Today, I plan to summarise some of the other PropTech / EdTech options available to us as property investors and developers, along with a general introduction to the topic of learning and development in general and property training and development in particular.
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Transcription of the show
Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Property Voice podcast. My name is Richard Brown and as always, it’s a pleasure to have you join me on the show again today.
A couple of weeks ago, I was joined on the show by Ian Thomas, Co-Founder of LendInvest. If you listened to that episode, you will have heard that LendInvest do in fact straddle FinTech and to some extent Learning & Development or EdTech within the PropTech umbrella. Whilst LendInvest’s Property Development course is not delivered using technology as such, they do have an online development academy, which does fall within the EdTech / PropTech description.
Today, I plan to summarise some of the other PropTech / EdTech options available to us along with a general introduction to the topic of learning and development in general and property training and development in particular.
OK, let’s go!
Property Chatter
Let’s start off by setting the scene a little and rise up a few thousand feet to look into learning and development in general terms.
Firstly, what are the ways in which we learn?
Learning Styles
Well, when I went to school, college, university and even underwent some post-graduate level of study, I was taught mostly through the two most common teaching techniques or learning styles: linguistic and logical. This was through a mixture of classroom study, text and reference books, the use of repetition to remember and finally exams to test my level of retention. I know things are starting to change now, but still rather slowly as far as mainstream academia is concerned.
However, my youngest daughter has just been accepted onto an Applied Medical Sciences degree course at UCL and they seem to be leading the way with some alternative teaching methods, such combining as the use of online materials, highly practical sessions with industry practitioners and face-to-face learning with university lecturers too. I believe this is advanced and innovative as far as the UK is concerned at least!
That said, there are in fact 7 learning styles, not just the two you probably encountered the most at school. We are likely to have a few favourites and also a dominant learning style as well, so it’s a good idea to understand what our own learning preferences are. Here they are:
- Visual (spatial): You prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding.
- Aural (auditory-musical): You prefer using sound and music.
- Verbal (linguistic): You prefer using words, both in speech and writing.
- Physical (kinesthetic): You prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch.
- Logical (mathematical): You prefer using logic, reasoning and systems.
- Social (interpersonal): You prefer to learn in groups or with other people.
- Solitary (intrapersonal): You prefer to work alone and use self-study.
Source: https://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/
In other words, if you prefer to learn visually, then you might learn better and faster through image-based learning aids, such as videos, infographics and other pictorial representations. Contrast that to someone that has a physical learning style preference for example, they are more likely to want to roll their sleeves up, dive right in and be very practical and hands on instead.
In other words, current EdTech might cover more of the learning styles than schools and universities, but not still necessarily all of them. However, we can develop our capabilities for our non-preferred styles and in fact probably have had to do that anyway in order to survive the mainstream educational system, or if you struggled and didn’t know why, perhaps now you do.
So, if the idea of ‘doing stuff’ appeals more than say ‘reading stuff’, you can perhaps understand and recognise that its just your style and preference and there is nothing wrong with that either!
Forms of Intelligence
When I went to university, one of my friends was chatting to a rather narrow-minded fellow student about his sister (my friend's sister that is). She chose to study art after leaving school, which prompted the ignorant response from the third student: ‘why, wasn’t she clever enough to go to university?’. Apart from making my blood boil with anger at the ignorance and rudeness of his response, it is also plain wrong!
There are in fact 9 different forms of intelligence, but once again, our academic system heavily favours a few of them.
Here are the 9 different forms of intelligence, or ‘smarts', as described by Howard Gardener, a developmental psychologist:
- Naturalist (nature smart)
- Musical (sound smart)
- Logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart)
- Existential (life smart)
- Interpersonal (people smart)
- Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)
- Linguistic (word smart)
- Intra-personal (self-smart)
- Spatial (picture smart)
Source: https://blog.adioma.com/9-types-of-intelligence-infographic/
You can clearly see that my university friend’s sister was probably picture smart, possibly among several other smarts for that matter.
So, we each have a blend of learning styles and forms of intelligence that makes our learning and development needs differ from one another and also means some methods will be more effective for us than others as well.
Given the fact that you are listening to this podcast, you may at least have a partial preference to a linguistic learning style and potentially also be word smart too! Or, perhaps you are merely forcing yourself as someone said you should! However, you probably have several preferences and forms of intelligence in reality. So, as said, take some time to figure that out and then go looking for tools, resources and other learning aids that will most compliment you, your strongest form of intelligence and how you best like to learn. I am a great believer in going with the grain or swimming with the tide, but you can also train yourself and adapt to other styles too.
Forms of Learning
Now that we have the styles and 'smarts' element out of the way, what are the most common learning methods that we could adopt? Well, I have identified the 4 big ones as follows:
- Self-study – essentially, the ‘stumble upon’, ‘pick-n-mix’, ‘Google-search’ or ‘Ask Alexa’ methods, which allow us to pick up a variety of learning formats as we go, such as through books, magazines, forums, podcasts, video channels and so on.
- Structured learning – such as through classes, courses, programmes, college and degree or professional training etc.
- Shadowing – such as apprenticeships, mentoring, joint ventures, and other forms of ‘observational learning’ or third-party direction.
- Sink or swim – basically, this to make a fourth S! This is where the dive in and do it yourself, experiential learning would sit. However, it’s possibly not EdTech in reality, so think of this as ‘on-the-job or project’ training instead.
As mentioned, EdTech is unlikely to fully address the fourth element directly, however, it could be used to compliment it for example in a similar way to reading a Haynes manual and then going to change the brakes on your car, or a recipe and then preparing your signature dish for your guests. You get the picture no doubt.
70-20-10 Principle
My wife is a senior HR professional and she talks regularly about the 70-20-10 Principle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70/20/10_Model_(Learning_and_Development)
Essentially, this learning model breaks down as follows:
- 70% by experience or on-the-job training
- 20% by developmental relationships or 'social learning' through things like mentors and networks
- 10% by formal coursework and training, including; self-directed learning or self-study
That picks up the balancing of learning & development formats, mainly in a corporate situation. Of course, as property investors, the large majority of us will rarely be in a corporate situation, where what we do in property is our full-time day job or business...but it certainly can be. It can also be related, such as being a letting agent, surveyor or project manager by day and a keen property investor by night for example. But the 70-20-10 Principle it is a useful guide as to where you are likely to gain the most and crucially also to apply the most knowledge.
Although, when we start out, we may need to turn the thing on its head...for example, look at people going to college or university, they will invest typically 2-4 years in formal and social learning before getting a job. So, it is also the case that for new and aspiring property investors and developers that we might need to sink into acquiring knowledge intensively and immersively for a time, before we take the plunge with our first deal.
Our learning styles, as mentioned earlier, also plays a part...some people learn best by doing, others by observing, others by talking, listening, questioning or discussing, others by working on problems and case studies, etc. So, in other words, what might work best for one, might not work best for another. You can probably guess mine just from that last couple of sentences alone!
The Price of Learning
Another point that I wanted to touch on is the cost or price of acquiring knowledge and its perhaps not as obvious as you might immediately think. There is a cost attached to everything we learn, or even fail to learn for that matter. It could be financial, such as the actual price of the learning and development, or it could also the lost profit due to our lack of experience. It could be the 'opportunity cost', our time input, time drag before getting going and so on...but there is ALWAYS some sort of price to pay for our learning, make no mistake in that.
I am a firm believer in having a grounding before diving in too deeply, after all, how can judge whether £25k to £40k property mentorship is good value and appropriate to us personally, without at least some base knowledge, general information, personal assessment and clear objectives?
If we listen to the hype, we will see and hear of people that apparently made millions and swear by the heavy-intensity and also heavy-cost, er I mean ‘high value personal investment’ mentorships that you will find on the property circuit. But the anecdotal stories and stats seem to imply that for every home run (or millions-achiever), there are probably dozens, if not even hundreds of 'plodders' and 'flunkers' that more than compensate for these 'superstars'.
This is for several reasons; partly because the truth of the matter is that we often get out what we actually put in ourselves. We might have a head-start such as having pre-existing knowledge, funds or a network say. Or, let's face it, it could also have some element of luck about it too! Nobody likes to put their personal achievements down to luck but being in the right place at the right time certainly plays a part in success as well. Just look at Napster v Spotify, General Magic v Apple, MySpace v Facebook, Sinclair vs Tesla, etc.
The big question is...do YOU really need to be a top 1%er, or will top 5% still work for YOU? If so, then there are many ways to get into that bracket, without necessarily spending tens of thousands on training and mentorships; plus it is a lower bar than you may realise. After all, in a population of around 65 million, approximately1.8 million are landlords…or less than 3%. Of these landlords around 93% only have one property, so about 126,000 people in the UK own at least two rental properties…that’s less than 1% of the population! In conclusion, get yourself a single BTL and you are already in the top 3%, get another and you are then in the top 1%... Source: https://homelet.co.uk/letting-agents/news/article/how-many-landlords-and-tenants-are-there-in-the-uk
To help draw a conclusion from this preamble, let me finish by sharing one of my favourite quotes. It comes from Charlie 'Tremendous' Jones, who says
''You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books that you read.'
In other words, his focus is on the 20% and the 10% of the 70-20-10 Principle pretty much, at least in terms of personal growth and making a real difference. I think 'books' in current day terms now extends to other media, such as video, audio, graphics, apps, and so on. The 'people you meet' aspect is your network, which ironically is also part of the selling point of many of the expensive mentorship or mastermind programmes from the big training providers...it’s the price of ‘membership to the club’ if you like and is a potential spin-off benefit of joining such a programme.
As you might have gathered after this long preamble to the meaty EdTech stuff, I am a big fan of learning and personal development and I see it as a way to continue to help grow. However, it also helps to both de-risk our property investing activities and also provide us with new opportunities as well, after all, I met my business partner on a mastermind programme!
OK, so enough already…let’s get into EdTech proper then…
EdTech – what’s out there currently?
So here comes the actual EdTech part of today’s episode, thank you for your patience! However, I honestly felt it was right to set the scene a little, as it places much of what I am about to share into a better context. Well, I certainly hope you agree with me in that regard.
Self-directed learning aids
Here are some of the different ways that you can look to teach yourself in property, in business and in general personal development:
- Books – physical paperback & electronic such as Kindle and PDF downloads
- Magazines – Your Property Network, Property Investor News, The Property Hub Magazine,
- Audio – audiobooks, podcasts, etc.
- Videovisual – YouTube, TedTalks, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
- News & Info Aggregators – Scoop.it, StumbleUpon, Quora, Feedly, etc.
- Apps – such as Blinklist, Pockets, Rich Dad Apps & Games, etc.
- Forums – The Property Hub, Property 118, Property Tribes, Bigger Pockets (USA), etc.
- Property Communities – Progressive Property, Property Investors Network, Facebook and Linked In Groups, etc.
Pros: Low-cost or free, with discipline it can be highly targeted at your learning objectives, allows a wide multimedia approach.
Cons: Scatter gun approach can lead to shiny penny syndrome and no clear direction or outcome, can be very time-consuming, quality and depth of info available varies a lot, especially when it’s free.
You will find many of these referenced on the Resources page of the property voice website: www.thepropertyvoice.net
Structed Learning Options that Utilise Technology in Delivery
- Industry & Professional – the following industry bodies and associations have training and development courses that utilise technology in some way: National Landlords Association (NLA), Residential Landlords Association (RLA), RICS, ARLA / NAEA or Propertymark, UK Association of Letting Agents (UKALA), etc.
- Property Training Companies – This has become a big business for some: Progressive Property & Property Investors Network are the big two that also have online or digital learning options. Then, there are a host of smaller, specialised or independent property providers that have developed property training generally or in a niche area as an additional revenue stream.
- Online Property Courses – Some providers deploy training online. For example; The Property Hub, which is aimed at property investors, LendInvest Academy Knowledge Centre, which is aimed at property developers, the NLA & RLA both have eLearning course options aimed at landlords, and RICS has online options more tailored to surveyors, but this also has an introduction to valuation and home inspection as course options, which have a wider appeal to us too.
- Other eLearning Course Options – You may or may not have heard the term ‘MOOC’, which means massive open online course. There is a growing array of technology solutions and platforms that allows training materials to be hosted and shared online and on-demand in this way. One such provider you may have heard of is Udemy, which has courses on Real Estate, perhaps reflecting the US-bias it has. There are some alternatives to Udemy, perhaps the most credible being EdX, mainly because the courses are delivered by US Ivy League Universities, but also Lynda, which has more practical eLearning options, such as real estate photography or project management for example. I have even seen an online property training course advertised on Groupon, with some pretty high ratings as well I might add! One to watch for the future is called HowNow, which is a platform that brings together expert teachers that can deliver interactive classes online either one-to-one or in a group setting. I have not seen any yet covering property directly, but there are some expert teachers and trainers that train in related topics, like fundraising & money management, using excel and mindset among others. Some of the leading eLearning companies are also using artificial intelligence in their offerings, so expect to see more widespread provision of training and training methods in property as time passes by.
Pros: Pulled together around a clear theme with identifiable objectives and learning outcomes, often building towards a general theme, such as a professional qualification or CPD, allows the learner to immerse themselves in the topic far more, an increasingly more widespread range of study methods is starting to take place.
Cons: Often (although not always) comes at a cost, some providers only tell part of the story with the aim of upselling the really juicy stuff, only to find another upsell waiting, and quality varies
Shadow Learning Options
This is essentially the closest you will probably get to doing something practical to learn without the sink or swim approach. As such, it is often the highest costing form of learning. Shadowing typically fall under two types of model: the first is what I like to call the ‘you drive, whilst I navigate model’ and the second is ‘observe as I do’. Some examples include mentoring & coaching, mastermind groups and ‘earn and learn’ style joint ventures.
To be honest, there are plenty of people that offer these types of more tailored programmes, including me, so I won’t list them all here! The key is to find a coach, mentor or trainer that is truly adept in the area you want to learn in. I certainly won’t mentor people in strategies that I have no experience with and nor should any mentor. There is a saying that those that can’t do, teach instead. But that can be quite a harsh assessment, at least in some cases. Some people are naturally able and willing to share their knowledge and help people to grasp ideas and concepts that they might struggle with or lack experience of.
The other things to watch out for here are content and deliverables. In other words, what will you actually learn and what will you be able to implement as a result of undertaking such a programme? Mentoring should really have a definite outcome, such as buying an investment property, that’s how it differs to training really. I have also seen some people offer training and mentoring that have very limited real world experience, so make sure you know the background and track record of anyone offering such services.
The part that makes this EdTech is the means of delivery or learning. Anything electronic or digital means it can fall under the EdTech banner. Think, webinar, videocall, remote-interactive, online and digital. A couple of the benefits of undertaking eLearning in this category should be an option for on-demand learning & remote or distance learning, often leading to a reduced cost too.
Pros: Often far more focused personalised content, more real-to-life experience, can also cut down learning time and mistakes considerably.
Cons: Can be expensive, quality issues as with structured training, unregulated sector can lead to bad or even illegal advice and practices being shared.
Recommendation
I usually advise people to undertake the following fundamental things on a committed basis for 3-6 months and then decide if they need to undertake some bigger or more formalised learning and development programme.
Absorb Info - Read books, but also listen to podcasts and watch videos to suit your learning style, industry magazines, property websites, forums, etc.
Network - in property communities...leaving your credit card at home! Talk to other investors, ask about their experience AND why they are doing as they are...their answer might not be the same as yours, or even appropriate to your situation, so ask lots of people!
Work on your purpose and goals - what do you want to achieve, by when and in what way (your preferences and non-negotiables)? This does not touch strategy...yet; that comes at the end of this process. For example, someone looking for some extra cash to top up a pension in 25 years, but still plans to work full-time would have a different approach or strategy to someone looking to quit or replace the day job in say 90 days. It might take some time to figure all of that out, so take some time...if not loads...as procrastination can also a dream-killer!
Only then decide what sort of learning and development you wish to take AFTER undertaking these initial steps.
How can I help?
- The Property Voice Podcast and Website has lots of episodes and articles in the archives for you to look through. The Resources page has plenty of external links and references as well.
- You can subscribe to my monthly column in YPN Magazine subscription-free simply by emailing in to ask.
- Read my book: Property Investor Toolkit, it costs less than a cup of coffee.
- Undertake the 8-module iKickstart Online Training Course that Damien Fogg and myself pulled together; it covers all the foundations of property investment and it’s now available for just £97 by emailing in quoting this podcast episode.
- Visit the Mentoring page on www.thepropertyvoice.net website to see what shadow mentoring options I could support you with, including Earn & Learn, which means you actually get paid to learn.
In conclusion, the EdTech sector is one of the fastest growing tech sectors in the country and according to research from London & Partners it’s worth £45bn globally, and could reach a phenomenal £129bn by 2020. Source: UK Tech News
Property training has been a fast-growing sector within the EdTech sector too. There are lots of resources available, including many that genuinely fall within the EdTech definition. However, with such variety and choice can also come both overwhelm and 'analysis paralysis' too, so that’s why I suggest starting with your purpose and goals and taking some time to cover the fundamentals. The other element of the wealth-creation industry is that it attracts people with money and also people who are looking to get hold of money too, so just be careful with where you put your money and also your trust, as there are plenty of sharks circling waiting for fresh meat to sink their teeth into!
That all said, I do see lots of positives in how we can learn now, utilising EdTech to support us. We can go to the gym listening to a podcast, we can learn and interact from an experienced investor from half way around the world on Skype, and we can take an online course from the comfort of our own home on pretty much anything we choose to develop ourselves with. So, there really is no excuse to be or remain ignorant anymore…the question is, what will you do to further your knowledge and more importantly to apply it to reaching your personal goals? The sector is still growing and I expect to see more innovation in the years ahead, but hopefully there is already something there that will appeal to you, no matter your learning style or form of intelligence.
OK, so next time out we shall be taking a look at Blockchain technology, so make sure you tune in for that potentially game-changing technological advance for the property industry won’t you?
In the meantime and as always, the show notes can be found over at www.thepropertyvoice.net or if you want to talk about anything from today’s show, receive an intro into one of my guests or just talk property investing, email me at podcast@thepropertyvoice.net, I would be happy to hear from you!
Once again, all I want to say is thank you very much for listening once again this week and until next time on The Property Voice Podcast…it’s ciao-ciao.