Reality TV star Jordan Hames made more than £100,000 on his first property deal after turning to Samuel Leeds for advice. Since then, Jordan, who shot to fame on Love Island, has gone on to expand his portfolio, specialising in converting houses into high end accommodation in Manchester. In an exclusive interview for Winners on a Wednesday, he spoke about how his investments are giving him security for the future.
‘Any time is a good time to invest in property’
Any time is a good time to invest in property in Jordan’s opinion. So many people are scared to take the plunge because they are waiting to see if house prices will dip further. The upside is there is less competition which means there are better deals to be had, he says.
“I bought a house at auction the other day and there were four people I was bidding against. I got it for such a cheap price. So, if there’s less competition you can get a better deal on a house.”
Jordan is not out to make a quick buck. Buying a house and ‘flipping’ it takes time, as does obtaining planning permission for improvements which will make it worth more.
So, the 28-year-old takes the long view. Even if he purchases a property and it goes down in value, over a 10-year period it is likely to go up. If it doesn’t, he will just keep hold of it until the value increases again and surpasses what he paid for it.
“Then you’re going to be in profit anyway. Plus, you’re getting the passive income as you own it because you’ve got someone renting it.”
Jordan began his working life in the financial services sector before being headhunted to become a model six years ago. Having made a success of that, he then got the chance to appear on Love Island in 2019.
Since leaving the dating show, Jordan has carved out a career for himself in high fashion, modelling clothes for big name brands. He also has a design company, Jordan Hames Fashion, and has become a style icon himself, dramatically transforming his image.
He frequently shares his quirky outfits, including a fishnet top paired with a man skirt, on Instagram, where he has over 700,000 followers. His unusual dress sense has earned him headlines in the national media too, keeping him in the spotlight.
At the same time, the star is aware of needing to plan ahead, which is why he began buying houses two years ago.
“I looked at all my favourite high-performance celebrities and tried to figure out what the denominator was between them all achieving success over a long period of time. That denominator was multiple businesses.”
He cites the Irish professional mixed martial artist Conor McGregor as an example.
“He opened his whiskey business. He’s got McGregor Fast where he does his strength and conditioning [training]. He’s got a pub chain. And what’s he not done for the past three or four years? He hasn’t fought because he’s got all these other businesses that are working hard for him.
“I think you’re deluded if you think you can master one thing and that’s the one thing you’ll do for the rest of your life. Not everyone’s Drake.
“So, I always wanted to find a way that I could have another strand of what I’m doing that would give me that security and make me bulletproof for the rest of my life. For me that was property.”
Freestyle football world champion Liv Cooke recommends Samuel Leeds
It was Jordan’s friend, freestyle football world champion Liv Cooke who recommended Samuel Leeds as she had been advised by him herself when launching a real estate business.
As a result, he had a one-on-one VIP crash course with the multi-millionaire Property Investors founder. It left a lasting impression on him.
“There are a few moments of my life that I will remember but that’s one of them where I got off the phone and I was like… life’s going to be different now.
“I thank Samuel so much for that. That’s why literally anyone I speak to I’ll sing his praises because he took the time out. He didn’t need to do that, and I’ll remember that forever.”
The celebrity entrepreneur’s first acquisition was a semi-detached house in his home city of Manchester. He liked the neighbourhood. It had easy connections to the centre, making it ‘perfect’ for a family with working parents and children wanting a nice place to go to school.
The owners had inherited the house from their grandmother, and it was rundown when he bought it.
“I don’t think it had been done up for 30 years or so, but it had a nice big back garden. I looked on the street as well and I could see a few people had done extensions.”
Jordan found the property through Samuel Leeds who by coincidence was taking on a Financial Freedom Challenge with another student in Manchester. They were trying to sell deals and were calling investors. At the same time Jordan was messaging his guru, asking him if he had any investment opportunities.
Samuel and his student, Lawton Hopwood, showed Jordan three houses. Within two hours he decided to plump for the semi after seeing how it could be improved.
Jordan agreed to pay £180,000 for it, but then at the last minute negotiated the price down to £170,000 after it emerged there could be structural problems. He kept a close eye on the renovation, visiting the site regularly and overseeing his team.
The work cost about £150,000 which included a ‘full rip out’ and a rear extension to form an open plan kitchen and dining area with large bifold doors. New windows and doors were also installed, along with a new roof, kitchen, bathrooms and floors.
Jordan had thought the property might need underpinning to give it more support because it felt ‘wobbly.’ As it turned out, all he had to do was level the floors.
“We had a building control structural engineer come out to check it every step of the way, but it was already underpinned. The floors had only been levelled in one room. That’s why it felt wobbly. Once we levelled the floors which cost about £10,000 it was all good.”
He adds: “Until you actually buy it, you can’t go into the floorboards and look at exactly what the problem is. But at the end of the day, I’m young. I’m in a position where I want to take risk and that’s where you make the most money.”
Nevertheless, Jordan was cautious in his approach, having sought his mentor’s advice on the worst-case scenario. Samuel’s opinion was that once the restoration was complete it would be worth at least £390,000, based on the value of similar properties in the street.
Jordan had no qualms about putting so much money into the project.
“I knew it was so under the market value I wasn’t worried because I knew at the very least every single pound that I put into it I would get back. It was just a question of how much profit I was going to make.
“So, I was pretty relaxed, but I’d not done it before. It was a lot of work especially when I’m trying to thrive in my day job and what I’m doing as Jordan Hames.”
Despite that, he learned so much from the experience, he says, and was ‘buzzing’ when the valuation came in at £435,000, leaving him with a profit of more than £100,000.
Jordan’s strategy is to buy properties in up-and-coming parts of Manchester where house prices are cheaper. By fitting them with beautiful interiors the aim is to attract high earners with big families. They can move into a pleasant area but avoid paying the high cost of accommodation in places such as Hale and Altrincham.
Encouraged by seeing his strategy work with his first venture, he bought a two-bed bungalow near Manchester Airport for £240,000. His plan is to turn it into a multi-generational, five to six-bedroom house.
He also owns another bungalow which is being redeveloped at the same time. The work is being funded by refinancing his first house. Then the bungalows will be flipped.
Jordan has had to learn to be patient. It took eight months to obtain planning permission on one of his developments.
“It does take time but I’m at a point in my life when I feel with maturity and experience as an entrepreneur I want to move correctly. I’m not trying to make decisions that I’ve not backed up and done all the calculations for.
“In two years, I’ve done three houses but look how right every move has been. It’s put me in a place where I’ve got a much bigger pot to go with. Now I can diversify my portfolio and get some HMOs for the passive income.”
‘I get as much a buzz from property as being on the catwalk in Milan’
Property investing is giving Jordan as much pleasure as his modelling. “What’s addictive about property to me and what I love about it is that you can be really creative. And I get as much a buzz from it as when I’m walking the catwalk in Milan.”
One example is his semi-detached property which is on a large corner plot. He is trying to buy some land off his neighbour and then combine that with part of his back garden to build two houses.
“The other day I saw a bank I wanted to buy. That’s the point I’m at now. I’m looking at banks that I can build 25 apartments on.”
He adds: “It’s nice that I can do this now – build something for the future – and then in 10 to 20 years when Jordan Hames isn’t wearing a bomber from Rick Owens anymore, I can work in property.”
Three years ago, Jordan had no savings because of his lifestyle. He stretched himself to buy his first house and that made him start saving. Now he is keen to pass on his knowledge through his Instagram and TikTok pages where he has been documenting his property journey.
“Even if people just see that I’ve got a page and think they need to start property some time that’s all I’m trying to achieve right now. I want to encourage people to build for the future.”
Jordan’s motivation to succeed is his family. Finances were tight when he was growing up with his mother. As a 10-year-old he remembers his mum saying they couldn’t spend more than £51 in the supermarket because they had bills to pay.
“I want to give back to the people who were there for me when I was a kid. But also, when I have kids, I want to go to all the sports days and parents’ meetings. To do that I need to make sure I’ve got the financial backing behind me so I can have that flexibility.”
His proudest moment was when he retired his mum and bought a car for both her and his older sister.
“That’s what property enables me to do. I treat it like a business. My proud moments come from when I’m helping the people around me and seeing the smile and the change it puts on their face and in their life.”
Jordan’s tips
- If you’re getting a property now just make sure the deal is good enough. If it’s a good deal, then it doesn’t matter when you’re buying it.
- Don’t overstretch yourself and make sure you’ve backed yourself up for when something does take a bit longer than expected.
- Build a team around you of everyone you need, such as builders, electricians, plumbers, solicitors and mortgage advisers so that when an opportunity arrives you can jump straight on it.
Samuel Leeds’ verdict
“Diversification makes a lot of sense. It’s so easy as a young person, who’s making loads of money and getting lots of attention, to just think this is going to happen forever. But thinking, as Jordan has, about building something that will last a lifetime is smart. You can’t beat property. No one is going to take it away. It’s going to outlive us both.”
