From Working Abroad to Full Time in Property in Two Years | Mark Downie | PCN #40

Working abroad property investing, done for real. Mark Downie left £15,000 a month tax free in Saudi Arabia for property investing in Scotland: 8 units, £8,200 a month cash flow, a £2m portfolio. Episode 40 of the PCN Property Podcast with David Smart. Mark spent three years running £250m construction projects in Saudi and walked away in May to invest full time. Before that: a dad who had him breeding rabbits and printing business cards at eight years old, and who died when Mark was 16. He failed every Higher a month later, appealed on medical grounds, got to university, and worked up to project manager on £46,000. Then a £750,000 home he couldn't afford, a mortgage going from 1.4 to 5.2 percent, and a phone call offering three times his take home pay to go to Saudi. What working away actually looks like: six to eight week rotations, one stretch of eleven weeks, camp based two and a half hours from the nearest town. He started on £8,000 a month tax free and left on £15,000. What sent him home was a colleague of 25 years who told him his sons no longer speak to him. The property side started with a Facebook ad at Easter 2023 and a first completion that June. The first flat was sold as a two bed and turned out to be a 42 square metre one bed. Then Mears Group leases, a serviced accommodation buy that never got its licence, and refurbs and refinances to eight units at 74 percent loan to value. He is straight about the cost. £49 in the bank one week, £60,000 the next after a refinance. £15,000 on training in year one plus £6,000 a deal in sourcing fees, which he says is the best money he has spent. IN THIS EPISODE - Why £8,000 a month tax free became £15,000 inside a year - What a six to eight week rotation does to a family with three kids - The 42 square metre "two bed" and how to never get caught that way again - Mears Group leases, and the serviced accommodation deal that failed on licensing - Why he now buys at valuation with a known exit instead of chasing a discount - Running a portfolio at 74 percent loan to value and what that leaves in the bank - What he paid for training and sourcing fees, and why he would pay it again - When you stop raising investment and start enjoying the cash flow FIND MARK Facebook and Instagram: Mark Downie PROPERTY COACHING NETWORK Join: https://propertycoachingnetwork.com Property Coaching Intensive: https://propertycoaching.com/ Business: team@propertycoachingnetwork.com David Smart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david_smart_property/ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@davidsmartproperty LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/david-smart- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.smart.7393/ Subscribe and hit the bell. One episode a week. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:46 Rabbits and business cards at eight years old 4:10 Losing his dad at 16 8:16 Failing his Highers and the appeal that got him to uni 11:47 Setting out engineer to project manager on £46k 17:35 A £750k house and the call about Saudi 22:18 Telling the wife on Saturday and the kids on Friday 27:06 Rotations, visas and the eleven week stretch 29:24 £8k a month tax free, £15k by the time he left 30:04 Camp life two and a half hours from anywhere 32:57 Easter 2023 and the Facebook ad that started it 35:49 The two bed that was a one bed, and a failed SA 39:20 Handing in his notice 42:21 Coming home and going full time 45:14 Two years in: 8 units, £8,200 a month net 49:44 Buying at valuation with a known exit 55:23 £49 in the bank one week, £60k the next 57:52 The friend who invested on a five year term 1:05:05 Turning around 1960s flats 1:06:46 Advice #propertyinvestinguk #workingabroad #scottishproperty