A YouTube property influencer claims he's bagged himself a 'deposit' on a historic British hotel - for less than the price of a packet of crisps. Samuel Leeds put a £1 down payment on the Willingham House Hotel in Willingham, Cambridgeshire, earlier this year following 18 months of negotiations.
The dad-of-three admits it's a 'miracle' he's been able to secure the £2 million hotel for a £1 'deposit', which he says is less than the price of a McCoys Salt and Vinegar crisps grab bag. After securing the keys to the hotel the 33-year-old now hopes to turn the property into a 24-bedroom countryside retreat.
While the £1 deposit has secured him the property, Samuel still has to purchase the £2million hotel within the next 10 years - and must pay £6,500 in monthly rent in the meantime. However until then, he plans to rent out the rooms in the hotel and use the profit made to purchase the hotel within the next decade.
Samuel says work has already begun renovating the Victorian mansion into a guest house and says visitors are booked in to stay at the hotel from September. Samuel, from Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, said: "It took me 18 months back and forth in negotiations to get the keys to this property.
"A pound is the minimum legal limit to put down so it was a bit of a miracle really that we were able to pull it off for a pound. I think we did really well with the negotiation here. I've essentially got a deposit on a two million pound hotel for a pound.
"I just bought a bag of crisps and I think it cost me £1.59 from Subway so it was actually more expensive to buy the crisps than it was to get the hotel. We've already started doing it up and already have workers in doing it up. We've actually already got bookings for September.
"At the moment there are 26 bedrooms but some of the rooms are a bit small, so we're planning to run this as a 24-bedroom hotel. Most of the rooms are big. They've got en suites and the structure is good.
"It just requires some cosmetic attention. We need to be stripping down the wallpaper, getting new carpets and furnishing the property."
Samuel says he has taken control of the hotel from the property's previous investors, who are currently living in Hong Kong. Samuel said: "I paid £1 and that locked in my option. If you go on the title deeds, you'll see that the owners right now are from Hong Kong.
"But then you'll see a restriction and a notice on the title deeds that says I have the option to buy it any time within the next 10 years. I have full control over the hotel and I'm paying a monthly rent of £6,500. That's how it's structured.
"It suits the owners to sell later. They don't want it anymore, but if they sold it now, they'd lose out on the exchange rate. It also suits me perfectly. I've literally only put down £1 of my own money and I'm expecting to easily get enough income to buy the hotel. Then I have the choice of either selling it or keeping all the profit and the capital growth."
Samuel plans to run the hotel as serviced accommodation with a pay-before-arrival policy and virtual check-in service. The multi-millionaire says the projected revenue on the hotel is £1million a year based on a charge of £120 when all 24 renovated rooms are booked out.
The entrepreneur says he is confident he will meet his targets as he already has other investments in serviced accommodation in the area. Samuel said: "We're going to run it as serviced accommodation, so that's effectively a hotel without staff. I've got so many serviced accommodation units and the guests who stay in the property have a virtual check-in.
"All the contracts are done through DocuSign so that when they get there, they don't need to see anybody. They can let themselves in with key safes. It's all systemised. They pay before they arrive."
Samuel, who owns a property training company, says he plans to turn the separate outbuildings on the hotel's land into conference rooms to host his events in. He has also revealed that there is the opportunity to build houses on the property's three-acre site and hopes to renovate the detached house on the land too.
After renovation, Samuel believes this house will be worth at least £250,000 and it could fetch £1,500 a month in rent. Samuel said: "All of the land is included in the purchase. There's a massive shortage of houses even in Cambridge, so we could potentially build more houses here.
"Once the hotel is up and running then we can start thinking about what to do with the land. It's [the detached house] a shell but it has a good structure. It's going to need £10,000 to £15,000 to refurbish the house. It's got four bedrooms and a big bathroom. This is probably the last thing I do. I'm focusing on the hotel as the priority."
