Time To Quit My Job
I bought my first home, and thought, “Hang on, if I rent out these two
rooms, that money will pay for my mortgage. Then, all I have to do is pay for the house bills, and
it’s actually cheaper than living in student digs.”
The second lightbulb moment was after the lodgers had moved in and everything was going
swimmingly. I thought, “Let’s roll it out: let’s do what I’ve just done, on a slightly bigger scale.”
People can make some things look really complicated and difficult, but at the end of the day, I
was just a standard guy that saw that there was an opportunity to earn some more money by
renting out some rooms. I then decided to magnify that.
You would have thought I’d have twigged this sooner, but it wasn’t really until I tried to help my
parents that I thought, “Hang on, if I put more rooms in, I can get a lot more money.” That was a
delayed lightbulb moment.
We like our houses to be a sort of a home away from home. We have similar age people, similar
professions, a similar demographic in the property, and we also have a very rigorous vetting
process for tenants Somebody might look really good on paper but if they’ve got an attitude or
we get a bad vibe, we won’t rent to them. Because we believe that if you have issues before they
even become a tenant – if they’re rude, arrogant or back-chatting – then what the hell are they
going to be like as housemates? Or how are they going to react if we have to tell them to stop
smoking in the house because it’s against the rules?
Another lightbulb moment was to make sure you get some help from whoever has the correct
skills. There’s no way you’re going to build a multi-million-pound business as a one-man band.
Anybody that offers help, accept it, welcome it, embrace it. You shouldn’t and can’t do
everything by yourself, and you have to accept graciously the help of others.
rooms, that money will pay for my mortgage. Then, all I have to do is pay for the house bills, and
it’s actually cheaper than living in student digs.”
The second lightbulb moment was after the lodgers had moved in and everything was going
swimmingly. I thought, “Let’s roll it out: let’s do what I’ve just done, on a slightly bigger scale.”
People can make some things look really complicated and difficult, but at the end of the day, I
was just a standard guy that saw that there was an opportunity to earn some more money by
renting out some rooms. I then decided to magnify that.
You would have thought I’d have twigged this sooner, but it wasn’t really until I tried to help my
parents that I thought, “Hang on, if I put more rooms in, I can get a lot more money.” That was a
delayed lightbulb moment.
We like our houses to be a sort of a home away from home. We have similar age people, similar
professions, a similar demographic in the property, and we also have a very rigorous vetting
process for tenants Somebody might look really good on paper but if they’ve got an attitude or
we get a bad vibe, we won’t rent to them. Because we believe that if you have issues before they
even become a tenant – if they’re rude, arrogant or back-chatting – then what the hell are they
going to be like as housemates? Or how are they going to react if we have to tell them to stop
smoking in the house because it’s against the rules?
Another lightbulb moment was to make sure you get some help from whoever has the correct
skills. There’s no way you’re going to build a multi-million-pound business as a one-man band.
Anybody that offers help, accept it, welcome it, embrace it. You shouldn’t and can’t do
everything by yourself, and you have to accept graciously the help of others.