I'll be honest, I'm feeling pretty excited about where we're at right now and after a few ups and downs over the last couple of months, it's quite nice to be able to say that.

Less than six months ago, we shared our plans for Asset Collective.

The idea was to flip properties to generate capital while building a portfolio of properties to hold for the long term and create investment opportunities along the way.

We set ourselves a target of three flips this year, and honestly, I'm not even sure I believed we'd achieve it.

Fast forward to today:

That's four deals we've progressed this year, although there's still plenty of work to do before we can call them completed successes.

And we certainly haven't got here on our own.

We've had investors believe in us, people give us opportunities and plenty of support along the way. Emma and I have also worked incredibly hard, not just on the properties but on ourselves and the business.

When I look back at where we started three and a half years ago, I can't help feeling proud.

But this week has been a reminder that things don't always go to plan.

For the last eight weeks, we've been working on purchasing a small property portfolio.

We'd had an offer accepted at £552,000 on properties we believe are currently worth around £690,000, with a projected value of approximately £900,000 once renovated.

It would've been our biggest purchase to date.

And I really, really wanted it.

At the same time, we were arranging funding for Loxley Road and had just agreed to purchase Talbot Street.

Three acquisitions, all moving forward together.

There was a lot of capital to raise, and I knew it would be a challenge, but I was genuinely excited about the opportunity.

At one point, I even considered selling Talbot Street to another investor rather than keeping it.

Then I remember saying to Emma:

"You know what, let's just buy them all and figure it out."

Whether that was confidence or a little bit of madness, I'm not entirely sure. Probably both.

Anyway, Friday arrived.

I was driving to Loxley to meet someone we're considering working with on our project delivery, so we could price up the renovation.

My phone rang.

The seller of the portfolio had withdrawn from the sale.

They're returning to court to renegotiate their divorce settlement, so the sale can't proceed.

Eight weeks of conversations, numbers, planning and getting excited about what we could do with those properties.

Gone in one phone call.

I was absolutely gutted.

But about half an hour later, I found myself thinking about what came next.

We've still got Loxley and Talbot Street progressing, Industry Street to finish and Camm Street to sell.

And the more I've thought about it over the weekend, the more I've wondered whether the timing might work in our favour.

There's a chance the portfolio could become available again once the sellers have resolved their situation. If it does, perhaps we'll be in a better position to take it on.

Or perhaps it won't.

Not every deal you work on becomes a deal you complete.

It's disappointing, especially when you've put so much into it, but it's part of what we're doing.

And who knows what opportunity might come along next?

One of the highlights of this week was receiving a £50,000 investment commitment.

But what makes this one particularly special isn't the amount.

It's the person behind it.

This is someone I've known for a very long time. They've seen all my side hustles, all the different ideas I've tried and the countless hours I've put into trying to build the life I want.

In fact, their favourite thing to say to me is:

"Have a day off, mate."

And to be fair, they've probably had good reason to say it over the years.

They're someone I have an enormous amount of respect for, both personally and professionally. They've built a successful career themselves, and they're one of the people I regularly turn to for advice.

Over the years, I've approached them with different ideas and investment opportunities, but they've never invested.

This time was different.

I didn't approach them. I didn't pitch them an opportunity or try to convince them to get involved.

They came to me.

They've watched what we've been doing, seen the progress we've made and decided for themselves that they want to be part of it.

And I think that's why this one means so much to me.

When someone whose opinion you genuinely value, who's watched you work towards something for years, decides they believe in what you're building enough to put their own money behind it, it's a pretty special feeling.

I'm also very aware that their trust comes with a huge responsibility.

But it was one of those moments that made me stop and appreciate how far we've come.

The commitment means we've now got the purchase funding lined up for Loxley Road.

We've also got personal capital available to purchase Talbot Street, with the refurbishment funding still to arrange.

There's plenty of work ahead, but we're gradually putting the pieces together.

And I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's helping us do that.

Last week I mentioned we'd viewed our first direct to vendor opportunity.

Well, this week we've agreed to buy it.

Purchase price: £68,000.

It's certainly not a property for everyone.

There's a council prohibition order in place, five Category 1 hazards and plenty of work required, including rotten joists, damp and mould.

But it's exactly the type of renovation our experience allows us to consider.

Rather than flip it, our plan is to refurbish the property, refinance it and keep it in our portfolio.

Our current projections suggest we could recover the majority of our capital through refinancing, even after allowing for 12 months of finance costs.

Of course, that depends on the final renovation costs, valuation and lending available.

There's a lot to do before we get there.

I don't actually talk about this side of Asset Collective very often, but I think this is a good example of what we're trying to build.

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, direct to vendor simply means purchasing a property directly from the owner rather than through an estate agent.

We've always encouraged our team to keep an eye out for opportunities when they're out working on properties.

If they're pricing up a job and meet a homeowner who's considering selling, we've told them to introduce us. If we purchase the property, we'll pay them for the introduction.

And that's exactly how Talbot Street came about.

One of our plasterers introduced us to the seller, and he'll receive £3,000 for making a phone call.

But what's interesting is what happens when you look at the bigger picture.

Our plasterer earns £3,000 for introducing the opportunity.

The seller gets a straightforward sale without the hassle of putting the property on the open market.

Asset Collective acquires a property with the potential to create value.

Our build team gets another renovation project to deliver.

An investor could have the opportunity to earn a return on their money by helping fund the refurbishment.

And the local community stands to benefit from a property that's currently uninhabitable being brought back into use as a safe, liveable home.

Six different parties, all connected through one collective opportunity.

Of course, there's still plenty of work to do before all of that becomes a reality.

But I think it's a brilliant example of what Asset Collective is about.

Not just buying houses and making a profit, but creating opportunities for the people around us to benefit from what we're building together.

And to think, it all started with someone on our team making a phone call.

Camm Street is finished, and we're incredibly proud of the renovation.

But it hasn't sold yet.

We've had six viewings so far, and the market has been a little more challenging than we'd hoped.

What's interesting is that the house next door sold just a week before ours came to market.

25 viewings. Four offers. Sold above asking price.

Naturally, I started comparing the two properties.

And one thing stood out.

Their house was lived in. It had furniture, it felt like a home and buyers could picture themselves living there.

Ours is empty.

So this week we had a decision to make.

Do we reduce the asking price and take a hit on our margin?

Or do we invest another £2,500 into staging the property, making it easier for buyers to imagine it as their home?

We've decided to stage it.

It's an additional cost, and there's no guarantee it'll work. But after weighing up the options, we think it's worth trying before reducing the price.

The plan is to relaunch next week and see how buyers respond.

I think it's easy to assume that once you've finished renovating a property, the difficult part is over.

Sometimes selling it brings a completely different set of decisions.

And after completing five projects previously, I've learnt not to get too worked up when things don't go exactly to plan.

That doesn't mean I'm not disappointed when something takes longer than expected. Of course I am. Every additional week can affect the numbers.

But we've dealt with plenty of unexpected challenges over the years, and there's usually more than one way to approach a problem.

The important thing is to understand your options, make a considered decision and adapt when you need to.

That's what we're trying to do here.

Industry Street has also thrown a few challenges at us.

We've had a joiner and a tiler not turn up, which has pushed the schedule back around a week.

Previously, I'd probably have ended up back on site trying to make up the lost time myself.

This week, I didn't.

We worked on getting the right people in place and adjusted the schedule.

That doesn't mean the delay doesn't matter. It costs money, and we need to get the project finished.

Last week I spoke about stepping away from the day to day running of projects, and this week has been a chance to put that into practice.

But I want to be clear about something.

Project delivery is absolutely fundamental to Asset Collective.

It's where we create value, generate revenue and deliver on the commitments we've made to our investors.

Without successful projects, we don't have a successful business.

So stepping away from the tools doesn't mean stepping away from responsibility.

It means understanding where my time is best spent, making sure the right people are doing the work and remaining accountable for the outcome.

We still need to deliver projects on time, manage our budgets and protect our margins. But we also need to be finding the next opportunities, raising capital and building the relationships that allow the business to grow.

The challenge is making sure neither side gets neglected.

And while we've still got plenty to improve, I'm pleased with how we're approaching it.

Away from the properties, life has actually been really good.

I've been playing a ridiculous amount of padel recently, and I've got my first Americano tournament on Monday.

And things with me and Emma are really good too.

Yesterday was a perfect example of why we're working so hard to build the life we want.

We went to Emma's mum's for a coffee, planning to be home by 12 so we could get some work done.

As we were leaving, I noticed one of her doors wasn't opening and closing properly.

So naturally, I ended up in the shed looking for tools.

By the time I'd finished, it was well past 12.

Then it was 3 o'clock, and we were still chatting.

Then 6 o'clock came around.

Before we knew it, it was 8pm, we'd been there all day and were staying for a takeaway.

And the best part?

I was completely happy being there.

We'd worked hard all week, made progress on the things we needed to get done, and I wasn't sitting there thinking about all the work waiting for me at home.

I was just enjoying spending time with people we love.

And that's exactly why we work so hard.

Not because we want to spend every waking hour working. Quite the opposite.

We want to build a business where we can work incredibly hard, be productive with our time and still have the freedom to say, "You know what, let's stay a bit longer."

And it's not just about having entire afternoons free.

I also took my grandad a bacon sandwich this weekend and sat with him for a while.

It sounds like such a small thing, and I suppose it is.

But that's sort of the point.

I don't want to become so busy building a life for the future that I miss out on spending time with the people who are part of my life today.

I want to be able to pop round to see my grandad without feeling like I need to rush off to the next job.

To sit and have a proper conversation rather than constantly thinking about what I should be doing next.

Because one day, I know I'll look back and be far more grateful for those afternoons than I will be for an extra few hours spent working.

I don't want to get to a point where I never have to work again. I genuinely love working.

I just want to work hard enough, and build something well enough, that I have a choice.

We're certainly not there yet. We're both still working full-time, and there are plenty of weeks where the workload feels never ending.

But weekends like this remind me why we're putting so much effort into building Asset Collective.

Not just to create wealth or grow a business.

But to create a life where there's room for the people we love, without always feeling like we should be somewhere else.

Another busy week coming up:

It's funny looking back at the week.

We lost what would've been our biggest acquisition, secured a £50,000 investment commitment, agreed our first direct to vendor purchase and made some important decisions on our existing projects.

Some good, some disappointing, and plenty still unresolved.

We're nowhere near where we want to be, and I don't want to pretend otherwise.

But when I think about the people who are putting their trust in us, the opportunities we're getting and the progress we're making, I do feel like we're building something special.

And I'm incredibly grateful to be doing it.

Have a great Sunday.