A Day In The Life

Davinder Sanghera

Posted 01 May 2019

New York Program

August 2011 Intake

Current Role: Property Developer

My Alarm Clock…varies day to day. It can range from 5.30am-8am, depending on what I have going on in the day, or if I feel like snoozing from a late night, the night before.

I'm Responsible For…developing properties into HMOs to rent out to either students or young professionals. My main focus is to target empty vacant, derelict properties as I love the idea of turning something run-down and miserable into a great home.

Whilst I was a trader working for the treasury desk at HSBC in London, a role I got off the back of my MB placement with UBS in NYC, I delved into property investment. I wanted to leave behind the rat race, but not the income that came with it. So creating a secondary income from property became my focus in 2015.

I don’t have a typical day, nor do I have a typical workplace. Although I can be frequently spotted working from the home office. One day a week, I travel 1.5 hours to my investment area and do site visits on the refurb projects I’m managing. These are either my own projects or for other London time-poor, cash-rich investors.

The Culture Of the industry can be either the highest highs or the lowest lows. I frequently come across time-wasters and snakes, but at the same time, I interact with highly motivated driven entrepreneurs that aside from property have other aspirations in life. It’s refreshing interacting with these people, although the individual property journey can sometimes be solitary.

My Most Memorable Work Moments are receiving 6 figure investment funds from an angel investor who sees the value in what I’m doing and wants to invest in me. Picking up the keys to a disgusting mouldy property, and then seeing the final finished product is quite memorable too.

The Most Challenging Part of My Job is working with unreliable people. The construction side of property development has a bad rep and unfortunately I’ve been burnt by a few people. I’ve learnt a lot of time consuming and expensive lessons, but once I find the reliable ones, I don’t want to let them go.

The Best Part of My Job is when the property is fully-tenanted and cash-flowing.

Plan B: If I wasn't doing this, I would probably still be stuck behind 6 computer screens in my old job.