All Forum Posts by: Tiarnan Gormley

To clarify another point @Tiarnan Gormley: 

I EMPHATICALLY disagree with any & all advice being given of: sit-tight..... wait..... be patient.... watch paint dry..... do nothing..... 

Wait for what?! 

Seriously, FOR WHAT?!

Name 1 successful person/business who "waited" themselves into success, just 1..... 

How about just 1 who "analyzed/ researched" themself into success........ 

No.... 

Not just no; HELL NO! 

STOP waiting, start DOING!. 

Get ACTION centric. 

Yes, be methodical, be with purpose, have a plan but MOST important of all EXECUTE, DO, TAKE ACTION. 

Your going to the London School of Economics, your not some punk day dreaming from Mom's basement working PT at McD's who's best achievement was the dugout ya made in metals shop and got your first -B of your life wondering how to get Grant Cardone "rich" with you $85 of deployable savings...... 

You've already achieved so much more than so many! BIG high-5! 

Waiting is the enemy. 

Picture the BIGGEST graveyard in the world, stretching as far as the eye can see, horizon too horizon. This is the graveyard of great ideas, plans, hopes and dreams that were never done. Know what it says on those grave stones: "Waiting.....". 

Take ACTION. 

Act like tomorrow might be your last day on earth because some day, it will be. 

Mark Cuban didn't "wait" until he could start at billions. Mark Cuban started by selling flippin garbage bags Door-2-Door. 

Daymond John literally sat in a dumpy apartment at a sewing machine and then out on the street selling what he made. 

Billionaires. 

What separates the 2%...... 

ACTION. They didn't wait, they took action, and kept taking action, and kept taking actions. 

Don't wait, take action. And keep making them 1% better than the one before. Learn as you act. 

Doing is a mighty powerful teacher. 

Fail UP. And keep failing UP. Fail often, fail frequently and keep-failing-UP. 

PS: 

Here is a detail tip. Notice when I spoke of London STR I used the words "gain control of a property" and NOT "buy a property"????

Ownership is NOT necessary. CONTROL is what matters. Control. 

If in your shoes, I'd be sorting my marketing strategy, and jazzy ways to do my frunishings, marketing budget, how to Gorilla the hell out of it. And touching with owners pitching ways I can gain control, to then monetize. 

Dang right, I'd be trying to find jazzy ways to lease, to then run as STR. And again, Gorilla the hell out of it all, so yes it would be crazy outlandish asks and efforts. Deferred rents to let me launch, furnishing on deferment, etc etc..

I'd get very creative with it, and when people are saying "your nuts" I'd know I'm in the right zone of things. 

Musk was nuts, Bezos was nuts, Cardone, Jobs, all "nuts", every great was "nuts" until they were relabeled a visionary, path blazer, innovator, genius. 

Don't wait. 

Don't wait for "perfect", don't wait to be sane. 

Be "nuts". Go out and start making your future come into existence. 

What action can you do now, TODAY, that moves you even 1 single inch closer to your future? 

Go do that, NOW, right now, TODAY. 

Don't wait for the future, make it. 

@Tiarnan Gormley I think your really going about this in the worst way. 

Your looking at this really cool and unique position your in, and focusing on it as a problem. 

So all you see is problems. 

You already decided what it is you "should" be doing, while simultaneously stating you don't know what you should be doing..... So yeah, of course it's confusing and vision filled with problems. 

Do you want to be great at Real Estate Investing? 

If so, step 1 is rewiring how you look at things. You need to rewire yourself to ALWAYS look for the opportunity. LOOK at what ADVANTAGEOUS, what competitive edges do you have, how can those be best used to engage in the opportunities at hand. 

Right now, your fighting saying this square peg won't fit into the round hole. 

So stop, stop trying to put square peg's in round holes. Step back, take in the situation around you, what peg's do you have, what hole sis there, what is there that CAN be connected. 

Right away the most obvious is STR. And with that, oh-man there is SOOOoooo many things you can do.

Fear the issues of tenant nightmares, fantastic because you won't have that with STR.

Your right there buddy, freaking LONDON, literally a "bucket list" destination for people the world round. Are you kidding me. What a GREAT golden opportunity. 

You are positioned right at one of the top 10, if not 3, STR markets on the planet buddy!

Ireland..... Scotland..... I mean come on! How many people every year pour out there life savings to come for a vacation, just from TX, not even mentioning the US or rest of world. 

Now let's compound that natural advantage by fact your from TX. Is this connecting yet? Be that person who set's up some STR's there, runs em there, and really caters it to the US "bucket list" tourist.

Look, if you've spent any time in UK you already know the US tourist is WAY different than say the German tourist. Way WAY different. 

How many Ameircans have culture shock when get there? How many struggle in there bookings, to find way around, ask "what is this corn-dog like thing"..... 

You could be "The" STR "guy" for American tourists. Setting them up to do well. Prep that if gonna be in London public rest rooms on every corner is not a thing, so empty that "tank" before head out.

Prep em on the need to experience a Sunday Roast at the Royal Windsor with a pint. (seriously, it is legit "last meal" worthy". 

There is SOoo much opportunity for you it's insane. You'd be a dang fool to waste your energy or effort's on ANY US standard rental more or less Sec8, are you kidding me?! 

And all those skills you going to have to learn and master in UK to get a property under control, operate it, market it, monetize, operate etc., ALL 100% translates to anything and everything you will do when back in US. 

Will it be difficult? Hell YES. 

Guess what, it ALWAYS is. What matters is it will be WORTH-IT. 

To go from 0 is "breaking in" the the biz. It WILL always be like smashing through a wall with your head as fists as the hammer, you will "get bloody", it will hurt, it will exhaust you, it will test you to your breaking point and beyond. That is the reality. 

Simple does NOT mean "easy" or pain free. 

But man-alive, you are in such a GREAT place with amazing advantageous. Don't waste that. 

When you deliver a PREMIUM experience, especially one so curated for those persons what do you think they will do? You'd be delivering BIG and powerful solutions. People reward you with there appreciation and $$$$. 

Don't be average, be AWESOME. If for no other reason than you can. 

You wanna be the 2% so BE the 2%. Stop focusing on problems and focus on opportunities and solutions. And BEING exceptional. 

BE the 2%. 

 There are always other options-hard money lenders, private lenders; but they are riskier and will likely have higher rates.

First question is do you qualify for a mortgage?  If you are going to school, I'm not sure you'd be making enough money to qualify for a mortgage.

Prices in London are nuts and the real estate system in Scotland is not in the buyer's favour as they do sealed bids.

I got started in grad school, but had my parents co-sign a loan (for which I made all of the payments and I had the down payment).  I live it in for almost 2 years and I then turned it into a rental when I went to work in the UK and continue with my PhD.

Spend some time listening to as many podcasts and reading books about real estate while trying to save as much as possible to help you get started.

Hi Tiarnan! Great job planning ahead. Building your credit with a U.S.-secured card is a smart start. Since house hacking isn’t feasible yet, consider saving and exploring turnkey rentals with a property manager in the U.S. You can also use summers to network and research markets. By the time you’re back, you’ll be ready to dive in!

@Tiarnan Gormley

Starting your real estate journey while living abroad is ambitious but entirely achievable with careful planning. Focus on building your U.S. credit score, saving aggressively, and educating yourself through books, podcasts, and market research. Explore remote investing options like turnkey properties or out-of-state rentals with property managers, and use summers or gap years to network, analyze deals, and gain hands-on experience. With a strong foundation, you'll be ready to invest confidently when you return to the U.S.

Good luck!

Also, I just came across this post: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/921/topics/1227533-is-n...

I have no idea who this person is or how accurate, but you may want to investigate if you are thinking about the UK market.

How will you qualify for loans? Lenders want to see two years of stable income before they loan money to you.

Congrats on wanting to get started! If you aren't going to be living in Texas then it would be tough to do a house hack there. I'm not sure what the markets are like in Edinburgh or London, but I would look into house hacking in one of those cities once you know which one you'll be in.

You definitely can invest in rentals in the US remotely, there are plenty of investors that do. But you will need some good capital and reserves unless you have a very trusted boots on the ground partner that can help you out. I'm also thinking that if you are just getting your first credit card it may take you a year or two to build up some credit in the US to get loans.