How to Attract Investors in Property: Mindset, Money Chats and Practical Steps with Motiul Islam

If you have ever sat there wondering how on earth people are funding property deals, or felt like you cannot get started because you do not have pots of money behind you, this one is for you.

In todays chat your host Athena Dobson sits down with Motiul Islam to lift the lid on raising private finance in a real and honest way. We are not talking theory here. We share real life examples of how we have raised finance ourselves, the projects Motiul has invested in, how he first got started, and the steps that made the biggest difference along the way.

We dig into what you need to know before trying to attract investors, the dos and the dont's, how to have conversations without feeling awkward, and how to build trust in a way that feels grounded, ethical and aligned with who you are.

There is so much mystery and fear around talking about money in property, so we break it down, demystify the process and simplify what raising finance actually looks like in the real world. No jargon, no bravado, just honest, practical guidance and lived experience.

If you are ready to take your property journey seriously, if you want to understand how people fund deals without waiting years to build capital, and if you are curious about how to start building investor relationships that feel genuine and sustainable, this episode will give you so much clarity and confidence.

 My hope is that you walk away feeling like this is possible for you too. 

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Transcript

0:01

Good morning and welcome to today's episode of the Girls in Property podcast. So if you have seen the title of today's podcast, I know that you were like, Athena, we are raring to go for today. It's going to be an exciting episode and I can't wait for you all to listen in on this one. By far the biggest question I ever get asked within Girls in Property or as Athena or anything when people are looking to get into property or needing help with it. And if I had a for every time somebody asked me this I'd be a millionaire is Athena how do we raise finance? Athena how do we find investors? Athena how do we what comes first the investor or the deal and I'm like my goodness okay there is so much to this so what I thought was hmm who could I get to come on the podcast to talk to me about the reality of raising finance and what I thought to myself was I thought if I'm gonna do this episode and do this podcast I need someone to talk to me both as an investor, so a person who actually invests the money, and as a person who goes out seeking investments so that we could almost hear it from two different perspectives and almost get so many answers sort of covered in the time that we've got within this hour. So sit back, relax. I know you're going to love this episode and I'm sure you're going to love the person that I've actually decided to do this episode with. He has actually been on this podcast before. We spoke all about vendor finance, which by the way is still a really, really hot topic. So if you want to go listen to the vendor finance episode, please go and do this. Cause of course that's a way of funding projects as well. But without further ado for today, let's have a conversation all about raising finance with the incredible Motul Islam. Hey Motul. How are you? Thank you for having me in. yeah, welcome back. So today, do you know what? I still get so many people message me about your vendor finance episode. Anyone who wants to learn about vendor finance, I'm always like, go see Motel, go speak to Motel, go listen to this episode. And they always come back and they're like, that's such a great way that I could go and buy that B &B or that hotel or that project that I thought was impossible, yet now seems a reality because of the aspect and creative way of vendor finance. So as I say to everyone, if you haven't listened to that episode with you, go and listen to it. It's a cool method, isn't it? yeah, for sure. I I regularly get asked, you know, where do I find investors? How do I raise money? And the reason why vendor finance is so great is your investor is the person selling you the property. I mean, who else is better? You can cut out all of the explaining what the property is, what the deal is, because they actually don't really own it. They already own it. They already know what it is that you're looking to do. Yeah, I vendor finance where you can... agree with somebody is a brilliant, absolutely brilliant method of buying property. Love it, love it. Right, I have so many questions for you today, mainly channeling all the girls and guys who listen to this podcast, who ask me their questions, and I'm just gonna be like, right, Motta, let's go, I'm gonna fire them at you and see how we go with it. But before we do that, obviously I know you've been on the podcast before and you've done like a big intro to yourself uh on the previous episode. I'm gonna go and ask everyone to listen to the previous episode to hear sort of the big intro from you for that one. However, literally when we just came on the podcast just now, I was like, how are you? What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in ages. And you were like, there is so much on. I'm so busy. Good busy. But talk to me about like life for you at the moment. Like what's going on? Um, why are you good busy? Like what, what's happening for you and, and sort of anything to do with maybe finance or investors or anything like that. I think what's happened is the market. Market has changed quite a bit. There's a lot more distressed sales. There's a lot more people looking for, you know, to sell quickly because they've got issues, problems, whatever it might be. The market in the last two, three years has changed from what used to be a seller's market to a buyer's market. So there's a lot more opportunities out there right now. So we're working with auction houses. I'm working with some of my mentees and We're just looking at so many deals and I do have a framework of how we look at investment opportunities to reduce the amount of properties we actually look at because you can sit there all day long looking at properties but you only want to be looking at the ones that are worthwhile. So we want to get all the ones that are not going to be opportunities off our desk as fast as possible. But it still means we are looking at a lot just because of where the market is. Hmm, so so it's a positive isn't it because obviously there's a lot of people that are actually Quite fearful about the market at the moment with the renters, you know reform coming in and let's face it The media is a wonderful thing that keeps telling us that that crash is coming and that you shouldn't be investing in property at the moment I get I literally newsletters and things sent all the time from family and friends being like have you heard about the property market? It's time to get out. It's time not to be in it But you're actually saying it's the opposite that it's a buyer's market and actually this is a time to invest. Yes, I mean when everybody else is fearful it's probably the best time to buy. I mean you're not gonna get, you can't negotiate these types of deals when you're in a seller's market. When the market is going really well and everybody's thinking the market is going really well, it's very hard to find good deals. Now you can buy property for sometimes 30-40 % below what its actual market value is and that's very difficult in a market when it's going up. Hmm. now is a very good time and that's why I said I'm very busy because I'm looking at so much stuff. Yeah, do you know what I'm finding when I'm speaking to either investors myself looking for properties for myself or speaking to others is I'm finding that the people who are tending to buy at the moment are the people who have been in the industry for 30, 40 years. Usually it's in their personal name. Usually they they've had it for so long and it's almost just done their thing and built their wealth for them. And now with all the legislation that's coming in and everything, I feel like when I'm speaking to the majority of the people that I'm looking to buy from, it's almost like they don't and I mean this politely, it's like they don't actually understand the legislation. that are coming into place and they almost don't want to understand it they would rather just leave and take their money elsewhere into stocks and shares and whatever else is going on with AI etc and it's almost like I think to myself they're the perfect buyers they're the perfect sellers at the moment because they almost just want to get rid of it. And they're almost just like, I just want to get rid of it. And so there's this headache, they're sellers. And I think they'd rather speak to a person who actually is an investor almost because we understand like the same jargon and the same language when we're speaking. It's a really interesting dynamic actually at the moment of what I'm finding with people. I find that you'll get different types of investors. You'll get the good, you're bad, you'll get your old and your young. The older generation that did buy in their own name, you'll find a lot of them, you know, like some people think that landlords are, you know, they're bad, they're money hungry, they're greedy, et cetera. But a lot of these landlords haven't raised their rents because they look after their tenants. They see it as a relationship, et cetera. So they're They've come 20, 30 years down the line and they might have some tenants that have been there more than 10 years and they haven't raised the rents to market rents. Now they're in a position where because of all of the legislation, just, you're exactly right. They just can't be asked. They don't want to learn all of this all over again. They don't want to put in so many new systems and processes. But one of the hardest things to get over is when they own the property in their own name and they're getting hammered by section 24, interest rates have now gone up. And some of them might not be highly leveraged, but they're still not making very much money because of the amount they're paying in tax. So it's time to sell up. But as I said before, a lot of them have tenants that have been there a long time and they don't want to kick them out. They don't want to be. So they are looking for somebody else that is willing to take on the portfolio with the tenants in situ and they are willing to give a little bit of a discount. So, you know, when people say landlords are greedy, why would they be doing that if they were so greedy? Yeah, exactly. But Motel, the only problem with that is, and there does come a problem with that, is if the tenants have been in there for 10 years and they haven't increased the rent and they want us to take them with tenants in situ, we then have to have the conversation about what is the rent going to be when we then therefore take it on. Because the rents have got to go up. They do. In line with the market. And then that's quite a difficult conversation. I've been in that position before. I then had to speak and say to them, Okay, I can take the moment tenants in situ, but we have to have this conversation that the rents are gonna go up and I need to talk to the tenants beforehand because otherwise that gets really quite gray. Will you then take it on and then have to have that conversation and then there's a whole like, oh, right. Okay, now we're in a sticky boat here. So I think just be cautious when if you. you know if you've got that just for the listeners if you're gonna take a tenant on in situ it's fine it's great works really well I've done it before but if they've been there for 10 years and the rent has not increased you kind of need to have that conversation pre-purchase I would say just just just to kind of set the expectations and I'm not saying you've to go crazy I'm not saying you've got to be that weirdo and stuff but you know I'm sure that after 10 years there is some level of increase I think it's more along the lines of they've built up a relationship and they just don't want to break that relationship. It's more that than anything else. found most of the times when we are taking over, we do speak with the tenants and explain to them, look, it's been great. You've had a really good run. Unfortunately, rate is very different to what you're paying. It will have to come in line with market rates. Some of them don't want to stay at the property, they'll move on. Some of them will accept it or negotiate. So it is a conversation you have to have, but it's mainly because the landlords just don't want to have that conversation because they've built up a relationship. Yeah, true. It's so, so true. true. So, Motta, before we get into deep dive into today's episode, all about sort of raising, raising finances, as it were, as always, and you know how the Girls on Property podcast works, and it's true form. We always want to celebrate on this podcast because we don't as entrepreneurs sort of celebrate enough. And I imagine you're this type of person as well, where you're like, this cool thing happened. Okay, what's the next thing? And you've got so much going on in your life. So let's take a moment to breathe and let's take a moment to really reflect and to think to yourself at moment what it is that you're celebrating. depends, there's lots of things that I'm celebrating. If it's deals, then uh we've got a few deals that have gotten over the line. So that's been great. Personally, I'm always happy. So I'm always celebrating. You are, do you know what, you're one of the happiest guys I know in the most wonderful way. Like, you just, you just, I don't know, you're just like sunshine. It's really nice. Go on, what's a personal thing you're celebrating at the moment? Apart from happiness, like what makes you happy? You say that you're happy all the time. What are you celebrating that makes you happy all the time? I suppose that's a state of mind happiness where I am I But I'd say there's lots of things for me to be unhappy but I don't allow that to make me unhappy. Maybe that sounds a bit weird. I've got four kids and they're becoming a bit challenging because two of them are now teenagers. I could be upset that they're becoming challenging, but then I think, you know what, what would I do without them? Yeah, but it's a state of mind, isn't it? You're absolutely right because do you know what? I've been feeling a bit recently like I'm almost like not feeling myself I've been feeling a bit down and there's not even a particular thing that's happened where I can be like this is the thing that happened that makes me feel down I think I personally think that I I go with the seasons I shift with seasons and not in a good way when it's summer I'm like my usual self because I'm half Mediterranean and I feel like I'm literally solar paneled as a person and then I go into sort of October and it gets darker and I don't know I just seem to go a bit like within myself and a bit like all winter's coming we must hibernate we must go within and I feel like my mood shifts as a result of that but you're right it's a state of mind isn't it where I've got to say to myself not today not today today we're gonna be sunshine today we're gonna be you know, pretend that it's 30 degrees outside, all is well, everything's great and it's quite difficult to get yourself there, state of mind, isn't it? It is environment. There will always be people around you that will bring you down. There's always going to be other things, society, news, whatever you want to. But ultimately, if you realize what gets you down, just change it. Mmm, a holiday in sunshine's what I need. I need to just book a flight. I need to just book a flight and take my laptop to the sunshine and work. I'll be like, right, I'm happy now. It's funny though, isn't it? But you're right. You need to recognize it in all seriousness you need to recognize it and then you need to you need to shift absolutely What am I celebrating at the moment? I was thinking about this literally as I was loading up my laptop this morning I was like, my goodness What the hell am I celebrating and actually what I'm celebrating is that and it would have been confirmed by the time that this uh Episode would have gone out actually I've now confirmed three sponsors for the girls and property podcast, which is amazing Amazing. And yeah, and I was really thinking about what I wanted and who I wanted and I decided on three because I just thought no I know three incredible women that I would love to be involved in this and um And I went out and I basically seeped them. I was like, right I'm coming for you. I want you and they all said yes in the most wonderful way. So So so the three are Lisa Alcadraro who's interior design who's amazing Ella Hardy whose land profits and does all about land development and then Rachel Knight who's sponsorship goes out today on this episode actually and she does all around title splitting so it's three incredible women in their own field all coming together and literally when I think about the four of us and what we can create and how we can take Girls and Property and the podcast and everything to like the next level it's super super exciting so I'm just gonna celebrate collaboration today I think and just happiness happiness and collaboration love collaboration, by the way. Yeah. I know. Collaboration's a great thing because I think that each person has different skill sets and different networks and different ways that you can all come together to almost make like the Avengers. Like a super team and a superpower. So okay, I'll keep that in my motto if you're up for collaboration. I will keep that in mind, I love that. Yeah. yeah, there's so much to it and obviously that's why I love getting guys and girls also on to talk to the girls in the community because I should say just before you begin, you are actually going to be coming in and doing a talk, a session all around raising finance for the community tomorrow night at 7.30 as well. So the girls are gonna be in for such a treat with that. They're super excited. But for me, it's about getting the right people in, whether you're a man, whether you're a woman, like who do I feel is the right person to come in and do this? So we're now gonna show everyone why they need to be on this call tomorrow night, aren't we? Okay, so raising finance, let's do this. uh Okay, let's start at the beginning. Let's start at one end and then let's move our way up. uh How can I begin this? I usually get women that come into my world and they'll say to me, right, Athena, and if this is you, thank you for messaging me about this. They'll say to me, Athena, I'm in a full-time job. Let's say I'm a teacher, a nurse, retail, whatever it may be. I don't have enough time to do cash flowing strategies such as rent to rent deal sourcing etc etc I've got a little bit of money. Let's say 20,000 pounds 25,000 pounds, but I don't have quite enough in my area to actually therefore invest in a property. I've been learning about flips or I've been learning about biofibers, renmin finance, whatever it may be. But actually what I love to do is I'd love to raise finance in order to then take that, build it and then go on. I've got a little bit of knowledge, but I just don't have the right money in order to do that. I can't prove the experience at the moment, but I can prove my skillsets with the job that I've got. how and why and what is the best way to find investors. Okay, right, so I normally take people through three stages that they need to go through to raise money. First stage is know, like and trust, right? So unless somebody knows you, likes you and trusts you, they're most probably not gonna lend you money, right? And vice versa, you probably don't wanna be borrowing money from somebody you don't know, like and trust. So that's the first stage, then you gotta become investable. If you're not investable, it doesn't matter how much somebody likes you. It doesn't matter how much somebody trusts you. They're not going to lend you the money. give you an example. I have family and friends. Some I would more than happily leave my children with. I trust them with my kids, with my life. However, I would not trust them with my money because that's not their skill set. So you have to be investable. You have to showcase that you are investable. Now, once you've gone through stage one and two, then you have to have an opportunity to present. So once you've got somebody that no likes and trusts you, knows that you are investable and you have an opportunity to present, that's when you're in a position to get funds, to get investment. So that's the three stages you need to go through. In terms of anybody that's looking to start and looking to raise finance, who should you go to? Where should you go? How should you raise it? People that you already have in your phone book are the people you already know. They're the people you don't need to start explaining what you do, how you are, what your personality types are, et cetera. These are the first people you should be approaching, right? Because they're the easiest people to actually sell yourself. Secondly, they will already know you, so they will know whether they want to lend you money or not. So you learn that very quickly. some of the barriers sometimes people have is they're in a different type of job and now they're doing property and everybody is like you don't know about property why should we lend you money which is absolutely right i actually had that at the very early stages when i was investing in property people were like you're young what do you know about property etc and em they weren't too interested they thought it was probably a phase or a fad but very quickly that changed so there is there is the next stage if you do showcase that you are investable or you do a deal and you do a project. Showcase it. You have to let people know. you know, a lot of people have two different profiles, one for property, one for their work, one for property, one for their private life. Don't do that. You need to let people know what you're doing. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes because a lot of people make mistakes and then learn from it. But people want to see that you are doing something. They want to see your journey. If you suddenly come up and say, I've done 15 projects, they'll be like, where were you all these days? And always remember, why do people actually lend you money? Or why do people want to give you money? It's not even lending. Why do people want to give you money? Because you're the better opportunity. People are always thinking in their minds, my money is either in the bank or it's in this investment. Where's the, where's a better alternative place to put that money? Right. If you are that better alternative place, then you're going to find that people are going to be actually asking you, can you take their money? And I get this occasionally, people will be like, I've got this sum, oh can I give it to you? Can you give me a return or can you make it more money? And that's where you want to get, but you have to showcase what you're capable of. I love that. I need to get a pen and paper because there's so much I want to talk to you about this. I'm just like, where is my pen and paper? Do you know what? So, fantastic, Motul. Thank you. And by the way, beautiful. This is exactly why I wanted to get you to talk on the podcast because I want to have such conversation with you about this. So let's just take some of the elements that you just spoke about because it was perfect. Perfect, perfect. So. The first thing I'd like to talk to you about is this notion, because I get this quite a lot, where I get a lot of questions and a lot of people saying that they've either already done it or they're asking if they should do it. those who've already done it, they set up a property page on socials and they set up their personal page on socials or they already have a personal page, let's say on Instagram, that's got maybe like 500 followers, that's for friends and family about their dog, kids, their life, whatever, and then they go and they set up a property page which is just going to be about their property journey, just going to be about property in their area. Are you saying that they should or they shouldn't do that? your personal profile, should still have everything you're doing in property audio as well. So if you do have a separate page, so you have, so in terms of brands, you have three types. You have your personal brand, you have your product brand, and you have your company brand. So if you are going to be setting up your company and your product brand, you still need to showcase those things on your personal brand. So maybe, so they could do one of two things would be our suggestion potentially. So let's just say that they want to have two Instagram pages, which by the way ladies is double the work. Just letting you know that it is double the work. What you can do simply if you wanted to have both is you could do invite to be a collaborator on social media and therefore you can actually put content on let's say your property page, invite your personal page to be a collaborator and as a result of that it will then go straight across to both and then it will pick up both comments, both likes, everything like that on both pages. That's one idea. But to be honest with you, I say this to people all the time, Motta, and those who ask me the question before they've set it up will get the same response from me, which is... they're investing in you as a person, they're not investing in ABC limited. So why are you setting up ABC limited as its own page, which is faceless first of all, and doesn't have a brand. And when people comment and DM me from there, the first question I say is, sorry, I can't see your name in your bio, what's your name? Like, they invest in you as a person, they'll invest in Motul Islam, they'll invest in Athena Dobson, so therefore that's the page that you should be putting that on. So I agree with you, I believe that everyone should just have the one page, I think. And if you're gonna have to, you should be collaborating on both pages just to make it easier for you and people to also have that connection with both of the pages, would be my advice. No, you are totally right. I mean, if somebody was to ask me to invest in them, I would do a bit of background checks on them. I'd be looking at their profile, looking at what have they been up to, who do they associate themselves with, where do they go in terms of nights out, in terms of networking, et cetera, these types of things. These are the things I would do. If they have a profile with nothing on it, brings a few alarm bells. If they don't have no picture of themselves or a skewed picture or something which you can't really recognize who it is, that's not a great sign. So these are things, if that is your profile, because I used to be like that, I didn't want to put my picture up, I didn't want to write too much stuff, then realize actually on the other side, if I was looking to invest in somebody and that was their profile, I probably wouldn't invest. Yeah, exactly. This is the thing. So I agree with you. So let's now go on to the aspect of what you said, which is the first stage is to find people that you know, like, and trust. And I always say to people, the first thing you need to do is go through your phone book. It's the first thing you got to do and you need to make a list of everyone that you think is going to invest in you essentially. And they're like, Athena, I don't have anyone in my phone book that would invest in me. And I'm like, yes, you do. You just don't know it yet. But then you made a really good point, is you then have to become investable. So now let's talk about becoming investable because another thing I'm just trying to use the listeners in this conversation model to try and help them because they'll be listening to this episode today. So I will sometimes get messages from women and men who will say to me, I'll say to them, why aren't you documenting it? Like they'll come to me about investors and I'll say, I've looked at your profile. There's nothing on there to suggest that you're a property investor. There's nothing to suggest that you do anything to do with this, why are you not documenting your journey? And they'll say to me, well I don't know what I'm supposed to be documenting and I don't want them to look at me and think that I'm a newbie. I want them to look at me once I've actually got my first project, my second project, my third project, so that they take me seriously and therefore I then come across in that way. So it's kind of a chicken and egg thing here, Motta. Like when is the right time to start posting and the right time to start showing yourself to be investable? Right from the beginning. you've started, look, if you've started getting property education, showcase it. Tell people that you're going to this place, you're learning about, whether it be BRR, title splits, commercial conversion, whatever it is that you're learning about, let people know. Let people know what you've actually learned as well. And here's the thing about learning. Sometimes people want to invest in somebody else that's willing to learn, as opposed to them having to do it themselves. If I've got, like right now I'm busy. I don't have time to learn another trade. I would much rather invest in somebody that is willing to learn that trade and lend them some money or invest with them. So if you start showcasing what you're able to do, start explaining some of the jargon, et cetera, how you go from A to B, how you actually make money, how you de-risk the projects, et cetera, and showcase that that's what you're actually doing. Even showcase some of the... deals that you are looking at what the numbers are like, why it worked, why it didn't. You're now showing that actually you do know how to look at deals. do know how to potentially make money from a deal. If they can see that there's a lot of profit or there is some profit in a deal, that might pique their interest and they might just approach you at that point. And to give you one example, about four years ago, whilst I was on a bike ride, Um, I put out a post saying, uh, I'm looking for investors, et cetera. This is what I do. And I'm part of a cycling team. And, uh, one of the guys in the team who works for a charity and I did, I didn't know he had money. So I'd never approached him. I'd never spoken to him about investments. Um, he sent me a message. goes, Oh, can we have a chat? Uh, I thought it was going to be something about cycling. It had nothing to do with cycling. goes, I saw, I saw your posts and, uh, I've got 300,000 pounds in cash. Uh, can we. look at investing it. I was just like gobsmacked. was like, that's the last person I've ever thought had that sort of money. But if you don't put it out there, if you don't tell people what you do, people don't know it. So don't expect somebody to come to you with the money or you've a few courses and you learn how to do the deals and somebody to just turn up and say, here's some money. You have to be letting people know what you do and people will watch your journey. And if they see that actually, you know what? you are investable, there is an opportunity that you've got that I'd like to get involved in, that's when they're going to approach you. And there's loads of people, by the way, that are watching you that don't say nothing. my god, all the time. Like literally all the time. And you know another thing that I've learned and this is what I say to a lot of people all the time is they say, but I'm not there yet. I'm not that smart yet. I'm not investable yet. And I'm like... Yes, you are. What you don't realize is you know more than the person that is going to be investing in you. You know more than you think you know. You've just been to this course. You've just learnt this. You've just learnt this. Ask them what they know about this strategy. them what they know about it. I bet you anything that you know more than they do. And I think there's a lot of lack of confidence and a lot of money blocks around this notion of what people feel like they go. It's almost like I feel that what holds people back, and I'm going to have a lot of nods from the listeners right now, is they think it's like them, us, as the person who needs the money, going to another person with our begging bowl going, please sir, can I have some more? And actually that isn't how you go to someone. How I go to my investors is I always go in with the mentality that I'm serving them. I'm doing them a service and I'm saying to you, you have this money that you know not what to do with, it's sat there, it's not really doing anything for you, let me serve you or serve each other and help each other by actually let's invest in this and I know that I know more about this than you do at this moment in time because of X and they might know something more than I do about something but if you go with that mentality they're then gonna put that faith in you because they go, oh Athena's confident, okay I trust her with my money, whereas if you in going, I'm not so sure about this. I don't know about my expertise. That's, think, where people almost lack the confidence to, to invest that money because they don't believe that they that you believe what it is that you're saying almost. So there's a lot of mindset work there isn't there? There is and you're absolutely right. You're not as I said before you're not borrowing money You're not actually borrowing money. You are doing them a service you are offering them an opportunity So I never go in asking or looking to borrow money. I have an opportunity to present Are they interested and it's only ever that if they're not interested It's not a problem because there's other people that might be interested in it. So you are gonna have A few people, well, actually you're going to have lots of people that are going to tell you either they have the money and they don't want to invest in your opportunity. This is another thing. And this is a regular thing that happens and people sometimes they don't like it, but they didn't understand the reason why it happened. Right. So you found an investor, they've got lots of money, they're willing to invest in you and then you found an opportunity and then they say no. Right. So why does that happen? Just like people need to do em investors need to do due diligence on the person they're going to invest with. The person that's bringing the opportunity needs to do due diligence on the investor because just because you have an opportunity doesn't mean they will invest with you. They will only invest in what they know and understand. And this is vital because you might have the best deal in the world. If they don't understand it, they won't invest in it. Absolutely, absolutely. in you, but they won't invest in the If you present them a deal that they don't understand, it might be brilliant. And I know this because sometimes I come up with some crazy stuff and they just like confused like, I don't get it. And for that reason, you have to make sure what you're presenting your investor also understands. Let's say they're doing HMOs themselves, for instance, and they want to invest with you. If you are doing HMOs, they will understand that. If you suddenly come to them with a commercial conversion, they'll find that high risk. So they might not want to invest in it, even though you've already learned how to do commercial conversions, you find the best opportunity. It's going to make a lot of money. However, because they don't understand it, they'll see it as high risk. Absolutely and well said as well. It is definitely that notion of them needing to understand it because let's face it like you invest as well, Motta, and we're gonna come on to that. Like why would you invest in something that you didn't understand? You want to know with confidence where your money is being placed at the end of the day. So it is about understanding it and having that right relationship to almost be quite open in that. I think what happens is I think a lot of people actually get embarrassed to say that they don't understand something and by saying that they don't understand they would rather pull out of the deal and go and find a deal that they understand rather than admit that they don't understand it and so I think if you actually have a better or a good relationship with that person to be quite open to be like well ask lots of questions almost to them to be like which parts don't you understand what are your objections what are your thoughts like because I used to work in retail selling holidays I'm one of my skill sets is I'm very good at overcoming objections from people very good at it. So if someone's like, I'm not sure, I'm like, talk to me about that. I don't lean out, I go in, I go in hard. And I'm like, talk to me about it. And they'll go, I need to go away and think about it. And I'll say to them, what are you thinking about? Talk to me about what you're thinking about. Because I'm sat right here in front of you. And I can have the answers for you. And then they go, okay, so this is what I'm thinking about. And I'm like, right, let's talk about that. So it's about understanding your skill sets and thinking, you know, if you come from like a sales background, or you come from a a thing, what are your transferable skills? How can they be used to draw in investors within this? Motta, one of the other things I was going to talk to you about is, you you are an investor yourself. You actually do um invest in projects. So if you were thinking to yourself about what you were looking for, let's say that they were just come out of courses, they were fresh to the scene, had a little bit of cash but not enough, but they had drive and purpose and they were just on the start of their journey. If you were going to invest in somebody like this, what would be the things that you would want to see and know about them? You actually said a few of them. I like to invest in people when they're at the beginning of their journey, not in the middle. Yeah. Yeah. Why? Why? Why is that? Because when somebody is at the beginning of their journey, they have more drive. They have way more drive. They have more hunger. They've got a need. They've got a want to do it. Once somebody has made it, they have less drive. And I know that. I retired for about 10 years because I could. You don't want somebody like that. You want somebody that's really eager to go out there, build a portfolio, build a business. They need and they want to make money. that's the type of people you're going to work with. Somebody that's at the early stages, they might not know everything. That's brilliant as well, because they also understand that they need to upskill. Now, I feel that I can maybe help them in certain areas. In other areas, they might need somebody else to help them. But I can help them in certain areas. And those are the people, because they're going to grow, I want to be a part of that. I'm not interested in actually just the deal. I'm usually more interested in the person. I love that. And you know what, thank you for saying that because so many of the listeners sit there and they go, who would invest in me? I'm new to my journey. I don't have all the answers. I don't have all the experience. I'm still looking for my first deal. I've got this amazing deal in front of me, but I can't find the money in order to raise it. but they have all the drive and the will in the world and they just lack that confidence because they feel like nobody will believe or invest in them. Yet what I want them to hear on this podcast is that there are people out there who want to invest in the people that are just starting. That's the best one. That's the most fun because you can, you feel like in the weirdest way, I feel like if I ever became an investor, I would do the same thing because I'd feel, it made me feel good, selfishly as well to help others. Do you know what I mean? It definitely is a win-win. Here's the thing, as you go through your journey in property and you've done deals, those deals no longer give you the same satisfaction. So now when you see other people with that satisfaction, for some reason, that is actually more fulfilling. It actually feels better. I mean, I'm sure you've taught somebody something and they've gone out and they've done something and then they've come back and they've told you, oh, that was amazing what you said. I've tried it for the first time. It worked. I can't believe it. Those conversations actually give me a lot more of an uplift. It's like those testimonials give me more of an uplift than the deal that I might have just done. Yeah, yeah, I love that. You're so right, absolutely. And then if we were to talk about this, I'll you another question I get all the time, and I'd love to get your opinion about this. Again, we come back to this notion of chicken and egg. So they'll say, Athena, what should I do first? Should I go and find the deal first or should I go and find the investor first? Which one comes first? You got to do both at the same time. have, so if you're, you say you're a deal sourcer or you're looking to do your own deals, you have to have what I call deal flow and you need to have investor flow. And then if you see the infinity sign in the middle, you have cash flow, right? So you need to have both. need to be looked because if you're not speaking to investors and suddenly you found a deal, they're not just immediately going to start lending you money. They're not immediately going to jump on the bandwagon and you know, start pulling out money for you to do your deal. Inversely, if you constantly speaking to investors and you're not looking at deals, then they're just gonna be waiting around and they're gonna invest in something else. By the time you found a deal, they've invested somewhere else and they've no longer got the funds. So you constantly need to be looking at deals, you constantly need to be speaking to investors and it's about marrying it up. And as we said previously, you've got to also make sure the type of deals that you're bringing to investors is going to be appropriate for them as well. Okay, let's break that down for the listeners then because some of the listeners might be going, for goodness sakes. And it's like, okay, let's actually break that down to do some actual steps today for the listeners if we were gonna be being like teachers right now. So if we're having to do both at the same time, and we've got a full time job because majority of the listeners who listen to this still have a full time job. So. Are you saying that what we need to be doing is, let's say uh from a documenting side of things, because we want to be documenting everything that we're doing at the start, if we were going to do a direct to vendor letter drop around our area or surrounding area, would we be documenting that on our socials to show that we're going out and we're trying to find these deals? uh Like, what should we be doing to first of all, showcase ourself as it were? Yes, if you're going be doing leaflet drops, letter drops, showcase that. But more importantly, explain the reason why. Why are you doing a local area? Why are you doing a leaflet drop or a letter drop? What is the reason? Did you get that off of a HMO list? Are you looking to take on HMOs? Are there a lot of tired landlords in the area? What brought you to do whatever it is that you are doing? So showcasing the reason why. On the flip side, you want to be networked. If you're not speaking to people on your phone book, you need to be finding new investors. So you need to be networking. That is not just property networking events. There's loads of different types of networking. You just need to get out there and speak to people basically. Just on that actually, just thinking about this, you just said you need to be documenting why you're doing something. So for example, one idea that's just come to my mind, and I've told other people to do this is, let's say that you were gonna do a letter drop, you would showcase yourself doing the letter drop, but maybe in the actual captions bit, you could say, I'm doing a massive letter drop in leads today. um In leads, this is the current housing situation. This is some information about leads This is why leads is an amazing place to invest at the moment This is why I've chosen. It's my target area If you're looking to invest in leads and you've got some some money that needs to be invested You know speak to me and maybe each time you showcase what you're doing whether it's with em Networking or whether it's that? always come back to why you've chosen your investment area so that when they read it they're actually gaining value from it and then they they then know that right Sarah from leads is is the leads investor I'm gonna go speak to Sarah because she invests in leads something like that I'm just thinking from a marketing standpoint if you give the viewers a reason why you're doing what you're doing, then they'll be like, now I understand why. Not just a leaflet drop, what is the leaflet drop for? What is letters for? mean, you're really busy, great. What are you doing it for? So let them know the reason and then they'll remember you for that reason. Yeah, totally. And then at the same time, so we're now doing our leaflet jobs. We're trying to find deals. We're networking. We're speaking to a state agent. So that's, that's number one. Then number two is we need to go find the investor. So let's talk about this. The phone book is stage one. So the phone book is stage one and, and sort of just letting people know what you're doing within your circle, speaking about it at parties, not overbearing, but just mentioning it at parties, mentioning what you're doing, telling everybody what you do. It works. Believe us. We're going to come on to talk about stories in a second. know, do all of that. And let's just talk about networking model because this is a really interesting one for me. So property networking and business networking events and the differences as it were. What's your opinion between for finding investors specifically property networking and business networking? Because I know you run a property network as well. Yeah, I would say business networking is, if you're looking for investors, would probably be better because if you are the only property person in the room and there's nobody else offering investments in property other than yourself, then people gravitate towards you for property investments. When you're in a room full of property investors, you're competing against each other. And nearly all the time you will find people in a property network in the event of looking for money. At my event, I purposefully actually asked my investors to come along uh and they have invested with people that have come to the event. I've got them to actually meet different individuals and invest in their deals. Now, the reason I say go to business events is again, you're going to be competing with a lot of people when you go into property events, but you do need to show your face in those events. Because the thing about networking is, it's not like sometimes people think I'm to go to one event, I didn't find an investor, it doesn't work. That's not how it actually works. You need to go on a regular basis so that people can see you on a regular basis, know that you are consistent, actually find out about you. And whenever somebody's looking to invest with somebody else, they will usually ask some of the other people. Have you heard of this person? Do you know anything about them? Do you know their background? Do you know are they trustworthy? Are they investable, et cetera? So that's the reason why you need to make sure people know what you do and other people can batch with you as well. Yeah, I think that a healthy mix of both is quite good. I think that for me, what was great about property networking when I was doing it was the sense of community and the sense of feeling like I was belonging and could almost share stories about what was happening to me and that others could really relate to that. And so I really enjoy learning from different speakers and learning about different strategies and getting almost like education from that standpoint. um And it's fantastic with your events model that you bring the investors on. I've got your events that are for that reason. But I also think that business networking events, which is really where I predominantly hang out now is business networking events. One, because I actually prefer talking about business and property. If I'm completely honest, I love business. I love listening to people who tell me about their dentistry's and their nurseries and their water companies or whatever it is. And I'm literally like, tell me more. Tell me about the infrastructure. Tell me about the structure of how you do the business. I'm really, really getting into a stage now where I'm just interested in real like business mergers and acquisitions. and all of that, I'm fascinated by it. And what's interesting is I then become the property person at these networking events because I'm the girl that does property and girls and property and all sorts of things. Whereas if I was to walk into like a property network... We're all property. So then it's hard to then almost niche yourself out and distinguish as to why a person should invest in you. So I actually think that a combination of both and almost using both simultaneously at the same time, maybe at the start trying to even do two properties and two businesses. And by the way, if you're asking me and sat there going, Athena, where do I find a business networking event? Go to Eventbrite, type in your area. and type in business networking and you'll find some amazing business networking in your area. It's what I do personally. um But yeah, it's definitely one of those things, isn't it, with networking? I get that question quite a lot of kind of which one should I go to? So I think a healthy mix of both would be good, I think. Please do. m When it comes to networking, sometimes, again, a lot of the times I get asked these questions because I run an event, why should they come? Oh, it's too far, et cetera, et cetera. However, I see networking as my backup. Anytime I don't know something, anytime I don't understand something, anytime I need a professional for something, there's always going to be somebody within these networks that knows what it is that I need help with. And in property, you might think that you've seen it all. but there will always be something new. However, there's always somebody else that has dealt with it as well. So you need your network and always just rely on your network. I see it as my backup. Anything I have issues with, ask the question to the network. Yeah. And actually I do just want to make a point on this Motel because you're totally right. And I love what you just said. You run the London event for Stratford. And so if you're in London, I want everyone listening to this to go to Motel's events because I've obviously spoken at your event before I've been in that room and the energy in that room genuinely, and I mean this, otherwise I wouldn't say it is, it is that feeling of everyone is there to help everyone. And I think that comes down to the fact that you are the host of that event and the energy that you actually bring to the room yourself. And I feel like if I genuinely, if I was closer I would come all the time but obviously Bournemouth's a little bit far. But if I had a question and I didn't quite know, I know that I could come to you and ask it and if you didn't know the answer, you would say to me, leave that one with me, I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out the person who would know the answer and come back to you. And I know that you would do that. And the reason I know this is because when a lot of girls come to me about uh vendor finance, I'll say to them you need to go talk to Motel and then they'll actually come back to me and they'll say to me just had an amazing chat with Motel, thanks so much for recommendation, he was so great, gave me so much energy, so much of his time and that makes me happy because I go great, my faith in that person was right, my faith and trust in that person was right and so I just want to give a shout out to you in that moment because I do think that what you create and what you do is brilliant and I think for so many people who are in the London area, boys, girls, whoever go to Motels events, they're absolutely fantastic and connect with you because I think we need more people like you in this industry, I really do. That's okay, I know you can't take a compliment, that's fine. We can move on, you're like, thank you. But it's true and I wanted to say that, whether you can take a compliment or not, it's up to you. But I really, really like that. So, let's flip this on on on its head a little bit So what I think always really helps people in these moments is also talking about stories and talking about stories that people can really relate to and almost think to themselves That's a great story or I can really relate to that. It's happened to me So talk to me about the first time go way back the first time you ever Spoke to and try to seek private investment for the first project Okay. was it like? What happened? What was the story? Who was it? All right, okay. I still speak with this investor. We've actually JV'd. The first time, so my uncle's brother-in-law, so my uncle is similar age to myself, his brother-in-law. So after he got married, we went for a meal with his brother-in-law. During that meal, we discussed what we'd do. He'd been in property for quite a few years at that time. His background was in IT, so very similar to myself. My background is actually in IT. And had started a property. So I'd spoken to him, told him what I'm doing. And he was like, that's quite interesting. So I had started doing some of the creative stuff. I've been buying properties, converting them into flats using some HMO. And he really liked the reasons why I was doing it and how I was doing it, how I was maximizing the cashflow, et cetera. And he was like, you know what? That's really interesting because I've been doing it for 20 years and I've just doing it the simple, bi-telette, vanilla way. And I built portfolio over this time. I've been putting all of my money in from my employment, et cetera. If you ever have something that needs investing, let me know. You know, I'd love to have a look at it. And by by, two weeks later, I give him a call. like, I've got something. I need to borrow some money. And at this point, I didn't think that he was going to lend me the money or anything like that, because I thought, nah, he probably won't. But I'll just try anyway, because he said, why not? And he goes, how much do you need and what is it for? So I explained the deal and I said, I need 90,000 pounds. And at the end of the conversation, he goes, yeah, send me your solicitor's details and I'll send the money. But no contracts, no nothing. It's just as simple as that. He goes, yeah, just send me the solicitor's details and I'll send you the money. And that's exactly what he did. Now, two weeks later, I've sent the money back and he's lent me 90,000 pounds. I've sent him 91,000 pounds. At this point, he hasn't even asked. you know, what rates are I going to pay him or vice versa? I've not asked him what rates is he going to charge me or anything like that. He's just, he's just lent me the money and I've said, he's lent me 90, I've sent him 91,000 pounds back. He gives me a call and he's like, I've just checked my bank account. You've sent 91,000 pounds back. Why is that? go, oh, you know, the deal that I've I made 50,000 pounds on it. I felt a bit embarrassed if I don't give you something. So, so And he really liked that because he wasn't expecting it. And to this day, we still invest together. He still lends whenever I mean, he trusts me because because I think because of that, he trusts and he comes to PPS Stratford as well, by the way, and he does invest in some of our attendees as well. amazing god 91 000 is what you sent back that's a good deal model No, no, he didn't 90. I gave him a £1000 more. So, £91,000 back. Yeah, but still, only a grand more. That's really good interest. It was only a week. I was only a week. right. Right. Okay. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. But you know what? Isn't that an amazing story? So first of all, I think people overcomplicate this nowadays. I think people overcomplicate it. They're like, I can't start this until I've got the right contracts in place until I've got this. Now we should say that everyone should protect themselves in this instance. And obviously we'll speak about that, but it can also be in its simplest form of what you just spoke about. And that was your first one where you were like, okay. And in Imagine if you would have not have asked him going, I don't think he's going to do it. I'm not going to bother asking him. You would never have actually had that investment for the week. I wouldn't have done that deal. That was a really, really good deal. That's first part. And yes, I wouldn't have had that same investor had I not asked because we're going back, this is going back more than 20 years now. Right? So yeah, it is just about 20 years now. So had I not asked him, he probably wouldn't be my investor now. There you go. And it's all about relationships and exactly what you did, you gave him that extra grand just to be like, I had to give him something. That is literally give and take. That's really offering something to build that relationship up. See, I love these stories because I love them. I just think they're just so much fun. em I've spoken about this story before on the podcast, but I think for anyone just listening to this episode, I'm going to tell this story, which is very recently and actually, Motul, you'll really appreciate this because of the the situation around it. So really recently I'm going to say... what are we now, six months ago, six, seven months ago, I went for a walk in London with my friend who I met, and this is why you're gonna appreciate it, I met at the No Money Down course where I of course met you for the first time. And so me and her were sat next to each other, we did the course at the exact same time, and we became very good friends afterwards and are still good friends to this day. And we were going for a walk and she works in pharmaceuticals and she said to me, still on this bench, we're having an ice cream and she's like, um Athena, I've been told by my accountant I need to get rid of some money. I've got to get rid of it. And I was like, that's a nice problem to have, isn't it? And I was just sat there eating my ice cream because she's my friend. So I was just like, not thinking, I'm just gonna eat my, it's a Saturday, I'm not working, my brain switched off. And she's like, what have you got at the moment? I said, what do mean what have I got at the moment? She's like, to invest, what have you got? She's like, I need to get rid of some money. So I said, well, how much have you got? And she was like, I don't know, like quarter, quarter of a million, like what have you got? And I was like, Right, I was like, that one with me. I was like, leave that, I'll find one, leave that one with me. But what was really interesting about it was, in no way, or form, first of all, did I realise that she was in that situation, number one. Number two, I had no idea that she... like we weren't even... I wasn't even trying to get money out of her, she's my friend, I was just having a conversation. But the reason that she literally came to me to talk to me about it was what you said, we go back to the beginning of this podcast, she knows, likes and trusts me because we've literally started at the same time and we've been friends ever since so she knows who I am. I like to think I'm an investable person based on my credibility and what I've shown with myself and how I do things in life. And then, you know, having a project being available to do it or to find someone else that has it available. So it doesn't need to be like that they're aliens and it doesn't need to be that you've got to go to all these members clubs and the only people that invest are men in jackets and cravats and all of that. No, it's rubbish. You can be on a park bench having an ice cream with someone that you know and they can just bring this to you. Or the cycling, example, fantastic example, a cycling friend, like money is everywhere. It's just that you have to be open to receiving it and I'm a big believer model and I'm going through this journey at the moment I'm a big believer in the law of attraction and the universe and I don't believe in the faith anymore I believe that when you start to open yourself up to possibility and you start to open yourself up to Seeing the world in a different way. It is not coincidence that people come to you and people say they want to work with you It's not coincidence. It's because the universe is bringing the law of attraction to you in that way because you're now open to it So when people start saying to me, my god, Athena, it works. I've now got investors. I'm like, it's not coincidence. You've set yourself up for it. Which I think is a really, really beautiful thing. So I just love stories. I think stories is a great way to kind of explain things as it were. And I think that it's, I think raising finance is a really tricky situation. I think confidence is a real big one. I think as soon as you get your first one, that's the real way to do it. Because yeah, because of course, when you took on your first investor, just thinking about this, you already had kind of like flats and things to kind of show for it, didn't you? Yes, so that was the first time I approached somebody to lend me money. I had done other deals where one of my JB partners, which was my friend, had raised the money. The reason I didn't mention those was because I didn't raise that. Whereas this was the first time I went out asking for money. love that. What about them? What's the story of you investing in a person for the first time? What's that story? I've invested with a few people recently as well. mean, one of my mentees helped him to get his first lease option. And after watching what he'd done on that lease option, we decided to JV. And in the last six months, we bought 19 units. So we're buying another quite a few more as well. So, you know, there's a formula for everything. If you have the right formulas and you have the right... ingredients, you can get the results that you want. We've set up a company together where we're aiming to have about 15 million pounds worth of property with more than 30 % equity within the next three years. We've done 1.85 in six months, so it's on the way there and everything like that. And he's quite impressed because he started with 18,000 pounds worth of debt on his mom's credit card. Wow. Yeah, so yeah, even if you are in debt, as long as you've got the right drive and you meet the right person, it's definitely still possible. But I'm finding that person that sees you and believes in you and goes, no, this is how we're gonna do it. But I genuinely think that a lot of it starts, as you say, with your immediate, it's like the lowest hanging fruit, immediate friends and family, I think, because they already know and trust you. And it's just about making it work to be the best possible way. And I've seen so many people within the community who have really just taken this on board and really flown with it and almost left their... worries and fear at the door and just gone for it and they're like right go on then we'll give it a go if it doesn't work fine and I'm my god it actually works and I'm like yes because you're doing it the right way you're saying it in the right way and you got the right people behind you so I love it. I hope one day that I'm going to become an investor I haven't actually invested yet in somebody I'm not quite there yet but one day Motta we're gonna get you back on I'm gonna go Motta I've literally just invested my first amount and I'm gonna talk to you all about it which would be so good. And then, do know what Motto, I've got two things to say to you just to finish off this podcast with you. The first thing I'm gonna say to you, my second one's a question, my first one is I'd like to get your opinion on something. And I think it's important that I say this on the Girls and Property podcast and it's important that I tell you this because I want to get your opinion about this, about what your thoughts are. So. I'd say earlier this year, and I haven't heard too many since, but this happened earlier this year, we had a situation with one of the women in the community of girls and property. And what happened was, was she basically went to negotiate with an investor to take on a project. And it was all going really well. She did all of the negotiation, all the chats, everything, the meetings, et cetera. and then they agreed it and they went to sign the papers and the investor said to said um said individual he said to her shouldn't we wait for your husband to arrive in order for us to sign these papers now she doesn't actually have a husband she's actually on her own and the husband was never mentioned the whole way throughout all of this she did all the negotiations she did everything but the investor said that And so she actually walked away from the deal. She was like, I don't like this. I don't like the ethos of it. I thought was incredibly brave and I really respect her for that. But as a guy who I know probably maybe either doesn't see so much of this and certainly I know doesn't treat people in this way. I'm very aware of that. But That was something that happened earlier this year in 2025. Like, because it is the Girls and Prophecy podcast and these things are still happening today. Do you have any kind of like thoughts or or have you got your own stories about where you've seen this happen to certain women within the industry at all? I probably haven't been so aware of it. um In all honesty, I'm quite surprised that somebody would have actually said that. That sounds very backdated backwards. So I'm quite surprised, but then again, can you sometimes take people out of their environments? What type of environment have they come from? Why is it that they've said that? Is this a... UK based investor or foreign investor or It was UK based, so it UK based, but I'm just thinking to myself, I of course wasn't there, this was a story that was told to me, but the more times I tell it I almost think to myself like, how was it said almost? Was it said as like a flyaway comment of, should we wait till your husband gets here? Or was it said in kind of like, shall we wait till your husband gets here? But either way I just think it just, it's just not necessary. Yeah, well do you know what? In her defence he lost the deal. He lost the deal and she- was like thank you but no basically I'm not gonna go forward with this but I thought it was important to mention on this podcast and I didn't want to do a raising investing podcast and not at least speak about that because it's important that people are still made aware that even in sort of 2025 these conversations still happen and I still get lots of messages from women and I'm sure I'll continue to do so about situations that they have been in so It's a really interesting one because I luckily haven't experienced this myself yet. um I wonder what would happen the day that I do. I'd probably just, yeah, we'll see. But I want to support as many women as I can and tell their story so that they know that I've spoken about it on the podcast and I've breathed life into making others aware of it and I haven't just shoved it under a carpet and not spoken about it. That's quite important to me. but it really does emphasize why you need to know, like and trust works in both directions, not just somebody lending you the money, but would you really want to work with somebody like that? Because a joint venture or even a loan, you are in some form of almost like a marriage, you are going to have to speak to this person on a regular basis, et cetera. Do you really want to be working with somebody like that? Absolutely and we haven't got enough time to talk about it on today's episode but what I want to talk to you about in tomorrow's and actually this is why you should join tomorrow's call ladies what I actually want to talk to you about tomorrow motto is actually this notion I say it to girls all the time in my world there are three different ways that I really work with investors so option one is I do joint sorry start again I do loan agreements so straight-up loan agreements nice and easy clean simple I do equity share in the property itself, but only with very specific people, aka friends and family, and then joint venture agreements. And so I do like three different agreements as it were. And I think what would be really good to talk about in tomorrow night's session, actually, with all the girls is what you just said about this notion of it works both ways. You also have to trust the investor because it is like a marriage. And if you are going to be doing an equity share a joint venture, what are the things you really need to know? Like what are the, what are the responsibilities? What are the skillsets? The amount of times I've walked away from a partnership because we've gone to write our values and our responsibilities and there's too much crossover. And I'm like this work. We've got to actually have differing opinions and differing skill sets as opposed to similar ones. So I'd love to talk to you if you're happy to do it tomorrow night um on this because this is the juicy stuff and why you should all join tomorrow night's call as well. So Motta, I've got a question for you and I actually am fascinated to know your answer to this. I don't ask every guest this question but I need you to think about this and to give a detailed question, detailed answer please, not just a word, which is this. And the reason I'm asking this is because this got asked to me on a recent podcast that I did with somebody and it stumped me. It sort of silenced me for about three minutes in answering this question because I was like, how do I answer this question? But I think it's a beautiful way to end today's podcast. So my question to you is this, what's one question that nobody has ever asked you that you wish that somebody would have asked you about you, your life, everything like that? That is an interesting question. Yeah, it literally stumped me for about three minutes. So what's one thing no one has ever asked you that you wish someone would have asked you? Do I have to answer that now? Oh, okay, okay. I'm not sure. I know right? It stunned me for three minutes on the podcast I did. I was like, my god, what's my answer? I've got so many different answers like I'd like to give but they're not the answer if that makes sense But it could be anything. It could be business, it could be personal. what's a question that, you know, a new thing would actually help the listeners today as well? I've been asked what is your why, but I think that is probably one of one of, cause my why is probably the same or similar to most other people's. but even though it's the same, I don't think we all act upon it. So why is your why? Why? Why is your why why? Do you know, it is true. think a lot of... I think what you say and what you do are sometimes not the same thing. I think actions speak louder than words and so you can say what a why is but what are the actions actually that go behind it? Hmm. That is a deep question. It is a deep question. question. I know, I know, which is why I wanted to ask you it because I was like come on, Motel, let's see, let's see, you know? You had to get one over on me, innit? oh one no I bet no one's ever asked you out on a podcast I was like I'm gonna fire it at you well I tell you what how about this how about this right let me let me alleviate the pressure from you even though this other person did not alleviate the pressure on me I'll do it for you and I'd like you to think of that and I'd like you to have the answer ready for me for tomorrow night okay so think about that And if you have to go deep, go deep. Like, search your soul. Think to yourself, like, what is one thing that you think would really help? But until then, until tomorrow night, and in the meantime, because I know so many people are gonna love this episode and really wanna speak to you today and tomorrow and, you know, all the time. So what is the best place for people to find you? Facebook, Insta, I'm on all the different platforms, LinkedIn. So yeah, just reach out on any of the social media platforms. Amazing. But is it actually model Islam on it? I think you're Instagrammed slightly differently, isn't it? It's super investor, but if you do put in Motul Islam, it should come up. It should come up. Okay, fantastic. And as always everybody, I am Athena Dobson underscore official and girls and property on Instagram. um Do not forget tomorrow night, 7.30 we have got Motul Islam coming in to talk all about more in detail about raising finance. As I said, we're gonna be talking about the differences between things such as equity share, loan agreements, joint ventures, and more detail and also hearing his answer to the question that I just asked him as well. And then always also do not forget we are literally in November now which means we are on countdown to the Girls and Property Winter Party. So this is going to be happening in Birmingham, do not forget, in Birmingham and it's going to be happening on Saturday the 15th of November. This is for females only as it is a female property network so it's just gonna be just for the women. Community members, if you're a community member you come free to this event because it's a community party. However, if you've been listening to this podcast and you're thinking, Athena, I'd love to get involved. want to know more about the community. I want to meet the girls. Then come along. It is just £49 for your ticket. If you're a non-community member and I would absolutely love to see you there as well. And then finally, we've also on Friday, 21st of November, I just want to give a shout out to this. I'm also hosting a in-person workshop with Anastasia doing all about somatic work and business development. So this is going to be incredible. It's going to me and Anastasia co-hosting together. And it's going to be a day of, I'm going to say it kind of like, fuck yes, energy, because that's what Anastasia stands for and everything. And I'm going to be doing business. Now people have asked me if this is just going to be for property businesses or property investors the answer is no this is for anybody who has a business that wants to really gain confidence in themselves understand their bodies, somatic work and then I'm to be talking you through the business aspects in the afternoon so somatic work will be in the morning business will be in the afternoon and we've got about 10 tickets left and there'll be 20 of us in total so if you want to come along just DM me the word somatic and I'll send your exclusive invite to it and Motul, I'd love to leave you with the parting words for today. So parting words, what would you love to leave the listeners with? Probably isn't such a hard thing. know what? Just figure out what is the right formula for you and you'll probably come out with a pretty tasty dish. I love that, that is so good, that's so you. You come out with a pretty tasty dish, absolutely. Love it, I'm gonna leave it there. Ladies, join us tomorrow night at 7.30, I hope you've really enjoyed today's episode. Do go connect with Motul, he is a fantastic human being and a wealth of knowledge, an absolute wealth of knowledge. um I've yet to really find something within the property space that you don't know the answer to, Motul. You pretty much know quite a lot um and have great connections. Well, you know many, many things. But as always, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you really enjoyed today's episode. Please, please leave us a review. It really, really helps with the algorithm to rank girls and property. You can do this via Apple Podcast and would really, really appreciate it. Any questions you've got, let us know. Have a fantastic week and I will see you all next week and enjoy your journey. Speak to you soon. Take care for now. Bye. Bye.