Hi to everyone,
I am both delighted and thrilled to be a new member of this property forum. 2007 has been a momentous year for me and it is only February. My name is Christopher Labinjo. For the last 19 years I have been employed as a secondary teacher in south London, my main subject is Biology. I have always had a passion for this subject since I studied it at school.
My journey into the world of property has been a slow but steady event. Originally I was the world’s most reluctant business man. As I grew up I saw my family devastated by my mum’s dedication to her business ventures, eventually my parents’ split and there is no doubt in my mind that was one of the contributing factor to the end of that relationship. So psychologically I associated business with family break-up. At school I seemd to hit a glass ceiling that seemed to suggest there was only so far that I could go. I refused to accept this and started to consider other ways of earing my living. I decided to do an evening class in complementary therapy, I had always had a real interest in seeing how conventional medicine could be assisted by other forms of treatment.
That was one of the hardest years of my life. Combining study with full time education – no easy feat. However it taught me that I could do more than I thought. Gaining a distinction at the end of the course was truly the icing on the cake. As part of the course we had to set up a business plan. For the first time in my life I had to see myself in a role that I had dismissed. On completion of the course I set up my own therapy company – Sozotouch. Friends and family were very supportive and it was a case of working whenever I had time. As time passed I began to specialise in sports injuries and stress related conditions. My therapy background has helped me consider people from a holistic point of view – body, soul and spirit. This will always be something that I will continue to maintain in any form of business that I engage in.
I added new treatments to the basic package – Aqua detox, trigger release therapy and specialised in dealing with back pain.
With the encouragement of my wife we launched into network marketing, becoming associates in a pioneering range of health products. This was very hard work and in the end I had to consider whether this was the best use of my time.
Property had always been on my mind since purchasing my own home nearly 8 years ago. I actually saw that my house made money for me! All I had to do was live in and pay the mortgage. In the space of 6 years I saw the price of the property double. My education in property was underway at this point in time, any programme on television, any book, any course – I was there. I subscribed to various magazines and my goal was to find out what this world was about. In the course of this process, I attended a course last year (March 2006) run by a company that was offering to source properties for clients and look after all the aspects of management. The new idea that struck me was that I could re-mortgage my home. I was sorely tempted to join this company but felt the time plan they were offering was too long and the cost too high. A week after doing the course, I sat in the reception area of my bank trembling as I contemplated whether they would lend me money or not. You could have knocked me over with a feather as the manager asked me how much I wanted! A week later the money was in my account. Armed with a princely sum of £50,000 I began my property quest.
Last week I completed on my eighth property bringing the total of my portfolio to £1.1 million pounds. My ninth property is scheduled for completion on March 23rd. How did I do it? Well I have to give credit to people like Parmdeep whose course has become the backbone to my strategy in property. Then I have had some support from others who have walked this road for much longer than me. For this I am truly grateful and am determined to do the same for others who are staring out on this journey. In fact I am in the process of staring a property club at school, as many teacher want to but cannot find the time!
I am still in full- time education at this point in time. My goal is to do this full time by July 2008. I intend to increase the value of the portfolio to £3 million within the next year. I would like £1 million of that to come from
HMO’s - to increase the cash flow as well as build up equity. Within three years I am aiming to increase this to £5 million. So I have not set myself an easy task. By who ever grows without a challenge?
Having seen my Dad struggle for most of his life and now attempt to live on a pension, I have decided that things have to be different from me and my family. By the way I have a daughter who is 22. I intend to help as many people as possible reach financial freedom. Money is an amplifier of the heart, whatever you are inside money will enlarge that. Accumulation without purpose makes no sense to me. Money needs to have a mission. I have a desire to invest in the community especially amongst the young. On my list of things to do are build up programmes for prisoners, start up programmes for those with interests in business, debt management - just a few.
I am a man of strong passion and determination. Despite what life may have thrown at you I believe it is possible to overcome.
I have been involved in:
- mentoring and coaching individuals
- team building
- teaching communication and presentation skills
- spiritual consultation – dealing with generational curses and spiritual strongholds, operating in words of knowledge and wisdom
- developing marketing plans
I am a keen reader, I am a great fan of Robert Kiyosaki. Rich Dad, Poor Dad made a great impression on me. I believe in financial education whether one pays for it or not.
I hope that I can be an asset to the form and of course I am here to learn as much as I can. If there is anything that I have said that helps anyone and you want to get in touch please do!
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