In this episode, Eddie and Bola, two successful property investors and pastors, share their inspiring journey of building a high cash-flow property business through serviced accommodation. They discuss their initial scepticism, their challenges, and how mentorship played a crucial role in their success.
With five profitable units, they talk about their vision to help others achieve financial freedom and support charitable causes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Being a dealmaker involves being ethically sound and financially savvy, ethically finding good deals.
- Serviced accommodation, a high cash flow strategy, was chosen by Eddie and Bola to maximize their savings and generate income.
- Mentorship played a crucial role in overcoming challenges and building confidence in their property business.
- The couple’s vision includes using their property business to fund missions and help others achieve financial freedom.
- Investing in mentorship and taking action were key factors in the success of Eddie and Bola’s property business.
BEST MOMENTS
“Being a dealmaker is ethically being sound financially, being sound in your deals, as in finding a good deal, going for the good deal in an ethical manner and being able to carry somebody else along while you’re doing it and being a blessing to somebody else.”
“The network marketing, which is product-based, health-based products. I need to do something about this. This is just not fun at all.”
“I think amongst many, let’s start with people with like minds. So we are going in the same direction. People want to make their business work for them.”
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Being a deal maker is ethically being sound, financially being sound in your deals, acting, finding a good deal, going for the good deal in an ethical manner, what’s
called network marketing, which is product based, health based products. I need to do something about this. This is just not one at all. You know, cost of living going up, the bank is filling without money, and I’m getting it one pound for the whole year for 40,000 in fact,
why did you both decide that serviced accommodation a high cash flow strategy and was the right thing for you at that time?
Cash in. My mom, cash time.
What is next for Eddie and bola in the property world for the next, say, 12 to 18 months.
So the next 12 months, I see us really what would you say to
anyone that’s tuning into this right now that perhaps is on the fence and maybe they’ve lost some confidence, some direction? What would you like to say to them, put the past behind and then just go for it.
So say, please go for it. One advice from a mentor can save you a whole lot of time.
What would you say being a deal maker means to you five property deals in less than two years, generating 1000s of pounds a month profit. That is what today’s podcast is all about. And I am joined by two incredible graduates of mine. I am here with bola. Hey, it’s lovely to have you. Nice to hang out with you. Every time I see you both, you just look younger. Thank you. The podcast is called the deal maker. Yes, bola, I’m going to start with you women, first, ladies first. What would you say being a deal maker means to you?
Well, for me, being a deal maker is ethically being sound, financially being sound in your deals, as in finding a good deal, going for the good deal in an ethical manner, and being able to carry somebody else along while you’re doing it, and being a blessing to ask somebody else. Wow. I
think it’s incredible. Yeah, well, yes.
So for me, a deal maker is someone that makes things happen. For some others, you know, great. So you are a deal maker. For me, you know, making making our dream come through with properties. So that’s, that’s what a deal maker is. And I love to be a deal maker for someone as well, making the dream of others happen makes you a deal maker. Wow, fantastic. I love that. So where did the thought of property start?
Okay, she will talk about our previous experience with properties, and I will talk about our current experience with properties. Let’s go previous first. So if you notice we are double act. We’ve done quite a lot of things together, I think, about 15 years or thereabout, or a little bit more. We decided we being it is a real way. Eddie decided, so I follow that we needed to invest in property, because we at some point, we’re going to need to send our children to university, and we didn’t want them to take any loan. We got two children, and they were academically inclined. So we thought, You know what? We need to find a way of sponsoring them through uni. We are able to with professionals, train together as accountants, and then went into a call of God ministry. But what then happened is we then bought a few buy to lets, and we had those going, and when it was time for the first boy to go, for the kid, first kid to go into uni, our son, we thought, okay, let’s sell one of the properties, and then we send him through uni. And they realized that it wasn’t a good time to sell properties, and we noticed that, so we didn’t want to sell Okay, let’s see how it goes. By the time he goes into his final year, his sister got into uni as well. So we now have two children in uni. I thought, Okay, how are we going to fund them through uni without them taking loans. Then we thought, let’s run another business. So we’ve always run different businesses, to be honest with you. So we had this side hustle, an MLM Marketing System, which was fantastic, and sent them through uni. So we did well with that. And then when that, you know, did discuss. We thought, I thought, let’s continue with the network marketing on the side, and let’s continue with the what’s it called, the property rental on the side. And that was fine with me. But Eddie thought differently.
There comes. Well, yes, the what you call the network marketing, which is product based, health based, products did send the kids to school, but, but then something happened. The kids graduated. Thank God we didn’t have to sell our properties. And then we started saving. Okay, so because we were no longer paying for school fees, we’re keeping some money outside. And then one day, I got a statement from the got a statement from my bank. We had about 40,000 pounds in our savings account. And the one day, I got this huge, giant interest, you know, and guess how much? One pound and 40 pounds? Yeah,
the bank have taken your money. Yeah, you’re out there making 20 exactly, and then give me one. I was angry, was upset. And I thought, You know what I need? I need to do something about this. This is just not on at all. You know, cost of living is going up. The bank is trading without money, and then I’m getting it one pound for the whole year, for 40,000 pounds in the bank. I thought, You know what? I this is not going to happen anymore. So aside, you know, going looking for because we’re used to properties. We thought, well, we’ll go on to look for the best way to maximize our maximize our savings. And then you popped up. Was, Oh, my God, you’re tracking your marketing. Who is this guy, you know? So we came on, came on. So I told Paul. I said, You know what? I think, I think we need to try service accommodation. I said, because I’ve seen this blog online. It seems to be follow me everywhere, you know. So let’s go. So we came online. We did it through the online, the online. So you gotta come to probably an online Summit. Online Summit. Come to the three day advantage, yeah, yes. And then you became VIP clients. Yeah, exactly, yeah, me and my business partner, Rebecca as well. Yeah. So then you started the journey with us, yeah, just under two years. Actually worked out, didn’t we? Yeah, just under two years. And it’s, it’s really been a lovely couple of years. And you were down in Marbella on the retreat last year, and I know a lot of positive things have happened since then. Why did you both decide that serviced accommodation, a high cash flow strategy was the right thing for you at that time. Because, okay, there’s a lot of people tuning in, and there’s lots of different ways to make money in property, single, let’s HMOs, PRR, developments. Why did sa really appeal to the Pay Review. Okay? So,
so what stood out for me was the fact that you didn’t require huge capital. Great, yeah, that’s the first thing. So you don’t, I think there’s, there was something you mentioned that during the training, which is maximum minimum, minimum cash in, maximum cash out. I thought, Okay, we are both qualified for accountants. So we understand, yeah. So, okay, so that means that you don’t really have to own an asset to profit on the asset. And that was like, wow, yeah, you don’t need to own the asset from the asset. So we thought, okay, well, this is, this is market, yeah, high cash flow, absolutely. Yeah, for sure, yeah. So you joined our VIP program. We started to mentor you. Yeah, and you get to say something, please, if you don’t mind, I think when we signed up, I said I was going to be the only one to come. You know what? You know what we came to that I can I came in for the training to buy. You know, when it comes to businesses, generally, I think in my head that I think with my head, and I think Eddie gets his heart in it very quickly. So that’s always happened in most of our businesses. So the idea was I’ll come, I will listen and we evaluate, and I will live without buying anything. Yeah, and I’m really one of those ones that believe very strongly that I can learn something and go and do it without Adam in my head. I think I don’t need anybody. Yeah, I’m generally speaking, we’re self starters. So generally speaking, we could be, you know, we don’t need motivation to do what we want to do. So I was determined to do that. Then we got then Eddie said, on the day, and I got all ready to come, and we had only one person coming. And then he said, Oh, it’s coming. I said, No, you’re not. UAV came. We’re gonna buy more.
You know, you know, what the even the online, the online was it online boot camp, though, the first way online Summit, you know, I came with my I came with my card in hand, yeah, yeah. And the reason is this, before I decide to go for adventure, I will have, you know, I will reflect, I will pray about it. I would do all I would, I will make sure I get myself into a state of preparedness. So when I, when I stood up for the summit, I showed up with it. I showed up with a with a with a card in hand, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They preach, I need to buy this, you know. And then when they came up, I bought the first ticket, and then she said, You know what? You not going. I’m going for the summit, and I’ll come back and teach you what is I said, No, no, no, no, no, no, we are going together.
I am glad, because on the day when we came for the Academy, yeah, I had to pay extra to come in as a second person, yeah. And you know, when it came to when they’re talking about mentoring, which is a real big one, we believe strongly, we’re very, very, very highly into mentor. We believe strongly mentoring. And the moment that was mentioned, Eddie just said, I am going for it. We are going for it. We are taking mentoring, because we need somebody to handle those through this journey. Yes, we do know about properties. Yes, we’ve done a thing or two, but we do this is a new journey, despite our experience. And I am really glad that you came along.
You started to work really closely with Ross. Oh, yeah, yeah, yes, yes. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah,
you got your first deal. Let’s go and talk about your first deal. Yes, yeah, your high cash flow problem. Where did you get the deal from? And who was your guest type, and how did that deal feel, getting, getting, okay. So the first thing was very, very interesting, um, we went to this particular area all right, and then we looked around, we didn’t find anything. So that was on a Thursday and Friday we so we came back. And then one month that Saturday morning, a friend of mine called, called me. I said, Oh, Pastor, what are you doing? I said, Oh, we just came back from, no, came back from the area we went to. And I said, we couldn’t find anything in particular, so he said, Okay. Then two minutes later, he called me back and said, Pastor, I’m gonna send you something on your WhatsApp. Take a look at this. You may like it. And then we looked at we saw it. It was a four bedroom, sleep nine. Yeah, right. And I thought, well, we’re gonna go for it. All right. So, so, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, Rebecca said, two bedrooms, yeah. So our mentor said, start with two bedrooms. Now this was a four bed sleep nine, right? And if I didn’t worry them, I mean, they were a million times. Thank you, Ross. So, I mean, they were a little bit skeptical themselves, but I saw what I had to tell Ross and Rebecca. I said, Listen, we have this amount of money in the bank. What’s the worst thing? What’s the what can happen? I don’t want to wait one more year and get a pound 4040, P from the bank. So it doesn’t matter, even if it’s the 200 pounds a month or 300 pounds a month, something for us money to deploy cash Exactly, exactly, yeah, build your experience
exactly. Yeah, yeah. So we went in and we got a deal. And then, you know, and then, yeah, yeah.
And the interesting thing is this, now we got this property, and then we we had to go to Uganda. We do travel a lot, yeah, one of the missions in Uganda, mission to Uganda for another one or two weeks, yeah, by time we came back, it was time to sign a contract, and everything was ready, and we had to go to the property. And were there for like, 2448 hours to get it hit, it got on the market on a certain day. I can’t remember what day of the week it was. By the next evening, we got a first nine day booking. Yeah,
first, yeah, it was the first. No, it was about five minutes after we went live. Okay? It was within 24 hours. Yeah. So you were shocked. We’re excited. What are we supposed to do? And it’s interesting, even though it was a huge property, was only a mother and daughter, yeah, they booked an accommodation. It was a festival in the town. They booked an accommodation. It was changed last minute, and they had to come to ours. And from there, that was the first holidays after that, you know what? They gave us a very good review, because we were honest. We told them, You know what? This our first property as our first client, you know? So they were so they were very, very accommodating, yeah, yeah.
Well, when you’re honest and you’re open, yeah, excitement is a remarkable thing. There’s a lot of people tuning into this now that will be on the fence. They don’t believe they can do up, do property. They’ve got old beliefs holding them back. But this is really possible, isn’t it? Oh no, yeah,
we’re worried. Yeah, the property wasn’t close to us. Yeah, we needed something would do hands off because of all the other things we do, and we do travel a fair bit, so all of those were our concerns, but we still went ahead and did it anyway. And right after the lady and her daughter checked out, the next week, we are the first set of contractors in the building. Mm. And it’s been burnt after the other since then. It’s just amazing.
I think we’ve been in business for years, but this is the first really fully automated business we’ve ever run. Yeah, you know, because, yeah, everything can be fully automated and run from your
you’ve now got five units, yes, which is incredible. Um, you’ve got really good turnover, you spend many months out of the country, and you still do, you don’t even you can, literally, as long as you’ve got an internet connection. Yes, oh yeah, absolutely. Where do you get your bookings through? What? What platforms have worked really well for you? We find that. We find that booking.com works for contractors. So I would try to aim for contractors, as opposed to holiday makers.
And then we also use Airbnb as well. Okay, great. So use the two main main platforms. They find your guests, yes or yes, then you take it. You got a cleaning team. Yes, safe and yes, yeah, even after going no, no, no, no. Incredible.
It’s a great business model for busy people. Yeah, fantastic. What was, what’s been one of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced over the last couple of years, and how did we help you break through that particular struggle that you had, okay? So during the training, again, when we came for the training, I knew I was going to buy mentorship. You know, I came ready to purchase mentorship because, and that’s because it doesn’t matter how much knowledge you have, right? Sometimes you have periods of periods of doubt, you know, self doubt. So one of the challenges we had initially was just confidence. You know, should we go for it? We don’t go for it. You know that fear and trepidation, but having a mentor helps a lot. And so several times, well, we’re on to Ross and Rebecca saying, hell, you know we’re about to do this. What do you think you know? So just having that kind of support. So initially it was the fear and anxiety of making decision, you know? So that was our initial fear, yeah.
Another thing was, I think it was the winter months in one of the properties where we weren’t getting as many guests. So we’re okay. What are we supposed to do now? Reduce the price? What do we need to do? So the fact that we had mentors that were always on the other side of the phone, and then we have a WhatsApp group with that, yeah, and we say, Okay, what do you think? Should we? Should we not? And we rode through. It’s amazing that a particular property that is supposed to be really high income producing property wasn’t having guests, but the other properties were having a lot of guests and doing so well that it covered the months that that other one was no but the the mentors were able to say, don’t worry about it. Expect this. And this is how you navigate that period, and then you come out of it, and within a month and a half, way out of it, and just buoyancy. It’s also what happens over the year, what happens over two years? Yeah, exactly, exactly. It’s not just, it’s not just one period, okay, thinking long term, yeah, but that training, that handling that, preparing you that, okay, sometimes could be a little bit slow, but it’s fine, because other times will be better, just having that, knowing that, okay, this is just a trough, uh, pick is coming, and good times are coming, and being able to navigate it just made all the differences. Yeah, peace of mind. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Mentorship is very, very important. You know, it’s really, really important, because at some point you will circumvent yourself. I think that brings us nicely onto what, what you guys do as well. You know, you travel the world. What do you do? Who do you go and help? What’s your big vision for what you want to do as a partnership, as entrepreneurs, as pastors, let’s explore that and share. Yeah, we passed up. We passed out gateway chapel, which is based in Kent here, when we have a campus in Medway, another campus in Essex. So our vision is to really use this to fund missions, you know. So we have a project in Uganda with orphans and the children and homeless, yeah, big orphanage. So we go there once a year to support these kids. So that’s, that’s one of our big vision, yeah, yeah.
And to help as many people as we possibly can, number one, to get financially free, if it’s at all possible, and I know it is possible, and also to assist people that actually do need money, because there’s only so much to people can, you know? We, you would almost call us financially independent. Ish, you know. So it’s not so much about us. It’s about what can we give at this stage of our lives? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can we help? Yeah?
And obviously, if you’ve got more essays helping you. They give you the time and the freedom. People are so consumed with their work or their business and taking up all of their time. Yeah, time freedom. They feel lost and burnt out cost of living. Do you believe then that anyone tuning in that bill? Being a rent to rent, high cash flowing property business is something which a lot of people should explore doing absolutely.
Well, we’ve done it, yeah, we’ve done it, yeah. And I think, and I think, up until now, we didn’t really run a business that will give you 25% net profit in in a year, yeah, with hands office, yeah? So fully automated, um, but I must say there’s, you’ve got to, you’ve got to do the work. Yeah? We’ve got to invest in yourself, yeah? And you’ve got to do the work, yeah? So what, I don’t want to think on what this podcast or think, oh, wow, yeah, it’s so easy. We we are, we are very hardworking people, and then we know how to follow instructions. So if our mentor says jump, we say, how high? Well, you know. So we believe in you go big or you go home, yeah, you know. So, so that’s very important, you know. So, yeah, and how has the assets for life community helped you over the last couple of years? Yeah, I think amongst many, let’s start with people with like minds. So we are going in the same direction. People want to make their business work for them. So firstly, you see people that have worked it, so you know that it works. You ask questions from them, and they say, yeah, one two challenges. Boys, working, and it’s working. I’ve been doing it for a year. Two years I’m making this. Think I can do it. Then you know that there is a community. So we usually have the mentoring moments with Rebecca and Ross once a week. And here you hear all the different questions, the questions that you might think, Oh, I don’t have that problem. Somebody has mentioned it, and there’s an answer, the fact that you can reach your mentors at, you know, at your fingertips, and how badly the time when Singapore, and it was midnight, midnight here, and we say, ask a question, and he got an answer. I just It just is. So it’s such a relief to be able to have people that you can call on, and we help you, not just in the training, in the showing, show the show, they tell they help. And that really helps, right? Yeah. So it’s yeah, like Paula said, community is very important. And having that the voice of a mentor, somebody who has, you know, who has been there, done that, got a t shirt, you know, telling you this is the best way to go. Yeah, right. Well, look, the reality is, is that you invested in yourselves, you did the work, you showed up to sessions, you didn’t overthink things. You took massive action. You’ve built the business slowly. Yeah, you probably could have done more, but you’ve done it at what works for you, your lifestyle, absolutely. What is next for ebb and bowler in the property world for the next, say, 12 to 18 months? Vision, I think, I think so, from our portfolio now we, we, we own some of the projects, and then one of the projects we actually manage for somebody else. So the next 12 months, I see us really moving towards management, helping other people manage their assets. You know, yes, yeah, and then, and then training as well. Yeah, we will look for, give back no share, but maybe give back to the assets for life community as well. Yeah. Well, I know you guys are promoting an event that we’re doing, yes, so we’ve done a little joint ventures. Yeah. So you know, you’ve had a such a good experience with us. You now want to put this out to your own community, to come and have the opportunity to be mentored by me and my team and come on the advanced training. So I’m very much looking forward to doing some great stuff with you. And you know, perhaps we can look at getting on some of my stages and sharing your message. And I think, you know, just to give you some tips, really, don’t grow too fast. You’ve got five really good deals. You’re profitable at 25% I think it’s a great idea to have a look at managing some other people’s properties. You’re really good at that. And then perhaps look to go to another three to five deals in the next 12 months, stabilize. The most important thing is not how big you are, it’s how profitable, and really making sure that you’re on your numbers. You’re having managed accounts done, you’re systemized. So then you can go and help the world and continue to do your mission. What would you say to anyone that’s tuning into this right now that perhaps is on the fence. Maybe they’ve lost some confidence, some direction. Maybe they’ve not got a good support network around them. They really want to get into property, or they want to scale what they’ve done, but they’ve got some blocks or barriers and challenges right now. What would you like to say to those people?
Well, I would say, put the past behind and then just go for it. You can, if you’ve listened to the podcast, you can see that. You can see that we are for real. We are real. We are products of the service or close to the product. So I would say, put the past behind you and invest in yourself and get on board. Run your SA business? Yeah. I’ll say, don’t let the barrier of skepticism, or would this ever really work for me? Don’t let that stop you. I was very skeptical, not, not of the Training Institute, not of the training house at all, not of them. No, I was just thinking, why do I need to pay to do this. I can just, I’m intelligent. I can go to the YouTube and get as much out of YouTube and do what I need to do. But what I forgot is the fear factor of, oh gosh, this is a lot of money we’re about to put down on this deal. Is this right? Is this wrong? You know, those things, they will stop you if you don’t have someone to handle you. And that’s a beautiful thing about the training house and the mentorship program in particular, I can sing about mentoring till Thy kingdom come simply walks now, and it cuts down the fear time. It cuts down the the learning process as well, so you don’t make as much mistakes because you have so much to handle. So I would say, please go for it. Yeah, VIP. I was, when we came through the door for training. I was set to do the VIP anyhow, you know? I was, I was just, I mean, head of it from the training because, because one advice from a mentor can save you a whole lot of time, yes, and that’s my mindset, you know. So I believe that there’s no point learning by your own mistakes, you know, so, so that’s Yeah, great. Well, look, you invested probably around 25,000 pounds, something like that, from entering 29,000 so, so now we’re talking figures. So we had 40,000 pounds. Yeah, we spent close to 30, 29,664 on mentoring. And we spent 10,000 pounds on our first project, project. So these five, these four, these five projects, projects came from 10,000 pounds, mm. So that means our capital, right? We spread 30 grand on ourselves, and then 10 on the first project. And the first project gave birth to the second So, and then you’ve
got the business up and running exactly. Yeah deals for a long time. Yeah, it’s great. Having your studio today will certainly get you back at, honestly, a big world if people need to hook up with you. Do you have any social media? Is there anywhere where people, yeah, can come and find you. Yes.
Um, my Instagram account is Eddie dwizet. That’s E, double, D, i, e, i, d, U, O, z, E, and that’s Yeah.
Mine is at p, b, 110, 4p, pasta, bola, p, b, 11, o4, yeah.
Well, you know what? There we have it. Real Deal makers. What an incredible, inspirational journey. If we can do it, you can do it too. You know that I’m a man on a mission. I want to change a billion lives around the world. So if you could, please leave me a review for this podcast, give us a comment below, and if you could share this so we can get this message into as many people’s hands as possible, I would really, really, really appreciate you, and I look forward to hanging out with you, and perhaps you can be in my studio at some point in the future, sharing your story and becoming financially free, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
You’re listening to the deal maker podcast hosted by multi millionaire property investor, entrepreneur and Guinness World Record holder Liam Ryan. Discover How To Start, scale and grow your business, become a better negotiator, create more opportunity and make massive profit so you can live the life of your dreams.
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