Samuel Leeds trained property investor who beat cancer turns over £25k a month

When Claudia Moreno was diagnosed with cancer after booking herself on one of Samuel Leeds’ popular crash courses, she simply postponed her training and carried on regardless. It proved the perfect tonic. Claudia went on to join the academy and set up a rent-to-serviced accommodation business which now turns over around £25,000 a month. Before going into property, the mother-of-two worked for 15 years in the fashion industry.

Samuel Leeds

‘I didn’t know much time I had left’

Claudia climbed the ladder to build a successful career in fashion, having studied the subject at university. She loved her work and rose to a managerial position, earning around £50,000 a year.

Her role involved buying, merchandising and product development and in many ways she felt she had arrived after landing a head office job. However, it was stressful, and she disliked the corporate atmosphere.

“I was in the rat race. It was very demanding, working late nights and weekends.”

So, Claudia decided she needed to make a change. Property had always interested her. She watched videos on investing in real estate and went on seminars.

Then, just before the Olympic Games in London in 2012, she bought her first property near to where the event was being held in Stratford. The purchase price was £250,000 and within five years it had doubled in value after she sold it for £500,000.

“I was like wow. I need to be in property,” recalls Claudia.

Her partner’s birthday is in May, and so in 2023 she enrolled them both on the crash course. Although it only cost £1, it proved to be an invaluable present.

At the time Claudia was watching Samuel Leeds’ YouTube videos and was keen for her partner to see him in action. The couple also own a construction company and it had long been their intention to focus the business on doing up houses and selling them at a profit.

They were excited and looking forward to going to the event in London until Claudia went for a check-up and a fortnight later was diagnosed with cancer.

“It was a terrible time for my family, for myself. I was scared. I was sad. I didn’t know what to do,” says Claudia who was told she would need surgery.

It meant she couldn’t go to the crash course, but she was determined to find a solution. So, she contacted Samuel’s team, explaining her situation and was switched to another date.

With her partner by her side, Claudia came to the Birmingham crash course in July that year while still recovering from her operation.

“My family and friends were saying are you crazy? You can’t go. You’ve just had massive surgery. I couldn’t even sit down. I was lying on the benches at the crash course. I was taking morphine.”

But although it was a bad time in her life, it gave her a fresh impetus after being depressed because of her illness.

“I loved being in that environment. It was just so refreshing and motivating. It was truly amazing. We made a whole weekend out of it. That was what we needed after my surgery.”

At the end of the course, they paid for advanced training to learn about the buy, refurbish, refinance strategy. Again, Claudia had to move it back a month after undergoing further surgery.

This time it was a more complicated procedure, and she feared the worst. “I wasn’t sure I would make it or not. You have all this surgery and these tests, and you don’t know. It takes time for them to investigate everything properly.”

Claudia hid the fact she had cancer from her children because her daughter especially was still quite young. That caused a practical problem when Claudia had to have a scan. Due to the exposure to radiation she had to keep away from her children temporarily.

“I was like, Oh, my God how am I going to do that? What am I going to tell them? They can’t be at home for two days. It was really tough. Every day brought something new.”

It was a massive blow to her when she was told she needed more surgery, but despite that was still excited about the prospect of becoming a property entrepreneur.

“I think that was what pushed me even further to follow my dreams. Cancer is a big word for everybody. I was so scared I might die. I didn’t know how much [time] I had left.”

When students enter the academy, they are asked to put together a business plan. Claudia booked lots of calls with mentors and decided her first goal was to leave her job. Her priority was to spend more time with her children and the rest of the family – particularly with the uncertainty over her health.

With having a construction firm, her initial plan was to buy properties which she could either flip or refinance and rent out. She was advised, however, that she needed a ‘fast pound’ if she was to give up her work as BRR projects took time.

The mentors suggested the rent-to-serviced accommodation strategy would be a good option and so drew up a six-month plan for her. This would enable her to generate an income quickly.

Working from home while recovering, Claudia began calling estate agencies straightaway after the training to find a suitable property that she could rent out and then let at a profit.

Two months after becoming a member of the academy, the entrepreneur landed her first deal after approaching a landlord directly through the OpenRent website.

By that stage Claudia had been to a few viewings and perfected her script. Having a construction company, which had been established for more than 10 years, helped in the negotiations. When she mentioned that, landlords were able to check her background and see the books. Her partner was also working for developers in London as a contractor manager. That meant they had a lot of contacts with contractors and subcontractors.

With her credentials firmly fixed, the businesswoman pressed home her advantage, securing another two rent-to-SA deals in January this year and two more in April.

Claudia resigned in January to go full time into property, just four months after entering the academy.

‘In six months in property I’m making double what I earned in fashion’

Most of the properties which Claudia controls are in London, in the east of the city, including the business district of Canary Wharf, and Ealing in the west. She also rents out furnished accommodation in Maidstone in Kent.

“I’ve got seven properties at the moment, turning around £25,000 a month,” says the entrepreneur who can barely believe how much money is coming in.”

She counts herself lucky, but acknowledges it is hard work, although not as heavy as her previous workload.

“I’ve never been scared of working. I’m very committed. It’s important if you want to be somewhere.”

Claudia also trained hard, describing herself as driven. At one point she undertook a four-day intensive course against the advice of her doctors but has no regrets. Her fellow students helped her.

“Everyone was helping. I couldn’t even carry my bag because of the surgery. Even people I hadn’t met before were saying ‘I’ll carry your bag. I’ll carry your bottle of water.’ It was incredible.

“I was like, okay I need to be here. I never looked back. I wanted to go. I did one course after another. I didn’t stop. I’m glad I did it. It kept me going.”

Her tenacity and persistence in the face of adversity paid off.

“I told a friend I had a good position and in six months in property I’m making double the money I was making in fashion after working for 15 years and being a graduate.”

Claudia credits the quality of her training for achieving success so quickly. “Without that education I would be nowhere near where I am.”

When working from home on her own, it also helped her speaking to her fellow students when attending academy events such as the dinners which gave her an ‘energy boost.’

Property business turns into a family affair

Claudia is now free of cancer but will still need regular six-monthly check-ups. “I’m so happy. I can’t believe it,” she says.

Her happiness was compounded after one of her landlords recently offered her the chance to take on a block of 15 flats under another rent-to-rent arrangement. She and her partner are also looking at embarking on a development project after he also quit his job.

“I never thought he would resign. He had a three-figure salary and was working for big developers.”

That was why neither of them made the change before, Claudia believes, because they both had high salaries. As she puts it: “That lifestyle would never make you want to change work.”

Her business is fast becoming a family affair. Her mother, who worked for a cleaning company as a manager, has also resigned and is looking after the cleaning of the SAs. And her 19-year-old son too has become involved. He has set up his own property management company, alongside helping her, and is also sourcing investment opportunities.

Having received some training from his mother and seen how she makes calls he secured three deals in three weeks.

“We are joint venturing on two of them. The other one is too much to take. He’s really excited.”

Claudia keeps showing him the YouTube videos and telling him about the many young people on the academy, urging him to ‘go for it.’

One of her targets, which has already been ticked off, was to appear on Winners on a Wednesday to motivate others.

“I went through a lot. I want people to be inspired and make changes to their life when they can.”

Her next goal is to have more time to retire early. “I don’t want to retire when I’m 60. I want to retire at 45. So, I have another five years.”

Claudia’s tips

  • You have to educate yourself if you want to go into property. I wouldn’t have known what to do without that.
  • Consistency is important. You must believe in yourself and have a plan.
  • You need a why. I had a big why which was having time with my family.

Samuel Leeds’ verdict

“Claudia is a beacon of light. Her surgery was a wake-up call that life is short and now she’s changed her life around. I find it unbelievable that during that time when she was undergoing treatment for cancer she came to the crash course and then invested in training.

“I had no idea what she was going through then. I’m so happy the training had such an positive impact on her. She has gone on to do very well and is an inspiration to so many people. I’m very proud of her.”

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