Esther Lara was a senior NHS nurse, pregnant, with a history of miscarriages — and her employer told her to take the COVID vaccine or lose her job!

Maternity leave gave her the first bit of breathing space she'd had in years, and she used it to ask herself: 'if nursing disappeared tomorrow, what would I do?'.

Three years later, she has replaced her nursing income through property, raised £100k for her first BRRRR project from a stranger on Instagram and a Channel 4 documentary, and is scaling into HMOs while running a healthcare consultancy on the side!

In this episode, Sophie and Esther get into the practical stuff: how the BRRRR model actually works, how to figure out what your first project should be (and why it depends entirely on your income goal), and why Esther thinks Rent2Rent as a stepping stone is often slower than just learning to raise capital directly.

They also talk about what it's actually like to pick up the keys on a project before you've secured the refurb money and discuss whether that's brave or completely reckless!!

If you've been thinking about getting into property investing but don't have a pot of cash sitting ready, this one is worth your time.

00:00 Esther's story: nurse, pregnancy, and an ultimatum

01:31 Why maternity leave changed everything

02:36 How she got started: rent to rent and Airbnb

03:35 The penny drop moment — doing the maths

06:11 How she raised her first £100k with no experience

07:17 Her first investor: a stranger from Instagram

08:50 How a Channel 4 documentary helped her raise the rest

10:31 The BRRRR model explained simply

11:11 Why the first raise is always the hardest

16:30 How to choose your first project based on your income goal

Get your tickets for Business by the Beach in Bournemouth – 31st July HERE: https://thehappyinvestor.co.uk/sophies-investing-club

Want to learn directly from Sophie and scale your business THIS YEAR? The waitlist is now open with limited spaces for the low-price cohort 👉🏼 https://thehappyinvestor.co.uk/fm-waitlist

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