From failing his A-levels to working on a Russian billionaire’s superyacht and later setting up an electric car sourcing service, Adam Barker is now a property developer. He started out by flipping houses and then joined the Samuel Leeds Academy. It taught him how to recycle his cash and raise finance, giving him a passive income to spend more time with his young daughter.
Beach house flip leads to a big pay day
Adam confesses to being more practical than academic. After flunking his A-levels, he attended a maritime academy on the Isle of Wight. Having obtained his tickets to work on a yacht, he then flew off to the south of France.
With 30 copies of his CV tucked in his rucksack, Adam walked up and down the dock every morning trying to find a job. The experience taught him the value of action-taking.
“I didn’t know what the next step was going to be, but unless you take that first step, you’re never going to know what step two is.”
His decisiveness paid dividends. Adam joined an 80m long superyacht, with 23 other crew members, helping to maintain the boat for his billionaire employer. The owner and his family would fly out three or four times a year and essentially it was a luxury toy, he says.
“One weekend they might want to be in Singapore and then two weeks later France. It was long days in hot countries. But you’re rewarded for your work and you’re travelling the world for free.”
The young deckhand left yachting after three years with a pocket full of cash. At a loss what to do next, his father suggested going to the Isle of Wight to look at a pub with permission to be converted into two flats.
Adam was 21 and had no experience in property or refurbishments but knew he was hands-on and willing to learn.
“I thought let’s go and have a look. We met the owner. He said, ‘Why are you looking at this project? You need to come and have a look at the beach house.’ I was like that sounds like a fun project.”
The beach house turned out to be half of a derelict hotel about 50m from the beach. So, Adam bought it, with a woman from London buying the other part.
By this stage he was a captain, driving smaller boats. The job involved working three weeks on and three weeks off. It gave him half the year to concentrate on property.
“I’d come home for those three weeks, go straight to the Isle of Wight with a van full of tools and materials and slowly renovate this house.
“It took me two and a half years. The numbers were crazy for a 21-year-old. I paid £106,500 in cash pre-auction. I spent £80,000 to £100,000 on that place and then sold it for £335,000 tax free because it was my own house. It was a big pay day after a couple of years of graft.”
The entrepreneur-in-the-making had done his research online to see what houses were worth in the area and was confident it would turn in a profit.
His only regret is that he sold it after finishing the renovation. The woman who bought the other half of the hotel is now earning £3,500 a week from it as an Airbnb, says Adam.
He bought the beach house in 2014, long before enrolling on the Samuel Leeds Academy. In hindsight, he realised he should have seen the potential in property and ‘gone all in.’
“I was still working on boats at that time. The penny never dropped that property was going to be my thing full time.”
Adam had just returned from the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, ferrying technicians, who were building an offshore bridge there, to and from the land.
The boatman completed two more flips alongside his job, selling his last house, which he lived in, in March (2024). As soon as the money hit his account, he signed up to the academy after going to the crash course.
Adam was in the process of closing his car business at that point and felt he needed more knowledge about investing in property. Had he kept his beach house, he could have remortgaged it and pulled out all his money. It would also have given him a passive income of £3,000 to £5,000 a month, he points out.
“It would have been that unicorn deal, but I didn’t know about those strategies at the time. I didn’t know you could refinance properties until I saw one of Samuel’s YouTube videos.”
‘It was an all money out deal, bar about £15,000’
It was through the academy that Adam learnt about the mechanics of the buy, refurbish, refinance, rent strategy. He discovered that he could reinvest his capital – and retain the asset while benefiting from the revenue.
That proved to be a ‘game changer’ for the novice investor. About a month into the year-long training programme he secured what would become his first BRR venture.
In fact, he was on the buy, refurbish, refinance course when, sitting in the lobby during a break, he bid for a property at auction and won it.
“Within an hour of winning this property, Samuel had me on stage. I paid £190,000 for it plus auction fees. It was a back to brick refurb.”
Adam immediately threw himself into the project. All the walls were stripped down to the bare brick, with the staircase also being removed and new doors and windows fitted.
At the same time, he set up a renovation business which reduced his costs.
“I went VAT registered, so everything I was buying, kitchens, bathrooms, paying tradesmen, all the VAT was coming back to me. My refurb then became 20 per cent cheaper overnight just by having that education on how to structure these purchases.”
When the work was finished, Adam got back most of the money he had put in by remortgaging the property to its new value.
“It was an all money out deal bar about £15,000. From picking up the keys to having money back in the bank was about four and a half months. It was very quick.”
Then Adam learnt about social housing and clinched a rental contract with a local provider. He receives a set amount each month to provide accommodation for a family in need.
“I managed to get a five-year contract for £2,500 a month. It’s a completely passive income. I’ve housed a lovely Ukrainian lady with three of her children. It was a wholesome ending to my first BRR project on the academy.”
BRR is by far Adam’s favourite investment method because it gives him the freedom to spend precious time with his seven-year-old daughter.
“She is absolutely everything to me. So, the only thing on my ‘why’ list is having that time. I’ve set myself up to not have to go to work. The income that I’m earning is passive bar the days that I spend on refurb and flip projects. But that’s up to me now, rather than working offshore for weeks on end for an income that’s very achievable through property once you know how.”
His daughter is behind him, even at such a young age. “If you ask her what daddy does for work, she’ll tell you that I build houses for people who aren’t lucky enough to have a safe house to live in. That pulls on the heartstrings. She can see what I’m trying to do.”
Adam’s first four projects were solo efforts. Then, as he progressed in his understanding of the industry, he latched on to the power of using other people’s funds to grow his wealth.
“I wondered how everyone was scaling up their businesses. I was doing it one at a time. Everybody said you need to unlock that cash. So, I started zoning in on raising capital and looking at joint venturing with people.”
It was again a turning point. Adam teamed up with an academy member to take on another flip in Southampton.
They initially planned to buy the one-bedroom flat together, but then opted to raise the finance instead to purchase it.
“I hit my Instagram account which has had some good traction in the last 12 months, and we managed to raise the purchase price for an investor at 12 per cent.”
They also wanted their first joint venture to be entirely hands-off. “We moved the whole project over to my builder and made it a passive flip that we haven’t paid for. It was the perfect scenario.”
It was an off-market deal which an agent offered to them for £75,000. The refurbishment cost £10,000. Within a week of the apartment being listed on Rightmove with an asking price of £130,000, three people had booked to view it.
“That is not a huge project, but it has been completely passive for Reuben and I, and it’s taken just over four weeks. It will be a £30,000/£35,000 pay day on a one-month project.”
Adam found the best way to raise capital was, ironically, not to ask for it directly.
“It sounds a weird thing to say but people don’t want to be pitched. They want to hear about what you’re doing with other investors and then they’re subconsciously thinking that could be me.”
He adds: “I’ve got such a good power team now, solicitors, builders, agents, off market deals that I can take on so much more than I’m currently doing. The key for me is unlocking that finance.”
Increasingly, he is finding investors who want equity. “I’ll say you pay for the house and everything. I’ll do all the work, find it, renovate it, manage it. I’ll give you the exit strategies of social housing and we will own everything 50-50.”
His deals are underpinned by a loan agreement or a contract. There is a release clause in the contract drawn up for a house which he has recently bought. If one person wants ‘out,’ they must give six months’ notice to the other partner. They then either agree to sell the property or buy out the other partner.
His sixth project is with an investor, using the 50-50 equity model. An agent he has built a rapport with offered him a derelict three-bedroom house for £160,000, again in Southampton. It needs around £40,000 spending on it but will be worth £300,000 when improved, Adam predicts.
The future looks bright for him. Two superyacht captains, who Adam met when they were deckhands, are keen to partner with him. They want a passive UK income while working abroad and so he is now looking for two more properties to take on.
He credits his coaches for helping him to establish a successful business. ‘The training is amazing. I’ve learnt so much, but the network is unbelievable as well.”
Through it he has met investors, JV partners and people who have become close friends. He is also a leader of the academy’s Inner Circle networking group in Southampton.
Adam’s tips
- Find out your why and then work out the best strategy to get you there.
- Pop in every two weeks, if you can, to see an agent. Be friendly. Offer to take them out. Meet them for coffees.
- I look at viewing properties not necessarily to buy but as time with an agent to build a relationship. When the next good property comes across their desk, they’re going to reach out to you.
- Work with the right people who have the same goals.
- You probably already know your investors. Tell everyone what you’re doing.
Samuel Leeds’ verdict
“Adam has managed to scale his business through joint ventures and building powerful agent relationships. Being successful in property is just as much about who you know as what you know, as he has demonstrated.”
