AN UNEXPECTED LESSON IN LEADERSHIP.

I've had an interesting experience this week.

Unfortunately, it's not something I can go into too much detail about, but it's taught me quite a lot about myself and, more importantly, how much I value good leadership.

I've always considered myself a pretty resilient person. When something knocks me down, I generally find a way to get back up.

As Rocky once said, "It ain't about how hard you hit..." HAHAHA! 😂

But seriously, I think there's so much value in simply putting one foot in front of the other and continuing to move forward.

This week was no different.

I found myself in a situation where I felt I was being treated unfairly, and rather than just accept it, I stayed up until 3:30am putting together an evidence-based response.

Not emotion. just logic.

But here's the interesting thing.

Had the situation been handled differently, with a bit more honesty, understanding and consideration, I probably wouldn't have challenged it at all.

And that's what really got me thinking.

Sometimes it's not the decision someone makes that causes the problem. It's how they make you feel when they're making it.

You can disagree with someone, challenge them or even deliver news they don't want to hear without making them feel disrespected.

And I think that's an important distinction between being someone's boss and being a good leader.

As we continue building Asset Collective, that's something I want to remember.

Because one day, I hope we're in a position where we're responsible for a much bigger team.

And when that day comes, I want people to feel listened to, treated fairly and comfortable challenging us when they disagree.

Because having the authority to make a decision doesn't automatically make you a good leader.

And apologies to all you lovely readers for only telling half a story this week. 😂

There's a little more to this one, but some things are better shared once they're resolved.

When the time is right, I'll tell you the rest.

Industry Street is finally coming to an end, and you know what? Compared to Camm Street, it's been absolute bliss.

Don't get me wrong, we've still had our fair share of problems. That's property for you.

But throughout those problems, we've managed to build a strong, reliable team of tradespeople who understand the standards we're trying to achieve and, more importantly, can deliver them.

And that alone feels like a massive step forward for Asset Collective.

So, where are we?

Decorating is due to finish on Tuesday, flooring should be completed by the end of the week, and then we've got one final week of snagging before we aim to put the property on the market on 20 November!

Now, I'll be honest.

We're not expecting an immediate sale at this time of year. I think market sentiment is pretty negative at the moment, and when you combine that with the run-up to Christmas, it's hardly the ideal time to sell a house.

But that's exactly why we build 12 months of finance costs into our deals.

It gives us time to exit without being forced into making a bad decision.

Our plan is pretty simple.

We'll list Industry Street on 20 November.

If we get a sale, brilliant.

If we don't? No worries.

We'll take it off the market on 20 December and relist with a new agent on 1 January.

And what's the downside?

Around £350.

When you weigh that against the potential upside of reducing our financing costs, releasing capital sooner and having one less project to manage, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

And this brings me to something I think is incredibly important when running an investment company.

Risk.

We're constantly asking ourselves questions.

Because ultimately, raising money, finding deals and taking nice photos for Instagram are all great.

But none of those things mean much if you don't understand the risks you're taking.

And I think that's one of the reasons we're going to build something pretty cool with Asset Collective.

Not because we think every deal is going to go perfectly.

But because we're trying to understand what happens when it doesn't.

Loxley Road is going to be a bit of a test for us.

On our three live deals, we've used our own capital for purchases and investors' money for refurbishments.

This time, we're testing a structure that could potentially allow us to complete future projects without tying up our own capital.

We're using something called a development bridging loan.

Here's how it works:

Our investor signs a deed of subordination, meaning the bridging lender gets priority when it comes to repayment.

The catch? Refurbishment funds are released in arrears, so we have to pay for the work before claiming the money back.

We're splitting this into three drawdowns at £600 each, initially putting £20,000 of our own money into the works.

That £20,000 will remain in the deal until our investor has been repaid, and we've also provided a personal guarantee against the bridging finance.

So yes, we absolutely have skin in the game!

But the theory is there.

And the beauty of Loxley Road is that we've bought it really well.

We've got a purchase price of around £160,000, a refurbishment budget of approximately £60,000 and an anticipated end value of £310,000.

Of course, that doesn't mean we're making £90,000 profit. We've still got financing costs, stamp duty, legal fees and investor returns to account for.

But even when we model a worst-case 12-month exit and spending our full refurbishment contingency, we're comfortable with the margin we've built into the deal.

And that's why buying well is so important.

Once all costs and investors have been repaid, Asset Collective retains the remaining profit for sourcing, structuring and, unfortunately on this one, project managing the deal. 😂

So why does this matter?

We'll make less profit per deal because of the additional financing costs.

But what if we can make less per deal and complete more of them?

If we complete one project and it goes terribly wrong, we're in trouble.

If we complete ten, one might underperform, another might exceed expectations and the rest might perform as forecast.

Provided we're managing our exposure properly, we're spreading risk across multiple projects rather than relying on the success of one.

We're now thinking about the overall profit and loss of Asset Collective, not just the profit on each individual house.

And by preserving more of our own capital, we can build a larger cash reserve to protect the business and take advantage of new opportunities.

And I guess this is what scaling actually looks like.

Camm Street

We've hit a little stumbling block with the sale.

Our buyer has two properties to sell, and unfortunately one of those sales has fallen through.

Not ideal!

We're working closely with the buyer to explore a few possible solutions and hopefully keep everything moving forward.

Fingers crossed we'll have some better news next week.

Talbot Street

Thankfully, a much simpler update here!

Everything is progressing nicely through the legal process, and we're expecting to complete soon.

Hopefully we'll have another set of keys in our hands before too long! 🔑

As things stand, we've got just £10,000 left to raise to fully fund our existing pipeline.

And that's pretty huge for us!

We started this year with a goal of raising £100,000, and to have now surpassed that target with four projects almost fully funded is something we're incredibly proud of.

We do, however, have capacity to accept up to £250,000, particularly as we're looking to get off to a fast start in Q1 2027!

And for anyone who's been keeping an eye on the news lately, we think the current market could present some incredible buying opportunities, and we plan to take full advantage.

We also continue to offer a 1% referral fee for successful investor introductions, so if you know someone who might be interested, feel free to put us in touch!

Thanks for following our journey.