Sarah Okafor left an NHS management job in 2016 with £40,000 and a plan. Nine years later she runs a 42-unit HMO portfolio across Sunderland and Middlesbrough through a limited company, and she is buying while others sell.
As 220,000 rental homes are forecast to leave the private rented sector in 2026, Okafor tells us why her HMO investment strategy thrives on regulation, what a £68,000 mistake taught her, and why she never buys south of York.
How did you get into property?
By accident, honestly. I inherited my grandmother’s terrace in Sunderland in 2015 and the agent told me to sell it for £52,000.
Instead I spent £9,000 converting it into a four-bed professional house share. It rented out in a week and grossed more than my NHS salary per hour worked. That was the lightbulb.
Why HMOs, and why the North East?
Yield, pure and simple. A single let up here might do 7 per cent gross. My HMOs average 14 per cent, she says.
I never buy south of York. Entry prices in the North East mean I can buy, convert and refinance out most of my capital within 18 months. You cannot do that maths in the South East any more.
You operate through a limited company. Why?
Section 24 made personal ownership pointless at my scale. Everything since 2018 has gone through the company, which lets me deduct the full mortgage interest and reinvest profits at corporation tax rates. It is not right for everyone, though, and anyone weighing it up should compare sole trader and limited company structures properly before committing.
What is the biggest mistake you have made?
A seven-bed conversion in Hartlepool in 2019. I skipped a proper survey to win the deal, then found the whole rear elevation needed underpinning.
It cost me £68,000 and nearly took the business down. Now I walk away from anything I cannot fully inspect. The deal of a lifetime comes along every fortnight.
Many landlords say the Renters’ Rights Act is the final straw. Not you?
No. Regulation is a moat. Every new compliance requirement pushes out amateur operators, and professional HMO landlords who already run licensed, compliant stock inherit their tenants and their deals.
I have bought three tenanted properties this year from landlords who wanted out. All below market value.
What is next for the portfolio?
Twenty more rooms by the end of 2027, and my first supported-living lease with a housing association. With buy-to-let mortgage rates finally moving down, my refinancing window in spring looks better than it has in three years.
What would you tell someone starting today?
Buy the worst house on a good street, in a town you know, at a price where the numbers work on day one. Hope is not a strategy. A spreadsheet is.
