Welcome to my ‘From PVC to Property Investment’ blog. A strange title? All will be revealed.

I am Dave O’Hara. I live in the beautiful city of Durham, up in the North East of England. A University City (Durham University), the River Wear is our main artery, snaking through Durham on it’s way from it’s boggy source in the North Pennines to the North Sea at Sunderland, where they used to ‘Mackem’. The Norman Durham Cathedral stands on a loop in the river, dominating the skyline views in all directions. It’s a World Heritage Site, visited by people from all parts of the globe. It really isn’t as ‘grim up North’ as some Southerners would have you believe.

Relocating to Durham

Myself and my partner moved here to Durham in 2014 from a couple of local villages about 6 miles away. (Ferryhill and Langley Park for those who know the area. Good, honest ex-pit villages). It seemed a good idea since we met here and spent a good deal of time supping and socialising in the city anyway. I was in the final stages of my career in SCADA development and website management for a large chemical company (INEOS), making PVC (that’s The PVC bit, and that word should attract the search engines 😂). My other half had just started her own commercial cleaning franchise business. It was time for a change, so we took the plunge and found a nice place in Gilesgate to the East of the city centre. We put an offer in, and within a few months had the keys.

Early ‘retirement’

Little did I know at the time we bought the house in Durham that my PVC related job would be made redundant only a couple of years later, in May 2016. Everything came out of the blue. I’d always thought that only happened to ‘older people’, then realised I was already 56, prime fodder for the scrap heap. I’d worked in the same place for nearly 37 years and it paid a decent wage. That was me! The company decided to restructure and my role wasn’t needed anymore, so I was out on my ear. There were several others who went with me, well over 100 years experience gone. I eventually decided to take early retirement as I was over 55. It was a wrench to leave, but afterwards I realised I was probably bored and needed something new anyway. I certainly didn’t miss the early mornings, dragging myself to Aycliffe every day. It was like a long holiday! Still is.

Property Investment and Prosperity

Gathering myself for the new adventure that was the rest of my life, I took my lump sum (Damn you, taxman!). I drew my company pension, paid off all my house moving debts and looked nervously but excitedly toward the future. That was in April 2016 and I’ve never really looked back, other than meeting a few old colleagues for a beer every now and then. I’ve taken a deep breath and have moved into the world of property investment (thanks Samuel Leeds) and it’s a fascinating subject for sure, with a myriad of different ways to make a good living from property. We’ve even been on courses! Did you know you can make money from property without even owning it?  I’ll tell you about this in my posts, as well as my other passions.

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Local Search Analytics

Having spent all those years working for the large chemical business, I also relished the chance to use my knowledge to help local businesses grow through effective use of search engine marketing. One service I had was providing local search audit services to businesses in my area (S. Durham). However, I soon ran into issues as I tried to work out how to grow things and take on more customers. I needed to automate the repetitive tasks such as running SEO audits, tracking rankings, identifying citations, submitting websites to local directories, and monitoring reviews. I looked around to find specialist tools to help but I couldn’t find any. Sure, there were lots of general SEO tools but none which focused on the needs of digital marketing agencies and local businesses. So I decided to shape them for myself.

If your business has a web presence (you really, REALLY need one) and you’d like help to audit it with a view to improving your web footprint, fill in your details and start the process now. I can provide monthly reports showing you how your business is performing on the web.

In addition to this, I’m investing in myself. By this I mean I have a percentage of my income that I set aside for education (thanks to Samuel Leeds again). This might mean buying a book from Amazon, or taking a training course if I see one that I think will enhance my knowledge.

Book reviews and videos

On my blog i’ll regularly post book reviews. These are typically to do with investing in property and passive income stuff. Please check these out because they’ll also include associated YouTube content which will enhance your experience and knowledge (as well as mine).

Lastly, if you’d like early notification of new stuff I post here, including some exclusive interviews and reviews of property courses and experiences we’ve had in property and elsewhere, please subscribe. Thanks. 👍🏻

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Copyright DK O'Hara 2017-2018. All rights reserved