on, it can really be invaluable.
After all, you don’t know what you don’t know, so take the time to get yourself a bit of an education.
Keep your feet on the ground, but don’t let the long-term be your only focus
Regular readers will know that I’m a staunch advocate of the long game – time in the market will always beat timing the market, in my opinion – but it’s an interesting point that I discussed with Susannah Cole during our conversation.
She says that she’d taken some time in the early days to celebrate small wins, rather than solely focusing on the future. On the other hand, I shared my own experience of not necessarily keeping my feet on the ground in the early days of my career!
Find the middle ground, where you don’t go crazy, but you’re taking enough time to celebrate when you’ve achieved something you’re proud of.
In all fairness, these tips are just the tip of the iceberg – do go and take a listen to my conversation with Susannah Cole on episode 195, and Michaela Wain on episode 164 of the podcast, and if you’re at the early stage of your career in property and are looking for the best way to proceed, think about investing in my Foundations programme.
It’s an entry-level training course, designed for the novice investor looking to buy their first property, and is structured to guide you through the basics of property investment and how the market functions. For more information visit https://www.elitepropertyaccelerator.com/foundations