Zero to Multimillion-Pound Portfolio with The Goodlife Property Investor Kristina Castellina

Welcome back to another Monday morning with Girls in Property. In today's episode, Athena sits down with Kristina Castellina, The Goodlife Property Investor, to hear her inspiring journey from having £0 to building a multimillion-pound portfolio using other people's money.

Athena and Kristina delve into various creative strategies for starting in property investment with minimal funds or experience. They also explore the exciting acquisition of Empress Hall—a 10-bed detached house featuring a cinema room, five reception rooms, a car park, and a separate granny flat.

Kristina's story is one of courage, tenacity, and unwavering belief that anything is possible. I hope this episode brings you inspiration, empowerment, and joy wherever you are listening from.

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Disclaimer: None of the content in our podcast is intended to constitute legal or financial advice. All interviews and statements are the thoughts & opinions of the hosts and guests themselves and should be...

Transcript

0:02

Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday and welcome to the Girls in Property podcast. Hope everybody's having an amazing Monday today. Whatever it is you're up to, you might be taking the kids to school, you might be going for a run. Somebody messaged me the other day and I think they were doing something with their horses like mucking them out. So whatever you're doing, hope you're enjoying it. So today I would like to introduce you to somebody very colorful, very fabulous on this podcast. And I can't wait for everyone to hear her story. So I would like to introduce Christina Castellina and she is the Good Life Property Investor. Hi. Hello! Yes! Got it, nailed it! I literally feel like that was such a mouthful for me. I know, I'm so sorry about that. So talk to me about your name. Is that Italian? Where's that from? It is Italian, yeah, and it's my mum's, so my mum took her side of the family's name and passed it on to me, basically. Yeah. I'm really into names, obviously, because of my own heritage. So I'm really like, where's your name from? Where's your name from? So I love that. of people think it's a stage name, but it is actually my name. Yeah. I've had that question asked to me many, many times. Literally the question I get asked is, is that your actual name? As in Athena, is that your actual name? I wish such a nice name though, I wish I was called Athena. thank you. But I'm like, yes, yes, that's my birth name. I don't just make up names. I know. thank you so much. But yes, so I'm so happy that I get to get you on the podcast because I've actually whether you know it or not, I've actually been sort of like following a bit of your story, a bit of your journey for a little bit of time. And I saw that you had like this incredible event recently at Empress Hall as well. And I just love loved seeing what you represent and love seeing your colors as well. Like you're such a colorful, vibrant person. And I just thought, you know, I need to speak to her. I need to get her on the podcast. So without further ado, would you like to introduce yourself to everyone, tell everyone a little bit about you and maybe something really interesting about you that potentially other people might not know. And then we could just take the conversation from there. Yeah, sure. So I'll start with property because it is a property podcast. So I've been in property now for 10 years, a decade, which is just mental. It makes me feel quite old. And it's gone so quickly. I've got two kids. So I've got two little boys, three and six. And my story, I would say, is definitely an interesting one. So I was adopted as a baby. moved around quite a lot. I went to like five different schools so really had a really interesting childhood, a really interesting adult life as well, worked as a professional singer, had a really great exciting career and that's what kind of brought me into property. So I got into property when I was 27, yeah 26, I did my property training when I was 26. So when I look back I'm like gosh that is quite young actually. At the time I didn't realise but now that I'm like getting towards my 40s, I think crikey, that's young isn't it? To take on property like in your 20s. So that was like the quickest summary ever. You know, I absolutely love that. And I, do you know, whenever I speak to people who are adopted, I always find that they have such an incredible journey and an incredible life because I just find that they're so resilient. So do you mind just kind of, like almost, I mean, you can go into any depth you want to about the subject, it's up to you, but I just find it so interesting. So were you adopted quite young, like literally as a baby? Did they tell you straight away that you were adopted? Like, how did it all kind of go for you? And moving schools five times as well, like that's got his whole story behind it as well, I'm sure. Yeah, so I was actually left in the hospital when I was like a newborn. Like they didn't do a runner, it was planned, you know, like they were like, well, yeah, I was left in the hospital and then I went to foster for six weeks and then I was adopted by my mum and dad. So I wasn't like in and out of children's homes. I was so fortunate actually that it was quite straightforward. I was fostered. Then I went to my mum and dad and I was with them for six weeks. So it was like as a newborn. And did they tell you straight away, like were you raised to know that you were adopted? And this is where it's really tricky because this is nearly 40 years ago. Things were different back then. My mum and dad didn't tell me and I didn't actually find out until I kind of knew, which is a really interesting thing. I'm nothing like my mum and dad. I don't look like them. I just always had this, I think as I started to get older, I had this kind of knowing. And then I actually asked my nan and granddad. and my Nan and Grandad told me when I was 14 but my Mum and Dad still didn't want to tell me so it was just this really difficult, really, yeah it was really difficult to navigate that actually because I didn't have much support. So your grandparents told you. Yeah, gosh. See again, like that's such a story. That is such a story. The fact that your grandparents were like, she needs to know, which I'm sure has. asked my Nan and then she was like, gosh, ask your granddad. So I was like, well, I obviously am. If you like ask your granddad and ask my granddad and he got like really emotional and said it's something like he's been carrying that he's wanted to tell me. But he had to, he said he was waiting for me to ask. And so because I asked, he told me. So I knew, but then I couldn't discuss it because my mum and dad didn't want to tell me. So I would ask them and my mum would get really upset. saying no you're not and then it's just really difficult it's so difficult. Thank you for being so open and sharing that with us. I really appreciate that. Yeah, yeah. And you know what? Listeners listening, what I really want to do on this podcast is show to listeners that if they're also feeling the same way or they've gone through something similar, that they can relate to the people who are speaking on the podcast. So thank you for being so open and sharing that. And obviously that's clearly made you... whether we know it or not, the person that you are today, like resilience, which you need a lot in property, let's face it. And as an entrepreneur, like we talked, we just literally came on the podcast, we're talking about this roller coaster lifestyle that we all sort of live and lead as it were. So before we sort of delve deep into your property journey and where you went to with service accommodation, can you just let us know about something you are celebrating at this moment, Christina? Yes, I'm celebrating a new purchase that completed on Monday. An absolute corker of a deal. It's probably one of the best deals I've done in years. I know that I've got Empress Hall and stuff, but actually these are the deals that I love the most. Off market, bought it for 75 grand. It literally needs six grand on it and it's worth one, two, five. So little numbers, but I just get such a buzz from like these cheeky little off-market deals. and how did you find that deal? came through a contact. So it's quite local. It's in Prescott. I live in Liverpool, so it's like 25 minute drive. And it came from a contact on LinkedIn. He's not really, he's not really a sourcing agent. He just bought it to me and said, I know these guys need to sell and you'd need to buy it quickly. And we got to completion in... about 11 days, so it's quick. No searches, it just got indemnified. I went and viewed it, it was tenanted, I met the tenant. The tenant's a little bit problematic, which is why they just wanted to shift it really quickly. So it's not straightforward, it comes with issues, obviously, so to buy it's so cheap, but yeah, I'm still buzzing about it, to be honest. So you've taken on the problems as a result of it, but you know it's still a good deal even with the problems. Yeah. Amazing. God, I love that. Okay. That's fantastic. You're celebrating that. What am I celebrating at the moment? I'm just trying to think actually. I am... Well, the thing, well, yeah, but the thing is I celebrated that on the previous pod. So I can't just keep celebrating that one. But what I can celebrate, what I can celebrate is... I tell you what, I'm actually gonna do something a bit different with my celebration today because usually I celebrate recently things to do with girls and property. But actually the celebration is the fact that at this moment in time I'm, I know I've said this before but I really mean it when I say I'm now in a place where I'm now looking to really be very self -aware and self -reflective as to what's now happening within the business and my personal life and it's really actually understanding now, okay, what needs to change going forward. and putting those little changes in place to do it. I'm telling you now it's really, really hard because you have bad, like I say you, you as in me and people have bad habits. And so trying to erase those bad habits is quite difficult. So I've already implemented something which might sound really small to other people, but it's quite big to me, which I've started changing the structure of my days. So for example, on Mondays, I will only do, podcast days. So I'm like, right, Monday's dedicated to the podcast, girls and property Tuesdays and Thursdays. I mentor Wednesdays is for property development agents going out viewings. And then Fridays like admin, for example, and just by doing that makes my structure so much better. Cause I was lacking flow before. So for example, I could go from doing a podcast to then calling an agent to negotiating a deal to then talking to a tenant to then mentoring someone. to then, I don't know, then trying to like promote a community group. Like, where's the flow in that? And so... It's literally my brain. My brain's just like, agent putting in offers, coaching. Then I'm like, Empress Hall, check my bucket. Like. Yeah, but you know what? So that's my life and that's been my life for two years plus now and I'm getting to a point now where it's becoming unhealthy. And I'm like, yeah, and I'm, yeah, but I'm also very self aware of what's happening. Like I'm almost watching it happen before my eyes as if I'm a viewer going, I can see what's happening here, but I'm not doing anything to stop it. And so I think I'm at a point now where I'm like, someone said something to me the other day actually, which was spot on. It was Latoya McDonald who came on from outside hosting property. And she said to me, are you going to make a change now or are you going to make a change in six months time when it becomes too late and you become desperate? And I was like, Ooh, that hit home. And so I'm celebrating the fact that I'm like, there are a thousand like you, like Christina, you understand the language I'm speaking right now. There are a thousand moving parts in our brains of being an entrepreneur and a property investor. Like those two things are insane. And then add us trying to do our own events and add us trying to be like boss women at the same time. And it just, you might as well explode. So I'm like, no, Athena, there needs to like, remember why you're doing this. You need to prioritize your health. You need to, you know, try and improve how you do this and people, and the world won't implode. You will still be okay. So. That's what I'm going to celebrate is anti-hustle culture. you know a little tip that I last week just felt so frazzled and I think as well when you coach people it's really it's a try and have boundaries which really difficult when you want to help people but sometimes they message you on a Friday night at 10 30 p and you know you do you people don't realize that because you don't have a shop and it's a mobile It's a 24 hour thing and I find it really, you know, and then you've got Instagram and do do do do do, you know, people that you're so available for people. And I felt so frazzled last weekend and my husband was going away. So the kids on my own and I deleted Instagram off my phone. And they deleted my email app as well, because I have this like, it's not, I'm not even conscious of it. I do it automatically. Check Instagram, check my emails, check my WhatsApp. loop. When I get in, I put that like, I'll just loop it. It's really unhealthy. So I deleted it off my phone. my god, my weekend was bliss. It was bliss. And I was like, that's what I need to do every weekend. Every weekend, I need to schedule my posts and I need to forget about it and not care if anyone sees them or not. Just delete it. Delete, delete my... Because who's emailing me at the weekend? Why am I doing this? What am I chilling for? my favorite day of the week by a country mile is Sunday. Sunday is my favorite day. I love, I love Sundays because I honestly believe if anybody messages me on a Sunday, I'm like, you're going to have to wait. But they know that they have to wait. Whereas if they message you on a Wednesday at 10 30 at night, they expect to reply. And, and it's this whole, it's this whole thing. So I, I feel you. So yeah, let's both advocate forward for anti -hustle. Love this idea of deleting Instagram. You know, people talk about a lot about social media detoxes. I always hear people saying, guys, I'm just going to come off social media for a week, just for my mental health. And then they come back in a week and they're like, my God, it was like the best week of my life. is amazing, it's so freeing. It just takes all this mental load away. And also, you save so much time. Because you're not sucked into the rabbit hole of all of it, all of it that comes with it. You know, it is a rabbit hole. It's like Alice in Wonderland. You're like, and you're right, by the way. So I do the same thing that you do. I loop. So by the time I've gotten to the end of my Instagram messages that I've got to respond to every morning, more messages have come through by the time I've responded to them. So then I then respond to those ones and then those people have responded to the ones that I then send them back. So then I loop it. And by the time an hour and a half goes by and I've got a thousand things on my to-do list, I'm like, I've been responding to Instagram messages for an hour and a half. That's insane. It's not okay. And I'm very self -aware that this is what's happening in my life. And I'm like, Athena, something has to change. And I keep saying this and I keep saying it, I keep saying it, but I'm telling you, it's not like it's just gonna happen overnight. I say this to mentees all the time. It's like I say to them, you're not gonna become a property investor overnight. You're not gonna get your first deal overnight. It takes hard work, time, dedication. changing bad habits will take time, energy, dedication. And so I have to recognize each time I do it and almost, I don't know, I'm thinking about almost every time I do something in a good way, I therefore like reward myself with something. I'm thinking of that way of doing it. Like, I didn't reply. I deleted Instagram for the day. Let's go like buy an ice cream. Yeah, I think, it depends what your personality's like, but I'm very reward driven, so I'll do something if I know there's a reward at the end of it, and I get, like, give that little dopamine hit from it. So yeah, I'm a big believer in that. Love that. So let's talk about Empress Hall then, because Empress Hall is, guys, if you have not seen Christina's Empress Hall, you must go and on her Instagram and go and see it. It is absolutely gorgeous. So talk to me about like service accommodation and how you went for creating, I believe it's like a 20 bed service accommodation for Empress Hall. Like that's massive. How does that even work? So the lead up to it is I'd purchased, so I've got 11 service accommodation, but the 10 prior were one and two bed apartments, so blocks, owned the block. So the first one was Highcliff, it's on the seafront in a place called Cleveland. It's beautiful sea views, nice area. And I did the interior quite colorful, so it's actually quite an elderly area. and the decor prior was like really, you know, just, just run down the norm, the norm, boring, brown, grim. So I made them quite bright, made them quite modern. And then I saw the uplift in that property. So I had the taste for it. And then what I started to do was get quite obsessed with the demand in the area and just spent hours and hours and hours on, and it's not that I can really analytical, I just. can super focus on what's important if it's to do with the business. So I'd look at, you know, why, for example, is this flat? Why do I have voids on this? And why does my competition not? And what's the difference? And the bit I noticed basically, the bigger properties had less voids. So they were where I was charging, say, 100 pounds a night, they were charging 300 pounds a night, but they had no voids. And it's because supply and demand less, less bigger properties. You know, sleeps more people so it works out cheaper because everyone shares the price. So I just started to notice a little bit of a niche and I thought, right, this is where we need to go. And I was looking at properties that were four beds and Empress Hall is basically that on steroids. It's a massive four story detached 10 bed property that's got a cinema room, a games room, Xbox room, endless living room, snugs. It's just an incredible place and it was actually listed with strike, incorrectly, on Rightmove as a six -bed house. I looked at it and I just thought, that's not right. How it's got a granny flat to the rear. It had land. It was just this gift that kept on giving. And it was in 2020, 2021, in the January, miserable time for me. had a newborn, that's not miserable, but it was locked down. And it was that, do you remember that time where they were lifting, they were, you were going, we were going in and out of lockdown. They just canceled Christmas, but in the January, everyone could go back to work, but you couldn't see your friends. So it was like, you can go to work, you can't see anyone, miserable. it was awful. At that point, I was just like, yeah, I was just, I was really not coping well, to be honest. I was really down. So, I viewed Empress Hall and just had this real feeling of there's going to be such a demand for this type of property when people can get back together. All of those big Christmases, all of the birthdays, all of the celebrations, the hens, the stags. I just saw it as this place of like joy. Let's bring people together and let's create something colorful and joyous and different. So when I walked through the door, I just knew even though it was just, it was lived in as a home. It was an ideal location. It was in Blackpool, off the main promenade where the illuminations are. You can literally, it's a stone's throw to the beach. You can walk into town in 10 minutes. Great location. Surrounded by hotels, it's a holiday maker area. I just thought, I don't know how this is going to work, but I need to make it work. Just had this feeling of this. It was so unusual and so niche as well to find such a large, random detached property. in that area, just really random. So we had to, I offered subject to planning. I'd need to get planning permission for it. So that took a while. They didn't want to pass it. They didn't want to give planning. They didn't want to give planning on one big house that would sleep 20 people because of noise disturbance. And the one thing that was in our favor is that we've actually got, as I mentioned before, a annex to the rear. Mmm. So the way that we we managed to get the planning through is by saying we'd have an on -site manager, which is unusual, that would live on -site in the self -contained flat at the back. And that was enough to get us planning granted. Yeah. And that's how we've done it basically. And she has done everything I've wanted to do and more. Like it is, yeah, exactly what I wanted. And the difference I noticed with Empress Hall versus the other 10 that I've got. is Empress Hall has bookings through to December, whereas the one and two bed market in my area is fast, there's not much certainty. We've got bookings in July and August because it's obviously school holidays, but September onwards, if I look to that diary, the bookings are sparse, they won't come in until July. So there's no certainty with it. It's very... whatever's going on in the market, I can feel it in the holiday lights. It's quick, if you know what I mean. you actually feel that your occupancy rate on the larger Empress Hall, that's more consistent therefore? Wow. ran my figures to make sure we'd make a profit just based on a 40 % occupancy just being weekends because it's massive. So I just thought, who's going to book a 20 bed house on a Monday? But actually, the longer that we're open, it's one of those things when someone comes to stay, they tell all their mates and it's that compound effect. And we have a lot of return guests as well, which I didn't think we'd get. So it's like, who's going to book a house that sleeps 20? But it's that thing when someone comes and say I must come back with my mother and father-in -law and their family and I need to come back with the girls and I need to come back. So people just keep coming back. All the summer holidays just are literally back to back to back to back. So we'll run at 95 % occupancy through the whole of summer. But I was looking at the diary even all the way through to October, we've got midweek bookings, which is, yeah, which yeah which is crazy compared to the one and two beds because you there with the one and two beds to out of season I try and get workers in or you know people that do longer stays to fill those gaps or we can't do that we couldn't do that with empress hall. That's the thing, that's the main difference, isn't it? Definitely. but we can charge such a higher nightly rate on Empress Hall. I love, I love that you, you did it as an occupancy rate at 40%. I think that's really, really a smart thing. Cause then as you said, you were like, so therefore if it was only for on weekends, we still know it was going to work. The fact that Empress hall works at a 40 % rate is incredible. The fact that it does like, he just couldn't that would never work on the one and two beds. It never would. I've mainly got the one and the two beds and I'm quite fortunate now that it's in a position where I've now got the long stay stayers in. So that's really good. But originally, yeah, but I'm, I'm born with base. So like Blackpool, I literally have it where I get last minute bookings usually. So somebody would literally book for like to come and stay in two days time. And I'm like, there we go. You know, but they're never going to book for. like 10 months time, whereas they would if they needed to get 10 people together, 20 people together to come and stay. So it's a bit different, isn't it? Yeah, like New Year's gone, Christmas is usually gone by summer. Yeah, like it's crazy and we've got people that are wanting to book next year and I'm saying to my managing agent, we need to open the diary because people are wanting to book for next year. So we probably have got bookings already for next year, which is just, I like certainty. Yes, yes, I love that. And also, of course, we have to talk about the fact that you also wrote your book as well. my god, I actually, I don't usually have it handbooked because I'm at my office, I actually do. Ta -da! There we go. So for listeners, so for everybody who's on the visuals, we can all see the book. But for listeners, what's the title of the book, Christina? It is called, starting from zero, how to invest in property using other people's money. So this is actually quite an interesting conversation because I don't know about you, but one of the questions I get asked most frequently also is, is it possible to start property investing with no money? And I feel like that's quite a controversial one. is controversial. Yeah, and I didn't realize how, now I've done the book, I'm like, gosh, I really went for something controversial there. Well, I know it's possible because it's my story. So I write about what I know. And it's true for me, it's my truth. Can other people do it? Yes, absolutely. Is it gonna be easy? No, probably not. That's the reality. Was it easy for me? No. But did it work? Absolutely. I think people have this expectation of, I'll speak to 20 people, they've all said, no, it doesn't work. And I'm like, whoa, this is a whole new industry. This is a skill. This is a skill I'm still working on that you never stop perfecting. It's about relationships and there's so, you know, it will come down to ultimately like people will lend to people that they trust and that they like. So it's holding a mirror up to yourself and you've got to be, you talk about a lot of things, self -awareness. If your body language is off or you don't believe in what you're saying or you don't have any, what's the word I'm looking for? Influence, like zero influence. There's all these little factors that are gonna dictate how... easy it will be to raise finance. And all of these skills can be tweaked and improved, but it comes from self-awareness. I'm so glad that you said that. If you were gonna give, I'm just trying to think what would be helpful for the listeners listening to this. Let's say that there was someone listening to this who wants to start and get into property and they don't have lots of funds available and they're literally sitting there going, it all sounds great, but I just don't know where to start. What is the best advice you can give them in terms of just getting them like just off the block? What would you say? So I would say there's a couple of things, definitely join a network. Yeah, there you go. So join a network, get educated. Property is one of those things where people think they know about property until they're in it. And then they're like, my gosh, I didn't know this and I didn't know this. So I'd say the more you can learn about property, you're backing yourself, which makes you more investable. And I would focus on finding really good property deals, which at the moment there's loads of great deals out there. So I would say, if you can master the skill of finding a really good property deal where the figures stack with multiple exit strategies, you will make money from that deal, whether you co -source it on and you get a sourcing fee or you raise the finance. But I think it's easier to raise finance if you've got a deal that you can present to people. If you're just kind of going around and you're talking about it, yes, you know, you can, but if you haven't got something tangible that you're raising finance against, it's a bit more tricky, I think. Well, here's an interesting conversation then, because then it's kind of a chicken and egg conversation, because you'll also have some people who would argue that, well, what if you therefore go out and find the deal and the deal is such a good deal that of course it's not going to hang around that long. So you're like, right, I've now got this incredible deal. I now need to go and find an investor for it. By the time you gain the confidence and the knowledge, therefore then go find the investor to come back, the deal's then gone. So what do you do in that circumstance? Yeah, it's so tricky. And I think the hardest bit is the start. Like that's the, that's the, it's part of the gig. It's part of the learning. It's part of the process, but there's nothing that's going to light a fire up your backside quicker than having a deal you need to raise finance for. I mean, you're probably in the game. You're not going to get everyone over the line, but if you're not in the game at all, it is chicken and egg, but you have to just do something and you have to try. And if you lose out on the deal. it's a shame but the deal of the century comes around every week in our world if you're a good investor do you know what I mean? So you're like okay that didn't work let's try again you have to just keep trying so it's not going to be a hundred percent success rate and I think people just need to be okay with that I'm like well what happens if I don't raise the money? Here's one try again like do you know what I mean? Like that's what it is that's business because that's like What if I make 10 sales calls and nine say no? Well, that's business. I think you have to be just a little bit tougher about it and go, yes, welcome to business. Do you know, these are the conversations that I'm having at the moment with some of my mentees and things. And it's this idea of keep going, keep going. And actually what's been amazing is I've had one particular kind of mentees, as it were, where they were just trying to like overcome this idea of, but what if this happens? What if this happens? What if this happens? And it's constant conversation with them. And I've said to them, you don't know unless you try. So I'll tell you what, try it for me. do exactly as I've asked you to do because I'm mentoring you. I know what I'm talking about. Do what I tell you to do and you will see a different result. And no behold, 10 .30 last night, they messaged me to go, my God, Athena, it worked. And I was like, look at that. Shock, shock. And now they finally got their viewing and finally they're over the line and hopefully they're gonna go and secure their deal. So, you know, amazing. But. I think the advice that I would give when people ask me this question is, first of all, I would say is start with the basics, which is get yourself surrounded in, as you said, network, but groups of people who are doing what it is that you're hoping to do. Because if you're not in those groups, I personally find that you just aren't speaking to the right people and those people put doubts in your mind as well. Like too many times have I been around these situations where I've spoken to people and they're like, I don't want to tell anybody what I'm doing because they're going to put doubts in my mind. They're going to tell me not to do it. They're going to tell me it's risk. They're going to tell me that, you know, the elections coming on the 4th of July and not to do anything before the election. And it's like, you're hanging around in the wrong groups. You need to be with people who lift you up, who are currently doing it. Like, for example, Christina, there will be people out there saying now is not the right, the right time to buy. the mortgage interest rates are ridiculous. Hold fire, hold fire. You literally, your celebration is that you've just purchased a property this week. That's your celebration.% yeah, and it's like I say, it's the best deal I've done since pre COVID without taking Empress Hall out of the equation. And it's because this fear so no one like there's so many people have taken a step back, which means if you're left in the market, you know, you can take your pick. Well, this is the thing. And I actually got some messages being sent to me by one of the girls in Girls and Property. And they were like, Athena, look at all these messages on Facebook. Everybody talking about how bad the situation is at the moment in the market. And can I just say, Facebook groups, I can't stand them. I can't stand property Facebook groups. There are people in there who should not be in there. They're horrendous. full of absolute lunatics. lunatics is the right word. And they're people who might have invested like 50 years ago with all of their properties in their personal name. And they're like, the market's a disaster. I'm selling up. I'm doing this. And then I get messages from girls being like, Athena, I don't think it's a good idea. And I'm like, I'm not doing this again and having this conversation, you know? those groups have always been like that because I remember joining those groups ten years ago when I started and one of my property friends going don't join the Facebook and me just being like wow Why are people so angry and this is ten years ago? They were saying it's all you know It's all gone downhill. There's no money to be made and this is why I was just getting into it and and if someone innocently asks a question all these absolute horror bags just start going awful you know just throwing a vile abuse at this innocent person that just goes does anybody know if this street's nice and then all of a sudden they're like hold on to this really angry abuse like check your figures well you might want to go there and I'm like whoa yeah just they are awful places I would never post anything in one of those property groups because they're lunatics. Right, so therefore we have to help the listeners to know the right places to go. So, ladies and gentlemen, the right things to do is find the community groups that resonate with you. If you're a girl and you fancy joining Girls and Property community group, go for it. If you want to join a different community group that you've seen in your particular area, go for it. But start hanging around with people who inspire you, who you want to be in a couple of years' time. They're the people you want to be hanging around with. And then the other thing I would advise you to do is why don't you take, for example, a handwritten letter and just start posting it through the letter boxes of people around your area, because you're going to have the best luck hanging onto the deals I always find with direct vendors and explaining the situation, because then you've not got a thousand eyes on the property that are going to be taking this deal. You and this person at, I don't know, number 38, Amma Smith Road. has got this agreement and therefore you're like, look, just give me a couple of weeks to find a fantastic investor for you and I'll be right back. You know, you don't need to lie, explain the situation. I'm sure that they'll come on board and therefore there's no competition of doing it. I always find that that could be another idea and another avenue that you can do. And Christine, I thought your advice was great. If you don't necessarily feel comfortable going to other people or investors to say, do you want this? Do you want this? Why don't you go and find other sources to co -source with? and half the the sorting fee so that you use their network and you find the property deal. Build your confidence up, understand how it works and then you can go and source your own properties. So just a compounding effect of building up is also I think a good way of starting out with zero funds and then building up your little pot of cash. And then let's say you've got about five, six grand, you've then got enough to then go and take on your first rent to rent property. And let's say you take on a rent to rent HMO, you build that cap. cash pot up, you then might go do a service to accommodation one and get a couple of those and then you build and you build and then you go and buy. And that's how the compound effect works. So there is a whole topic we could do about this, isn't there, about different ways. to do it. Like there's so many different ways to make it work, dependent on what the goals are cash flow versus capital. Yeah, exactly. Cashflow versus capital is the perfect way to say it. And then Christina, I appreciate that on this particular podcast, we're just restricted slightly on time just because of other commitments and things, because that's what we are. We are working business women. That's how life is. So could you first of all, just before I go on to a property disaster, could you just give a bit more information regarding some really cool, exciting things that you have coming up to make people aware? and kind of shine a light on you about what it is that you're doing and what's exciting. Yes, so thank you so much for asking me that. So, from purchasing Empress Hall, because it's a bit of an events venue, I've started running my own property trainings there. So I run them once every three months. So they're not on all the time, but the next one is the 25th of June. And my vision with what I've done one and it was incredible. It was so magical and special. And... The whole, my feeling and my vision on what I wanted to create was a place where the numbers are capped at around 15, really intimate, really fun. I want, there's so much laughter. So I think when people laugh, they, they open up and they learn a lot more. So intimate laughter, value packed, property investor training, ideal for anyone that's new to property or anyone that's maybe got a few, but they've, they've hit a brick wall. and they're a bit stuck and they want to learn some new strategies. We talk about raising finance, all the different property strategies, lease options, direct to vendor. I've got some great guest speakers and then also launching an online property training program, which has taken me forever to do. But I was literally like months ago, well do it in a few weeks. I don't know what I was thinking. It is taking me forever. So it'll probably be out in like 2028. Hahaha! No, jokes aside, it should be done by the end of June. So that will be launching and I've got my own little WhatsApp community. So lots of, yeah, lots of ways to come and see Empress Hall and learn more about property. They're the main things. And obviously I'm still buying. So yeah, I'm still buying. So my goal for this year is six, six flips. love that and I will be coming and staying at Empress Hall for some sort of a party, a hen -do maybe, who knows? Like I will be there, you know what I mean? Because it's just, it looks stunning and I've never been to Blackpool before, ever. Yeah, so I'm like, right, at least I'll have Empress Hall that I can go back to at the end of the day. that's it. it is fun. Blackpool is many things, but it is very fun. Yeah, I can't wait. I'm so, so excited. And by the way, I hear you when you talk about the online property course, because as people know, I built my own property lifestyle accelerator course. And I put my absolute soul into that course. And you don't realize how difficult it is and how mentally, because you want to give the best value. But at the same time, I remember being in that studio. from 7 a in the morning until 10 p at night with no break, no lunch, no drink, nothing, and literally just bashed the whole thing out. And it, what, recording over two days, two full days, starting at 7 a and finishing at 10 p at night, it's got over 10 hours worth of recorded content. It's mad. away because my days are too short with the kids. My days are too short and they call me. Yeah, I need to go away and I need literally like a few days of no interruptions to get it done because my brain, you know how you said before, like I'm doing this and I'm doing this and I can't get, it takes so long to get my head into it that by the time I'm like half an hour in, I'm like, I've got to go and get the kids from school. No, my greatest advice I can give to you is go and book yourself out either a studio or whatever it is you're gonna do it on a room and you need to literally say these are two days, three days of filming, that's it. Because otherwise you just won't get it done because it was relentless when I did it. I honestly thought, yeah, I'll be okay. By the way, lesson, I tried to do it over two days which I did manage to achieve. I don't recommend that. I would recommend putting in an extra day than you think you need. Yeah. don't literally nearly die a death at the end of the day. So, yeah. and it feels exactly like when I wrote my book, I had to take myself away. And I did it in about six days of being away. And I did the same got up early and I loved it because it could really like flow you were in that place. And it feels very it feels a similar feeling to that. And I'm frustrated because I can't get in flow because I'm at home. I'm at home. I just can't be here. Take yourself so that you can flow, definitely. And then really quickly, just before you have to head off, if you were to give like a property disaster or a mishap, because that's how we always wrap up the pod, just a bit of fun at the end as it were, have you within Empress Hall or all of your one to two bed essays or properties and flips, have you ever had like a property disaster for yourself? Yes, I have. I've had a few really, to be honest, over the years. The worst thing I've ever had that's happened in property is I had a bungalow that I'd flipped. It had a sale agreed and it got, I don't know, I can't say who, but I'd had a falling out with the builder, let's just say that. And the property got broken into, got vandalised with this paint. It was like roof paint, this thick. black paint that was chucked all over the walls, all over the kitchen, a hammer, like hammered through, just, just pure vandalism. And it was with a JV partner. It was one of the first deals they ever did actually. And my JV partner didn't have the right insurance on it. And because it had been vacant for X amount of months, because it had a big refurb, the insurance company didn't pay out. So we ended up with this bungalow that had been vandalized that had no insurance, the insurance wouldn't pay. And, Luckily, I was part of this amazing property network. I went in, cried my eyes out and I was like, I don't know what to do. The sales obviously formed through it's wrecked, you know, blah, blah, blah. And about 20 of these amazing people came up to Clevelies and we all turned the bungalow around ourselves in two days. Incredible. The best thing is it was like, it was just, it was a surprise as well. So I was like crying. And then one of the lads like set up a little WhatsApp group and said, let's let's do it. Let's sort it for her. And then the next week, this guy was like, I'll help you. So I thought it was just the two of us. And when I turned up, there was literally like the street was full of cars and they were all stood there like, surprise. And I was like, my god. And they cried and cried and cried. Builders, people came up from London. They traveled from everywhere. And just we all got stuck in and turned around in two days and it sold. That is, do you know, that's one of my favourite ever stories I've heard on this podcast. I love that. was like, I can't tell you, the feeling, that love, it was just incredible that humans would do that. You know, I always say that property people are my favorite people. They really are. Because I, okay, there are a bit, there are some weirdos out there, but majority, majority are the nicest people. They really are. And do you know what? If we all just helped each other and we all just were good people, you know, the world would be such an amazing place. So I love that story and thank you so much for sharing it. And then if people wanted to get in touch with you to find out more about your book, Empress Hall, you know, one day your online course, where is the best place for people to find you, Christina? so I hang out a lot on Instagram, which is at the good life underscore property investor on my website is Chris, www.Christina Castellina .co .uk. So it's literally my name .co .uk. They're the blessed. Yep. Thank you. amazing. And then if you want to find me, I'm Athena Dobson, underscore official. We are girls and property on Instagram, girls and property pod at gmail .com, if you want to email. And then of course, there's still time to join the girls and property community group. So DM me the word community, if you'd like more info on it. And of course, the Christmas gala tickets are now on sale as well. So if you'd like to find out about tickets for the Christmas gala, message me the word gala, or you can find all the information at www .girls in property pod. Christina, thank you so much for your time today. Really appreciate it. I've loved it and have the most amazing week. Good luck with completion and yeah, I'll see you at Empress Hall soon. Yay! Thank you so much, I'll see you soon! Thanks guys, bye!