Landlord and NRLA member raises thousands running London marathon
Landlord and NRLA member Eamon Balaam ran his first London Marathon on Sunday, raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process.
Eamon, from Bury St Edmunds, said: “Eight months ago, I couldn’t run a mile because I had really bad knees. My physio had never seen anyone in that state. My knees are really hurting now!”
He managed to finish in a respectable five hours and five minutes and admits that finishing became his target as the pain increased.
“I was hurting after two kilometres. Even walking was painful,” says Eamon, who hasn’t ruled out doing another marathon.
He says his target was to do it in less than four hours but by the end, it was a case of just ‘getting it done.’
First-time marathon runners often talk about ‘the black hole’, when your body and mind don’t seem to be in sync. That happened to Eamon at the 15-mile mark, as he went through the Isle of Dogs part of the course.
“I was in a tunnel at that point, and I remember thinking ‘my legs just don’t work’. I remember walking and building it up to start running but all I can remember is my legs dragging behind me.”
It was, he reflects, worth it, especially, when he thinks of the charity, he was doing this for.
“It is a charity called Emmaus, based in Suffolk. They support people in Ipswich who are homeless or are the verge of being homeless. They also help people that are vulnerable.”
“I know I am in a very fortunate position where I can afford to buy other properties but there are people who can’t afford to buy a property and struggle with the day-to-day living costs.”
He says that when he was struggling through, the thought of all the people he was going to help – £3300 raised so far – gave him extra drive.
“There are people out there who don’t have the comfort of going to bed every night and know they are in a warm and safe environment.”
Entrepreneurial spirit
Eamon, who joined the NRLA around eight months ago, thought about his professional future before leaving university in 2020 but admits there wasn’t a plan.
“I had always been in investing and doing something for myself. Sadly, I lost a family member before I went away. I was looking at options and knew property was a good investment.”
“At that point, I bought a flat, did it up really well and rented it out for two years and then I sold it.”
He made money with that sale and when he left his day job in early 2023, he knew it was time to embark on his property journey. He did a couple of months of property training, getting to know the business better. He also started attending property events and began networking, knowing this was the sector for him.
He found a partner he could work with, knowing he had the money and what he really needed was the projects to invest in.
“One was a hair salon, which we are just finishing converting into a house. The other was a planning project, where we found a house with a big, side garden and we’ve got planning permission for two new builds.”
He’s currently in the process of buying another property in his local town and turning into an HMO.
He’s aware of the fact that he lives and works in an area where property investment is thriving and that there are almost too many HMOs in his area.
Eamon eventually wants to provide high-end accommodation for professionals working out of places like Cambridge. Now, there is nothing coming on the market like that. So, for now, he’s working on an HMO portfolio.
He comes from a family comfortable with the idea of working for themselves, so there are always sympathetic ears when he needs to discuss any business issues.
For the future, he is content to keep building his portfolio in the West Suffolk area and he’s happy to find more and more people that would like to work with him.
“People are watching what I’m doing and thinking ‘he knows what he’s doing!’”
Are you a landlord who has been raising money for a good cause? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]
