There’s nothing wrong with having big dreams. In fact, this is crucial if you want to succeed in property investing.
But if you’re going to talk a big talk, you must justify it with action.
This is what Ted didn’t understand at the beginning. In his words, he thought that he was ‘red hot’ before he realised that things weren’t as easy as they seemed.
Luckily, Ted learned his lesson.
And the moment he did, his life took a significant positive turn.
Born in the small rural town of Maury, Ted had big dreams.
He knew from a young age that he was going to be a builder.
And not just any builder. He wanted to be huge.
He thought that it was going to be easy. That he’d just have to show up and everything he wanted would be his.
But he soon learned that this isn’t how it works in life…
When Ted graduated from school, he could’ve gone to college. He had good marks and probably would’ve done well.
But this wasn’t what he wanted.
He wanted to get out of his small home town and become a big-shot builder.
He decided to go to the Central Coast and become an apprentice. However, he first needed to make some money. He knew that he couldn’t set out on his own with no money whatsoever.
This is why he became Farmer Ted. He started a blog and worked on a farm at the same time.
The blog was doing well and picked up around 4,000 followers. His farm life was also good and he managed to make enough money to finally hit the road.
He was so excited as he thought that this was it. That he would just go out there and become the builder he always wanted to be.
But it wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be…
When he got to the Central Coast, Ted was ready to start his apprenticeship.
However, it seemed like nobody was willing to give him an opportunity.
He reached out to builders offering to do all sorts of work for them, but none of them accepted. He was 19 years old, which meant that he was older than guys usually were when they first started their apprenticeship. At the same time, his resume listed only farm work.
It wasn’t until he put up an ad on Gumtree that this changed.
All of a sudden, he got to pick and choose builders to work for.
Wanting to prove himself, Ted worked seven days a week. He also got another job at night to pad his earnings.
Throughout all this time, Ted says that he was still a cocky guy. In his words:
‘I thought that I was 10 foot tall and bulletproof.’
But one day, this changed.
Ted got into a car accident that almost took his life. He took his eyes off the road for just a moment and it happened.
Luckily, Ted made a full recovery. This was a tragedy then, but now he sees it as a blessing in disguise. He said it put things in perspective and showed him what truly matters.
It was around this time that his sister sent him the Facebook link that would change his life.
When he opened it was when he learned about the Property Games.
And that’s when a new chapter of his life opened.
The moment he joined the Property Games, Ted knew that he was in a place where he belonged.
He met Mark and Sue Jordan, who took him in. They were with him through the good and the bad and made him feel like he had a family in them.
But it wasn’t just this that changed Ted’s life. It was his first big property deal.
He bought a house in Brisbane for $215,000. After all the renovations, the total cost was $272,000. After the renovations, the house was fully rented for 70 weeks.
Right now, it sits on the market for $350,000-$380,000.
Of course, this is just the beginning for Ted. He’s now on his way to making more hot deals and building his wealth.
So, what has Ted learned on his journey?
This was the biggest takeaway for Ted got so far. Back when he was only 20 years old, he learned a valuable lesson about humility that would stick with him for life.
Yes, he had to learn it the hard way. But Ted says that he wouldn’t change a thing if he had to do it all over again. It had brought him to where he is right now, where things are really looking up for him.
For Ted, the most important thing in life is having somebody to share his life with. He was on his own for a long time, which isn’t something that he would like to get back to.
Coming across Mark and Sue was among the best things that happened to Ted. Because of them, he was no longer alone and that he had all the support he needed to succeed.
Ted grew up in an area where mental health was a taboo. This was a big issue in his family but he was never allowed to talk about it.
It wasn’t until he left home and spent a lot of time on his own that he found out how important it is to talk about mental health. After he found success with the Property Games, Ted learned how to talk about issues that others are hesitant to discuss.
Cockiness got Ted nowhere. It wasn’t until he learned from his mistakes that his life changed for the better.
If there’s one thing that you should learn from Ted’s story, it’s to work hard and stay humble.
No job is too small, so work your way up until you get to where you want to be.
DB
