From 9-5 to Snowballing Real Estate

[PSousa]

Hey guys nice to be here!!

Pedro from Porto, Portugal here

I've read a lot of selfhelp and financial advice books until I discovered the Millionaire Fastlane in 2016, and from then on I've started investing on Real Estate, apparently at the ideal time... more on that later!

I had the regular 9-5 job like almost everybody and with the coming of the Internet I also decided to try my luck as an affiliate around 2009, I managed to get a few sales selling some ebooks and reverse phone lookup services, and I guess my error at the time was (besides being an affiliate) not upscaling and not selling real physical products instead. It was article marketing that directed traffic to the website and it was good to create something out of nothing, especially since I had zero knowledge on how to create a website, how to create backlinks using articles, etc.
But that required a lot of time writing articles, many times spinning articles and since I didnt made a consistent effort, eventually it died out, but I had a first experience and managed to earn some money. Overall, the website managed to make me a total of around 9000€, despite all my sloppy work!

Then I had an opportunity to work in Angola in 2010 where I managed to earn at that time around 42k €/year and after 3 years I had around 100k € in cash in my bank account. I came back to Portugal and all that money was starting to itch after a few months because I didnt knew what to do with it, and being the extremely intelligent person that I am known for, I went to Thailand in 2013 to blow the money on vacations, booze and whatnot. There is a saying that "a fool and his money soon are departed" and another one that "a fool with a lot of money equals a huge party", soooo.... yeah.

To add insult to injury, I met a guy there who gave "advice" on business ideas, as he worked as a Realtor and had his own company, that the owner of the bar we were at wanted to sell, and that was a good business at the time, blah, blah... So I thought about it and after 2 weeks or so, I started "company" there and made the contract to explore the business, signing those papers with those Thai scribbles no one understands. Long story short, I blew around 50k€ in Thailand on bad business decisions and lavish spending until the money ended, and came home with a huge depression and lighter pockets.

Thank God that in the middle of all my dumbness I still have a few neurons firing here and there, so for my own good, before leaving on my adventure, I had like half of my money on a "safe" position, lets say. I had 20k€ in a Bank application locked for 5 years for my own safety, and I had 20k€ in cash in a small safe at home. If I had access to this money while I was abroad probably would blow all of it!

So, back to the starting point! Now my only chance is to go back to Angola to get those 42k€/year again, if I can, to try to undo the crap I did. After a few months I managed to get another chance to work as an expat, worked again 3 years there but this time there was a major game changer: I discovered The Millionaire Fastlane and got instantly hooked. At the time I had the idea to start developing apps, since one of the CENTS strategy (Entry) was what I used as an escuse to go and learn programming for android. This proved to be extremely dificult for someone who was working alone on it, since I always tried to find business partners but couldnt find them anywhere, I only hanged around losers and junkies. Btw, I myself had problems with drugs and alcohol for years and this was one of the major problems to business, because I had no discipline and this is a huge barrier for anyone who tries to succeed with anything in life.

I forgot the programming for good, and in 2016 while I was still in Angola, my house/work mate was watching a home renovations TV program, and called me in a hurry to come watch it, it was the first time I've seen one like it and they announced crazy profits. He said that he imagined himself one day doing that, maybe when retired, to flip houses for a profit. I started investigating at the time and found online that bank-houses in Porto were stupid cheap, you know, those houses that the bank keeps when people cant afford to pay their mortgages. I checked how much for the monthly payments, and how much was being asked for rental, and found I could like double my money like that!! Ca-tching! I got the dollar sign eyes and I contacted a few realtors, one of who managed to be an excellent and impecabble Realtor, who is now also a friend besides being an awesome person and business associate.

From then on, I managed to buy my 4 first apartments in 2016 alone, all this while I was away in Angola and Bruno the realtor, working on Porto scheduling the buying procedures when I went there on vacations. I asked the bank for loans, started to pay off some, while still acquiring more property and business went smooth so far but a bit slow, by Fastlane point of view!

2016 was the perfect year to start as I managed to buy dirt-cheap apartments that only needed minor interventions, just an overall fresh paint and whatnot. I kept buying as much as I could, and around 2019-2020 prices started to skyrocket, fueled by excessive turism and digital nomads who suddenly (thanks to social networks) discovered that Porto is a small paradise, safe, cheap, sunny, with tons of stuff to do and see and visit. Everything is super cheap, food and drink is awesome so everyone falls in love with the city and decide to move in. For foreigners this is a paradise on earth because its ridiculously cheap and you can manage to live a very confortable life.

I needed to change my focus from just buying to renovating, since bank houses are gone and even when they have some, its just stupid expensive and it doesnt payoff no more. In 2025 I bought an old apartment and renovated myself everything, kitchen, bathrooms, you name it! I didnt knew how to do many things, but since you have videos for everything on youtube I teach myself and voilá! its easier than it seems but its hard work!! Im currently working in Belgium because I had an offer that was too good to refuse, but soon I want to quit and just work as real estate investor.

Now in 2026, I'm going to construct a small 10 fractions condo and rent everything out, this one will really push the snowball down the slope!! Already have a 730m2 terrain to build and an architect working on the project, this will take around 1-2 years until fully build.

My guess is now I have to start buying land and building on it, since the initial investment is large but it pays off massively. Creating value by turning a barren landscape into new flats ready to live in.

So my current situation is this:

- I work a job that pays around 45k€/year clean;
- I earn currently 18k€/year clean from 9 rentals (6 flats, 1 office and 2 shops), all expenses and taxes already paid for;
- I have the apartment I renovated last year for sale (bought for 175k€, spend around 20k€ on renovations and bank monthly payments, totaling 200k€ expenses) which Im asking 298k€ for it, will probably sell for 280k€, and after comissions and taxes will have around 60-70k€ profit;
- Im buying the contract rights on project, of a new flat, located on a luxury building that is being built and already chipped in 30k€ last year and will have to chip in another 60k€ around august this year, totalling 90k€ in a piggy bank that I will recover+profit when I sell the buying position to someone interested in acquiring it;
- One of the stores I have Im going to convert into apartment, a small makeover that I will do myself this year, doubling the monthly income from currently 275€/month to around 600€/month (everything legal, taxes, and approval of city council);
- Construction of a small 10 flat condo, land cost was 155k€, probably another 200k-300k€ for full construction (which I will have to ask the bank for) and I estimate around 5k€/month when all is done and rented.

Please give me your advice, If I was dumb here and there, was there any smart moves? ahah

I want to have the more passive income stream as possible, but I was also wondering about the possibility of renting for tourism, since there is such a boom for that. That implies more active work, and even hiring someone to clean and make beds. That is something I will check with time.

So, I know this is not much for Fastlane standards, but as soon as I found something that worked I went for it, and its paying off.
Its slow but steady.
I just indulged in 2019 when I bought a little gift for myself: an Abarth 124 Spider that cost me "just" 33k€.
All the money I earn goes back to investing, I quit smoking and drinking a few years ago, I practice karate and lift some weights now.

Feel free to comment, all advices and words of wisdom are always welcome!

 

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