Most millennials have resigned themselves to the rent sector – where they can expect to pay an estimated £1million during a lifetime.
But one 30-year-old property tycoon, who bought her first £160,000 house while still a teenager, has already amassed an empire of six houses worth a total of £1.5 million.
Emily Evans from Bridgwater, 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.
She later sold that home to finance her future purchases, and now rents out six properties based around the West of England but rents a house in Wimbledon, London, as she still cannot afford to buy in the capital.
Emily Evans, 30, from Bridgend, Somerset, bought her first house with her boyfriend at the time when she was still a teenager
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.
A year after she started her job the couple bought a two-bed end of terrace house for £160,000 in Bridgwater, Somerset, after the 2008 crash with a 10% deposit.
Miss Evans and her boyfriend in 2008 spent £16,000 for a deposit and renovated this house in Bridgwater, Somerset, for £20,000 over three years
Before and after the couple gutted the house and completed renovations. Miss Evans left school at 18 and her job at an estate agents taught her the important of owning her own home
The house was bought for £160,000 but after extensive renovations sold for £210,000 three years later
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 joint gross profit of £50,000 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.’
Miss Evans 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, Miss Evans purchased two more houses in Somerset through re-mortgaging her existing properties as well as with the help of a bridging loan.
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.
Aged 19 Miss Evans and her boyfriend at the time worked together to renovate her first house before selling it for a £100,000 profit in 2011
Miss Evans, 30, bought an end of terrace house in Taunton, Somerset in 2011. She remortgaged this house to fund other properties and built another house on the land. She paid £120,000 and it is now worth £165,000
Before and after Miss Evans renovated her third property. Her friends called her ‘mad’ when she used her savings to buy the run-down one-bedroom house in Bridgwater, Somerset, for £50,000. It is now worth £115,000 after she spent £8,000 on renovations
Miss Evans now presents her own podcast, ‘PropertyPod’, where she hopes to educate other young people that it is possible to buy a house
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.
Miss Evans built her fourth house herself in Taunton, Somerset. It cost her £68,000 to build and is valued today at £170,000 after she took out a mortgage to release the money to build a replica of her end of terrace house
Under construction: Miss Evans built a house on the land to the side of her end terrace house. She suggests buying end of terrace homes that offer the opportunity to build on the land
‘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.
The fifth house Miss Evans bought in 2014, in Bridgwater, Somerset. It cost her £110,000 to build and is valued today at £150,000
The kitchen of the fifth house. Miss Evans took out an £12,000 deposit after taking out a mortgage on a previous house. She spent £5,000 to renovate it
The Bridgwater house was renovated and is now worth £40,000 more than Miss Evans had originally paid
Tithe Bane in Somerset was bought in 2015 for £150,000. Miss Evans raised a bridging loan to buy the house as she was remortgaged to maximum capacity. It is valued today at £400,000
The refurbished living room of the sixth house Miss Evans bought in 2015, the Tithe Barn in Somerset. It cost her £150,000 to buy and is valued today at £400,000. She raised a bridging loan to purchase this property as she was remortgaged to full capacity. She planned to live Tithe Barn and spent £130,000 renovating it but it is now rented out
Redecorated: Miss Evans sold Tithe Barn for £250,000 more than she bought it and made £120,000 profit which she used to buy her final house in Bristol
‘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 Wimbledon, 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.
Living with her six-year-old miniature husky, Pearl, Miss Evans feels trapped in the renting sector in London where she will be taxed too much to afford to buy.
She said: ‘When I moved to London, I wanted to buy a property but stamp duty had been hiked up so much that it just didn’t make economical sense to buy. As I already have other properties, I would have to shell out tens of thousands of pounds on taxes alone. It’s just crazy.
The kitchen in Clifton before and after it was renovated. It has since been rented out. Miss Evans bought this house after raising £100,000 from Tythe Barn – her sixth house
A before and after of the main living space in the £326,000 Clifton, Bristol, house. Miss Evans knocked the wall that separated the kitchen and living room to create an open plan space
‘I absolutely hate renting. I hate the uncertainty, lack of security and knowing I could be chucked out at any moment basically. Every time my lease is up for renewal, my landlord increases the rent and whenever works needs to be done on the property, my landlord doesn’t do it on time.
‘As a landlord myself, I would never do this to my tenants. I hardly ever put the rents up and I make sure the property is kept well. The London property market is a different beast to the rest of the country.
‘Seeing the challenges of renting in London firsthand drives me to want to help other get on the property ladder even more. I want people to have the security of owning their own home.
‘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.’
HOW DID MISS EVANS BUY SEVEN PROPERTIES WORTH £1.5 MILLION BEFORE THE AGE OF 30?
HOUSE ONE – AGED NINETEEN
(1) Miss Evans and her plumber boyfriend bought their first home together in 2008
Bridgwater
Year purchased: 2008
Bought: £160,000
Sold in 2011: £210,00
Emily bought her first home with her plumber boyfriend with a £16,000 deposit. The pair renovated it for £20,000 over three years before selling it in 2011 for a profit.
HOUSE TWO – AGED TWENTY-THREE
(2) She spent £7,000 on renovations when she purchased a two-bed end of terrace house for £120,000 in Taunton, Somerset. (4) She then built her fourth house next door
Taunton, Somerset
Year purchased: 2011
Bought: £120,000
Value today: £165,000
Emily purchased a two-bed end of terrace house for £120,000 in Taunton, Somerset with a £12,000 deposit and added a new bathroom and kitchen to the property. She spent around £7,000 on renovations.
HOUSE THREE – AGED TWENTY-FOUR
(3) Her friend’s called her ‘mad’ when she spent her saving to buy a one-bedroom house that was about to be repossessed
Bridgwater, Somerset
Year purchased: 2012
Bought: £50,000
Value today: £115,000
Emily spent £50,000 buying this one-bed house in Bridgwater that was about to be repossessed. Emily had to remortgage her home in Taunton and use £12,000 savings to buy the property. She spent £8,000 on renovations.
HOUSE FOUR – AGED TWENTY-FIVE
Taunton, Somerset
Cost to build: £68,000
(5) Taking out a mortgage on her former end of terrace Taunton house Miss Evand bought another house in Bridgwater
(6) Miss Evans planned to live in Tythe Barn after renovations were complete but it is now rented out
(7) Her seventh and final house was bought in Clifton, Bristol from the £100,000 raised from Tythe Barn
Value today: £170,000
Emily took out a mortgage to release the £68,000 so she could build this property – a replica of the end-of-terrace house she owned right next door.
HOUSE FIVE – AGED TWENTY-SIX
Bridgwater, Somerset
Year purchased: 2014
Bought: £110,000
Value today: £150,000
Emily bought this house with a £12,000 deposit after taking out a mortgage on the former end of terrace house in Taunton and renovated it for £5,000.
HOUSE SIX – AGED TWENTY-SEVEN
The Tithe Barn, Somerset
Year purchased: 2015
Bought: £150,000
Value today: £400,000
Emily raised a bridging loan to purchase this property as she was remortgaged to full capacity. She planned to live Tithe Barn and spent £130,000 renovating it but it is now rented out.
HOUSE SEVEN – AGED TWENTY-EIGHT
18 Quarry Steps, Clifton, Bristol
Year purchased: 2016
Bought: £326,000
Value today: £390,000
Emily purchased this property after raising £100,000 from Tythe Barn.
PROPERTY VALUE TOTAL: £1,390,000