When I first started writing this newsletter, the idea was pretty simple. Share updates on our property projects and give people a bit of a look behind the scenes.

Somehow, it's turned into me telling you what's going on in my head every Sunday.

Lucky you.

Someone I met recently said, "I bet it's nice writing your newsletter and getting everything out."

And she's absolutely right.

It's become a bit of a weekly reflection for me, and after receiving a few messages from people reading it, it's genuinely nice to know some of you are getting something out of it too.

Anyway, yesterday I was scrolling through an old WhatsApp conversation with my mentor, Rebecca, when I came across a message I'd sent on 1 April.

I'd set myself a goal.

Buy a new car.

To get there, I'd written down three things:

Deadline: 1st of June.

Now, for those who've followed our journey for a while, you'll know that Emma and I sold our house, our cars and put pretty much everything we could into getting started in property.

What you probably don't know is what I ended up driving afterwards.

A Ford Fiesta with 180,000 miles on the clock.

And this wasn't just any Fiesta.

The heated seats were permanently switched on, the air conditioning didn't work and the thing squeaked so much that my old boss used to interrupt our phone calls to ask what on earth the noise was.

Lovely in the middle of summer.

Then there was the time I smashed the windscreen trying to squeeze skirting boards into the car because I didn't want to pay for delivery.

Turns out a new windscreen costs considerably more than delivery.

A valuable lesson in saving money.

But there was a reason I was driving around in that thing.

I was determined to put every spare pound towards building something.

I'd always had this idea that I wanted our assets to pay for our liabilities, rather than spending everything we earned trying to look like we were doing well.

So the idea of buying a car was a bit of a milestone for me.

And looking back at that message six months later, it's funny how much has changed.

We've got several projects at different stages, we're meeting investors, looking at bringing project managers on board and somehow the plans for Asset Collective keep getting bigger.

We've worked hard, but we've also had some brilliant people help us along the way.

There's still plenty to figure out, but it was nice to look back and appreciate the progress for once.

Anyway, enough reminiscing.

For months now, I've been talking about getting myself away from the day-to-day running of our renovations.

And to be fair, I've done quite well at getting off the tools.

There's just one small problem.

I'm still working as the main contractor.

I'm still organising trades, answering phone calls, chasing people and sorting out whatever's gone wrong that morning.

Then I get frustrated because I'm spending all my time managing construction instead of focusing on growing Asset Collective.

After giving it some serious thought, I've finally identified the issue.

I've been trying to remove myself from a job without actually replacing myself.

Outstanding management.

So this week we've been meeting with project managers who could take over the running of our renovations.

And while I'm excited about the prospect of somebody else dealing with the daily phone calls, there's one thing I'm particularly conscious of.

The standard of our projects.

I've mentioned before about spending £650 replacing kitchen worktops because I wasn't happy with how they'd been fitted.

We could've left them. We'd probably have sold the house long before any problems appeared.

But that's not how we want to operate.

We always aim to create the best house on the street. We don't always get everything right, but when something's wrong, we put it right.

We've spent three and a half years learning how to renovate houses, and I'd hate to lose that attention to detail just because we're no longer managing everything ourselves.

So finding someone who shares that attitude is really important to us.

The goal isn't to stop being involved. It's to find people we trust to manage the work to the same standard we'd expect ourselves.

And hopefully free up a bit more time to do the things that actually move the business forward.

Normally, every Sunday Emma and I sit down to plan the week.

She leads the meeting, we go through the projects, work out what's important and decide what actually needs doing.

Last week, we didn't have one.

And I've been very busy but in reflection not very productive.

I've said before that I'm calm in chaos, but when there isn't any chaos, I need structure.

Emma is brilliant at providing that structure.

I'm brilliant at getting excited about another opportunity before we've finished discussing the last one.

She's thinking about what needs doing today.

I'm thinking about what we could be doing in three years.

Neither is particularly useful without the other.

So between the two of us, we make a pretty good team.

Although this week has confirmed that I probably need her organisational skills a lot more than she needs another one of my ideas.

And guess what?

I made sure we had our meeting before I started writing this.

CAMM STREET

We've spent a bit more money staging the property and relaunched it on Friday.

Two viewings over the weekend already, so fingers crossed we can finally get this one sold.

I'm very much looking forward to the day I can write SOLD next to this one.

INDUSTRY STREET

Yes, we're still renovating it.

The decorators are booked for 1 November, and we're aiming to finish around the middle of the month.

At this point, I'm starting to think Industry Street might become a permanent feature of this newsletter.

LOXLEY ROAD

Funding is progressing, and we're waiting on refurbishment quotes from project managers.

I'm hoping this will be one of the first projects where we can hand over the day-to-day management and free up more time to focus on growing Asset Collective.

TALBOT STREET

Purchase funding has been approved, and we're working on securing the deposit.

The plan is to renovate, refinance and keep this one in our long-term portfolio.

This is the side of property I'm particularly excited about. Developments help us generate capital, but building a portfolio that produces income month after month has always been part of the bigger picture.

With several projects progressing, a lot of our own money is currently tied up in our projects.

We're looking to raise £115,000 in private capital across two stages.

£45,000 is our immediate requirement, followed by another £70,000 for development.

We work with private investors on individual projects under separately agreed terms, with our own capital invested alongside them. Naturally, every property investment carries risk.

If you've been following what we're doing and fancy finding out a bit more, feel free to drop me a message.

Always happy to have a chat.

Anyway, that's probably enough from me this week.

It's funny how much can change in six months.

We've gone from spending most of our time renovating houses ourselves to having four properties at different stages, working with more investors and meeting people who could take over my own job.

And while there's still a long way to go, sometimes I forget just how much has changed.

We've worked incredibly hard to get here, but we've also had some brilliant people help us along the way, and I'm genuinely grateful for that.

We've still got properties to finish, money to raise, plenty to improve and probably a few expensive lessons waiting for us.

But I think that's something I'm starting to learn.

When you're constantly focused on where you want to be, it's easy to forget how far you've already come.

Six months ago, I probably wouldn't have imagined we'd be in this position.

And who knows where we'll be six months from now?

Have a great Sunday.