Jon Simpson, 32, owns nine rental properties. (Image: StokeonTrentLive)
A man who lost his job during the has built a £1.8 million property empire in after a chance encounter with a stranger who later gifted him a house.
Jon Simpson, 32, now owns nine rental properties across the and is close to securing a tenth.
His journey with property investment started in 2021 when he helped a 95-year-old veteran, Edward “Ted” Booth, during the lockdown. In return for his kindness, Ted left Jon a house, reported.
Jon had initially planned to join but was unable to after suffering a serious head injury in an assault in 2012.
Instead, he pursued a career in finance, studying accountancy and later working as a cost accountant at JCB on a £24,000 salary. When the pandemic hit, he lost his job and was left struggling with a and a family to support.
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Ted, who gifted Jon the property, with his wife Mary. (Image: StokeonTrentLive)
Looking for a way forward, Jon turned to his friend Simon, a gas engineer, and asked if he could learn trade skills in exchange for finding him work.
“I rang him up and said: ‘If I can get you some jobs in, can you teach me everything that you know in return?,’” Jon recalled.
But while on furlough, Jon was shopping at Lidl when he saw Ted struggling with his groceries.
He offered to help, and the two struck up a friendship. With no family nearby and mourning the recent loss of his son, Ted welcomed Jon’s company. Jon called him daily and did his shopping to support him through his grief.
One day, Ted asked Jon what he did for a living. “I said, ‘I’m an accountant but my dream is to get into property’.Ted then asked me how I would feel if anyone ever gave me a house. I told him that would never happen to me.”
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Jon Simpson. left, pictured with Samuel Leeds, a multi-millionaire property entrepreneur. (Image: StokeonTrentLive)
To Jon’s astonishment, Ted later gifted him his late son’s house in Meir. Initially hesitant to accept, Jon was convinced when Ted told him: “What use is money to me? I’m 95. I can’t buy any more time. What I want you to do is promise me you’ll make something of it, and you won’t forget your family.”
Jon used the property to kickstart his career in property investment. The house was valued at £30,000 at the time, but he renovated it and secured a based on its increased value.
“I did the whole Homes Under the Hammer thing. I did it up, refinanced it, and pulled the equity out,” he explained.
He went on to purchase more properties, using equity from previous homes and securing investment from others.
After a rocky start, he educated himself in property strategies through courses by property entrepreneur Samuel Leeds. “I had to honour the promise I made to Ted and getting more knowledge was an essential part of that,” he said.
Jon now buys rundown homes, renovates them, and remortgages to finance further purchases. His approach allows him to provide affordable rental homes while expanding his portfolio.
Ted sadly passed away after catching while in hospital. Jon, who had been regularly checking on him, was devastated when he got a call saying he had died just as he was on his way to visit him.
“I will always be eternally grateful to Ted. I just hope he’s watching now. He changed my life.”