A man who loves travelling has explained how he made £8,000 just by spotting and reporting empty homes.
Mikhail Chekhrinov said the money he makes through his side hustle helps fund most of his global travels.
The 30-year-old regularly reports empty homes to YouSpotProperty.
The website rewards members of the public for reporting abandoned properties with a £20 Amazon or M&S voucher when the home reported meets their criteria.
However, if the company is able to purchase the home, renovate it and get it back into use again, the person who spotted it will receive 1% of the purchase price.
Having reported several properties so far, Mikhail has made thousands of pounds, and this has helped him arrange more trips abroad.
This year, he has already travelled through The Azores, Montenegro and Italy – and paid for the trips with the cash he made from reporting empty homes.
Mikhail has so far been paid more than 210 vouchers and four “1%” payouts for houses YouSpotProperty was able to buy and place back into use, bringing his total winnings over the past year to nearly £8,000.
His recent one-percent payouts included a semi-detached property in Liverpool, Merseyside, which the company purchased for £65,000, giving him a 1% payout of £650.
Mikhail also spotted a semi-detached home in Prenton, Mersyside.
After YouSpotProperty bought it for £76,000, Mikhail received a payout of £760.
He also reported a terraced property in Dudley, West Midlands, which YouSpotProperty bought for £60,000 – giving him a £600 reward.
And after reporting a terraced house in Liverpool, Merseyside, which the company purchased for £98,000, Mikhail was given a £980 reward.
Last year, the passionate traveller worked on a Midlands tomato farm, but since his pay wasn’t great, he started looking for other ways to earn some extra money.
He then came across YouSpotProperty and was encouraged to start reporting empty homes thanks to the money incentive offered if the company purchases and renovates the property in question.
He told The Sun: “That 1% reward, likely to be in the thousands if achieved, would pay for the numerous plane tickets I needed to buy to fund my travels.
“It cost me nothing even if it was a scam, which it of course was not, and I couldn’t have made a better decision.”
Mikhail, who previously worked as a map editor and data researcher, added: “My foray into working YouSpot’s platform involved me walking around my local neighbourhood looking for houses in a poor condition to report.
“I had instant success after I received a voucher from the very first property I spotted.
“I immediately made it my business to report houses that seemed abandoned or derelict.”
He said there were only upsides to his venture as he added: “Not only did I rapidly boost my daily step count, but I got to see new neighbourhoods I would never otherwise consider visiting.”
The house-spotter said he loves learning about the history behind each empty home.
He explained: “For me personally, every house which seems abandoned is always a some kind of a mystery because behind each one of them is a story of a person or family and it’s up to the imagination about their lives as to what exactly happened.
“I note YouSpotProperty’s Instagram page often uncovers what the company comes to learn about this these sorts of long term empty homes.”