Today I’m delighted to be joined by Mike Clay, a property investor living and investing in Norwich, who realised after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad on a beach three years ago, that there was a better way to the twenty years he’d spent climbing the corporate ladder.
During our discussion, Mike shares what his motivations were to leave the day job behind, the strategy that he settled on to get there and why really honing in on a specific niche has boosted his success massively.
And also, how he was able to build up a big enough portfolio in only three years to take the leap into full time property investing.
Mike is already scheduled to come back on the show in a few weeks to talk through his process for creating your vision, translating it into a strategy and goals and, most importantly, actually executing it. But today, it’s all about his back story which I’m sure will be a big inspiration for you!
Listen to this episode below:
Here’s a sneak peek at what discussed this time:
3.45 – Mike discusses his background in management consultancy and IT.
5.02 – Mike elaborates on how the skills acquired from the corporate world transfer successfully across to the property industry.
8.15 – How reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad opened Mike’s eyes to a completely different approach to financial literacy and the potential of property.
“It would be great if we had far, far better financial education in schools, so we can teach these concepts really early on.”
13.39 – How setting clear goals, as a family, informed Mike’s investment choices.
15.34 – The benefits of working with your wife!
20.28 – From local knowledge to timesaving to turnaround speeds, Mike discusses the benefits of investing close to home.
“We did a load of research beforehand…. We could see the reduction of returns in Norwich… but it wasn’t worth the 5 hours on the train! We’re going to take a slightly lower yield but spend more time at home.”
26.12 – Mike talks us through a typical investment.
27.09 – How market research and understanding led Mike to discover his perfect investment strategy – and why he sticks to it.
35.13 – The challenge of holding down a successful corporate career whilst creating a property business, and how to find the time to do both.
“Always try and focus on the most important things that would drive us forwards and try and do less of everything else!”
40.08 – Mike introduces the concept of creating a vision, and the importance of planning and goal setting to the realisation of that vision. We’ll talk about this in detail in our second podcast.
43.40 – Mike explains the funding behind his property business, including joint venture partners and applying for a SSAS (don’t forget to check out our podcast with Kevin Whelan for more information on SSAS).
47.22 – Mike’s two top pieces of advice for those interested in following in his footsteps.
“Do something every single day to take you towards your goals.”
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Links Mentioned
Follow Mike on Instagram (@clayproperties) or drop him an email on mike@clayproperties.co.uk
And if you want to read the book that changed it all for Mike, you can find Rich Dad, Poor Dad on Amazon.