Property Investors student clocks up a fortune after winding up taxi firm
Taxi firm owner Mohammed Ullah worked for 10 years to build up a successful business only to see a competitor took away his trade. After training with the Property Investors Academy, Mohammed, reinvented himself as a deal sourcer. In an average week, he now makes £3,000 to £5,000. He even has another set of wheels – a brand new £60,000 motorhome which he rents out when not taking to the road himself.
‘I loved Samuel Leeds’ energy’
Mohammed, or Mo as he is known by his friends, already owned a few properties when he met Samuel Leeds at a business event in London in 2016.
Mo remembers it well because during a break Samuel was standing outside singing ‘buy low, rent high,’ the title of his best-selling book.
“I was having my usual fag outside and I saw Samuel singing this song. I thought he was nuts, but I loved the energy. Then I thought no, there’s something about this guy.”
With his curiosity piqued, Mo decided to attend Training Kings, a Christian business networking event founded by Samuel which evolved into Property Investors. Although Mo is a Muslim, the organisation was open to people of all faiths.
Later, he came along to two Property Investors Crash Courses. He also enrolled on other introductory courses to check out the opposition before deciding who he would train with.
It wasn’t until 2019, however, that Mo eventually took the plunge and joined the Property Investors Academy. The intervening years were spent running his taxi company, in addition to two takeaways and a restaurant.
From just being one man in a taxi, Mo grew his company until he had a fleet of 50 cars.
“We were so successful in the taxi business we won £1m worth of contracts. We did a lot of wheelchair transport taking children with special needs to school. But then a local competitor came along and ended up taking us out.”
Uber also came on the scene which added another tier of competition and so Mo decided to liquidate his company.
“It was a difficult time for me. Everything I’d built up over 10 years I had to dismantle. It was a horrible process to go through.”
Having stripped himself of all his assets, bar one of his takeaways, it left him feeling stressed and depressed.
“You question so many things. Why the hell am I here? Why the hell am I doing this? Why do I even bother? Shall I just get a job and be the normal nine-to-five guy?”
It was the birth of his daughter which proved to be the watershed. From having been single and working up to 100 hours a week to build up his business, his life changed overnight.
“I had to change my mindset, the way I do things. I couldn’t be out all hours because I’d got family to look after and responsibilities. I thought, do I work nights and evenings, or do I just start again? I had to decide which way I was going to go and what I was going to focus on.”
He toyed with applying for a sales job at a new luxury car dealership but realised it was ‘not enough for him.’
After a total of 25 years in business, the entrepreneur decided to take a year out and join the academy to train in property.
‘Property Investors Academy provides value for money’
It cost Mo £10,000 plus VAT to join the year-long Property Investors Academy programme. He describes the training as ‘amazing’, as well as providing value for money.
“A franchise costs a lot more than that. The value Property Investors was giving was so much better than everything else out there on the market.”
Mo was particularly impressed by the way Samuel and his coaches organised the courses.
“I was looking at this young man and thinking wow he’s smashing it. He does Sunday Q&As and puts on all these events. This guy’s running a thousand miles an hour. When’s he going to sleep?! He’s done a fantastic job putting his company together and in providing everything you need.”
From the toolbox of investment strategies which Mo learned about, packaging and selling property deals to investors was the one he picked out to initially concentrate on.
“I had a lot of notes piled up. I had to decide which route to go down as a nine to five business. I learnt so much from the trainers. I decided to focus on deal sourcing and looking after investors. There are a lot of busy professionals out there.
“It takes about 40 hours to find a really good deal. I thought I can work from home, be on the road and source deals for investors. In the process, I can build my own portfolio up with the benefit of education this time.
“My previous properties were just drop the money in there, thank you very much. There was no calculation in it. Now it’s a whole new mindset of looking at a property and what works and doesn’t. It’s very important to get an investment property that actually works. When you’re a trained investor it’s a different ball game all together.”
During the pandemic Mo took a break and then launched his company called Action Invest, a reflection of the fact he felt he was not taking enough action at the time. He employs a general manager to take care of the day-to-day running of the business, freeing up time to build his network of investors and look for deals.
One of the advantages of becoming a deal sourcer was that his set-up costs were very low. The company also works with a network of registered co-sourcers up and down the country who find deals and pass them on for a fee.
“We analyse the deal that comes to us via the co sourcer to make sure it is a good deal and we sell the deal for them. At the moment we’re packaging and selling one deal per week, and we charge the investor £3,000 to £5,000. Our target is to do two a week and I think we’ll overtake that.”
Luxury motorhome and HMO boost Mo’s income
Alongside his deal sourcing, Mo has also just launched what he calls his ‘fun business.’ After hiring a motorhome to go on holiday, he bought one himself and decided to rent it out.
“I used to have a fleet of taxis. I’m used to managing vehicles, so I decided if I’m not going to use it all the time, I might as well rent it out to people to enjoy. It was on my to do list to have a motorhome and I’ve done it.”
The luxury vehicle is equipped with two beds and sofas and costs £1,000 plus VAT to rent for a week. Hirers must be over 25 and are also charged a £1,000 deposit.
Since training with Property Investors, Mo has come to realise the importance of recycling money, carrying out checks and making sure the numbers stack up before investing his cash.
“I didn’t even know about return on investment until I learnt about property with Samuel. Money sat in the bank isn’t doing anything. It needs to go round. That’s how the economy works. That’s why the banks aren’t giving you much interest. You might as well make money with that money.”
He has applied the same rule of ‘running the numbers’ and doing his due diligence with his latest investment – a three-bedroom, terraced house in Wigan which he is buying for himself for £105,000.
His plan is to convert the run down, double-fronted property into a six-bed HMO and then apply for planning permission next year to create another bedroom in a storage area.
The work will cost around £120,000 and will include taking the house back to brick and installing en suites in each bedroom to provide high end accommodation.
Whilst this might seem like a lot of money to fork out, the anticipated returns are high. Once the renovation is finished, Mo intends to refinance the mortgage to its new value and pull out all his money, effectively giving him a free house.
“I’m aiming for an end value after refinancing of £300-340,000.”
On top of that, he expects the property to generate £37,000 a year from rents, giving him an ongoing revenue, as well as cash to reinvest.
Mo has become a seasoned viewer of properties. He won £1,000 on the Deal Finding Extravaganza course for getting the most bookings. Over a fortnight, he viewed 67 terraced houses in the Manchester area, having been given a checklist of problems to look out for.
It cost him a lot of petrol and time, but it gave him a knowledge of property and understanding of how the business works, including dealing with agents.
“I was changing from running a taxi company and restaurants to becoming a property investor. It was a life changing moment,” he recalls.
Similarly, he had to view many properties before he alighted on his investment opportunity in Wigan.
Knowing exactly what to look for in a property, he says, is crucial.
“One house looked absolutely beautiful. It was staged very nicely. Then I open this cupboard and there’s a massive crack in the wall and I thought that can’t be good. You learn about these things.”
He also checks the boiler and fuse box to make sure they are in order, as well as looking at the roof.
When Mo is not viewing properties for himself, he is continuing with his job of hunting down lucrative investment opportunities for others.
“We’re like the personal shopper for busy professionals basically. That’s my job, to go out there, view houses, find a good deal and let the investor take that deal on. That’s what we do as a business day in and day out. We’ve built up a rapport with the agents and we’re getting deals coming to us.”
He adds: “My target is to grow the deal sourcing side and build a £1m portfolio. Then after that I might ten x the whole thing or retire on a beach!”
Mo’s tips
- You’ve got to educate yourself and get yourself out there. The more you learn the more you earn.
- Get yourself to the Property Investors Crash Course. You’ve got nothing to lose.
- Life’s a rollercoaster. You’ve got to be able to handle the ups and downs in business because it’s about problem solving. Never give up.
- Surround yourself with supportive people who will help you build and grow as a person.
Samuel Leeds’ verdict
“Mo has worked incredibly hard all his working life and set up some successful businesses. Now he’s become really good at finding deals and has a very successful business model.
“I invest a lot of money in training and so does Mo. In fact, we call him the three-year academy member because he’s continued to stay in touch and still comes to events. He’s part of the furniture and we’ve continued to support him in what he’s doing.”
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