Emma and Marc Lorente had a combined 40 years service in the police, but after picking up a fixer-upper house in Dundee for Emma’s mum, the pair have branched out into property management.
The pair of former peelers now run Bee Lifted, with a portfolio of eight properties in Dundee and Angus.
Their journey started when Emma’s mother needed to move house to raise some cash from her home in Wales which had equity tied up in it.
And after efforts securing her mum a new home north of the border, the couple realised they enjoyed the process so much they wanted to do it full-time.
Emma said: “My mum was living in Wales at the time and struggling financially.
“She had equity stuck in the house and we were trying to work out how to help her, whether we should buy a house or help her move somewhere else and get the equity out.
“We decided to buy a property for her here, a listed building that was very much below market value and needed a lot of work.
“She now happily lives there, and we own it. She’s in a better place and we loved seeing it come together.
“Sometimes, the worse condition the property is in, the more we enjoy it. That’s when we were bitten by the property bug.”
Emma and Marc Lorente on their property journey
As well as buying property to let, Emma and Marc offer training to prospective buyers looking to cash-in on the city’s housing market.
And despite their early property success, the couple were acutely aware that they needed to upskill, so pursued a property investment training course.
Emma added: “We were advised to focus on ‘goldmine areas’ and properties within a one-mile radius.
“Dundee’s a bit different from other cities and we’re pretty open to where we might work.
“We’re fortunate there’s so much investment and development in and around Dundee and Angus, which all bring opportunity and open doors to others wanting to get involved, whether full-time or as an add-on to their existing day job.
“There’s also a flipside to that positivity, however, with a severe and ongoing cost of living crisis continuing to affect many homes.
“Many people need out of their current home as they can’t afford to improve it, or need to downsize because their costs are increasing.
“Property investors can get a bad name for taking advantage of people, but in our eyes, we’re helping people get into a better situation. Yes, we’re running a business, but we want to benefit people and help them move on in life, too.”
The TSPC Property Investor evening takes place at their Whitehall Crescent office on Thursday September 26.
The Lorentes will be joined by a surveyor, mortgage advisor and solicitor from TSPC partner firms and Hazel Young from Rockford Properties.
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