I started out really small, we have to remember that this was in 2003 when things were rather different then. I bought a home for my own stay and it was at a time when you could get a 110% mortgage easily. The home in question was a small cottage, what I did was I bought some paint, gave the place a coat of paint, went to the IKEA store and furnished it then rented it out to some international students whose parents paid me 12 months in advance.
I then used the 10% plus the profits from the rent to get a BTL mortgage which I then used it to buy 2 terrace houses that were in very poor condition, I got rather lucky here, because both the houses were next to each other and were being sold by the same person, she had inherited them recently, I knew she had a gambling problem
and I knew she was rather desperate to sell those properties... I told her if she dropped the price by 30% each I would buy them both. I gave her 10% deposit in cash on the understanding that if I couldn't get financing then I get my money back minus 1% within 14 working days. 5 days later she calls me to ask me whether I was making progress on the loans or not.. I told her not yet, she said to hurry up as she wanted the money ASAP. I sensed a bit of desperation in her voice and had someone ask around only to find out she was a big time casino junkie. 2 days before the 14 working days were up I told her I couldn't get financing for 2 units and made up a story that the banks said no because the condition of the houses were in bad shape, so I wanted my deposit back unless she could either give me another 14 working days and I could try again elsewhere or maybe if she dropped the price down further I could be able to afford it. She dropped the price to the level that it was buy 1 and get the other for 90% off... essentially it came down to the fact that she didn't want to return my deposit because she had spent it already.. LOL