How To Get 40 Rent-To-Rent Deals In 2 Years?
Do you know how to scale your Rent-to-Rent business?
Discover how I have managed to scale my Rent-to-Rent portfolio to 40 deals in just two short years…..
In this episode, I will share my top five tips on how I have managed to scale my business so quickly and how you can do it too.
Before we get into the content, I want to put a disclaimer, Rent-to-Rent is not easy. If you think you will be able to drop into this, replace your income, quit your job and be in Barbados, that's not realistic. There is so much information, wrong information out there that will sell you the dream. That's not what I want to achieve here.
It is possible without previous property experience and low initial investment, but you will need capital available. It will take hard work, the proper education, and you will need to apply yourself consistently.
Number 1 - Stop overthinking and get started.
When I decided Rent-to-Rent was a good strategy, I got stuck in. I created my logo, branding and website, set up my company, and started to take daily action. Don't overthink it. Get started and stop worrying about what will happen in six months.
If you create momentum and people see results, it will help your credibility, which is key to scaling your Rent-to-Rent business.
Number two - Consistency & Persistence
Consistency is critical in Rent-to-Rent. Over time it does start to become easier, and you benefit from the compound effect. You earn your luck, but you need to put the work in to be lucky.
Number three - Systemise
I speak to many of you, and a common theme is that once you reach a few deals, you hit a brick wall. You're spending so much time managing your portfolio that you can't allocate the time to focus on acquiring new deals. I've experienced this every step of the way. I've completed three/four deals then it's beginning to feel hectic. I've then taken a step back, systemised then put myself in a position to look for deals again. Systemising your business is vital.
Listen to this week's podcast episode to find out tips four and five.
In this episode, you will discover
My top 5 tips to scale your Rent-to-Rent business
How to establish realistic expectations
Why systemising is vital
Why being flexible and creative is so important
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Podcast Transcript↓
[00:01:08] Simon here. Welcome to another episode of the podcast where we talk all things property. Creative cashflow. And of course, how to be financially independent today, not in 25 years, if you're brand new to the show, every single Monday with dropping rent, to rent bonds, every single Monday, maximum value, maximum shares and maximum tips and tricks on how you can start and scale.
[00:01:41] Your rent to rent business right now. And if you're brand new to me, you'll know, I do a hybrid of HMO and serviced accommodation. So you're going to get all of that value right here. Do me a favour, please. Do subscribe. Feel free to share the podcast in your stories to spread the word. And if you're not.
[00:02:05] All ready, make sure you follow me on Instagram at Simon Smith, online for daily videos, content, and additional tips and tricks. So today's episode, how have I managed to do 40 rent to rent deals? In two years, I'm going to be sharing five tips on how I've managed to do it and how you can do it too. But before I do get into that, I just want to do a disclaimer and say, Rent to rent is not easy.
[00:02:37] If you think you're just going to be able to drop onto this, replace your income, quit your job and be in Barbados, sipping on pina coladas. Switch off right now. This is not for you. There's so much information, bad information out there that will sell you a dream. And that's not the reality. That's not what we do here.
[00:02:59] It is possible with no. Previous property experience and we've low, not no money. However, it will take hard work and you will need to get educated and you will need to apply yourself consistently. So I just want to throw that out there because at no point, do I ever want to come across as selling a dream or given false hope?
[00:03:25] This stuff is not easy. Trust me. It's not easy, but it is very possible. So. 40 rent to rent deals. How have I managed to do that? I mean, I think back to when I started and I had enough money for one purchase. Okay. That's all. So I ended up purchasing a property, a two up two down, turned it into a three bed mini haymow and it was generating 600 pounds a month.
[00:03:54] And I was like, yeah, cool. Managed to recycle a little bit of cash down the line, but not. All of it, but decent amount. But the bottom line was I tasted the cashflow and I was like, I need more of this, but I've only got three K left. How can I do it? And I started exploring different strategies. And when I found rent to rent, I was like, this could be it.
[00:04:19] So I remember I did all my research. I set up my business at the time I was working pretty. Full time. And I used to get up at five, 6:00 AM. I was on Squarespace, designing my website and trying to get things move in and arrange in as many viewings as possible with landlords, not similar agents at that time, the agents came a little bit later, but I was viewing properties and I was getting no, no, no, no, no.
[00:04:51] And there was so many times when I felt like just. Given up because, you know, they didn't want to trust me because I was new or the figures didn't work or the properties needed too much work, or I didn't think I'd have enough money to do that particular deal until one day I managed to secure my first deal, which was a free bed property, two reception rooms, which be converted into a four bed mini HMO and it pretty instantly started generating around.
[00:05:22] Eight to 900 pounds net income per month. And I was like, wow, I just need more of these. But then I hit a bit of a brick wall because I realised that those kinds of deals were few and far between, and it was tough for me to replicate that because I was just like, Oh, let me just do loads of these now, but easier said than done.
[00:05:46] So I started looking and looking and looking and I was getting more nose and nose. But then I found a two bed, two and a half bath townhouse, and I was like, this won't work as a rent to HMO, but maybe it could work as a service accommodation. So my second rent to rent deal was actually an essay. And that's how I developed what I like to call the hybrid approach because I'd done one HMO, one essay, and I was like, I'm just going to do both of these.
[00:06:19] And the reason I fell upon essay was because there was not enough HMO stock in the area at that time. And one of the key tips I would give you when you're starting out. Yeah. Master one strategy and stick to it. But the thing with rent to rent is that 50% of rent , they're the same rent to rent is just controlling the property.
[00:06:44] So you're going to be learning all this information. You might as well, just capitalise on both and then learn the second 50% for each. And it will allow you to scale much more quickly. And that's been a real, real key thing because as soon as I got two deals under my belt, I would just. I was going after every property, above two beds in, in decent condition in my areas.
[00:07:13] And I was just able to reel off deal after deal. And what happened was after around six months, some of the nos that I heard before started turning into yeses and referrals came and agents started seeing enough social proof and credibility for them to start to approach me. And I built up momentum. And before I knew it, I was doing three, four deals, sometimes three or four deals a month, and I had many refurbs going on and I'll fill a property and move on filler property and move on.
[00:07:50] And the rest is history. Literally the rest is history, but anyway, enough about me, I want to share five top tips on what I've learned in this experience and what I think you. Should be doing, if you do want to scale your rent to rent business. Okay. To that sort of level, because a lot of people are like, yeah, do you know I've got a few deals, but have you managed to get so many in such a short period of time?
[00:08:21] So number one, you've got to start to scale. So one thing I do think back. Quite fondly was that when I decided rent to rent was a good strategy, I just got stuck in and I got my logo. I set up my company. I started working on my website and created a positive energy of actually doing stuff. Action. I speak to so many of you in your life.
[00:08:50] I'm still thinking about doing it a year later, and it's like, you literally could have done multiple deals. So there's no way you're going to scale to 40 deals if you never start. So first things first get started and don't worry about what's going to happen in six months. Just focus on doing positive action today.
[00:09:10] And that's something I did, and it really, really helped me build momentum. And another point is that it helped other people take me seriously as well, because the more you talk about stuff and procrastinate, the more peer pressure you'll get. And the more people will start to question what you're doing.
[00:09:30] Whereas if you just get on with it, they've got no choice, but to get on board. And that does apply to family and friends. Number two, you've got to stay the course. In other words, persistence. Consistency are absolutely key in rent to rent. And as I mentioned earlier, it does get easier and easier and easier because you end up benefiting from the compounding effect, meaning work you did six months ago will pay off.
[00:09:59] Now, in other words, no bosses come and then free come at once and that's how rent to rent works. So if you are struggling now to get your first deal or two. Don't worry, just keep going because it will get easier. And the universe that sounds deep, but the universe will stop. You know, when you believe in yourself, the universe will start believing in you and empowering you and giving you a lucky break.
[00:10:26] You earn your own look, but you do need to put in the work to be lucky. You know, number three systems. I speak to some of you. And after a few deals, you start to hit a brick wall because you're spending so much time on your current portfolio that you just can't assign the time or the head space to focus on new deals.
[00:10:49] So you know what you do beam, but because you're spending so much energy on your current portfolio, you're unable to create space for the new deals. And that's something that I have done every step of the way. I've done like three, four deals and then a fault is his hectic. I need systemise and then I've systemised and it's settled down and then I've done.
[00:11:10] Okay. Deal four, five, six, seven. Oh, it's getting hectic again. Let me systemise and so forth. I think the biggest stress test for me was when I hit 20 deals, 20 deals starts getting real. Because at that point, you can not wing it at 10 deals. I needed to get other people on board to help at 20 deals. I needed to really focus on working on the business, not in, because of why as I was just gonna go mental.
[00:11:42] So you're going to need systems along the way. So don't underestimate the journey. And it's actually, once you've got the deal or you've got the deal for that, then you really need to systemise and be educated and put things in place. Otherwise you'll never scale beyond that. And guess what, if you don't scale up to the right level where you can get help, you're just going to be giving yourself another job.
[00:12:09] That's the truth. Number four investment. If you want to do 40 deals. In two years, you're going to need a decent amount of investment. You're going to need the capital and you're going to need the capital, not only for the deals, but for the confidence to take on all these guaranteed rents. At one point, I think I might've been guaranteeing like nearly 50,000 pounds worth of rent every single month.
[00:12:40] I don't know exactly what it is right now, but at one point it was 50,000 pounds every single month. On rents alone. That's before we get talking about bills. So it's really, really important that you, that you do have an initial investment and that you will need to find funding to scale. So I remember my business first deal, or now three K to borrow three K from a friend to finish it.
[00:13:08] And then down the line I've seeped, further investment. So I could do three or four deals in quick succession. As I've built up the experience. So if you've not got loads of money, then you might need to just start proving your concept on one or two deals. And then seeing if anybody around you believes in you and wants to invest in you, because that will enable you to scale.
[00:13:33] But you're not going to do 20 or 10 vent to rent deals. If you got 5k or 10 K, it's not going to happen, you're going to have to do the organic growth route, which means if you're making a thousand pound a month from, let's say your first two deals, then every five months, you'll be able to reinvest that cash flow to a new deal.
[00:13:55] Until eventually you can do a deal every three months, then a deal every two months, then a deal every month, it's going to take time. It would take months and months, years. In fact, if you've not got an injection to scale up and last but not least key thing, I've had to be flexible. I've had to really be creative and flexible in terms of.
[00:14:21] How I'm offering on these properties and how I'm solving the landlords and agents and tenants problem, because if you're just like to square and two, one dimensional, you're not going to get down to the root of how you're going to solve enough people's problems. So I really, really highly recommend that.
[00:14:45] What I always say is focus on the problem. And then focus on what the vendor needs to achieve your job then is to give them that and find creative ways to do that. So it still benefits you. Um, so I've got deals where maybe I've paid for the reefer, but then paid the landlord less rent for six months.
[00:15:07] I've got deals where I've maybe had like six weeks rent free to compensate for, for bits. I've had deals where I've just done it for 10 months to help somebody out because they were HMO student landlord and Mr. Student market. I've got landlords that just needed a help during the summer months whilst their students were away.
[00:15:30] I've got landlords that needed to move house really quickly and couldn't sell it. So I was finding those motivated vendors and then finding ways to solve their problem, not just. Going around offering five and Japan less than the asking price and hitting my head against the wall. So those are my five secrets.
[00:15:54] My five keys to doing these 40 deals. Number one, start number two, stay the course. Carry on. Number three systems, put systems in place to steady the portfolio and allow you to grow. Number four investment you will need. An investment rent to rent is low money down based, not no money down. And if you want to scale, you will need a decent amount.
[00:16:21] And last but not least, you've got to be flexible. So no matter what you're hearing these courses or what you read, you've got to be flexible and find the root problem and find creative ways to solve it. And a bonus point people. You've only got 24 hours in a day. So you need to leverage that of people's time and experience and expertise to help you travel.
[00:16:49] So at some point don't be afraid to ask for help and outsource, even if it costs you a bit more, it could free up your time to then scale. And throughout my whole journey, I've reinvested in people. So many times took less profit to free up my time. And that's how you grow. And that's how you keep rent to rent as passive as.
[00:17:13] So I hope that's useful. If you want to get into, please do follow me on Instagram at Simon Smith online. Any questions you've got any content you'd like me to cover on this podcast. I'd love to help. Remember. Don't wait 25 years. Get crave.
[00:17:42] Thanks for listening. For more information, check out Simon Smith, online.com. See you next time.