A 28-year-old real estate entrepreneur has explained how he operates his portfolio of houses and Airbnb properties after starting out independently at just 24 years old.
Ryan Cresswell is part of a group of landlords in the UK opting to expand their property portfolios in areas where returns on investment remain favourable.
He chose the north of England as a good starting point as he said "everything seems to be cheaper in the north" adding that it's not just houses, but "beer, food and fuel are cheaper as well".
Ryan explained that his properties are in Manchester and Sheffield but the majority are in the northeast, from Darlington up to Newcastle.
Cresswell made his first purchase in Darlington in 2021 at just 24 years old, despite living in Salisbury at the time. However, he got his first rent-to-rent property at 22.
Now, at 28, he owns almost 100 rental properties and manages 80 Airbnbs on behalf of owners. He also has a personal portfolio of houses worth £1.6 million.
He said: "I'm super, super proud of it but when you say 13 properties, it's maybe not as big as you would assume. Some of the houses go for as little as £100k in the north. Some people in the south might not even know properties can cost this little."
But Ryan said his portfolio of rental properties "slowly ticks along in the background now" and his "main focus is on the Airbnb business".
He told Express.co.uk: "I've got two sides to my income: my own portfolio, which is very traditional buy-to-let stuff, so we'll buy run-down homes and turn them into family homes, and bring them back to standard to be able to be let out, essentially.
"Then 90% of my time is spent growing the Airbnb management company. We don't own these properties but we basically offer a service, where our business manages everything about the Airbnb.
"So we essentially get handed a property from a client and then we just do all the financials, the cleaning, the maintenance, and the bookings - absolutely everything."
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When asked why he got into the business, Ryan said: "I never really know how to answer the question. My family isn't massively into property. My dad rents and my mum's got a family house. I don't know really. If I was to be honest with myself, it was probably an ego thing when I was younger. I used to think 'to get an investment portfolio must be the ultimate thing you could ever do'.
"I think it's just a really good thing to do and be proud of yourself to buy a house that young and kind of, it just spiraled from there because I saw more potential in ways to do it including Airbnb - it opened me up to whole new ways of working in property."
The 28-year-old from Southhampton, whose ultimate goal is to eventually be able to travel and work remotely, said that he can make around £1,000 per month renting out each property after mortgage and maintenance costs.
Ryan shares his experiences on TikTok and Instagram, offering advice to those interested in entering the property business.
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