A PORPERTY mogul who now buys cheap houses to turn them into student digs has shared how he first got into the business aged 19.
Whilst his uni mates were out and about enjoying themselves with booze and takeaways, James Coupland, now 28, used his student loan to get on the property ladder.
The hard efforts paid off, as James was able to purchase his first-ever property before turning 20 with a 10 per cent deposit of £5.3k – but it took a while before he was able to work on the ''dingy'' property.
Chatting to The Mirror, he said: "I was studying at university when I realised how much money the landlord was making from our student house by charging us all individually to rent a room.
"All my friends were going out and buying Xboxes or new PlayStations while I was buying paint and carpets."
As well as spending his time to study to become a clinical analyst, James, from York, was renovating the new house he had bought with his savings of £6k.
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Since then, James has managed to get his hands on another eight properties, all based in Goole, East Yorkshire.
According to the young man, he's bought them for bargain prices, ranging from £40k to £66k, and some of these have since been sold to other owners.
The remaining five, he shared on TikTok, he rents out to multiple individual students instead of a larger group of people.
Rather than giving the transformed property to a family and charging them £600 a month, James rakes in by splitting the house into five smaller rooms, which he charges £135 a week for.
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He explained in the video: ''The students are on a 52-week contract, This is £2,925 a month.
''The rent does include the tenant's bills, such as gas, electric, water and Wi-Fi.''
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However, whilst it may sound like an easy side hustle to make some serious money, James revealed all is not as simple – and being a landlord comes with responsibilities.
During the renovation projects, for instance, James was legally required to follow certain planning permissions and licenses – however, after having done it a few times now, he's gained experience, one he now shares in a detailed online course for others.
As well as setting up his own limited company for property endeavours, the investor even took on and completed a masters.
James said: "If you're lucky enough to have some money, you can do it but it's not a quick fix, it takes time to turn a cheap house into something with a nice standard of living."
His TikTok page, @jamesproperty_, has amassed close to 540k followers who regularly take interest in his videos, as well as tips and tricks on getting into the business.
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