A Winning Strategy

People often ask us; ‘What is the secret of your success and the phenomenal growth of The Property Association?

I believe our success has a lot to do with attitude. As the saying goes; ‘Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference’. Unlike many other ‘pretenders’ in our industry, Virginia and I are serial property investors ourselves. We buy into the same deals that we negotiate for you and we started buying discounted property well before we started promoting it.

In November 2002 I was at rock bottom. I have always worked hard and constantly searched for a wealth formula but I was 'sick and tired of being sick and tired' and I knew I had to make some serious changes in my life. I guess most success stories start with a moment of total determination, we see it all the time. Realising that I had made more real money in buying and selling my own residence over the years, I turned my attention to investment property and started a self education process. Virginia and I only had one property at the time and by using just £60,000 of the equity in our home, we started our own property business. We purchased three discounted off-plan properties ourselves and on the back of that small but vital start and the experience it provided, The Property Association was conceived.

Mark and Virginia Sawyer (Directors)

In just over two years, we have personally built a £4 million property portfolio consisting of seven houses and five city centre apartments in the UK, a building plot in France, 40,000 square metres of land in Spain, an off-plan apartment in Bulgaria, two fabulous holiday apartments in New Zealand and Australia and a stunning five bedroom villa in Florida. We have also invested in two potentially lucrative joint venture deals in Ireland. Most of this property came from the same offers we negotiated for our members. Do we practice what we preach? I think so.

Over 20,000 people have joined us as free members and over 1500 people have become buying Associates. Some of our Associates have purchased ten or more properties through us and have a property portfolio larger than our own. That is immensely satisfying for us and ‘proof of the pudding’ that we must be doing something right. We have now sourced and supplied more than £400 million in property for our Associates.

Have we had our problems? Certainly! Has it all bed a bed of roses? Certainly not! But do we love our business and are we enthusiastic about the future? Absolutely!

Some people say we were lucky. I tell them ‘you're right, the harder we work the luckier we get’. Perhaps our ideas and efforts can help you to succeed in the property business. It all starts with a little attitude. It's personal belief and practical application that makes any entrepreneur wealthy and the property business is no different. We can help you source some excellent bargains, but my advice is always to make sure you view property as a serious business and not a 'get rich quick' solution. Property has made more millionaires than any other industry but it is not a 'walk in the park'. Do your homework and due diligence before you make any financial commitments you may later regret.

Mark Sawyer - CEO
01 June 2005