Millennial has built a property empire worth £1.5m before turning 30
Millennial has built a property empire worth £1.5m before turning 30 after buying her first £160,000 home when she was just 19
- Emily Evans turned 30 in December but already owns seven properties worth a total of £1.5million
- She bought her first house with her boyfriend at the time in 2008 aged just 19 after the financial crash
- The property tycoon built her empire around the South West of England after growing up in Somerset
Most millennials have resigned themselves to the rent sector – where they can expect to pay an estimated £1million during their lives.
But one 30-year-old property tycoon, who bought her first house while still a teenager, has already amassed an empire of seven houses worth a total of £1.5 million.
Emily Evans from Bridgend, Somerset, wants to be ‘the Martin Lewis of the property world’ after she bought her first house – with her boyfriend at the time – aged just 19.
Emily Evans, 30, from Bridgend, Somerset, bought her first house with her boyfriend at the time when she was still a teenager
EMILY’S TOP TIPS FOR BUYING
1. Get on the ladder!!! Living in London can’t afford to buy? Buy out of London and rent the house out. Good areas to buy: anywhere on the new cross rail lines, Croydon, then out to cities like Bristol. Get the advice of a good letting agent, preferably not linked to an estate agents.
2. Buy a property that needs work. Get stuck in yourself to save money.
3. Look out for end of terrace houses with corner plots, where you can get planning to build another house.
4. Don’t go direct to your bank for a mortgage speak to an independent mortgage advisor, they have access to better deals.
5. If monies tight. Employ a no sale no fee solicitor. So if the deal does fall through you don’t have to pay legal costs.
6. Do your homework finding an honest trustworthy builder. I would not be where I am today without my builder Josh. Recommendations and word of mouth is where to start.
7. Negotiate! Negotiate on everything. When buying the house, when buying a new kitchen, anyway you can. Get multiple quotes for items and see who wants to give you the best deal.
8. Buy with a boyfriend or friend or sibling.If you can’t get a mortgage on your own, invest with someone else this will get you on the ladder. Do everything 50/50 and make sure a contract is in place. Recommend to sign as tenants in common.
Miss Evans left school at 18 and quickly worked her way up to manager of a branch of an estate agent.
Her job taught her the important of owning her own home as well as ways to get the best mortgage and the different finance options.
The couple bought a two-bed end of terrace house for £160,000 in Bridgwater, Somerset, with a 10% deposit after the 2008 crash.
As her boyfriend was a plumber the pair set to work renovating the house and when the relationship ended in 2012 it sold for £210,000.
They made a gross profit of £50,000 each and Miss Evans bought a two-bed end terrace for £120,000 in Taunton, Somerset, with a £12,000 deposit the same year.
She added a new bathroom and kitchen to the property and in 2012 put an offer of £50,000 on a one-bed house in Bridgwater that was about to be repossessed.
Remortgaging her home in Taunton Miss Evans’ friends said she was ‘mad’ when she used all her £12,000 savings to buy the house.
Miss Evans said: ‘Everyone thought I was mad buying that house. It was such a wreck that I didn’t even go inside to view it and it was about to be repossessed so I didn’t even have time to get a survey done.
‘But while I was never good at maths at school, I realised I had a good mind for figures. And as an estate agent, I would regularly meet with up builders renovating properties so I could see this house had bags of potential.
‘I knew this property would be a good investment so I trusted my gut instinct.’
Emily fully renovated the property and the gamble paid off when it was valued at £115,000 soon after.
This allowed her to take out a mortgage to release the £68,000 so she could build her next property in 2013 – a replica of the end-of-terrace house she owned in Taunton.
In the following years, Emily purchased two more houses in Somerset through re-mortgaging her existing properties as well as with the help of a bridging loan.
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In 2016, she bought her seventh and final property – a two-bedroom new-build in Clifton, Bristol – which she has since rented out.
The property tycoon, who turned 30 in December, has no plans to buy more properties but wants to help others buy their first home.
For millennials who start renting at 21 years old and live in an average-sized property outside of London £110,830 is spent in rent before buying their first home – usually at the age of 32, according to research by peer-to-peer lending platform Landbay.
And for 41 per cent of millennials who do not think they will ever buy their own home it is thought living in a rented home for life will cost £1.1million outside of the capital but 2.5 times more at £2.6million for those who decide to rent in London.
Miss Evans said: ‘I was never book smart as a child and from a young age, I knew I wasn’t intelligent enough to go to university.
‘But I knew I wanted to get out of the poverty trap and have the financial security of owning a home. At age nineteen, I bought my first house and I kept on going from there.
‘I would buy a house that needed work, renovate it and then re-mortgage it to buy my next property.
‘Of course sometimes it was terrifying, I would worry that it was too risky buying another house and would consider pulling out of the purchase.
‘But I always knew the figures worked and today I have seven properties in total.
‘I always say I bite off more than I can chew and then chew like hell later.’
Miss Evans now presents her own podcast, ‘PropertyPod’, where she hopes to educate other young people that it is possible to buy a house.
The entrepreneur, who dreamt of being an architect, added: ‘Lots of young people panic and think it’s an impossible feat to get on the property ladder.
‘We go to school and we learn Maths and English but we are never taught about how to buy our first home and put a roof over our heads. We’re not educated about property.
‘I genuinely want to help people get on the housing ladder. I understand how scary and complicated it can seem but with a bit of knowledge and advice, it’s more than possible.
‘Sometimes, it just means a few simple tips. For example, don’t go direct to a bank for a mortgage, go to an independent mortgage adviser instead. They have access to better deals.
‘Buy a property that needs work or look out for end of terrace houses with corner plots where you can get planning permission to build another house.
‘And if you live in London and can’t afford property there, buy out of the capital and rent the house out. The most important thing is to get on the ladder.’
Now renting in London Miss Evans wants the Government to improve the property issues in the UK as increases in stamp duty make it difficult for many potential homeowners.
She said: ‘Ultimately, buying a property is the biggest investment you’ll ever make in your life and an opportunity for financial security.
‘But it’s complicated. Lots of people are not sure how to go about saving a deposit, getting a mortgage and what comes after.
‘People need help with how to buy a house and I want to show them how. I would love to be the Martin Lewis of the property world one day.’
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