My story

Тәжірибелік нұсқаулар және стиль

How we bought 50 acres in Scotland • How much and how we bo...
In this video, I provide the full backstory behind how my partner and I were able to purchase and renovate a 100-bedroom former hostel property with essentially no money down. I acknowledge that my previous video glossed over some key details that viewers pointed out in the comments.
I explain that while we had no cash upfront, we were able to get a vendor mortgage and option to purchase the full property by putting down a small deposit. This allowed us to control and renovate half the property initially using funds from small investors and a loan.
After completing the first phase, a lender named Lloyd's took a chance on us as new developers and provided financing to pay off our initial investors/vendors and renovate the other half of the building.
However, the real key to our success was somewhat unintentional - I had started mining bitcoin partway through the project. The significant profits from selling those bitcoins allowed us to cover major losses on the property deal itself when the market turned.
I share these full details and personal backstory to provide transparency to viewers on exactly how we acquired this property against the odds as newbies with little cash. Hopefully it inspires others to not wait for the "perfect" time to pursue opportunities.
Website-www.offgridscotland.co.uk/
Facebook- / offgridscotland
Instagram- / offgridscotland123
00:00 Intro
01:46 Backstory
03:17 The big project
09:23 Bitcoin
11:34 Outro

Пікірлер: 104

  • @joobrien
    @joobrienАй бұрын

    Found your channel a week or so ago and realised very quickly that you're doing what I would like to do in Scotland and if I end up doing it, your channel is super useful. Already learnt so much from the micro hydro, water, inverter and winterising videos. Very useful to have a person on KZread talking candidly and openly about how they got where they are. Congratulations on the new baby. Here's to watching loads more interesting and illuminating videos. thanks.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    Ай бұрын

    Thank you so much. I am working on a big wind turbine series so I hope that one is useful to you as well.

  • @kvmswitch
    @kvmswitch2 ай бұрын

    I so nearly didn't watch any more of your videos let alone subscribe to you after I randomly watched one of your more recent updates a couple of days ago but something told me to keep watching I am glad I have. I am in my 70s now and have the old git ability (hindsight?) to see just how brave and modest you have been to get where you are now and to tell you this is a rare combination. Would I do what you are doing? Hell no, but I have a few friends and acquaintances who have followed their passion and have achieved their goal whilst watching others who are jealous of them for doing that, while they wait to be 110% secure before they do anything. You make your own "luck"

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much that's very kind

  • @WombleUK
    @WombleUK2 ай бұрын

    Really appreciate you being so open & honest. Hopefully this will have information that will help others.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I hope so too!

  • @NeonGenesisPlatinum
    @NeonGenesisPlatinum2 ай бұрын

    Great channel mate. Your story is awesome I love the way you have come out the other side, never let anybody lose money. I only found your channel yesterday and I obviously subscribed. All the best from Australia and I can't wait for the next video.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thank you very much!

  • @pipsqueak2009
    @pipsqueak20092 ай бұрын

    Very interesting story. Thanks for sharing. Very much enjoying your channel.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @cunrah
    @cunrah2 ай бұрын

    Super cool interesting story, this makes miles more sense now. Thanks for being transparent Rob! Always hard sometimes, but perfectly aligns with your ethos. Keep up the videos! Really enjoy your content.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks! I am glad people seem to enjoy it

  • @user-qq7td8vr8u
    @user-qq7td8vr8u2 ай бұрын

    Keep up the brilliant work. Your videos are great content and so so helpful for us trying to progress similar life projects.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much, good luck with your projects

  • @TRUEX360
    @TRUEX3602 ай бұрын

    open and honest look forward to the conent just followed 👍looking forwared too your next journey

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @mikemcdonagh2049
    @mikemcdonagh20492 ай бұрын

    Well done Rob. U deserve success from your efforts. Best of luck for the future for you and your family.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Mike! I am glad you are making your way through the videos

  • @normanstephens5391
    @normanstephens53912 ай бұрын

    Thanks for your honesty and your commitment to others. Who trusted your foresight (gamble) ✌. All ended well for everyone. Cheers. see you in the next one.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @kaliyuga6613
    @kaliyuga66132 ай бұрын

    Good story, well told.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed it

  • @sowgroweat6987
    @sowgroweat69872 ай бұрын

    Well that was interesting, thanks for sharing. Good man for not shafting people, love honest people. You are so right about not waiting for the perfect time ... I did and now I'm 61 and just starting it now after years of saving and waiting! IF I can actually buy some land in Devon!

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I really hope you make it happen Devon is beautiful!

  • @happyglampers9053
    @happyglampers90532 ай бұрын

    Truly amazing narrative on how you saw an opportunity and nailed it. Sharing this will inspire so many people. All they have to do is be aware of the risk. That’s something that comes with age to most of us. Well done 👏👌

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @monkeyandsofia
    @monkeyandsofia2 ай бұрын

    😮Another brilliant video, keep with up with this honesty, it's very rare to find among the other channels. On my website I have always felt the need to stress the mistakes, my failings, few are born perfect enough to get it right with everything they do.

  • @thehighlandlife2023

    @thehighlandlife2023

    2 ай бұрын

    Few are born perfect…. Yes I like that!

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks I had hoped our videos would be useful to people and for me that might be being useful in seing our mistakes as well as our successes

  • @livingoffgridinscotland
    @livingoffgridinscotland2 ай бұрын

    We used to own quite a few properties in Corby…. In the Lincoln estate 😳 Now we’ve moved our portfolio to Scotland

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Corby had a bit of a reputation diddnt it!

  • @livingoffgridinscotland

    @livingoffgridinscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    @@offgridscotland yep, I remember the last eviction we did there, we had bailiffs, dog handler and police… all in the past now

  • @plan9channel7
    @plan9channel72 ай бұрын

    2 years ago I was in the car sitting at a junction trying to get on the A road in Kent. Every day it was getting longer. Mega loads of new build housing happening, so it was only gonna get worse. One night I looked at property in Scotland. Bingo. Found a 4 bed property with 22 acres, a stream and river, woodland, close to amenities and very secluded. Bought it for a ridiculous low price. Now have Solar, hydro, starlink with optic fibre to wifi AP's. It was hard work getting there but now I have no stress...except the glamplng project that i'm launching into 😂

  • @iknowyoureright8564

    @iknowyoureright8564

    2 ай бұрын

    Inspirational. thanks for sharing.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Amazing! I am so pleased you dived right in and that the price was a steal too

  • @thehighlandlife2023

    @thehighlandlife2023

    2 ай бұрын

    Awwww this is awesome! We also live in Scotland, in the far north of the Highlands 👋

  • @plan9channel7

    @plan9channel7

    2 ай бұрын

    @@thehighlandlife2023 We live on the West Coast..Paul McCartney country lol.

  • @thehighlandlife2023
    @thehighlandlife20232 ай бұрын

    Wow so interesting! What an amazing story of risk and reward!

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks, I have seen your channel and your videos are really good!

  • @thehighlandlife2023

    @thehighlandlife2023

    2 ай бұрын

    @@offgridscotland Aw thank you 🙏 appreciate the kind words. Still very early days with a lot to learn but I enjoy making them and hope to inspire other families to get outside xx

  • @neilclarke6419
    @neilclarke64192 ай бұрын

    Everyone’s story is different the only common denominator is hard work and a vision of where you want to be. It’s a journey thanks for sharing pal

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Neil

  • @michaelmason5459
    @michaelmason54592 ай бұрын

    You need to stop worrying it actually gets you nowhere but down, from here on its always upward( shouldn't have bought a property with hills) I'm a extreamly lucky person not financially but anything I want or need seems to materialise or happen. Always look for the upside ( Nearly sprang into song Bright Side of life) no matter how small it there somewhere, don't dwell on the down. My Grandads saying to me as a kid. Looking forward to next post cheers Mick.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I am so glad you feel that way I think sometimes its the confidence that what you want will materialise that makes it happen.

  • @foamyflightmaster9385
    @foamyflightmaster93852 ай бұрын

    Good example of why putting your eggs in one basket is never a great idea, thank you for your honesty. (former Aircrew now retired)

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    It also makes you super edgy if all your eggs are all in one basket. Have to say the other basket was a massive bit of luck though

  • @constructioneerful
    @constructioneerful2 ай бұрын

    It’s a nice thought that there seems to be so many hard working good people trying to have a go and make a fair return on investment for themselves and others, so hats off to you for working hard and sticking with it. You kind of earned the good fortune with Bitcoin. I dropped by your flats on the way to Tesco the other day. Interesting site in a rapidly changing town. If you’re back down here some time we should meet here in the woods where I’m just finished fixing up a house too. I was thinking about a passiv haus build in Scotland next, as well! Or possibly somewhere in Europe to keep things interesting!

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I hope you do it building a passiv haus would be such a fun experience! I know its so hard to make good investment decisions at the moment and I think I just got lucky with that one

  • @JohnSmith-uv5zq
    @JohnSmith-uv5zq2 ай бұрын

    You are using a reaction turbine to turn your generator. It works the same as a motor in a space rocket. The tail flame of a rocket adds nothing to the thrust of the rocket, it just expands with out resistance into the vacuum of space. like wise the water does not push the turbine around and it does not run on pressure. When you open the jet the water is no longer contained and gravity forces it to move.As soon as the water starts to move it gains energy in the form of momentum. the first law of movement tells us that the water will continue to move in a straight line untill a force acts upon it. This force is applied by the shape of the turbine blade. the more the direction of the water is changed the more force is applied to the WATER. The third law of motion tells us that for every action the is an equal and opposite reaction. It is the reaction force which turns the turbine. This is directly proportional to the speed of the water. The maximum efficiency of the turbine occures when the blades move at half the speed of the water. when you adjusted the inverter you took more power from the generator which slowed the generator until the blades were moving at half the speed of the water.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Very good explanation thank you very much

  • @Profution
    @Profution2 ай бұрын

    omg I've only joined the last few weeks, I live in the Midlands,lol, served in the army, was bright enough to buy a small property when I was 20, that set me on my journey, got In to bitcoin in 2017, my daughter and i loves horses, and are waiting for it to increase so we an buy some land close to home. so I. can retire in about 6yrs and spend my time maybe on the land with the horses. doing something on my laptop in my cabin. well thats the plan. love your story.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks, I hope you catch this wave of Bitcoin and that it goes up a bit further from here

  • @stephenconnolly1043
    @stephenconnolly10432 ай бұрын

    Welcome to Scotland. I am sure you can use the water and wind to generate the power required for some crypto mining. Even use the heat from the computers to warm your accommodation. Time to get some solar involved. 😊

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks! We are loving it here so much. I agree now that we are on a more permenant power setup (we have been off grid now for 12 months and the power is reliable) I will be looking at ways to use the excess. The ones I had before got so hot I had to remove the glass from the basement where they were to allow some more airflow

  • @Pictman777
    @Pictman7772 ай бұрын

    Hi from strathpeffer, Struggling financially to save for land wrong time of Life, travelled n partied age teens to 39s never saved for furure , big mistake, then my second last business finances dropped from £2000 a month to nothing, then started another n same story, barely make any money since Brexit/planademic have off-grid caravan n seeking land to rent or work to rent, no offers so far, bleak lol , love watching your videos 🙏

  • @thehighlandlife2023

    @thehighlandlife2023

    2 ай бұрын

    Sorry to hear about things, finding land is super hard I think. Will keep my eyes peeled locally as Iam also in the Scottish Highlands

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    It will sound strange but I watched your videos the other day seeing some of your story there and I meditated on your situation trying to send some positive energy your way. If there is any advice I can provide to assist you let me know via email if you need.

  • @jankool01
    @jankool01Ай бұрын

    That was interesting! Would you be able to say what mistakes you made with the property development? - cost overruns?

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    Ай бұрын

    Thanks, there would be a lot of mistakes as it was my first project and it took 10 years to complete so it would be hard to narrow them down. The market cycles diddnt help as we purchased a lot of the materials when covid made the prices extremely hight as well as fitting them out with that current price in mind to sell and then the interest rates went up and values dropped significantly. I could fill a very long video with all the mistakes I made

  • @Dan-vv1tl
    @Dan-vv1tl2 ай бұрын

    I want to live off grid it's not a good time for me yet.Where's the best place to buy land I was thinking wales I'm thinking about 120/140k ? Possibly .Good luck with your dreams great to see a British person living off grid .God bless from Huntingdon Cambridgeshire 👍

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks! I have a few friends who have done it in Wales and In my opinion it is a lot more accessable to do it there because of the central location. Scotland has logistic issues (Ebay sellers often wont ship here) and I am not sure the prices are much lower up here than Wales

  • @petershores
    @petershores2 ай бұрын

    Very interesting and thanks for being so open - crypto isn’t for me but glad it worked out for you.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Peter

  • @m.t.horton
    @m.t.horton2 ай бұрын

    i watched the first video, (you should keep it up) and then this. i literally leapt for joy when you said you financed this with the help of bitcoin!! congratulations man thats awesome. good to see someone using bitcoin for a good project in 'the real world'. are you still planning on mining now that you have a source of cheep power?

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks! I had looked at using our spare power to run some miners but the ones I got from bitmain last time are super power hungry (3000w continuous) and I am not sure about turning them on and off frequently when we have the power avaliable. When we have a bit more power from our next projects I may well get some more but for now I am just buying a small amount with cash so as not to miss the run we are currently in (if it continues much higher)

  • @MisterEightyFour
    @MisterEightyFour2 ай бұрын

    I popped a comment on your Starlink Video, i’m not sure how the notifications work, but just in case as you might be interested 😊

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thank you very much, I just read and replied to it

  • @MisterEightyFour

    @MisterEightyFour

    2 ай бұрын

    @@offgridscotland I replied but mebbs notifications again, you got an insta?

  • @JohnSmith-uv5zq
    @JohnSmith-uv5zq2 ай бұрын

    The science of water. Water can not be compressed. when the jets are closed the water in your pipes behave as if it was a metal rod. If you place a metal rod on a table and place the parm of one hand a one end and the finger of your other hand at the other end, if you apply pressure with your finger you will feel it on your Parm. The force you feel is not coming from the rod but from your finger, which is external to the rod. like wise there is no force present in the water. your PSI meter is measuring an external force gravity. gravity is a constant. The force is due to a difference in high from the jet to the head. The length of the pipe or its diameter has no effect. The difference in psi between the pipes in the difference in high of the heads. If you where foolish enough to join the two pipes together then would become one pipe. The difference in the height of the two heads would produce a force. because the pipe would have a hole at both ends the water would no longer be contained and would flow from the highest head to the lower head.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thats a great explanation

  • @glideman
    @glidemanАй бұрын

    Have you had any problems with ticks? Every time I camp in Scotland I get ticks 😢 hopefully I will be moving to Scotland when I sell my house 😊

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    Ай бұрын

    They are a nightmare at the moment. We have had to cut pathways through the grass as they love my son as he is short so they can get him more.

  • @dantheman6698
    @dantheman66982 ай бұрын

    250k from btc :O you did well! i didnt make enough to even buy 1 acre :(

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    We were lucky really I just happened to start at the right time

  • @inquisitiveexplorerlee3299
    @inquisitiveexplorerlee3299Ай бұрын

    👍

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    Ай бұрын

    Thanks

  • @modzzjust4u
    @modzzjust4u2 ай бұрын

    Maybe I missed something, or didn't understand correctly. So if you lost 100k on the flats, how did you manage to use them to finance the land and now be left without a mortgage/finance? Surely your profit is now just tied up into the land no?

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    It was the remaining amount from the bitcoin that enabled us to buy the land, the timing was not the same so all the bitcoin went into the building to fund it and what was left we pulled out when we sold the flats leaving us no spare money but we have the land

  • @zodzod9378
    @zodzod93782 ай бұрын

    Yes all makes sense now ? Not that i was asking you to ! Little john from chichester

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks Little John

  • @THE-AIDEN-PROJECT
    @THE-AIDEN-PROJECT2 ай бұрын

    Respect Rob 🙌 have you still got any btc then? I've got some, hopefully it'll be my pension one day 😆

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thanks, I sold it all that time but bought some more this cycle so we will see how it turns out this time around

  • @spex357
    @spex3572 ай бұрын

    Will all that spraying in the sky behind you affect your land?

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Possibly who knows

  • @jonedwards5371
    @jonedwards53712 ай бұрын

    Rather ironic that you made your money by mining for Bitcoin, running I assume several very power hungry computers for a year, only to use the profits to go off-grid. It was a useful update - thanks.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I know at that time we werent in the off grid mindset. Maybe I am paying back the power now

  • @Cyeber
    @Cyeber2 ай бұрын

    If you generate too much free electricity it would be a wise investment to buy a few #Bitcoin ASIC miners as they will generate an income for your off-grid family (They tend to be very loud & get hot, but if you have a cold climate then a noise insulated shed with large extraction fan will solve issue. Dont use wood for building as the miners will warp the wood, use instead galvanised steel or even a shipping container)👍

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I have been considering them here as we do have excess power but one ASIC pulls 2-3000 watts and we haven't quite got to that level yet. I know there are smaller ones but we don't have excess power all the time which means I would be turning it on and off very regularly

  • @its_marc
    @its_marc2 ай бұрын

    That was a touch of luck. Did the right thing investing in land, they don’t make it anymore.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I know, feels as though I used a lifetime of luck up in a short amount of time

  • @its_marc

    @its_marc

    2 ай бұрын

    @@offgridscotland least you’ve got something big to show for it though. Rather than literally nothing but debt. Silver linings.

  • @Pictman777
    @Pictman7772 ай бұрын

    I invested in bitcoin on PayPal made losses most days down down down, soultearing lol

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    I think I just got lucky to be honest

  • @davidwalker575
    @davidwalker575Ай бұрын

    Interesting story but hard to focus due to you walking around so much. I would have preferred just a few edits and changes not the POV walk

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    Ай бұрын

    Thanks for the feedback

  • @s__c__o
    @s__c__o2 ай бұрын

    I'm genuinely disappointed to find out about the bitcoin gains and that being the only reason you're now dossing about a forest.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Thats not the only reason we were always planning this kind of life thats just how I got here

  • @occamraiser
    @occamraiser2 ай бұрын

    Well, I've lost interest after 2 minutes of this. I HAD thought you were trying to do this on a shoestring and that the videos might have been your main source of income. Apparently not.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    Sorry I tried to make it short.

  • @zbiku82
    @zbiku82Ай бұрын

    I know you and your wife... Not in person. I live not far from your family home. You had the luck of your and yours wife rather wealthy family to help you out. Good for you. What bothers me is that you have expensive way of off grid living. Not even mentioning your expensive land... you with your wife play "middle class off grid life style" . Normal person can't really relate to you. I will give your example.... Your purchased of 2k ecological poo tank from NZ... Who does that? And your wife is not really contributing to this.... She is letting you playing this fantasy as she spends time volunteering in nearby archeological digging etc. I can't really relate to you guys. I do appreciate your honesty though. Best of luck mate and your family.

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    Ай бұрын

    Thanks for the feedback

  • @insAneTunA
    @insAneTunA2 ай бұрын

    👍

  • @offgridscotland

    @offgridscotland

    2 ай бұрын

    thanks

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