Pair of 25-year-old millionaire landlords forced to spend a week living in their tenant’s house – and quickly learn some home truths
Michael's house, in County Durham, has a mountain of rubbish outside left by the previous residents
TWO rich landlords who boast they are "winners" and value their time at £750-an-hour have been forced to see how the other half live - by spending a week in their tenant's property.
Londoners Dan and Jamie became landlords when they were just 19 years old, after making money trading stocks and shares online when they were still at school.
Now 25, they own 14 buy-to-let properties in the North East, which are worth more than £1.1 million - but live almost 100 miles away in Leeds.
Appearing on BBC's new show The Week the Landlords Moved In, Jamie said: "There are two types of people, winners and losers, and I am a winner. I’ve always considered myself to be a winner.
"I originally wanted to be a landlord because I wanted to take over the world. I had this idea of building 1,000 plus properties and having a massive empire.
"I think we worked out we’re worth £750-an-hour."
While Dan, who lives in a penthouse apartment in Leeds, added: "I didn’t want to work for someone else because I didn’t like the idea of devoting my time to making someone else rich."
Despite owning more than a dozen properties, the pair never interact with their tenants - instead choosing to outsource the work to local managers and agents.
Dan explained: "Alan Sugar has most of his wealth in property, and there’s no way he’d be getting a call from a tenant."
They targeted the North East purely because property prices are low, and Jamie admitted: "I can’t remember the last time we went to that area.
"The further away they are, the less you think about it. They’re just ticking over nicely.
"But it’s not an emotional attachment, it’s an investment vehicle. You look at the numbers, make an investment decision, and move onto the next one."
MOST READ IN REAL LIFE
In this week's show, the pair moved into Tesco Express worker Michael's two-bedroom house in Edmondsley, County Durham - for which he pays £450-a-month.
The 33-year-old, who suffered a stroke when he was 27, does not have a bedroom door.
There's even a mountain of rubbish in his front garden leftover from the previous tenants, who moved out over a year ago.
Michael, who's spent £400-600 of his own money making the house liveable, said: "People probably think I’m a bit of a scruff, because you pull up the drive and it’s the first thing you see."
He added: "If I treated one of the customers the way the landlords treat me, I probably wouldn’t have a job."
As the landlords looked round Michael's home, they noticed a "dangerous" boiler replacement - which hasn't been boxed in.
Looking at the lining around the bathroom window, Jamie said: "This is not the best job someone could have done on that.
"But we’re not paying for the best job to be done, because this is not the best property and the best paying property."
Dan agreed, adding: "Smaller things, it’s probably best the tenant does it themselves for their sake and ours."
While living in Michael's house, the lads were forced to live on his weekly budget of £71.53 - which Jamie compared to the cost of a night out.
The tight purse strings meant the boys, who haven't cooked in years, were forced to buy budget frozen ready meals.
Of one kebab meal, Jamie said: "Honestly I would rather lick the bottom of my shoe right now.
";The last time I went to a supermarket to do a full week’s shop was about three years ago."
However, they finally started to empathise when meeting Michael's friends Ricky and Helen for dinner.
Jamie said: "Michael genuinely sounds like a top fella. His story really resonated with me because of my mum also worked in a supermarket.
"She was a single mum bringing up four kids, so I got to experience first-hand how hard she worked and how s*** the money is.
"When you’re working so bloody hard, the last thing you want to do is come home and think ‘more problems’. It does make me feel like I want to do right by him."
Dan added: "I was kind of gutted and it made me think about the model and how we live hundreds of miles from the property. There’s no one (Michael) can easily go to."
At the end of the week, the landlords fixed the major issues in Michael's home - and gave him £400 in cash, to repay him for his investment in their property.
In last week's episode, Paul Preston was forced to abandon his £1,500-a-week budget and live in his tenant's "disgusting" rat-infested home.
The Week The Landlord Moved In airs on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC1.