Life outside the lab. By Sean Thompson

LIFE OUTSIDE THE LAB

FOLLOWING YOURDream

By Sean Thompson I Ashford Orthodontic Laboratory

I approached Sean Thompson – Director at Ashford Orthodontic Laboratory, to share a bit about his life outside of the lab.

I was aware that Sean had an interest in the property market and I was so interested to hear more about his story. He clearly has a great business mind, and a wonderful family man to boot.

Early in my working life as an apprentice Dental Technician in Jarrow, just before my first ever boss suffered his third and final heart attack, he told me ‘’always remember that family comes first, and that you go to work to provide the means to enjoy your life outside of work, so make it count for something’’ and those words have stuck with me to this day.

It’s not until you have kids that you really start ‘counting the years’ as you celebrate their birthdays and as such are constantly reminded of how quickly they grow and the years pass. The best memories are made over those years with the family, and this really became my passion outside of work, spending as much time together as we could, forging memories that will last a lifetime.

As a family, quality holiday time was key to our time away from work, and as my other passion was property, it became apparent that combining the two would be a really beneficial hobby, if I could find a way to make this happen.

When Matt (Editor of The Dental Technician Magazine) approached me to write ‘my story away from the lab’, I must admit to being reluctant in case it was perceived as some kind of ‘bragging’, which it definitely isn’t, but when Matt explained this as more of an inspirational article, and that other people will do the same to express their passion for watches, cars, fitness etc, that I actually realised that this should be an inspirational piece which will hopefully positively impact his readers, particularly in these difficult times for labs.

I suppose the interest in property and property development came from years of watching programmes such as Homes under the hammer, DIY SOS etc, eventually expanding to overseas programmes on HGTV such as Love it or List it, Flip or Flop and Property Brothers etc. This led to saving up and buying a small 1 Bed apartment to renovate and rent out. Then a second one and so on, but the effort it took actually meant less time with the family, even though we’d bought our first Touring Caravan to enjoy the Northumberland coast and Lake District with the family and our dog ‘Tuffy, the WireHaired Fox Terrier’.

I quickly realised as the kids were growing rapidly, that caravans are only so big, so I looked at a larger option such as a static caravan somewhere. This search led us to a second-hand lodge in Bowness on Windermere.

‘Woodside Lodge’ was fantastic and opened my eyes to the possibility of renting out the lodge when we couldn’t use it.

Our friends and family also had the option of using it, and this was something that none of us could do with rental apartments.

Lake Windermere is popular all year round, regardless of the weather.

Owning the lodge made me realise that rental flats really didn’t fit the bill. An opportunity presented to buy a plot right on the lake and site a brand-new lodge, so I went for it and sold the apartments. We now owned a second brand new lodge ‘Lakeshore Lodge’ that was right on the lakeshore, and as everybody wants a view of lake Windermere, it proved extremely popular, and we made great memories there, eventually buying a small boat also to further enjoy the lake. The benefit of this was that you could actually use your asset and rent it when you didn’t.

I think the lesson learned here was that short term holiday lets, in the right location with year-round visitors, really did allow personal use whenever you wanted, and create a second income when you weren’t using them.

As anybody who knows me will testify, I’m quite driven and passionate about most things, particularly Orthodontics and property. Having moved 12 times in my lifetime, and developed most of them in the process, the opportunity to get involved in a barn conversion overlooking Budle Bay in Northumberland was too good to overlook. We’d spent many weekends with the kids in the sand dunes of those beautiful Northumberland beaches, so the opportunity to design from scratch just meant we had to make it happen, and ‘The Warren’ became the venue for some more great

memories. Originally designed as a two bed, 1-bathroom property, we eventually ‘convinced’ the architect and planners that a 3 Bed, 2-bathroom property was achievable, and the kids then had a room each!

As the kids grew quickly, their interests changed. Being two very sporty boys, somebody recommended a really nice place in Spain called La Manga Club which did sporting holidays (football, rugby, tennis, golf etc) especially tailored for kids of all ages, so we holidayed there in the summer, and the kids absolutely loved it to the point we went there for many summers. Top Premier League and international teams use the fantastic facilities, so the demand is always there for good quality villas to rent. The kids love it there, and even went on to coach out there once there were 18, so when we saw an opportunity to have a property there in the Montemares district, we made it happen. They have friends and ex-colleagues there and use it to build their own memories now. You can be on an early flight to Alicante and putting your key in the door by lunchtime, and on the golf course straight after.

So that was our summer holidays and weekends sorted, but we were fortunate enough to take a winter holiday also, and we took the kids to Orlando, Florida when they were 9- & 12-year-olds. They absolutely loved Disney and the parks, as most kids do, and as we were spending regularly on rental villas over there, we decided to look into possibility of acquiring a place over there. We had established great contacts over there over the years, mostly ex-pats, so when we were introduced to a 5 bed, 4-bathroom villa about to come onto the market for a ‘quick-sale’, we made it happen. That sparked our ‘American dream’ given that I’ve always hated the cold. Once we had a foothold over there and started to understand the legalities and joint treaty taxation processes, we realised that it was much more favourable to own in the US than in the UK, so we pursued our dream and tried to improve on what we already had. We used our newly gained knowledge to identify an up-andcoming area called Championsgate. This has gone on to become one of the most prestigious areas in Orlando, and before long we had found our next 6 bed, 6-bathroom property on a new gated community called Solterra. We as a family are entwined in the American way of living now, and understand their somewhat different view of life, and embrace it fully when we are there.

After many holidays there with the kids and our extended family, we again took the opportunity to find a similar property backing onto a golf course, with breath-taking views.

We’ve learned as a family to take opportunities when they come along, and not to take anything for granted, so we have adopted the mentality of ‘just go for it’ if we can.

We all agreed to it, and what could possibly go wrong with the holiday let market in Orlando given that it’s a world-wide year-long destination? Then a little thing called Covid came along, and the world virtually shut down.

We didn’t panic and held firm to our belief that it was the right thing to do as a family, and completed during lock-down, having never set foot in the property! Although overseas visitors had ceased, the US domestic rental market for Orlando had never been busier. The legal process in the US for buying a property is well known to us now and is so much easier than buying in the UK, so we really had the bug by now, and as a family we were all fully committed to this. When we got the opportunity to acquire a property on the ultra-prestigious Reunion Resort, we made it happen once again. Having contacts over there such as solicitors, accountants, realtors (estate-agents) and management companies, was invaluable, and allowed us to acquire our Reunion villa, again without setting foot in the country. The Homestead Vista villa is unbelievably popular with visitors given the facilities it has such as games room, fire pit, Tiki bar, golf course outlook etc plus the themed kids’ rooms.

It's only 6 miles from Disney and the resort is a theme park in itself with numerous restaurants, pools, slides, and a lazy river etc so the kids are happy even on their ‘day off’ from the parks! There’s a great video on our website at www.floridadisneyvilla.co.uk if anybody wants to view it.

The whole ethos for me is about creating memories with the family, whilst satisfying my passion for property and design. Even though the kids are 23 and 26 now, we all still live together and long may it continue. I’m also very aware that this won’t last forever, but if we can create locations that we can all go to as a family and separately with their friends, then we can perhaps permanently eliminate the need for long term separation. We’ve created some fantastic memories, and something physical that we can all use long-term, so they can create their own memories with their families and friends’ long term.

We’ve gone full circle as well as we’ve purchased a motorhome, so in theory, we can spend the summers exploring this country, the spring and autumn in Spain and the long grey winters in sunny Florida and use it as a base to explore more parts of the US and make even more memories.

We all need a dream and something to aim for, but I’m very aware that this may be perceived by some as bragging, but it definitely isn’t meant to be. I don’t own a posh car. I drive a van and own a smart car. I’ve never bought designer clothes in my life. The hope with this article is to inspire others. To demonstrate the value of having a dream, to work hard, to cherish loving families, and that the work ethics and determination we’ve demonstrated as a family over the years will have a positive effect on them and others. Anybody can have a dream, anybody can do whatever they want to do and achieve whatever it is they want out of life if they work hard, are patient, and never stop believing. Start small. Build slowly. Always believe in yourself. You’ll never get up that life ladder unless you’re prepared to be brave and determined enough to step on that first rung. It doesn’t matter if life chooses to grease the rung and you slip back, as long as you are strong enough to put your foot back on it. Stay strong everybody and stay true to yourself. Pursue your dreams as life really is very short, so live and love every minute of it.