Feeling undervalued and bored in her job, Lacarla Daley quit to take up property training with Samuel Leeds. A year later, the former IT worker is turning over around £30,000 a month and has more than doubled her old salary – all without owning a single brick or spending any of her own money. She also sells deals and became an Airbnb Superhost in four months.
Portfolio of 26 properties includes managed SAs and rent-to-rents
Lacarla has a portfolio of 26 properties in Manchester and Bradford which she rents out mainly as serviced accommodation. Some she manages for the owners, taking a percentage of the earnings. Others are rent-to-rents where she pays the landlord a fixed amount per month and then lets them out at a higher rate.
By any benchmark, the entrepreneur has established her credentials in the industry. And yet it is not so long ago that she was learning her trade. Her introduction to the world of property investing was Samuel Leeds’ £1 crash course which she describes as ‘amazing.’
Afterwards she enrolled on his online Deal Selling Masterclass. It was packed with 70 hours of invaluable information, and she watched it repeatedly. By the end of it, she was fired up and ‘ready to go.’
“I felt like everything Samuel was training online I could do,” recalls Lacarla.
It also made her restless to leave her job. “I was thinking, you can do this. Why stay here and be unhappy. Why don’t you try.”
Her mind was made up when she then wanted to attend the in-person deal selling course but couldn’t get the time off work. Her solution was to hand in her notice.
Hungry for success, Lacarla viewed a house in Somerset the weekend before the course. On her return, she ran the investment opportunity past one of the trainers who told her it was a ‘great deal.’
Buoyed by this endorsement, she got the chance to pitch it to Samuel Leeds himself at the masterclass. Competing for his attention alongside other students promoting their deals, she went unnoticed at first. So, she screamed out: ‘I’ve got an all money out deal.’
Her pluckiness paid off when her guru chose her deal to sell to an investor. It earned her a finder’s fee of £4,000 which she put towards joining the academy.
“It was scary at first because investing in the academy is expensive and I didn’t have a job. But I was ready to put everything into it.”
The deal, which she had found, was for a five-bedroom house which could be converted into a seven-bed HMO.
“I was reeling off all the numbers when Samuel was asking me about it. He said what’s the vision and I was able to show him. It was just great.”
After selling her first deal in February 2023, Lacarla progressed rapidly. One of her first decisions was to move from London to Huddersfield.
“I found that the market in London was very competitive, plus I had family in Huddersfield. I knew it well and you can get to different places, like Leeds, Manchester and Bradford. There was so much opportunity there.”
Since then, she has sold six more property deals while building up her serviced accommodation business which makes a profit of about £7,000 a month.
She raised £5,000 to fund her initial rent-to-rent venture, borrowing the money from an acquaintance of a friend who saw how passionate she was about property. “She really believed in me. She said, ‘I know someone who may be able to invest in you.’ I spoke to them and laid everything out, and within 24 hours the money was in my bank.”
After collecting the keys to her first serviced accommodation property in April, she found herself controlling multiple properties within months, including several in one building.
Failure was never an option but there was a moment of doubt along the way.
“There was one day when everything was overwhelming because I’m a one-man band and I was managing everything. I just remember waking up and saying, I want to quit. Then I thought about applying for a job and I snapped out of it straight away. I thought this has to work.”
‘Wide range of guests are making bookings'
It was Samuel Leeds’ academy which gave Lacarla the essential support she needed in the beginning.
“At the start everything happened so quickly. I had this block of 20 and I was just drowning, trying to figure it out. I was so stressed because I wasn’t utilising the tools I had.”
One of the coaches gave her advice on managing her rentals. Lacarla also started to go networking and other academy members gave her tips. After systemising her SAs she was soon back on track.
“The academy has been fantastic, especially now that I’m using it more,” Lacarla says, having also reached out to a mentor for help with structuring her operation.
The two-day Accelerated Coaching Performance Programme at Samuel Leeds’ house moved her on even further. Lacarla learnt about customer service and how to obtain staff and found herself in the hot seat when grilled by Samuel about her business.
Her rental bundle consists of 22 units in Bradford and four in Manchester, with a variety of guests staying in her accommodation. In Bradford, two of her units are reserved for supported living which enables disabled people to live independently in the community.
Lacarla has been developing her expertise in this sector by working with users of the service.
“Quite a lot of people around me are in supported living. Sometimes I do one or two shifts a week where I work in that environment with my friends and they’re training me.”
It offers her a guaranteed income. Consequently, she is planning to turn the other 20 units into supported living accommodation in the next few months.
“I have also had midterm tenants in the block of 20 In Bradford. It’s right next to the football stadium. So, it’s in a great location. I have a high repeat guest rate. Currently we have about four in the serviced accommodation section who have been there for three months. They keep extending every month.”
In another section, she has had people staying for six months to a year.
“In Bradford I have a lot of healthcare professionals who stay. They’re travelling from far. I get a lot of Monday to Friday bookings. They work in a hospital and get a shift for a week.”
The businesswoman manages these properties for an investor, charging about £70 a night, plus cleaning. It is an arrangement that suits both parties.
After she set them up as serviced accommodation, the value increased and the landlord was able to refinance the mortgage.
In Manchester, her nightly charge is around £120 a night. Her customers during the week are contractors.
“The car park is full of work vans from 6pm because it’s just contractors. Then at the weekend I get tourists and weekenders coming to do some shopping or go to events.”
Relocators also book her furnished accommodation. Typically, they are refurbishing a house and need somewhere to stay for a few weeks. That can turn into months if the work is delayed.
The nightly rate reflects the fact that she is offering them flexibility, as well as a home from home. If they rented a house, they would have to sign a tenancy agreement for a year, furnish the property themselves and install their own Wi-Fi.
Lacarla picks up business from one of her guests
Lacarla is constantly on the lookout for new deals. When she was in Manchester recently, she noticed an apartment block which was being renovated.
After finding out from the builders who the owner was, she enquired whether his plan was to rent or sell the flats. It allowed her to establish a rapport. She then told him about her management service.
“For me it’s easier because I have the proof of the portfolio and I’m able to show what I do.”
She rents properties through her company, the Daley Property Group, and makes sure they are run professionally. Customers are required to pay a deposit and produce their ID. Security equipment is also installed to protect each one.
“It’s not as easy as just sticking it on Airbnb. There’s a lot to it,” Lacarla points out.
Her management fee ranges from 15 to 30 per cent. “Thirty per cent is mainly for supported living because it’s guaranteed income and I’ve been working with the same investor for a while.”
The entrepreneur is also setting up two more furnished rental properties. One of them was intended as a buy-to-let until she suggested to the landlord that it be used as an SA.
“When I showed him the figures, minus my percentage, they were still making over £2,000 a month.”
Lacarla even picked up some business from one of her guests. “It was my first time charging a deposit and the lock box wasn’t working. I thought the check-in process wasn’t perfect, but she just loved the way I dealt with the situation.
“She called me as soon as she checked in and asked me if I managed the building. When I replied I’d got a few properties there, she said my husband and I would love you to manage some of ours.”
The decision to manage a property or take it on as a rent-to-rent depends on what the owner wants, she says.
“Some landlords are happy to take a bit of a risk, and some are not. The advantage of a management arrangement is you don’t have to put any of your money in. The risk is very low.
“Every single one of my deals are no-money-down deals. I’ve literally invested zero pounds of my own money in all my deals.”
Lacarla gave up a £36,000 a year job to go into property, but is happy she made the right choice, having seen her fortunes rise steadily.
She has already ticked off two of her goals which she had to write down on the Financial Freedom Intensive course. One was to appear on Samuel Leeds’ Winners on a Wednesday YouTube series within a year.
“I also wanted to get two serviced accommodations by the end of April because I received my last pay cheque at the end of March, and I did. It was crazy.”
Having a goal is important to her. “You have to have a goal. I remember when I finished college, I wanted to get my first car. If I hadn’t had that goal, I wouldn’t have got it in nine months.
“If you don’t know what you’re working towards, you’re just working. You need to have something that’s driving you.”
Her next target is to be turning over £50,000 a month and she will also be focusing increasingly on selling deals, along with acquiring her own assets in 2024. The ultimate dream is to have a business which runs itself.
“I’ve always wanted to live a life where I have a business running for me and making money, and I’m able to travel the world and just live life on my terms.”
Lacarla’s tips
- You have to be passionate and willing to do whatever it takes and then just be around winners.
- Get the training. Without it I wouldn’t be here.
Samuel Leeds’ verdict
“One of the things we all know Lacarla for in the property community is her work ethic. When you work hard, surround yourself with a good team, invest in yourself and are courageous, you’re almost guaranteed to win.”
