Two Mates, 60+ Deals, Both Under 23 | Rio & Lucas | PCN Podcast #35

Rio McLaughlan and Lucas Houston started sourcing property at 18. They spent nine or ten months turning up every single day and never landed one deal. In December 2023 Rio sent David a voice note saying he was done. Skint, going home early from a night out because he couldn't afford it, ready to chuck the whole thing. David plays that voice note in this episode. They've now done over 60 deals. If you're chasing your first deal, thinking about going full time, or sitting in the bit where nothing is working yet, this one is worth your time. We talk about how two mates from school ended up in business together after starting separately, where the Landmark name came from, and the cold outreach that turned it around. Sitting in Costa from eight in the morning until five at night, copying and pasting messages into Facebook property groups. One random LinkedIn message in February 2024 got them a guy with 11 properties. They sold five of them and made £11K in a month. The second half gets into the numbers. Twelve deals in the first year, 37 the next, and the spreadsheet they built to work out whether they could actually afford to quit their jobs. They also talk about the month straight after going full time when everything fell off a cliff and they did one deal. ⸻ In this episode: - The voice note from 10 December 2023, played in full - Why nine months with no deal is normal and not a sign to stop - The cold outreach message they pasted into Facebook property groups - How one LinkedIn message to a stranger turned into five deals and £11K - Why they qualify an agent on the phone before booking a viewing - The spreadsheet that told them they could go full time - Why £300 a month cash flow is a vanity number when you're starting out - What happened the month right after they handed in their notices - The damp flat in Coatbridge that caught them out - Why all 60+ deals have been sourced by them and nobody else ⸻ Subscribe for weekly conversations on property sourcing, investing and building a business in Scotland. What's the longest you've gone without a deal? 🌐 Join Property Coaching Network: https://propertycoachingnetwork.com 📚 Property Coaching Intensive (PCI): https://propertycoaching.com/ 📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david_smart_property/ 📲 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@davidsmartproperty 📲 LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/david-smart- 📲 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.smart.7393/ 🏠 Rio McLaughlan and Lucas Houston / Landmark Investments: https://www.instagram.com/landmarkinvestments1/ https://www.instagram.com/rio_mclaughlan/ https://www.instagram.com/lucashoustonproperty/ 📩 Business: [email protected] ⸻ #PropertySourcing #DealPackaging #PropertyInvesting #ScottishProperty #GlasgowProperty #PropertyUK #DealSourcing #PropertyPodcast #FullTimeProperty #Lanarkshire #PropertyInvestor #FirstDeal #PCNPodcast #PropertyCoachingNetwork CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 01:08 Full time in property and what Landmark does now 02:37 Leaving school at 16 for a job he hated 04:46 Two mates, one course, and why they started apart 07:16 Nine months of viewings and not one deal 09:57 The TikTok that blew up and the comments 12:11 Imposter syndrome at 18 13:15 Where the name Landmark came from 17:27 The meeting that made them pick one thing 19:49 The voice note from 10 December 2023 23:25 What actually changed in the new year 24:08 One LinkedIn message, five deals, £11K 26:11 Costa at 8am, messages until 5pm 28:19 One deal is all it takes 30:55 The cold outreach strategy, start to finish 38:20 How the sourcing model actually works 40:10 37 deals last year and going direct 41:37 Qualifying agents before booking a viewing 46:02 The Facebook ads that burned money 48:57 The two houses everybody in property knows about 54:27 The spreadsheet that decided full time 57:40 April fell off a cliff 1:00:24 The assisted sale that died at the final hurdle 1:03:47 The damp flat in Coatbridge 1:06:08 From £150 a week