This is the intriguing story of David France’s long and winding road towards building a successful property portfolio, while overcoming obstacles along the way. He now runs Portfolio Millionaire, a growing coaching franchise which mentors those who are keen to follow in his footsteps.
‘My story begins when I decided to take the plunge into the property market. The first course I went on, here in the UK, was run by an Australian guy who had 150 properties. I started learning about strategies and I soon worked out what he was making and how he was making it. I really bought into the idea of having passive income streams from property but, within three months of getting started, the law in the UK had changed. This meant the strategy I was using had overnight become mortgage fraud. So, despite all the hard work, I had to start all over again.
The course had been expensive and all I had left was the grand total of £2,000 to put into my property business. It was a huge blow, but I simply had to pick myself up and try something else. I needed to find a way of focusing on property full-time – without having to work as a joiner to pay my bills. For me, the endgame was to build a portfolio of properties that would provide me with ‘passive income’. This would allow me to do what I’d always dreamed of, such as travelling the world while making money from property.
On the next course, I learned how to use lease options to take control of properties which I didn’t own. This time everything clicked. Using lease options to secure properties, and then packaging deals to sell on, would bring in the income I desperately needed to enable me to go full-time in property. I started implementing these strategies and I loved it. I was helping people who were often in a desperate situation and it felt good to be doing something positive for someone else.
I felt like I was in the groove because I was making good money and I liked it when people would say to me: “I can’t believe you’ve taken this burden off my shoulders. I was panicking. I couldn’t sell it through the estate agent and you’ve employed a legal solution I didn’t even know existed.” It really was a win-win situation because these people were burnt out and disconsolate about property. I had developed a strategy to help people who were struggling to sell their homes, both in the UK and overseas.
And I completely understood how these people felt because, at one stage, I had been in a similar situation with a problematic overseas property. I’d purchased a cheap property in Detroit and it wasn’t long before I realised I’d made a massive mistake. The property was forever falling vacant. There were always many problems to sort out, while trying to communicate with the agent became a nightmare.
So, on a long trip to the United States with my girlfriend (now my wife), we decided to take a detour to Detroit and visit the property – which was vacant once again. We got the keys from the agent and couldn’t believe what we’d stumbled upon. The neighbourhood was really dodgy and the house had been broken into, vandalised and had its boiler stolen. We decided to hang around in order to fix up the house and this is where my joinery skills came in handy. When completed, I listed it on Ebay which cost me £35 for 30 days, and it sold pretty much straight away for £17,500. Thankfully, I’d made back the money I had spent on it but it was a scary time until the house was sold.
Anyway, back to my other work of doing lease option deals and then selling them on. While working in this field, I had developed a reputation for being one of the ‘good guys’ in the industry. My deals were going through smoothly, and the vendors and buyers were happy. I was having more deals sent my way, while many of the solicitors I had dealt with began recommending me. All of a sudden my business started to take off. However, there is a big price to pay if you don’t know what you’re doing. If you become involved with the wrong people, it can cost you dearly.
I only wish there had been someone to mentor and train me on the right way to do things, which would have saved me from making some mistakes. Luckily, I escaped some deals that went south and learned some very valuable but harsh lessons about due diligence in business. I also learned about carefully selecting the right people to do business with.
I’m now at a point in my life I could only have dreamed of. I don’t have flash cars or a big house, but I live a comfortable life. I am able to provide a good life for my wife and two children, and that’s important. I now own a decent-sized portfolio which means I generate an income that allows me not to work, if I don’t want to. But I enjoy what I do, working on large portfolio deals and packaging them to sell on, while adding to my portfolio when I find properties that meet my criteria. I also love mentoring and helping my clients on their journey.
The first phase is to help my clients ease their way out of full-time employment, and that can be challenging because many of them have families. That’s why I focus on cash flow first. The dream of passive income is all very well, but it takes time and money to build up. Finding and packaging deals to sell on is both the quickest and best way forward. This should bring in decent money, and eventually enable my clients to reduce their existing work commitments. Over time, building a portfolio should slowly develop wealth.
The big takeaway from this article is that building property wealth is available to almost everyone, as long as they realise it takes time and effort. In this business patience is a virtue. Good luck.‘
This sponsored news feature was brought to you by leading coaching franchise Portfolio Millionaire.
About Portfolio Millionaire:
Led by David France and his team, their aim is to help you build long term wealth through property, using sophisticated strategies without huge sums of money. It’s a solid starting point for those keen to develop ‘passive income’.
