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When a Phuket estate agent pulled out of a day of property viewings an hour before they were due to start, he probably thought he was avoiding the hassle of being filmed. He was actually turning down the most valuable marketing he would ever have been offered for free.
Samuel Leeds, the British property investor with 592,000 YouTube subscribers, 3,100
videos, and the largest property-focused social media audience in the UK — was in Phuket,
Thailand, ready to spend serious money.
The agent who had arranged a full day of viewings cancelled at the last minute. Leeds
believes he got cold feet after looking up his client online and deciding he did not want to be
Filmed.
Leeds did not leave a bad review. He did not reschedule. He found another agent, bought a
£1.3 million villa the same day and posted about it.
The post on X received over one million views.
The agent who cancelled is not in any of them.
“The best form of revenge is success,” Leeds said. “I thought about leaving him a bad
review. Then I thought, let me just go and buy a property today with someone else and let
him watch it go viral.”
What Actually Happened
Within hours of the cancellation, Leeds had tracked down Asa—the founder of Easy Phuket
Living, a local property agency, through a mutual contact. Asa agreed to step in on a
public holiday, arranged access to multiple developments that were technically closed, and
spent the day working with Leeds and his wife Amanda across the Phuket property market.
Seven hours after they first shook hands, Leeds had paid his reservation fee on a four-bedroom.
duplex apartment at the Sedara development near Surin Beach. £1.3 million.
Freehold. Deal done.
Asa is now featured in a video that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people. His
agency—Easy Phuket Living—has received significant inbound interest from buyers
across the UK and internationally who watched the content and want to buy property in
Thailand.
Leeds has promoted Asa and his agency publicly and repeatedly since the purchase. No
kickbacks. No commercial arrangement. Simply because Asa showed up when it mattered.
“He helped me on a public holiday when everything was closed,” Leeds said. “He knew his
stuff. He got the deal done. Of course I’m going to tell people about him. That’s just how I
Operate.”
The Mindset Problem Holding Agents Back
Leeds is direct about what the original agent’s decision represents—and why it is a mistake
He sees repeatedly across the property industry.
There is an old school assumption among agents who work with wealthy clients that
Discretion means invisibility. That serious buyers do not want to be on camera. That social
media is for influencers, not for real estate professionals handling seven- and eight-figure
Transactions.
That assumption, Leeds argues, is becoming increasingly expensive to hold.
“I am not an influencer with a business,” he said. “I am a businessman with influence.
There is a difference. I buy properties. I invest real capital. I completed a £1.3 million purchase in
seven hours from first meeting an agent to paying a reservation fee. The camera was there
for all of it.”
The distinction matters because it addresses the most common objection agents raise when
approached by content creators—that influencers bring cameras but not cheques.
Leeds acknowledges that the objection has some validity. There are content creators who tour
properties, generate views, and never buy anything. For those agents, the experience can
It feels like unpaid marketing work with no transaction at the end.
“I understand why some agents are frustrated by that,” Leeds said. “But even then—if
If someone is bringing a million eyeballs to your listings, that is marketing. You would pay tens
of thousands for that reach through conventional advertising. If an influencer tours your
property and posts about it to half a million followers and does not buy it, you have still
won.”
And when that influencer does buy — as Leeds did, within the same day — the agent who
showed up has just earned a commission on a £1.3 million transaction and received
promotional coverage to one of the largest property audiences in the Western world.
The agent who cancelled received neither.
The Opportunity That Exists Right Now
Leeds believes the property industry is at an inflection point—one that agents who adapt to
Early adopters will benefit significantly, and those who resist will find it increasingly costly.
“The agents that are closed, quiet, camera-shy, old school — they are going to get
overtaken,” he said. “Not because what they do is wrong, but because the ones who are
Those who are open to being seen are going to get all the business. There are obviously things that need to
remain confidential, and that is fine. High-net-worth clients who want discretion — you
protect their privacy absolutely. But the agent themselves? The market they work in? The
properties they sell? That should all be out there.”
He points to Asa as an example of what the new model looks like. Knowledgeable. Credible.
Willing to be on camera. Willing to work on a public holiday for a client he had never met.
Willing to be associated publicly with a transaction that will now be seen by hundreds of
thousands of people.
“Asa is going to be the go-to agent in Phuket for British buyers,” Leeds said. “Not because I
planned that. Just because he showed up and the original agent didn’t.”
A Wider Point About Influence and Business
The Thailand story sits within a broader argument Leeds has been making for years, one that
that is increasingly being validated by the numbers.
His YouTube channel has accumulated tens of millions of views. His Financial Freedom
Challenge series — in which he documents real people achieving real results in property —
has produced individual videos with over two million views. His post about the Thailand
Purchase crossed one million views on X within days.
That reach translates directly into commercial outcomes. For Leeds, for his academy
members, and when they are willing to be part of the content—for the agents,
developers, and professionals he works with.
“The largest property audience in the UK,” Leeds said. “Possibly in the West. And I am
actively buying property, actively lending money, actively investing. Any agent or developer
who turns that down because they are worried about being on camera is making a very
expensive decision.”
The agent who cancelled in Phuket is probably aware of that now.
Asa is not complaining.
Samuel Leeds is the founder of the Samuel Leeds Academy and Samuel Leeds Finance.
Easy Phuket Living can be found by searching Asa Easy Phuket Living online. Free online
property training is available at www.samuelleeds.com
SPONSORED CONTENT
About the Author: This article is contributed by Samuel Leeds, a leading UK property investor and founder of the Samuel Leeds Academy.
website: www.samuelleeds.com
