Danny Rowe—Why Footballers Shouldn’t Buy Homes

Buying a home is a bad idea.

I get it. You’ve worked hard, and owning your own home is a symbol of your success. But if you’re reading this, you’re in the wealth creation phase of your life, so in most cases, it’s a dreadful decision.

Here’s why: Let’s compare historical housing appreciation (~5%/year, minus maintenance, stamp duty, and other costs) to investments like index funds (appreciate ~10%/year). Not to mention the insecurity of your salary and location.

If your goal is to make money, buying a home is not the best investment. It does however, force you to save and to be fair, home values keep up with inflation. Just don’t justify it as a moneymaker.

Of course, if it makes you happy, do it!

But this is Ball business, so emotional reasons won’t cut it.

A house is not a home

Now, if something feels off, you’d be right. The trick is in the wording. Care to humour me? Read the heading and first couple of lines again.

Note I said buying a home is a bad idea. A house is not a home. Let me explain…

During the pandemic, a friend called with bad news. He was moving.”What for?” I asked. He told me he had finally found some work, the trouble was he had nowhere to live. To make matters worse, his wife had been let go by her work.

He ended up sleeping in his car between shifts, while she stayed at a friend’s house.

Soon after, he told me the problem was solved. A local company was offering short-term rents to NHS and construction workers, at a time the hospitality industry had collapsed. I thought…genius!

After some research, I found the company was owned by Danny Rowe, a player at Burton Albion. I thought, how many places does this guy own?

Danny and I spoke. He shared:

How he built a company with 14 properties in Manchester.
What inspired him to start.
The advice that saved his company.
The changes he made to alter his life forever.

In short, he explains why buying rental properties (not homes) is a great idea.

Empire state of mind

While playing for Macclesfield Town in 2017, Danny reflected on life and realised that he wasn’t where he wanted to be. He needed to change.

“I wanted more. I knew I couldn’t continue doing the same things while expecting different results.”

I’ve met a lot of interesting people, but Danny ranks up there with the best. Procrastination is something we all struggle with. The difference in successful people is that often they have the ability to start immediately.

Danny knew he wanted to be better, but he wasn’t entirely sure how. Instead of pondering, he read tons of books. I’ll reveal the ones he recommends later.

The immediate change he made was in his own self-development. After training, he spent hours reading, learning, finding ways to expand his mind and change his reality.

He then devised a plan to implement all the teachings into his life. From 5 am wake-up calls to transcendental meditation, Danny found room for it all.

Again, how many of us read ‘life-changing’ books but never take action on the things we’ve learned? Not Danny. He’s an action man — built like one too.

The come up

Boom! Ipswich Town sign Danny Rowe from Conference side Macclesfield Town. A move that Danny credited to his change in mindset. “The move was challenging, but I was at an advantage because I expected it.”

Now anyone that knows football realises that transfers from the conference to the championship at 25 y/o aren’t normal. Could the methods he used to progress his career enhance his life away from the game?

Rich Dan Poor Dan

On his quest for higher learning, Danny read books on wealth creation that changed his thinking forever. We’ve all heard of: Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and grow rich… the list goes on. The difference is, he didn’t stop there.

The key to wealth is in ownership of assets. Danny decided real estate would be his game. He took courses, attended events, and learned everything he could.

“Short-term letting made the most sense. It would allow us to grow quickly. We would use the cash flow from our rentals to reinvest in more properties.”

Talking of cash flow, here’s an interesting exercise. Write a list of all your expenses in one column and your income in another. Now, cover up all the income that isn’t passive (cash flow). What would happen if that income went away?

How many beats did your heart just skip?

That’s the importance of cash flow.

“You don’t set out to build a wall. You say, ‘I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. You do that every day and soon you have a wall.” – Will Smith

He who seeks shall find

Enough theory, you want to know how he got started. While researching, Danny connected with a woman that had had recent success in this model. She became his mentor, and her advice would later save his company.

Mentors are a great help. If they’re new to mentoring, as Danny’s was, you’ll likely get bags of information that will set a foundation for your business.

However, like anything, due diligence is key. If you suspect their success has come from mentoring rather than business… run!

Here’s a clue: they often make succeeding sound easy, with their help of course. It’s almost a get-rich-quick scheme, only they’ll be getting rich off of you.

I have a similar theory with philosophy books. If the cover shows an image of the author, it often isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

This is business

Danny’s company offers luxury apartments at affordable prices, mainly via Airbnb.

He started by purchasing two properties in Manchester. He then spent 6 months studying the market: ideal customers, competitive rates, and prime locations, all with a view to scale.

MCR dens now manage 14 properties.

Airbnb is a long game (my favourite). The platform rewards those with consistently high ratings.

“Social proof is everything, and once we earned super-host status, bookings came automatically.”

This is cash flow. Not just regular income, but income with little to no work needed to attain it. But make no mistake, getting there isn’t easy.

We’re all in the same boat called- hardship.

Now, there was a stroke of genius that kept MCRdens alive.

Without it, I may be telling a totally different story. Probably one discouraging you against real estate altogether—I’m a stocks guy, after all.

I’ve always been sceptical of mentors. But if this was the only advice Danny received, it would be worth it.

I hate to take you down this dark path, but it is necessary for the sake of this story. It is early 2020, news of a deadly virus is spreading.

At this point, we have no idea it is the end of life as we know it—at least for a year!

There is value in listening to those with more experience. However, no one had experienced anything like this before.

Even so, Danny’s mentor advised him to look for longer-term tenants, and contact the local council and construction companies to make them aware, he could offer serviced apartments for those in need. Genius!

“Big deal,” you might think. “What’s genius about that?”

It turned out, this is what most hosts would do to supplement their losses—only most were too late.

MCRdens profited in the worst time for short-term rentals in history.

Trust me Danny!

If Danny’s story hasn’t inspired you enough, here are some great points he made during our meeting:

The more you invest in yourself, the more valuable you are.
Swap music and Netflix for podcasts and reading.
He who seeks shall find.
Work on your business, not in your business.
Follow and copy the best.
You can finish training at 1 pm and sit around, or find ways to secure your family’s future.
Utilise people around you, i.e. a partner at home, family, friends.
Education is key.
Action is the real measure of intelligence.
Most players start too late.