Sheffield city centre restaurant to be developed by 23-year-old who quits £100,000 Russia goldmine job

After investing in five rental properties in Burnley and Manchester, Damon Wiseman is set to complete his first major commercial deal in Sheffield city centre. He has had an offer accepted on a building in Church Street which previously housed the Cargo Hold restaurant with office space above.

Damon’s vision is to create a new, stylish restaurant with up to a dozen luxury apartments on the first, second and third floors which will be available for rent on sites like Airbnb. He has won the backing of wealthy overseas investors after persuading them of the merits of the project.

Damon, who lives in Psalter Lane, Sharrow, negotiated hard on the deal before having an offer of £800,000 accepted. He estimates that once the building work is finished, the scheme will have cost a total of £1.5m.

“Realistically this will take at least a year to happen, but I’ve done my due diligence and the estimated return on investment will be in the region of 30 to 40 per cent.”

Damon has long been interested in making money from bricks and mortar and gained a Bachelor of Science degree in real estate at university. But he got temporarily lured away by the offer of a job in Russia, before turning full circle to become a property entrepreneur.

His first four investments alone have created a healthy rental income and remarkably despite being so young, he says he is already financially free.

Damon admits handing in his notice was a huge call as he enjoyed the work as much as the benefits. Spending stints of six weeks abroad followed by four weeks leave back home in Sheffield meant life was never dull.

Alongside his glamorous lifestyle, he got to learn the language and immersed himself in the culture.

“My stereotype of Russians before I worked there was completely wrong. I thought they were hardy and tough but uncaring. However, they are polite and humble people, always looking out for each other and very accepting of foreigners.”

In addition to having a fantastic experience, Damon also earned between £90,000 and £100,000 a year depending on the exchange rate.

He initially planned to invest in buy-to-lets close to where he studied, but found the prices were too high. He then came across a book which was to change the course of his life.

It was written by well-known property entrepreneur Samuel Leeds, founder of Property Investors, the largest training establishment of its kind in the UK.

Samuel has helped a string of celebrities to invest in property, including rap artist Krept, former Liverpool midfielder Kevin Stewart, pop star Rye Beaumont and ex-world champion football freestyler and BBC presenter Liv Cooke. He has also worked with Wales international footballer Christian Ribeiro and top professional rugby league players Jesse Sene-Lefao and Quentin Laulu-Togagae.

“When I read his book, my view on property absolutely flipped,” said Damon.

“I lived in an HMO (House in Multiple Occupation). I didn’t even know what an HMO was. I didn’t know about that investment tactic.”

Damon looked on Google to find out where the cheapest houses in the UK were and ‘Burnley popped up.’

“I found out that a university had started there recently, and it got my brain ticking. I thought I was a student, I had lived in an HMO, what if these students need to live in an HMO? Let me find a house near the university.

“So, I looked on Rightmove and found a house five minutes away from the university. That was like a little goldmine right there. I thought, I need to get that.”