Little Hallingbury strongman champion Ollie Clarke is dedicating himself to becoming the ultimate ‘tour de force’ in the sport after setting himself up financially through property.
The 21-year-old muscle man says he would have been unable to focus purely on training in this ‘make or break’ year for him had it not been for the success he has gained in business.
Ollie teamed up with a friend he has known since infant school to sell property deals to investors and is now living off the proceeds.
He etched his name in the record books in 2020 by becoming the youngest competitor to appear in the UK’s Strongest Man competition which attracted a large TV audience. Just 19 when he took part in the Belfast showdown, Ollie qualified for the event by winning the Under-23 UK’s Strongest Man in Southampton earlier that year.
He also won the London Strongest Man title at the age of 17 after entering as a novice.
The dedicated sportsman still has designs on becoming the World’s Strongest Man despite a back injury hampering his progress in Belfast. He is putting in gruelling sessions at Bishop Stortford’s Apex gym while also doing some work as an online personal trainer.
But Ollie says it was his passion for property that has freed him to give his all to becoming the world champion.
He linked up in 2020 with his old Richard Whittington Primary School pal Jamie Mcdonald, 20, whom he has known since he was five. Jamie now runs the venture on his own because of Ollie’s commitments.
Under their brand, The Property Guys, they were making up to £15,000 a month earlier this year. They specialised in sourcing and selling property deals to investors, building up a healthy pot of cash.
It was Ollie who kickstarted their journey as entrepreneurs after watching YouTube videos posted by Samuel Leeds, a self-made multi-millionaire who founded Property Investors, the biggest training school of its kind in the UK.
Fresh out of sixth form, they joined Leeds’ academy to gain more knowledge of the industry. Jamie had a job as a painter at the time and also worked in a gym, while Ollie was working as a personal trainer. Just two months into the programme, Jamie was able to give up his job to become a full-time deal sourcer and Ollie soon followed suit.
Jamie, from Bishop’s Stortford, says they chose to package and sell property investment opportunities because it seemed so lucrative and did not require any initial capital.
“There’s so much opportunity to make a lot of money and it’s fast as well,” he said. “There are a lot of strategies in property that are long-term wealth builders, but they take time. Deal selling was the quickest.
“It’s all about finding a deal for an investor, packaging it up, getting an offer accepted on a property and passing it on for a fee.”
Jamie believes learning how to professionally negotiate was key to their success.
“A deal sourcer is trying to get the lowest possible price for their investor. If the sourcer can negotiate £10,000 off the asking price, that alone justifies his commission,” he said.
“On average we charged 1-2% of the house price, but it depends on the deal. If you’ve got one that could make £100,000 or more then it can justify a bigger fee.”
For a basic deal, they picked up between £3,000 and £4,000.
The pair decided early on that their niche would be to find houses which could be done up and then refinanced to release funds for further investments. Ideally, they looked for properties which could be turned into HMOs or serviced accommodation. This allows the investor to pull out all or most of their cash.
They targeted rundown properties they could secure below market value which could be renovated to increase the value. Once the work was finished, the property could then be refinanced with a 75% loan-to-value mortgage based on the new valuation.
