Getting Started in Property With No Money

LINKS 

→ Jordan Smethurst (LinkedIn) 

→ The Property Club 

My Story: The Beginning

When I first considered getting into property, I was young, ambitious, and broke. The thought of owning or investing in property seemed like a distant fantasy. But I was determined. I knew that property was a proven way to build wealth, and I was ready to find a way in, even if it meant starting with nothing. At the time I was earning a measly £4.50 an hour as an apprentice carpenter/joiner, waking up at 5 to travel an hour in the pouring rain to a building site to do a job that i hated...

I used to look at people around me on the site, some of them in their 40s, 50s or even 60s and think to myself "surely this isn't it" - "surely this isn't what my future looks like" and in all honesty, i had no one to blame but myself. I didn't achieve much in school, i left with only one GCSE, i remember all of the other kids on results day,  made up that they achieved the grades they wanted and being able to get into the colleges they applied for. It was at that point I knew i f****** up. I hadn't even applied for any colleges and for some reason, the thought didn't pass by of 'what will I do when I leave school'. It's funny looking back at that now, but at the time it was not a great move.

I stuck the joinery apprenticeship out for 3 years until I qualified. I then parted ways to pursue my interests in property.The first thing I realised was that I needed to change my mindset. Instead of focusing on what I didn’t have (money), I focused on what I did have—time, determination, and a willingness to learn. I started devouring every piece of information I could find about property investment, from books and podcasts to networking events where I could meet others who were already successful in the field.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned early on is that knowledge is power, and networks are everything. I didn’t have money, but I had time to invest in learning and building relationships.

My Story: The Middle

Things finally started to improve when a good friend sent me a Facebook post from a local property investor who was looking for a labourer to help with some of his ongoing buy-to-let refurbishments. I decided to take a chance and messaged him directly. I offered to work for free in exchange for learning the ropes of property investment and building a property business. It was a simple proposition: I would trade my time for knowledge.

Looking back, of all of the investment property I have sold to date, it was the best deal I’ve ever made.

I worked closely with him every day for about six months, soaking up as much knowledge as I could. I spent time both on-site and in his office, learning everything from basic property investment strategies to the finer points of managing finances, leveraging debt, and communicating effectively with estate agents and investors. One of the first tasks he had me do was list out all my assets and liabilities, giving me a clear picture of my financial situation 

So many people in life spend far to much time sitting procrastinating on the next step to take instead of just doing it and seeing how it pans out. So the next step for me was implementation, to actually start implementing what I had learnt. That's when I discovered how to actually find a deal, run the financials, package that up into an investment opportunity and sell that for a finders fee to another investor. This strategy is commonly known as 'Deal Sourcing or 'brokering deals'. This is how I quickly started to build my knowledge of local markets, how to build relationships, what to actually look for and ultimately how to run a business. 

Within the first month of starting this strategy, I managed to find a profitable deal that included an optional project management add-on. I delivered on that project, earning the trust of the investor, and soon after, I sourced two more properties for them in a specific investment area they wanted to target. This experience was invaluable, not only because it taught me the ins and outs of the property market but also because it helped me start building a cash reserve for my own portfolio.

If I’m being completely honest, at that time, I didn’t have much money at all. Most of what I earned went straight back into growing the business. But I set a goal to purchase my first property by the end of the year. When you set your mind on something and make it your sole focus, there’s no room for failure.

Keep Reading...

The next deal came across my desk, it was sent to me from an estate agent who i built up a strong relationship with from actually going into the office and introducing myself from day 1. The agent rang me and said “I have a property about to come to the market on x road for x price, this is definitely going to have a lot of interest so if your interested you have to make an offer straight away. So that I did, I viewed the property, it was a mess but the numbers were great, it was in an area I was familiar with, so I lowballed at first, I got a no, and the agent told me I need it to be asking price to get the deal across the line given they had a couple of interested parties.

Anyway, long story short, I had the offer accepted, but no way of funding it…some would say stupid, some would say big risk, yes but I would say when your backs against the wall you have no option but to find a way.

I then decided to approach the investors that i had built up a great relationship with over the past months through finding the deals and project managing their sites. I said "look, I have a deal here, its a great deal, numbers stack up nicely and i could sell this on to you and make a 3k fee but I want to take this one on for myself" (i had already told them about my goal to purchase my first property by the end of the year) I followed to say, If you agree to loan me the money to purchase and refurb this property, I will give you a 12% return on your money" They knew i could follow through given already project managed their refurbs and they was on board with my vision and agreed.

So there it was, my first property purchased by the end of 2019 at age 20 with none of my own money leveraging investor finance. 

The Conclusion

This project had its ups and downs given it was my first project, the refurbishment also started at the beginning of the first Covid lockdown, were we seen works come to a halt, material prices sky rocketed, and much more, however that being said, I made a net of £30,000 profit after I paid back the investor and all other associated fees.

Over the past few years, I have been building my portfolio on the side along with working with some of the largest property investment agencies in the UK. As i understood the importance of sales, I had to get some experience under my belt working with some of the top names in the industry, where I have cemented my name within the property investment industry, assisting investors worldwide to buy property all over the UK, along with raising finance for my own investment deals. 

If I started again...

If i had to start all over again, i probably wouldn't change much, i have learnt so much along the way. Hands down the best way to get started in property with no money is by building relationships with people already in the industry, working for free if you have absolutely nothing to put towards mentorship. Once you have the foundational knowledge, start finding and selling property deals to investors for a fee. This is going to help you build credibility wtihin the indsutry, build your connections, build your own knowledge of how to put deals together and analyse what works and what doesnt and ultimately, it will build your pot of cash and investor network so that you can work towards your first property purchase of your own.

A Quote I love:

"Action is the antidote to anxiety.

You’re not afraid of the future when you’re moving yourself toward it.

If you feel anxiety creeping in, use it as a trigger to lean into action, not stagnation.

Do something and you’ll feel better" 

Chris Williamson.

P.S we run a private members club for those who are just starting out in property or looking to grow their existing business. 

We also help people build their own investment agency from scratch in just 90 day