'We bought our first houses at 20 - we won't stop until we have ten each'

Two sisters who are in their 30s have built up an impressive multi-million pound property portfolio after buying their first homes at just 20. Mum-of-one Ruth Shipley-Palmer, 32, and Becky Shipley, 33, started their venture when they were students, buying two houses in Bristol as an investment.

Their current portfolio now boasts eight properties worth more than £2 million, which earn them a turnover of £120k per year. But they aren't stopping there, as they have their eyes set on owning a total of 14 properties by 2030 - with their ultimate goal being to own 10 properties each.

The pair, from Bristol, say their drive is to achieve 'time freedom and financial security' so they can spend more time doing things they love. Ruth and Becky also say that they invested in property to be able to look after their parents when they get older.

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The sisters are now keen to inspire other women to do the same, and say that landlords don’t have to be “flashy guys in suits”. Becky said: “Landlords are usually painted badly so we wanted to say we’re not all like that. It’s good for us to be role models for other women in particular – we’re making the most of life.

“We want to represent a different type of property investor and help other people on their way to achieving time freedom and financial security."

Speaking about how they got into the sector, Becky explained: "When we decided to learn about how property works, we didn't know anyone who was investing who could teach us what to do.

“We went on a course in London and we were the only young women in the room - everyone else was a middle-aged man which was quite intimidating. We’re wanting to share with other people how to do this for themselves, it’s knowledge everyone should have.”

Ruth said: “We realised we wanted to find way to keep a freelance career while being financially secure and started looking into how we could do that.

“When we started, we didn't have any friends buying houses and we ended up managing to buy two houses at same time in Bristol. We refurbished them and turned them into self-managed HMOs in 2014.

“We tried to find an ‘angel’ investor – someone you don’t know who funds your investment – but we found a family friend who invested in us in the end.”

The first properties the pair bought were a four-bed for £150,000 and a five-bed for £160,000 in 2014 after a family friend gave them an initial investment for a deposit on the mortgages.

They provided a return on this investment by refurbishing the properties and renting them out, providing a 10% return on the initial investment. And they then refinanced the two houses after two years which gave them an estimated £150k in capital to immediately invest in another property.

Becky and Ruth then used this to to buy another four-bed property for £180k using a mortgage in 2016 which they turned into a HMO. They did this again five more times - buying new properties for between £150k and £327k through refinancing.

They now have eight properties in total - worth more than £2 million which earns them £72,000 a year in profit. Five of the properties are buy-to-let, three of which are houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs), and three are serviced accommodation. All of the properties have interest-only mortgages.

They say their inspiration for investing in property came from seeing their dad Nick Shipley, 71, work as a self-employed cameraman. The pair also started their own pet care company while studying at the University of West of England, with Ruth studying Fine Art and Becky studying Geography and Tourism. They sold it in 2023 to focus full-time on their property investment company.

Now, they say they’ve achieved financial security and time freedom, currently working on average 21 hours a week. Ruth said: “We’re continuing to grow our property business by teaching people how to do it themselves. A huge reason why we invested in property is we wanted to look after our parents when they get older.”

The pair have a podcast, Honest Proper-tea, and an Instagram account, @honestpropertysisters, where they share advice for budding investors.