To start a thread to discuss Samuel Leeds, the property investor?

[AmateurInvestor]

I've been watching his YouTube videos for a few years now and read a couple of his books.

The advice he shares about property investing seems to be pretty credible, despite him also being considered somewhat controversial.

He has lots of students who go on to have quite big successes in the property investment arena, these don't appear to be paid actors or anything.

Just wondered if anybody else follows this guy and what your thoughts are on him and the advice he shares?

Anybody been on any of his crash courses?

The crash courses are £1. Obviously the hope is that people will continue on to pay for the much more expensive courses but from my research there is no obligation.

@Ledwood85 I am in two minds, hence me starting this post hoping some people on the wide world of MN may have some experience of him and/or his crash courses.

If you read my posts I’ve not refuted or defended anything, just acknowledged that there are various sides of the discussion, and for every person saying ‘he is a scammer’, the fact is, there are hundreds of people who appear to publicly have had success due to his training.

There is no need for anybody to be snarky, such a downside of MN.

@AmateurInvestor Yes, common sense.

Dealing with solicitors, mortgage brokers, surveyors etc etc are all things that adults who own their own home have to deal with. It's part of life.

Presumably anybody considering becoming a property investor already owns their own home and has experience of dealing with these professionals, and managing their own tax affairs (or engaging an accountant).

So it's common sense.

Anyone selling advice on how to get rich is doing it to get rich themselves.

@AmateurInvestor you've been given some great advice and offered other free or cheap resources. I don't think anyone is being "snarky". But you seem to have made your mind up and have refused to accept the opinion of the majority.

It's not rocket science, I don't understand why you don't think it's common sense?

You work out your costs, what it would cost you to purchase the property, improve the property, including all costs, then work out the rental yield to calculate the return.

If the return is acceptable to you, you go ahead. If it's not, you walk away.

Financing costs can be expensive, which is why the most important thing is having a good amount of capital, plus a large buffer for contingencies.

@Ap24 I’ve not refused to accept anybody’s opinions, just engaged in discussion where differing opinions are welcome and valid. I feel the tone of many of the responses are snarky, but to each their own, not my style.

@justjeansandanicetop Agreed, purchasing a property whether that be for home ownership or investment purposes is not rocket science, but I equally don’t think it’s as straightforward as common sense. I’m happy for you it is though.

Surprised nobody on MN (who's replied to this thread) has been on one of his crash courses to be able to share thoughts/feedback. Oh well.

I guess your crash courses are failing as well as your fake property business Sam.

Probably because the few who had heard of him realised it's a scam. All the red flags have been posted above. Nobody in their right mind would spend their hard earned money on his get rich courses.

I agree that property investment uses common sense. If you don't have the sense to figure it out with actual professionals (conveyancer, accountant etc) then the money would be better off in a savings account.

Coz I'm not that stupid. You want to part company with ££££ that's your loss.

How is it a surprise to you that nobody replying has spent upwards of 10k on one of these courses?

It’s a pretty silly niche thing to do. The vast majority of people won’t have done it.

How bizarre, I am another one who thinks that this is a clumsy marketing ploy. Most mumsnet posters are reasonably intelligent so I doubt that they would fall for this sort of pyramid scheme.

£10k 😱😱 that’s as much as a proper, accredited, respected masters degree

He says the reason behind his YouTube channel is to educate as many people as possible about how to generate passive income via property because he’s passionate about it and wants to help others succeed.

Yeah right. He's doing it out of the goodness of his heart. The £10k he charges is entirely incidental.

No idea why everybody keeps talking about £10k. The course I'm referring to is £1, not £10k.

The £1 course is literally a sales pitch for the expensive courses. You'll learn nothing in it apart from how you can access all of his specialist knowledge by paying for the real thing...

Apart from anything else, we're in the middle of a transition from an ultra-low interest environment to a medium-interest environment, and because so many people and companies have been borrowing on fixed rates that'll take a while to filter through into property prices. Advice which has worked well for the last ten years probably won't for the next ten, and certainly won't for the next two or three while everything readjusts.

We are talking about £10k because the Guardian headline linked on this very thread mentions £10,000 courses, and you didn’t specify the cost of the one you’re looking at.

If it's only £1 why don't you go? You don't have much to lose. Just be strong and tell yourself you won't sign up to the £10k on the day.

Then you can tell us what it's like.

Luckily, it is easy to find reviews from people who have been on his courses online. People have linked to them. They are not positive.