From launching an Instagram page promoting luxury homes for sale to sourcing deals and snapping up houses with problems, Diante Baffour is all about real estate. With around half a million social media followers, the Samuel Leeds trained entrepreneur already owns five properties at the tender age of 25 and is about to complete on a sixth.
‘I found Samuel Leeds’ YouTube videos mesmerising’
Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Diante started out young. In school the teenager sold sweets which got him into trouble with his teachers.
They felt he was on ‘cruise control,’ and could do better, even though he was achieving decent grades. So, they asked him what was going on.
Diante told them he was trying to make a bit of extra cash to buy a new pair of school shoes, to which they responded by asking him what he wanted to be when he was older.
“I said I want to be a property developer. I’m about 14 at the time. They’re looking at me thinking well who doesn’t want to get into property. Who doesn’t want to own a house.
“I said no, I’m going to buy a van. I’m going to learn a trade. I’m going to be a plasterer or an electrician and then I’m going to start buying houses after I’ve made enough money,” recalls Diante.
That resonated with the staff because their pupil had a plan. A fortnight later, he was due to get work experience as a PE teacher at his school when another opportunity came along.
“One of the teachers called me up on a Saturday and said someone’s dropped out from a work experience with a property developer. Do you want to take their place?
“She said the only caveat to it is they’re only offering a two-week placement rather than a one-week placement and the following week will be in your summer holidays. I said of course I’ll do it.”
Diante soon proved his worth. He went to work for a main contractor engaged in projects primarily in central London.
The youngster got to work closely with the two directors, a father and son team, and was given administrative tasks. One of his jobs was to analyse some valuations on a spreadsheet.
“In doing it I saved him £70,000. I don’t even know how I did it to be honest. Basically, there was just a small discrepancy in the numbers.”
Afterwards, the director offered him a job. “He said get a C in English and maths and you can work for me.”
Diante left school at 15 as he was one of the youngest in the year and worked for the company for about four years.
“My role was a quantity surveyor. I came in as an apprentice. They said which route do you want to go – architect, project management, contracts management, quantity surveyor? I said which one makes the most and which do you need the most and they said quantity surveyor.”
As a result, Diante, who grew up in London, went to university to study quantity surveying. It involved five years of study, including a spell at college to meet the entry requirements.
During his last two years the burgeoning businessman went his own way, starting UK Estates on the back of his time working for a property developer.
When the firm began taking on social media managers, Diante identified a niche that he could exploit.
“I found that social media was about to explode, if it hadn’t already exploded, and I said I don’t really see anyone doing anything mega on property. I can see an angle where we can help luxury developers or luxury estate agents and I just started pitching them.
“I made the handle UK Estates. It was a great handle at the time. I said to them I’ve got an online magazine. We’ll feature your luxury listing on our magazine and they said yes. Then off the content we started gaining a bit of traction.”
By around 2019, he was making ‘proper money’ through property. His Instagram page now has around 333,000 followers with Samuel Leeds amongst them.
As a property developer himself, Samuel describes it as eye candy with its heady mix of ‘before and after’ pictures of house renovations and beautiful homes giving him inspiration.
Diante in turn found himself following Samuel after coming across his YouTube videos and being drawn in by them and the way he explained the various investment strategies.
“It was mesmerising. He was breaking it down in layman’s terms. It was easy to digest and understand.
“That simplicity I knew was brilliant for my channel because a lot of people who follow me might need a bit more understanding in terms of investing in property. It was refreshing to see.”
Diante connected with Samuel online and then came to one of his crash courses in 2019 to see what he was about. Although Diante felt it had the ‘right vibe,’ he didn’t take up further training as he was still building up his Instagram business.
As time went by, however, Diante branched out into sourcing properties across the UK. He joined the Samuel Leeds Academy in the summer of 2024 to network with people in the industry.
“I thought what better place to network than with people learning to source property from one of the best educators in the country.”
Diante builds a million-pound property portfolio
Based in London, Diante has gone on to build a million-pound property portfolio on the back of his success with UK Estates.
His strategy varies according to his patch. In and around the capital he tends to flip properties but holds on to them if they are in Essex. Prices are cheaper there, and he knows the area well, having spent part of his childhood in the county.
His approach to getting his hands on real estate is very much driven by market forces. He has found that the buy, refurbish, refinance strategy works best for him in Essex – whereas in London there is not enough of a margin in it for him due to property prices being so high.
Instead, he will buy a house or a flat, do it up and then sell it for more than he paid for it.
“I look to generate those lump sums in London and then buy and hold in Essex,” he explains, adding: “London is a market millionaires and billionaires from all over the world want to invest in. Because of that the prices are so heavy. So, you can make good lump sums.”
Diante targets areas which are up and coming around London. “I’m talking your Croydons Mitchams, those sorts of areas that might not have a London postcode but they’re in Greater London. You can still pick up good things for good money. Greenwich works as well.
“I’m mainly looking in southwest London. I buy things that have problems. For that I get a discount. We’re transparent with that. Whether it’s direct to vendor online or offline or estate agents or auctioneers that we’re talking to, if it’s got a problem there’s no problem but we need to be able to get a discount.”
His presence on Instagram with UK Estates enables him to negotiate deals which benefit both parties.
“We can go to auctioneers and pitch it to them that they give us some things that make sense for us, and we can shine a light on their auction house or on lot number one for instance. Usually, lot number one is their attraction property, and we might be able to do a promotion behind it.”
There are various problems he looks out for. “We’re looking for something wrong with the title maybe. There might be a restricted covenant on it or we’re looking for short leases on flats or probate properties that need a refurb.”
The assisted sales technique is another tool in his armoury which he often uses. Where a property has an issue with it, the owner may be forced to sell it for less than it is worth. That’s when Diante and his company step in.
“We can go in and say how about we help you fix the problem. Once we fix the problem, we’ll then sell the property for its true market value and split the profit.”
There is a legal cost involved and he may have to fork out money for a refurbishment, but this is nothing compared to having to put down a deposit to buy it and paying stamp duty.
‘When you give, it opens doors’
The academy has helped Diante to expand his knowledge and tweak the way he operates his business.
The mentoring calls available have allowed him to seek advice from entrepreneurs five to ten years ahead of him in the game, and he is full of praise for the programme.
“It’s been brilliant. Samuel’s got a great system in place, especially for someone coming in from a fresh standpoint.”
Linking up with other students has also proved worthwhile. One member pointed him in the direction of a property in Kent which he thought might interest Diante.
During the open house viewing Diante discovered that his guru’s reputation spreads far and wide. Diante was upstairs when he heard someone in the kitchen saying he was trained by Samuel Leeds.
“He’s telling someone else and someone in the kitchen has turned round and said I got trained by Samuel Leeds as well. Then the academy member, who thought it was a good deal for me, is in the room with me and there are four people connected to Samuel Leeds. It goes to show he’s doing really good things.”
Diante’s vision for 2025 is to develop his personal brand after Samuel advised him at a training session to push that aspect more because ‘people do business with people.’
It is only recently that Diante has publicly revealed he is the owner of UK Estates, although those he does ‘good business with’ have known his identity. He was worried before that potential clients much older than him might be put off by his age.
His concern was based on his experience as a 16-year-old working as a project manager. “I remember going to meetings and the person on the other side of the table said, ‘When’s the project manager getting here?’ He said, ‘You’re a kid.’ I said let’s get the job done and if I do well you won’t say that on the next one. As we progressed into other projects a lot of them learnt to trust and respect me but it’s that rapport building that I found an issue with.”
The businessman is now much older himself and believes in giving back and sharing his knowledge. He has helped others on the academy and visited Uganda in 2023 to look at the school and hospital facilities provided there by Samuel Leeds which was ‘heart-warming.’
Diante has also just returned from a charity trip in Kenya, assisting in the installation of 12 wells.
“If you’re blessed with knowledge or some sort of finance, you should want to push it forward and help. For some reason the world works in mysterious ways but when you give, it opens doors,” he says.
Diante’s tips
- If you want to get into property, become knowledgeable.
- Everyone’s able to give value in some way, no matter what level they come into the industry at. Give value and you’ll receive value.
Samuel Leeds
“I’m trying to create an environment in the academy where there’s no competition. Everybody’s winning together. Diante joined the academy to network, learn and grow which he’s achieved.
“He’s a serial entrepreneur in the property space, living a great life, driving a fancy car, helping people and travelling. I can’t believe he’s still only 25.”
