It was December 2023, and like many others starting out in property, Victoria and I found ourselves working straight through another Christmas period. Victoria had minimal holiday allowance in her marketing role in the finance sector, and I was taking advantage of the lucrative option of contracted hours in my role as an engineering consultant. By the end of the festive season, we were both exhausted, with little rest and not much to show for it.
That’s when the thought hit us: “There must be more to life than this.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
In January 2024, we discovered the world of property and embarked on a journey that we hope would allow us to leave our corporate nine-to-five roles for good. It hasn’t all been smooth sailing—there have been ups and downs, successes and frustrations—but our first 12 months in property have been incredibly rewarding. We’ve found a new passion, and the future looks bright!
Here’s what we’ve learned during our first year and how we hope it can help you if you’re thinking of taking the leap into property.
Step One: Invest in (THE RIGHT) Training and Mentorship
When we decided to go ‘all in’ on our property venture, we already had an existing buy-to-let (BTL) portfolio. However, we quickly discovered that buying more BTLs was neither the quickest nor highest cash-flowing option for us.
However, due to a lack of knowledge, we didn’t know any other path to take. Recognising this, and understanding that training and education would be fundamental to our success, we started researching education providers.
We knew the risks that came with picking the wrong trainer, so we did extensive research and due diligence. That’s when we came across Hayley Andrews from Your Freedom Empire (YFE) and applied for a 1-1 mentorship with her. Hayley is fantastic, so we were thrilled to pass the interview stage and assign her as our mentor.
We attended three days of invaluable and tailored one-to-one training at YFE’s office, which gave us the direction we needed, helping us to pick a strategy that will allow us to leave our jobs behind. Hayley also reviews all our deals. In the early days especially, it gives confidence to know you have someone experienced as an extra set of eyes.
Biggest Challenges and Hurdles
Know your strategy – and stick to itWhen your eyes are opened to the world of property, the possibilities are endless. HMOs, serviced accommodation, commercial to resi, social housing … the list goes on. In short, it’s easy to get ‘shiny penny’ syndrome.
Thankfully, we’ve stayed consistent and in ‘our lane’. We’ve focused on the strategy we planned with Hayley, which was rent-to-rent (R2R) and serviced accommodation (SA). This strategy has helped us build monthly cash flow, which in turn will replace our current salaries, allowing us to securely leave our full-time roles.
Do your research and due diligenceThe biggest challenge for us at the start was finding which location to invest in.
We ran due diligence on an area, monitoring it over time, only to find that it wouldn’t work for SA.
Rather than seeing this as a failure or a setback, we saw this as a positive—it was only helping us narrow down our area further.
This experience taught us patience, not to rush into deals, and that market research is key to success. It may have taken us a while to find our area, but once we did, it really paid off for us. On our first SA deal, we received a one-month booking prior to it even hitting the market!
Be prepared for a lot of no’sR2R is a great strategy, but one we’ve found a lot of letting agents and landlords don’t quite understand, despite the huge benefits for both of them. We’ve worked hard to build relationships with local letting agents and our landlords, so they get to know who we are and how we operate.
This is starting to pay off and we’re now receiving referrals from our landlords, and most recently a lettings agent recommended us directly to a friend looking for a hands-off approach—which we’ve now added to our portfolio.
The key here is persistence and knowing your strategy. By being the expert in our field, we can explain what we do confidently. We want to be the first name a letting agent thinks of when an opportunity passes them. It’s all about being persistent, and not stopping despite how many ‘no’s’ we receive on an almost daily basis.
Keep networkingNetworking has been a priority for us from the start, and something we’re incredibly thankful we started when we did. We’ve built genuine relationships in the property industry, and it’s created multiple opportunities.
To demonstrate our commitment and dedication to staying informed within the industry, between us, we attend The Blue Bricks Magazine events, and other independent meetings, like the Newcastle Property & Poppadoms events and The Property Thing in Darlington. Victoria also attends the female property networking group, Hard Hats to Heels. It’s fair to say we’ve covered some miles in our first year, and some weeks we have been passing ships in the night, but the value we’ve received from each event has been worth it.
What’s the Plan Going Forward?
We now have a successful R2R/SA business, which we plan to grow. As we’ve scaled in recent months, we’ve been working with investors to fund the set-up of the properties, working on a 12% return on investment for them.
We want to continue scaling our R2R business, as well as adding to our BTL portfolio. Going forward, we will buy single lets in the same area we are looking for/already have SA. This way, we have multiple options in terms of cash flow and can utilise our market research.
Alongside, we also keep a close eye on the market for potential flip opportunities. This will allow us to recycle our funds and keep scaling our business.
Get in Touch
If anyone would like to know more about what we do, visit any of our properties, or connect with us, please get in touch. We’re keen to build our relationships and our network, learn from others, or potentially even work together in the future—it all starts with a phone call or a coffee.
Website: Instagram: @james_jvmc_property @victoria_jvmc_propertyEmail: James@jvmc-property.com or Victoria@jvmc-property.com
